The Pawley story. Winter 2012/2013, an employee of the RV park (which is a working farm) mentioned he'd regularly been seeing a black & white cat at the barn, but hadn't seen him for a while. (Um, might have wanted to mention that sooner?)
Late winter/early spring this year, our neighbor (who likes cats) said he saw an injured black & white kitty head from the woods to under our RV. He looked "very" injured.
We never saw him.
In May, we had a few sightings of the injured B&W kitty. Yes - months later, still injured.
In June, he moved in under the RV full time. We never saw him out from under it, but he was always there. Every meal. We had no idea how to trap this kitty - he never left under the RV to our knowledge. A trap doesn't fit under there.
The end of June, we had to move RV sites. We were worried sick about this cat. But we had no choice, and moved. It was just a few sites down. All of the cats found their way immediately. And within a day, the injured kitty was back in place, underneath the RV. (We have quite a few shelters, a number of them insulated for winter, under there).
Since then, we have seen him out from under the RV MAYBE 3 or 4 times. He cannot place much weight on his front right leg when walking. He can use it when sitting, or squatting.
I know this, because as of ... October? November? He FINALLY would approach the bowl of food I put under the RV for him WHILE I was putting it under there. I would let my hand linger, and again, FINALLY, he got to the point he'd start eating even with my hand at the bowl. After a week or two of this, I brushed his cheek with my hand as I removed it. That rapidly progressed to petting his cheeks.
Well, a few weeks ago, he started wanting his pets before he'd eat. He now pushes his head into my hand HARD, rolls his head all over my hand, and purrs something fierce. :heart2:
It has been driving Gary insane that we have no way to trap or crate this cat that we named Pawley.
But since his "pet" switch flipped, I have slowly been drawing him out from under the RV.
We went from this
to this (I put the food down after I'd petted him so I could take the picture)
The problem is the deck. I can't put a trap (Hav-a-Hart or Drop) down right out by where he normally eats, because of the deck. And I've seen him on the deck ONCE these past six months (saw him walk up on the deck to go get a drink of water from the water dish). The problem is now that it's winter, the dish is plugged in, so he can access the dish from under the RV.
We have decided to bring Pawley inside. I know it's nuts with 8 already in here. But this boy lives in his shelter under the RV, and leaves out from under the RV only to go to the bathroom.
I don't know if his HORRIBLE limp is because he's in pain, or it was just a really bad break that didn't set right or what.
But we could use some vibes. I started feeding him on the other side of the RV - which he is NOT happy about. He will not come while I put the food out. He does eat the food, but won't approach while I'm there. I only started this two days ago, because we only decided that we HAD to get him in here two days ago.
This morning, he let me know in no uncertain terms just how unhappy he was about the change in routine. He came out almost ALL THE WAY from under the RV where I used to feed him. So I relented. We had a massive pet session, and I put his food down in the "normal" spot. If it hadn't been pouring rain, he might have come all the way up to the deck.
So we need vibes that we can get him in a crate or trap - whether hav-a-hart or drop - and sooner rather than later, as we're heading into single digit temps at night - AND that when we bring him in, we don't create complete chaos, because there's no way to separate him for slow introductions.
Of course because of our existing kitties, we'll manage the quarantine the way we did with Billy as he was introduced direct from outside: by being quarantined at the vet for at least 10 days (assuming he needs giardia treatment, as they all have). Unlike with Chum (the only other rescue intro since we moved back into the RV), we can't rent another trailer to have as his home for a while. Sadly, the trailer we rented burned, so isn't available. We can't afford to rent another site now anyway, and there are new owners of the RV park, so there is no way we'd get a 2nd site for free for a few months (even though it's off season and it's not producing revenue anyway. ).
Pawley.... let us help you! :heart2: :rub:
Late winter/early spring this year, our neighbor (who likes cats) said he saw an injured black & white kitty head from the woods to under our RV. He looked "very" injured.
We never saw him.
In May, we had a few sightings of the injured B&W kitty. Yes - months later, still injured.
In June, he moved in under the RV full time. We never saw him out from under it, but he was always there. Every meal. We had no idea how to trap this kitty - he never left under the RV to our knowledge. A trap doesn't fit under there.
The end of June, we had to move RV sites. We were worried sick about this cat. But we had no choice, and moved. It was just a few sites down. All of the cats found their way immediately. And within a day, the injured kitty was back in place, underneath the RV. (We have quite a few shelters, a number of them insulated for winter, under there).
Since then, we have seen him out from under the RV MAYBE 3 or 4 times. He cannot place much weight on his front right leg when walking. He can use it when sitting, or squatting.
I know this, because as of ... October? November? He FINALLY would approach the bowl of food I put under the RV for him WHILE I was putting it under there. I would let my hand linger, and again, FINALLY, he got to the point he'd start eating even with my hand at the bowl. After a week or two of this, I brushed his cheek with my hand as I removed it. That rapidly progressed to petting his cheeks.
Well, a few weeks ago, he started wanting his pets before he'd eat. He now pushes his head into my hand HARD, rolls his head all over my hand, and purrs something fierce. :heart2:
It has been driving Gary insane that we have no way to trap or crate this cat that we named Pawley.
But since his "pet" switch flipped, I have slowly been drawing him out from under the RV.
We went from this
to this (I put the food down after I'd petted him so I could take the picture)
The problem is the deck. I can't put a trap (Hav-a-Hart or Drop) down right out by where he normally eats, because of the deck. And I've seen him on the deck ONCE these past six months (saw him walk up on the deck to go get a drink of water from the water dish). The problem is now that it's winter, the dish is plugged in, so he can access the dish from under the RV.
We have decided to bring Pawley inside. I know it's nuts with 8 already in here. But this boy lives in his shelter under the RV, and leaves out from under the RV only to go to the bathroom.
I don't know if his HORRIBLE limp is because he's in pain, or it was just a really bad break that didn't set right or what.
But we could use some vibes. I started feeding him on the other side of the RV - which he is NOT happy about. He will not come while I put the food out. He does eat the food, but won't approach while I'm there. I only started this two days ago, because we only decided that we HAD to get him in here two days ago.
This morning, he let me know in no uncertain terms just how unhappy he was about the change in routine. He came out almost ALL THE WAY from under the RV where I used to feed him. So I relented. We had a massive pet session, and I put his food down in the "normal" spot. If it hadn't been pouring rain, he might have come all the way up to the deck.
So we need vibes that we can get him in a crate or trap - whether hav-a-hart or drop - and sooner rather than later, as we're heading into single digit temps at night - AND that when we bring him in, we don't create complete chaos, because there's no way to separate him for slow introductions.
Of course because of our existing kitties, we'll manage the quarantine the way we did with Billy as he was introduced direct from outside: by being quarantined at the vet for at least 10 days (assuming he needs giardia treatment, as they all have). Unlike with Chum (the only other rescue intro since we moved back into the RV), we can't rent another trailer to have as his home for a while. Sadly, the trailer we rented burned, so isn't available. We can't afford to rent another site now anyway, and there are new owners of the RV park, so there is no way we'd get a 2nd site for free for a few months (even though it's off season and it's not producing revenue anyway. ).
Pawley.... let us help you! :heart2: :rub: