Cats

Cabarone · #1 09-14-2017, 12:13 AM

No, not the musical...

I notice a few of us have a similar interest in stray/feral caregiving...thought maybe we could dedicate a thread to a discussion on it...

I became our neighborhood's "Crazy Cat Lady" a couple years ago by default...our neighbor would feed the strays at the end of our driveway (not HIS, mind you, OURS), so in the interest of their preservation I set out dishes at the top end...this has evolved into using old trash cans as shelter (with rubber matting and straw), water dishes and hanging toys...the local Humane Society offers a TNR (Trap, Neuter and Release) program where they set out traps, well, you get it...we rounded up 15 this Spring (and one very large raccoon). Curly (our Shih Tzu) hates it, but they try to make friends w/her when we take her out, walk me to my Jeep every night and insist on attention when we get home...I learned the hard way to pop the hood and check the engine compartment before starting up, though...

My first "friend" was Mickey...she would follow me out back and watch me work out (hence the name)...I couldn't do too many pushups at a time or she would climb up on my back...when they had her under for the THR they found a large, bleeding tumor attached to two organs...on my approval they euthanized...best trainer I ever had...

So what're your stories?

fazool · #2 09-14-2017, 04:27 AM

Good thread.

I'm getting ready for work so won't be able to write all my stories in one sitting.

Let me put it this way:

As I write this, I think we have 17 or 19 cats in our house. No, really.

We have six cat pets of our own. Our daughter is a pre-vet student, works at a Vet clinic, volunteers at the SPCA and is the feral cat leader for a rescue shelter.

In the past two years she (just herself not including the other shelter workers) has trapped, rescued, recovered, fostered and found "forever" homes for 250 cats (mostly kittens).

So we always have a (large) handful of cats that are being staged between TNVR (trap-neuter-vaccinate-release) or socializing for adoptions etc.

So many good stories.......

I'll write my favorite when I get a break at work.

Mr. Jelly · #3 09-14-2017, 04:57 AM

Cats! They drive me nuts! As I write this two are making trips across my key board. My wife is a cat lady and so we've had up to five cats in the house. We have four now. Plus two outside cats we feed. And the birds and the possum and the raccoons. Right now we have two really, really old cats that probably won't make it another year. I want to travel when I fully retire in a couple of years so we'll have to figure out how to do that with a couple of cats.

Gasworker · #4 09-14-2017, 05:01 AM

My yard is like a bird sanctuary. Houses everywhere and babies all spring and summer. Feeders with regular top ups all winter.
Neighbourhood cats eat the birds like chips. I bought a little dog to chase the cats out and caught her playing with them rather than chasing them.
Now it's buckets of water at the ready. Keep your furry friends indoors

http://www.theonion.com/graphic/rain...ign=&utm_term=

RP · #5 09-14-2017, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gasworker

My yard is like a bird sanctuary. Houses everywhere and babies all spring and summer. Feeders with regular top ups all winter.
Neighbourhood cats eat the birds like chips. I bought a little dog to chase the cats out and caught her playing with them rather than chasing them.
Now it's buckets of water at the ready. Keep your furry friends indoors

http://www.theonion.com/graphic/rain...ign=&utm_term=

I'm certain that Gasworker's post won't be the majority opinion, but I definitely agree with him. I also like to attract birds to my feeders and really resent neighborhood cats who either scare them off or dine on them. More power to you if you've chosen to do what you can for feral cats; but in my mind, once you start feeding and providing them with water, you take ownership for their actions. Whether feral or not, domestic housecats are not wild animals that have some sort of manifest destiny to live outside. If you live in a neighborhood, then it is up to the owner or adopted parent to keep these animals on your own property. If you live away from others, and your cats are basically barn cats, that's your call.

I feel so strongly about this that I was willing to go to war with a neighbor because they refused to keep their cats away from my house. They eventually moved to get away from me after I held up a Have-a-Heart trap and asked permission to catch their cats on my property and take them to the SPCA. Please note that they had placed the burden on me to keep their cats away from my yard, and I tried a number of strategies from talking to them to electronics to sprays, all to no avail....

RedJoker · #6 09-14-2017, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fazool

Good thread.

I'm getting ready for work so won't be able to write all my stories in one sitting.

Let me put it this way:

As I write this, I think we have 17 or 19 cats in our house. No, really.

We have six cat pets of our own. Our daughter is a pre-vet student, works at a Vet clinic, volunteers at the SPCA and is the feral cat leader for a rescue shelter.

In the past two years she (just herself not including the other shelter workers) has trapped, rescued, recovered, fostered and found "forever" homes for 250 cats (mostly kittens).

So we always have a (large) handful of cats that are being staged between TNVR (trap-neuter-vaccinate-release) or socializing for adoptions etc.

So many good stories.......

I'll write my favorite when I get a break at work.

You sound like us. We currently have 8 of our own and 6 foster kittens inside. We have 2 "feral" cats in the barn. I say "feral" but they are both extremely affectionate.

One of the barn cats was severely abused before we adopted him and is now missing an eye and almost all his teeth. Our indoor car, Pogo, is missing one of her front legs because someone shot her. Understandably, it's taken them both a while to warm back up to humans but now they are both very sweet.

People can be such jerks to abuse animals.

RedJoker · #7 09-14-2017, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RP

I'm certain that Gasworker's post won't be the majority opinion, but I definitely agree with him. I also like to attract birds to my feeders and really resent neighborhood cats who either scare them off or dine on them. More power to you if you've chosen to do what you can for feral cats; but in my mind, once you start feeding and providing them with water, you take ownership for their actions. Whether feral or not, domestic housecats are not wild animals that have some sort of manifest destiny to live outside. If you live in a neighborhood, then it is up to the owner or adopted parent to keep these animals on your own property. If you live away from others, and your cats are basically barn cats, that's your call.

I feel so strongly about this that I was willing to go to war with a neighbor because they refused to keep their cats away from my house. They eventually moved to get away from me after I held up a Have-a-Heart trap and asked permission to catch their cats on my property and take them to the SPCA. Please note that they had placed the burden on me to keep their cats away from my yard, and I tried a number of strategies from talking to them to electronics to sprays, all to no avail....

I somewhat agree with you. If you have indoor cats, they should stay indoors, period.

There are a lot of different ideas on feral cats, though. The trap-neuter-release concept is to keep cats from breeding, obviously, but the release part is very important. If the fixed cats stay in a given area, other non-fixed cats generally won't move into that area. So, it could be argued that your neighbor keeping the fixed feral cats around actually lowers the total number of cats going to your bird feeders. Imagine how many cats / kittens would hang around your food source if they were breeding unchecked?

I'm not trying to change your mind, just providing perspective from a different side.

Gasworker · #8 09-14-2017, 06:27 AM

Just to be clear, I admire people who dedicate their lives to rescuing animals and you and associations involved have my respect.

I am no cat expert but it makes sense to me the feral cats don't kill birds for fun and everything has to eat.

Pet cats on the other hand probably do. A bell on the collar is a bird saver.

fazool · #9 09-14-2017, 06:35 AM

OK, here is my all-time favorite cat story.

Our cat died when our daughter was 4. She missed him and asked "daddy, can I get my own cat?" and she said "I'll take care of it."

I explained "no, it's a lot of work to take care of a cat" . I told her "you're too young to do all that".

She kept pestering me and I told her"no, she was too young. She was only four years old and not old enough for your own cat".

This kept up and we were both getting a little frustrated. She kept coming back to me for days about this.

Getting frustrated she said "can I get a cat when I'm five?"

I said "no that's still too young, they are a lot of responsibility".

She said "can I get a cat when I'm six?"

Exasperated, I said "fine. whatever" and that was that. End of conversation. Not another word about it.

20+ months later, life went on and our daughter happily said "Daddy! next month is my birthday!"

"yes it is, honey." I replied

"I'm turning six!" she said

"yes you are honey" I agreed

"I'm getting a cat!" she squealed!

......sigh.........

Well......she got a cat. They are inseparable. That cat has slept on her pillow next to her head and waited at the door for the schoolbus.

Our daughter decided she is a cat person and will be a veterinarian when she grows up. She has not wavered one day of her life in that vision. She now works & volunteers at three animal clinics and is in her final year of pre-vet Biology study in college.

Her very-much-loved 15 year old cat still sleeps on her pillow and they are still inseparable.

Neil K Walk · #10 09-14-2017, 06:47 AM

Though I'm a cat person I would never take in a feral cat. Even domesticated felines are "hunters" when they venture outside and get into territorial disputes with neighboring felines - if they're of the same gender. If not, then ...

That being said, we do have a cat and have enjoyed her companionship for the past 17 years. She's small and pedigree (5-1/2 pound female Burmese, though not show quality) and is an "indoor only" cat - though she still has her claws. Per instructions from the breeder, we had her spayed and because she's an indoor cat she's never brought in a pest problem with her - unlike my sons who I found ticks on one year! My only regret is that I don't play with her as much as I should and she seems to be declining mentally, becoming like a demanding old woman with a bad hip.

My mother OTOH is a "free spirit" who takes on charity cases when she feels "called to it." She took in a feral kitten who I have only seen a handful of times (she hides in the presence of most strangers, especially men) but a recent infestation of fleas belied her presence. I told her to get rid of it.

