I finally let them go...

It is nice that Leo has some outdoor friends. Your ferals are really trusting you and that is great.
I am glad your husband is warming up to Leo.

5/19/08

I wonder Leo's presence is making Torako more friendly…
Yesterday, we put Fancy Feast out while my husband was using barbecue right there.
She didn't mind and she kept eating!!
Leo hates leash. We put him on "Come with me Kitty" which comes with bungee type leash.
I think his first experience was really traumatic. We assumed him being OK outdoor and we put him down out there with leash. He panicked and started to dart all over the place and bungee was tagging him back and forth. My daughter let go of the leash and he dashed to his room. He was curled up in the cat tent being traumatized.
This event scared both Torako and Leo. He hates the leash and he runs away whenever he sees it.

Whenever outdoor kitty shows, Leo meows and longs to play with them. He might even follow them outside. My guess is that if he venture out too far, he would suddenly find himself lost and panic. That would be the worst situation.
Last night, Leo kept meowing really laud toward outdoor kitties and outdoor kitties are mewing back to him. They did the same thing this morning and woke my daughter up too early.
I should carefully observe this situation. Cats mewing may disturb our neighbors.
They are not as laud as mating meow, though. But Leo is laud enough to wake my daughter up in the room next door.
I am starting to think Leo came from multiple cat household. He may be happier with multiple cat family...

5/22/08

I came home and opened the sliding door to go out to the patio. Then I found Torako taking nap right behind the cat house on top of bark!!!
I was so glad!!! That was the sight I have been waiting to see.
Al this time, I wasn't sure if Torako felt secure enough to rest near patio door. But now she does.
I was walking around patio little bit and Torako even didn't move. She looked very sleepy.
I was able to grab camera and took few pictures of her.
Then, she got up and moved over to "ready for Fancy Feast" position.
I brought it out and put it out and shut the door since it was little cold.
Then Torao joined her. Two cats were eating together!
I am sure Torao was watching me putting Fancy Feast out.
All three cats are coming to eat more during day time and not so much during night now.
I wonder what caused this change….? May be they learned more possibility of intruders during the night? (neighbor's dog and raccoons) May be they are feeling more secure to know there is another cat inside?

So cute. It looks like your cats are trusting you more and more. That is wonderful. They will have a safe place to come if they feel threatened.

Most cats don't like their harness and leash when first introduced, but they will come to accept them as a part of life.
If you go a little slower and show him the harness and give him a treat, but not put it on him. Then put it on him to wear around the house and give him a treat at the same time, but don not attatch a leash. Let him wear it around the house a few times and then put the leash on and give him a treat. Before you know it he will be waiting for you to put the harness and leash on so he can have his outdoor time.

Most of my cats are formal ferals, but the ones I brought here from a rescue and the pound I started out with harness and tie-out till I was sure they were familiar with their new home and would not run aray. They all adapted real fast when they knew that harness and leash meant outdoor time and would sit calmly while I strapped them up.

Don't you worry about Leo's happiness with you. I'm sure he is pleased as punch to have a family to call his own, but I've come to the conclusion that all cats and kittens have an inborn sense to work on making us feel guilty about something no matter how wonderful their life may be.

As others have mentioned, I really enjoy your updates and pics of the kits. Keep up the good work.

Why would someone put their cat on a leash?

Thanks, Trudy.
I will try leash training again. But I didn't really care for bungee leash.
That may be OK for already leash trained kitty but not to train with.

If we want to keep indoor cat safe in outdoor, we must keep them on the leash.
I heard quite few indoor cats are leash trained and they go for walk like dogs do.

5/27/08

We were away for 2 nights for camping.
When we came home and open the patio door, Torako came right up! It looks like she was taking nap under the window again.
She was very happy to see us. I even got to pet her!
Torao also showed some affection to us. I knew he was going back and forth to check on us. But when he sees us, he went hiding. Finally we saw each other in eye to eye. Then, Torao hunkered down there and meowed very quietly. Every time I talk to him, he meowed again!!
Then he walked little farther away and rolled over and showing us affection!!! That's first time I have ever seen him do that to us!!!!
These days, Torako and Torao seems to be hanging around together. Torami is always alone and hiding. She still comes to heat, but she never show her self in front of humans.

I forgot to leave patio light on, so cat cam didn't record any event during the night. But I was sure raccoon was out because water in the bowl was all muddy. I opened the cat house and discovered all food was gone. Our cats don't eat that much…. At that point, I had feeling raccoons found the way in there.

That night, I made sure patio light was on. And sure enough raccoon was able to get in. He needed to squeeze himself in there, but he made it.
So, I made another modification and made the maze even narrower. That made him unable to get in there. But again, he was very determined. He started to chew the cat house to break in!!!
When I saw that raccoon, I wasn't sure if we have new one or not. Then realized it was Mr. Scar. He lost his tail. I remember him having pretty bad wound on his tail. It must have gotten worse and tail fell off??? I could still see scar where his tail used to be. I didn't know wild life is that tough to survive. May be he was recuperating from injury…. Or, someone trapped him and amputated his tail??? There is no way to tell.

I thought you had solved the Raccoon problem wiith your modifications, I'm sorry that their determination keeps getting them in.

Here ia a link of an elevated feeding station that the coons cannot access.
http://www.thewildones.net/raccoons.htm
If you keep having problems, you may want to see if your husband would like to build one more thing for the kits.

I am getting materials to put one up in the next few days because of the 'coons here. The darn things are enough to drive a person crazy. Cute, yes... destructive, most definitely. They go into our pole barn and make a terrible mess, (which includes crapping all over the place).

Sending Good luckvibes!

Originally Posted by tru

I thought you had solved the Raccoon problem wiith your modifications, I'm sorry that their determination keeps getting them in.

Here ia a link of an elevated feeding station that the coons cannot access.
http://www.thewildones.net/raccoons.htm
If you keep having problems, you may want to see if your husband would like to build one more thing for the kits.

I am getting materials to put one up in the next few days because of the 'coons here. The darn things are enough to drive a person crazy. Cute, yes... destructive, most definitely. They go into our pole barn and make a terrible mess, (which includes crapping all over the place).

Sending Good luckvibes!

Click to expand...

Did not know that. Good info.

Mr Scar is really determined. I am surprised but then I guess he knows food will be in there so he keeps coming.
Where did you get your camera? I ordered the trap but a camera would be great too.

CC,
I put information about camera on your thread! They are little pricey but our hubby likes geeky toys a lot.

Trudy,
Thanks for the info! I knew about the web site. That is the last solution we are aiming for.
My hubby had shoulder surgery 1 month ago. So carpenter work is on hold for him for a while.
We are eventually moving cat house to the hill side of our yard and building smaller feeding station.
Right now, cats are not using cat house as a place to rest. (who would be able to rest there when intruders are constantly bothering!! )
Since our cat house has good amount of insulation and heating pat, we donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want this as a feeding station.
When my husband builds something, he is very much in to looks of the construction, as well functionality of it.
While I was making modifications to the cat house, I ended up drilling holes in wrong locations. To me, they are very minor cosmetic thing, but he is bothered that his beautiful creation is ruined.

5/29/08

Torako let me pet her for a good amount of time and she enjoyed it a lot.

She was even brushing me and rubbing me which she never did while she was inside the house!!!
When she was inside, she was still a kitten and always busy playing. She always rolled over and started to punt and bite.
I now realize Torako is medium haired. That's why she looks little chubbier. (she is not thin either, though

) Torao and Torami are short hair.
She is looking very much like Puff daddy.

It almost seems like having Leo helped my outdoor kits to open up more.
I even saw Torami wondering around early evening. I started to talk to her and she sat and watched me!!
They must feel very comfortable in our back yard. They often chase each other for fun.

Thanks for the info.
I can't wait for more photos!

What you said about your husband and his beautiful creation is so familiar to me I had a good laugh.

6/1/08

Torako is really tame now.
I was able to pick her up and hold her!! Yesterday, I was even able to apply Revolution on her.
Today, I was able to hold her and bring her inside to Leo's room!!!



She was totally calm. She was busy sniffing her old room and feeling little anxious, but kept purring entire time!!

Leo was excited to play with her, and trying to wrestle with her, but Torako was not interested. Leo gave her little love bite, but Torako didn't care. What a sweet girl!!
She is transforming from feral to kitty pet!!! I am seeing change in Torao, too. Since he stays with Torako a lot, he must be getting message from Torako that we are safe and loving people just like before. He meows to let me know whenever he is near by.
After letting Torako out, she spent rest of day in our yard and often came to the patio door. Whenever we notice her, we opened the door and petted her.

She seems interested in coming in. Maybe she can be an indoor/outdoor cat? I think it is cute she took to Leo so quickly. She seems to be the friendliest one.

Ah, that picture is so sweet!

You are probably right - they are learning from each other. I know our kittens definitely learn from each other.

Love the updates!

6/5/08

Torako is definitely hanging around my yard all the time now.
And likes to go on top of cat house. She does this many times through out the day. It is because she can be closer to the birds!!
I have humming bird feeder and bird house right by the window behind cat house. There is birds nesting in there.
She loves looking at birds. I am sure she dreams of catching one.





I saw her jump right in to birdfeeder when Chickadee was eating. She has plenty of fun in my yard. So far, I havenâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t seen any dead bird remains.
We have been having miserable weather here. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s June, but our furnace is still kicking in. Many campgrounds above 4000 feet are still under snow. I wonder if we will have summer this year….

I do too. I wonder. I am wrapping myself in blankets at night.

Torako is a beautiful cat. I have a bird feeder too. Only my cats are inside and can only dream of catching one.

CC, where in Oregon do you live?
I used to live in Portland. I graduated from Portland State. My host family is still in Portland. It's too bad Oregon is having cold spell also.
We are having SNOW in our passes. (http://www.komonews.com/news/19602189.html).
SNOW IN JUNE!!!!

We are set to go to Alaska cruise at the end of this month. I wonder how their weather is there.....

Oh lord, the crazy Pacific Northwest weather! I get updates from my parents every time I call. It is so funny - people here hear that I am from the US and they assume everyone is from Florida or Southern California. When I inform them I am actually from Seattle and the weather is pretty much the same as it is here in Ireland...well, it bursts their bubble.

The cats are looking lovely, of course. My husband has put a bird feeder outside our bedroom window, which drives the cats crazy, of course. My husband would love to have hummingbirds. Whenever we go back to visit the family he is always on the hunt...