Big week ahead

Been away on business for a couple of days. Returned to a massive love-in with Rudi. Some full on bellyrubs there, with me chuckling at the big white strips he has from his neck to his gentleman's area! Next stage: get him on my lap. Interestingly, when I sit on the floor near him he's wary of me. He seems to like the giant bending down and giving him affection. So I guess the best way to move him on to the lap stage is to get a chair and sit out with him at normal sitting level.
Whilst away, have decided that the time is right to get back on the property ladder, so I'll be looking to move away from the farm in the 2nd half of the year/ this time next. There's no hurry. The plan is to get somewhere nice and rural; from a cat perspective this means having young Rudi as an indoor/ outdoor cat and Little Cow (if she'll come) as our outdoor only girl. To answer an earlier question, I don't think she's seen me interacting with Rudi. Those two have nothing to do with one another - it she sees him, she runs a mile. Does anyone have any experience like this? Basically the stray is the dominant one, the feral is afraid of him (being much smaller can't help). I suspect they've had some nocturnal run-ins (have heard a couple). Do outdoor cats that seem to despise one another ever get friendly/ bond?

Funny enough, I actually have no experience with this. I just know the outside cats seem a lot more social with each other than our indoor kitties LOL (once they're sterilized).

Rudi sounds like such a sweety. I'm sorry Ruby ran off - but glad Rudi found his way there!

Cheers for the note, LDG.
Reading a couple more posts on here in the last couple of hours have got me thinking. I think Little Cow sees Rudi as the resident. I'm 90% sure he was around last summer (and while Ruby and LC were acclimatizing) and I also reckon he was the phantom popper who left his business near the acclimatization hut (and he's still a bit of a bugger for that!). I'm convinced he drove Ruby away.
I have now reached the stage of giving him a set of instructions when I give him his final pet of the day: be good, keep the mice away, chase the rabbits off, leave the partridges alone and play nicely with Little Cow........

hi all - fingers crossed I can get this to upload, I seem to have very limited storage capacity on the site (2 photos at a time max...am guessing this is an admin thing, so I'm not grumbling).

Picture of Rudi, white stripe and all, requesting a belly rub. He's a sweet lad. The vet reckoned there was some Russian Blue in him somewhere? I have no idea! All I kjnow is that no-one has yet come forward to claim him so it sounds like he's on the farm to stay. He's a real softie: I've had a couple of playful scratches off him during belly rubs (he waggles his paws around in ecstasy, not realising that it bloomin' well hurts!), but he basically just headbutts, purrs and stands up on his back legs looking for as much attention as you can give. If I want to go back in after 20 minutes, he gets extremely vocal, his 'mips' and 'meows' basically indicating a 'and where do you think you're going, Mister?' mindset ;-)

Interestingly, he has no interest in me when I'm sitting down/ more at his level. Any ideas? Don't think he's ever been on a lap in his life. BTW, I did briefly get him playing with a Da Bird type toy the other day which was fun.

On the sad side, his increased affection means far fewer sightings of the Dimunutive Bovine (aka Little Cow). He now dominates the 'near the house' part of the farm during his waking hours and, unlike 3-4 months ago, doesn't disappear/ only come out at night for days on end. As the feeding station is about 20 feet from the house, it means LC has to time her appearances much more so as to not coincide with him. She's still very timid around humans, so I don't imagine she misses us as much as we miss seeing her. But the key thing is that she is still around: I saw her a couple of times of Sunday and, as Rudi never eats before midday, I'm pretty sure that the big dent in the food this morning will have been her doing.
The two of them have now been on the farm for nearly 5 months in the case of LC and probably 7-8 in the case of Rudi, so I'm hoping that they will continue to co-exist, be happy and, hopefully, become friends. Can't ask for any more, really.
best to all

Look at that gorgeous relaxed boy! Oh that is an impossible face to resist!

I am sorry his presence affects Little Cow that way.... but once you move him inside part of the time, maybe LC will spend more time around. [size=-3]Ooops, did I say that?[/size]

...and about his prefering you to stand up/be taller than him/sit on something so you're up.... I have NO idea! But now that you mention it... our Billy doesn't like to be petted by Gary at night when we're in bed (though he does snuggle up to me) - but when Gary's standing up/moving around, Billy is always rubbing on his legs and under foot. He won't do Gary's lap either (though he does lie down in mine). Hmmm.... Strange!

Thanks for the note, LDG.
The Rudi: Little Cow issue is getting thornier. I love them both dearly in their own way. But I've just heard him chase her off again. Through my night vision scope I saw her come into the lean-to and my heart leapt as I've only seen her once in the past week. But within seconds of catching a glimpse of her, I heard the ferocious sounds of Rudi and she was gone like a flash, back to her bolt hole in the barn (she now only has one access point to this,the neighbours put a brick in front of her last one as she/ Rudi were pooping in that bit of the barn and the neighbours - against the landlords wishes, I should add - store their surplus crap there).
I'm so torn. 50% of me knows that it was Rudi who drove Ruby off and that he is the interloper here. After all, i did legally adopt the girls back in October. The other 50% is blown away by how loving Rudi has become. I know the obvious solution is to bring Rudi in but - and this is nothing to do with allergies - the rest of the house is against it. And I'm not convinced he's ready for it - I fear he may freak out. I'm wondering if he isn't better suited going up for adoption. I'm going to keep thinking on it, no need for a rush decision. It probably all sounds weird that, having joined this site a few months ago with the request 'how can I make my feral female barn cats a bit more sociable' I'm now whining because one of them is too friendly!! Of course, at the time I joined the site I didnt know (although I had an inkling) that one of the barn cats wasn't actually feral or a female but an ultimately loving (to humans, but not to cats!) big soft lad! Ah well, worse things happen at sea. Maybe it'll just make me get my house-hunting act together because when that happens, I will definitely segregate them!

First of all, you're not whining. You're acting like a cat lover, balancing your needs vs. what's best for the cats. Your lease doesn't allow cats inside, and you have allergies. You never intended to adopt a pet indoor-mostly or -only cat(s). You wanted barn cats that were happy to see you. And THAT is a truly wonderful thing, because feral kitties REALLY need homes.

In our rescue work, Gary and I always adopted out the easily adoptable kitties, and kept those that were going to be a challenge (it so happened most had special medical or other needs). What you would be doing is no different than "rescuer triage," and putting both Rudi's AND Little Cow's needs ahead of your own.

Of course... adopting out an older kitty is not always an easy thing to do.

And none of us are going to discourage you from bringing Rudi inside. In fact, if you want to consider that route, we can help you figure out the best way to do it.

and to you while you decide what to do.

Thanks for the comments, LDG. I think you've summarised the situation very well!

Glad to say it's all good news from this end. A combination of working from home/ weekend/ really nice weather means that I've been able to keep a pretty close eye on my kitties for the last few days. I'm pleased to report that they seem to have developed a rota of sorts: that's to say, Rudi tends to be active from 6pm ish to 9 am ish the following morning, at which point in time Little Cow realises he's gone off for a snooze and shows herself (she'll come out for 4-5 feeds during this period). The only time they appear to disagree is if one of them breaks the cycle/ turns up outside of normal hours!
It's a shame they don't get on but it can be managed. There are essentially 4 barns on the main plot; three side barns and the main barn. The cats have one side barn each (and LC's is really nice at the mo - sun shining in through the window) and, most importantly, I don't think Rudi can get access to Little Cow's because he's so much taller/ bigger and the hole she gets through is teensy (honest, I don't know how she does it, particularly at the speed she travels).

Bless Rudi, we have had some fun with him over the last few days and I've realised that there is no way I could give him up now unless his original owners show up suddenly. He has taken to sitting on one of the gateposts (about 6ft off the ground) to the courtyard overnight and seems to like the fact I've put a nice, soft cushion up there for him. He's like some kind of feline sentry! It's remarkable how he has changed in the last few weeks: he turned up at the farm back in October/ November (maybe earlier) and it wasn't until the end of January that he started to interact with us (the miaowing). He's clearly not the kind of stray that makes friends straight away - I remember talking to him from afar on many, many occasions I saw him around the farm before he started 'coming around'. Indeed, he used to disappear for 3-4 days at a time; I'm guessing that he was trying to find his old home.

Moreover my brother picked him up (with a modicum of success - he was clearly a little startled) yesterday, my nephew got a bit of a leg rub and, best of all, he has a new toy - the brush! Daft (but lovable) thing that he is, he has a habit of getting bits of mud/ leaf on him, so I bought a brush and he absolutely loves it, particularly on his belly. And it also protects my hands a little during belly rubs! I've also bought him a collar (not a flea one) and I may try to put it on him over the next few days.

So all's well on the farm and peace reigns. If this summer is anything like last, a couple of strays will come calling ... now that would really put the cat among the pigeons (or among the cats, if you know what I mean).

best to all, hope you and yours are fine

Just to let you know, I follow this thread and really enjoy your story. I don't have any advice, and you get the best advice possible, anyway, from the very experienced and wise LDG.

It's a heartwarming story. It's a wonderful thing you're doing for these cats. Without you their lives would be so difficult. So, thanks!


Robin

Fantastic update I can just picture Rudy perching on that gate post on his cushion . Sounds like all is peaceful and well at your place and the cats are thriving thanks to you. So happy to hear this. Enjoy reading your updates

Aw, that is GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, both. Glad you're enjoying the tale - I must confess, if somebody had said to me six months ago that I'd have been won over by a couple of cats, I'd have never believed them. But what these two have taught me more than anything else is the value of patience. Not to mention, of course, the difference between a feral cat and a stray cat! Little Cow will, I suspect, always live at arms length (and that's assuming I have 20ft long arms ;-)). Compared to November, though, she too is warmer towards us giants, even if it is just through her diminished need to remain invisible. I've read stories on here of ferals coming around to humans over very long periods of time when they are inside/ in one room, so I'll be staggered if, as she technically has 35 acres to run around (though she never goes further than 50 feet from her barn!) she'll ever be particularly friendly. But she seems like a happy soul, even though I think she misses her buddy, Ruby, and I suspect she might enjoy a new friend (though Rudi - let alone the rest of the household - would not stand for this!)

I definitely must get a picture of Rudi on his gatepost for you all. Only snag is, as soon as any of us emerges from the door, he climbs down and comes over for headbutts, belly rubs, chicken stick treats (am sure they must do those in the States? They look like twigs and smell awful) and his much deserved love. If he wants to, he's definitely coming in this coming Autumn: the main access to the courtyard is through the utility room and I've convinced the rest of the house that, when the weather turns, we can put a basket and a litter tray in there for him. He's actually already had a sneaky peek around the room anyway - just don't tell the others ;-). I tend to make their food up in the utility room with the door open, so he has poked his nose over the doorstep a few times while he readies himself for his tea. He hasn't actually shown that much of an interest in properly coming in - he'll generally sit 2-3 feet from the door mipping and miaowing like a good 'un (you hear stories about strays marching in, bold as brass - not Rudi). As I say, if come September/ October he wants to come in out of the storm, then hopefully he'll let me know.

It really is amazing how cats, as Stefan puts it, "please themselves in," isn't it? We live in the RV with 8 indoor-only kitties. Gary used to HATE cats. A scared, straggly, feral-acting stray dramatically changed our lives 10 years ago... about now, in fact!

And yes, by that fall, she had a bed just inside the door of our home. She didn't like cold, wet weather.

As to a picture.... zoom from through a window?

The cat sat on the mat .... on the gatepost!!
Managed to get this of him about this time yesterday.
Had a quick look out of the window at about 10 o'clock last night and, through my night vision lens, could see that our gatekeeper was still on his 6ft high perch....

OH COME ON, He is soooooooo handsome. I love his white bib. What a gentle looking soul. He sure loves his perch . Just love to see pictures of the cats we are all talking about. Makes me think I should post some of Yogi. He now lets me get about five feet away. I will try to take some pictures . Rudi is one good looking boy

He IS King of the Castle! SO glad you got a picture!!!!!!!