HHP · #11 09-14-2017, 07:08 AM

When I had horses along with the required acreage and barn, we would sometimes catch site of a feral cat with her litter in tow. The horses were real agitated one day in their stalls and my then wife thought something was in the loft. I was dispatched to the hay loft and saw something running between the bales. I caught it and it was a very young kitten.

Took it down and let all the horses see and smell it and they calmed down. I was dispatched to the pet store for formula and a feeding bottle. The kitten was quite a pig and in eating, got formula all over itself. Our female dog, Willie Mae, took charge and proceeded to lick the kitten clean. She watched over the kitten as it grew up and they were inseparable. Willie then became the one dog cat rescue society.

Couple years later, she was obsessed with a brush pile and wouldn't rest till I looked at it. Found another abandoned kitten which she adopted. This one was male and he decided he would pair up with our other dog, a 110 lb brute named Bob. Bob was not so accepting but he tolerated the kitten. The kitten finally won him over by getting up on the counter after dinner and throwing him leftovers, which one time included about a half a roast.So, each dog now had their own cat, we just paid for the food.

Saltamontes · #12 09-14-2017, 07:28 AM

We have a cat, before his arrival I had never had one. Jax is an indoor cat and a cute little bugger, I am very fond of him, he is 6. My wife grew up with cats, this being the reason we ended up adopting him after my mother in law got him from some cat rescue organization.
We will not allow him outside, he is strictly an indoor cat.
I can relate to the frustration with those whose neighbors allow their cats to roam free around the neighbourhood, if you choose to have a cat (any pet for that matter), it is your responsibility to look after him, I have seen way too many cats roaming around and I have seen my share of them dead on the side of the road, sad sight.
My mother in law has 5 cats and a dog, all of them grossly overweight, and what has become an issue for my wife and I is that she remarried a couple of years ago and has taken a liking to travel, as a result my wife and I end up driving for 20 minutes 4 times a day for one or two weeks at a time to feed them. These things will devoure everything in sight, our cat will help himself to his food when he is hungry and then walk away, my mother in laws's cats will eat whatever is in front of them until it is all gone, this being the reason for the four times a day trip to feed them, needless to say a huge pain. My mother in law will not allow a stranger in her house to look after them so we are stuck with this unwanted chore.
It is a burden, as we have to regularly arrange our schedule to look after her cats. The cats range in age from 7 to 13, so I see no end to our frustrations in the near future.
She does travel 3-4 times a year for a week or two at a time. We actually had to cancel a holiday once as she had booked a cruise at the same time we had booked our trip.
If you choose to have a pet, it is YOUR role responsibility to look after it, do NOT commit a family member to fill in.
Whew, now I feel better

Cabarone · #13 09-14-2017, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

Though I'm a cat person I would never take in a feral cat. Even domesticated felines are "hunters" when they venture outside and get into territorial disputes with neighboring felines - if they're of the same gender. If not, then ...

Yeah there's a difference between strays and ferals. Ferals are wild and will not be domesticated. They won't cozy up and will usually wait until you leave the area before feeding. Most of the ones here are strays and exhibit varying degrees of social ability...

AmericanEagle · #14 09-14-2017, 09:03 AM

I love cats. I always adopt. IMHO, I would never buy a pet,
when there are literally millions out there stuck in shelters,
waiting to be adopted, many of them will be killed if not adopted.
My last 2 cats were adopted from BCCC (Billerica Cat Care Coalition).
They have a TNR program (trap, neuter/spay, release/return).
The adults are returned to their colonies, but their litter/kittens,
are taken-in and socialized, then adopted-out.
The kittens I have received have grown-into amazing adults.
They were always well-behaved, very social, and so kind and cute.
They loved attention. Sadly, one of them died a few years ago, of cancer.
It was heartbreaking, he was too young to die. I still have my other one,
and he is doing great. I would adopt more, but I keep having an issue
of my cats fighting each other. Each time I bring-in a new cat/kitten,
it fights with the cat I already have. So, I have to stay with only 1 at
a time from now on.

Mr. Jelly · #15 09-14-2017, 09:39 AM

A young calico cat showed up at our door and my wife decided she was going to take care of it. It came into our house and after a week or less my wife took her to a vet to get fixed. Well the cat didn't like the car etc. and got loose and ran away. Every day we went to look for her. We looked and looked. Now the vets is about two miles away in a bedroom community and there is a river between them and our home. The only way across the river is to swim or over a busy freeway bridge. A couple weeks later here is the calico cat. She came walking right in like she was home. And she was.