I did drop off Sundance at the vet and not long after, they called to tell me that he had tested positive for FeLV and FIV. So we stamped his Bridge Pass. A few days later, another orange stray showed up in the exact same place that Sundance first appeared.

I tried to get close to him, but if I thought that Sundance was skittish, this boy was ten times worse. Just one move toward him and he vanished for about 5 days.

I ended up just setting the trap into the bushes . During the day, I left it open and ready, but at night, because of the fear of trapping a coon, skunk or possum, I would prop the door open so it wouldn’t spring.  I kept checking it using my binoculars, but it stayed empty.

About a week later, I decided that perhaps he was just looking for his brother, and he wouldn’t be back. I was involved in a new project in one of my cat enclosures. It was nearing noon, and I was ready to go in the house and call it a day. I decided to go ahead and take one more look at the trap- and lo-and behold there he was trapped!

I was so happy to finally capture him. Watching him from a distance, I could tell something was really off about him. I grabbed a dark towel and hustled to the trap.

When he saw me coming, he went ballistic, ramming himself repeatedly over and over against the wire. I quickly covered him and waited for him to calm down. I knew that the vet wouldn’t be very pleased to have me drop him off so close to closing time, but I called anyway. They told me to bring him down.

I picked up the carrier and to my surprise the door wasn’t firmly latched! I had put a stout piece of cardboard inside the trap before the trigger plate. I think when he initially went inside, his back feet scooted the cardboard forward and it jammed under the door. He was sticking his paw out of the opening, and when I went to pull the door open a bit and slide the cardboard out- he nailed me. He tried to put his head under the door, desperate to escape.

I was not going to let that happen, so I tilted the trap quickly backward and he slid to the back of the trap. Before he could figure out how to show up and fight again, I slid the cardboard out and slammed the door shut.

Carrying him to the truck, became quite the ordeal. He was running back in forth in the trap and it was so off balance for me to hang on to. He was a HUGE cat- and heavy. I was out of breath when I got to the truck. I slid him in and braced both the sides against some containers, so he couldn’t get out even if he wanted to,..

It was another hot day. I was worried he was overheating, so because he was braced securely, I removed the cloth and was able to get a good look at him. Although his eyes did not show any cloudiness to them, I got a sense he was blind? His pupils were darting right and left and he appeared to not be able to see me? He was so scared. I just sat there and talked him down until he stopped open mouth panting. Then we went to the vet and I dropped him off.

I named him Elusive, because he certainly was that. He sure gave me a run for my money. I was still out of breath after I got to the vet.

Just like the other orange boy, he too tested positive and we put him down. I was sad to lose two golden boys within weeks of each other, but they are no longer suffering AND no longer making babies that are probably infected as well.

I hope this is the end of the strays around here. I had the place pretty cleaned out with trapping, neutering and releasing all the feral cats last year. Not sure where these boys came from, but I know where they are now- they are much better off than before.

I have been absent from this blog for awhile because of a new stray that has shown up. I am calling him Sundance. He is a Tom, and he is very skittish. He would vanish the minute that I stepped out the back door, even though he was only lurking in the bushes at the end of our four acres. He was that scared.

I started to feed him on a regular basis at the same spot, at the same time. I could only “look” at him through my patio window with the aid of my binoculars. I could see that he wasn’t in good shape.

A few days ago, I was surprised to see him at the drinking pool in the middle of the yard. I guess, I shouldn’t have been, because the temps were in the triple digits. Although I was providing food and water back by the creek daily, his bowl must have been empty prompting him to move closer to the house.

Tonight, I decided that I would try and trap him before dusk. Usually, I trap in the mornings. Although, I don’t know why, I had a feeling that he really needed to be helped. I saw him appear in the customary spot by the creek, so I loaded my trap. I prayed all the way to the spot, put some tasty FF in a dish. Since I didn’t want him to see me load it. I stopped halfway there and set it up to trip. I had to carry it very carefully so not to trip the lever.

I set the trap down. I  turned around and went back in the house. I grabbed my binoculars and waited. All the time, I am thinking of that old adage: “A watched pot never boils.”

Pretty soon out he comes. I placed the trap so the door was toward the bushes, not the house. I didn’t want him to come around the trap and see activity in the yard and get spooked vanishing back in the bushes..

All of a sudden- he goes to the front of the trap and he vanishes! I’m praying that he is inside and trapped, but I have my doubts because trapping is never this easy! I grabbed my telescoping boat pole. My thought was if I get close enough to the cage to use the 8 foot pole, maybe I could just reach out and hit the trap with the pole and snap the door shut. But he was trapped!

Poor boy, he was so scared. He was spitting and hissing, So I went back to the barn.  I grabbed  a dark blanket and covered him up. Before I put him into one of the empty enclosures (still in the trap) I took a better look at him. His right eye, the orb is missing. 🙁 His left side of his face is swollen.) I will take him to the vet in the morning and let them sedate him and evaluate him.. If they can, neuter him. I suspect he will have to have his eye socket surgerized. I hate that he has to stay in the trap for 12 plus hours, but the pay-off is worth it.

On a more somber note, by boy Baker is not doing well. I took him to the vet the other morning..He went postal during the exam, but they did manage to draw blood. He also managed to draw blood on me! He shredded the inside of my thighs- big time. He was so scared. He is currently living inside the large enclosure with Pigeon and PITA but he is semi-feral.

The vet called tonight and the  news is not good. He has pancreatitis. If some of you don’t know that that is, it is when the pancreas is misfiring and eating itself up. It is very painful. He also has hyperthyroidism and is in early stages of kidney disease. He is 14 years old.

He was 6 months old when he arrived here. Someone sped down the highway and tossed him out of their car as they passed our home! He suffered massive bruising and has a protruded disc in his back.because of this trauma.

The plan is for now, we are going to put him on anti-nausea medication, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs and I will try and get him to eat whatever I can. If he continues to lose weight, and the vomiting does not stop, (now I know where all those piles of vomit have come from out there) I will have no choice but to put him to sleep.

Please if you can- and ONLY if you can, please send something to the CATS fund to help cover some of the expenses we are about to be hit with. Between Molly’s seizure medications and now this- my head is spinning. I just made a large payment to my vet too and was starting to relax. Not anymore.

Thank you for anything you can send and here is my Baker Boy. This was taken just after he got home from the vet. He is giving me stink-eye.

I have no idea if anyone can even read this or not, because of all the violent weather back East and elsewhere. I know that power is out pretty much everywhere and flooding is a real concern- but here goes my plea….

Molly had a seizure this afternoon. 🙁 It lasted just under a minute but it felt like an eternity). She defecated and urinated all over herself and before I could get to her, she had bitten her tongue.

I raced her to my vet and he said it was more than likely this is from Kota jumping on her and just reinforces the fact that she is neurologically challenged.

I had to buy special medicine for her- and because it’s Molly, it had to be compounded so it came out of a special pharmacy. Without thinking I wrote the check for $187.00 and afterward realized there is only $9.00 in the account. I have two days to make up the deficit. He will hold the check until Monday. If ANYONE can send me anything- it will stop my BP from boiling over with worry and stress. I had to do it. It’s my Molly-girl.

God Bless and Thank You for anything you might send-