Rudi goes to the vet

Hello All - not been around much lately in the posting sense of the word, but have kept up with the usual plethora of fascinating, joyous and heartbreaking stories here. Which reminds me that I must drop Hissy/ Mary-Anne a note.

Time for a nice tale of my own...

Over the last few weeks, Rudi - my lovely long-time-stray lad - has been spending more and more time inside (see picture). He's a bit twitchy when he's around the utility room/ kitchen area and would, I suspect, freak out if he was closed in, but he does love a good belly rub on the carpet. We probably have 2 such sessions of 15-20 minutes a day.

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/...udiindoors.jpg

He's been thanking me (I think it's him - might be Little Cow) by leaving scattered entrails and decapitated rabbits all over the garden. Delightful!! He seems to like the garden, does Rudi: many's been the early evening or weekend he has sat and watched us weed vegetables, pick rhubarb and generally try and bring order to the chaos that is the dryest English mid-late Spring on record.

Early this morning I noticed that one of his eyes was half-closed and a bit weepy - very similar to how it was a few weeks back when I tried without success to catch him for a vet trip. So I girded my loins, didn't book an appointment, bought a new cat carrier I'd seen (a toploader, so to speak) and, with a little help from a friend, late this afternoon I got him in and whisked him off to the vets. Poor chap was moaning all the way, although he calmed down when on the treatment table and took it like a man. Anyway turns out he has a touch of conjunctivitis in both eyes AND he's also been in a recent scrap or six. Indeed, the vet looked at his ears and reckons he has scars and scabs going back many moons. So he got a nice dose of antibiotics to help clear those, a weigh-in (he's lost 0.3 lbs, probably all fur!!) and a load of eye drops, which is treatment I have to continue to administer over the next week or so. Bless her, the vet was very understanding: when I asked 'should I keep him in?', her response was that, if he were a mainly indoor cat, she'd bar any outside visits for 10 days. However, she felt that he would be traumatised by being cooped up and as he was in generally good nick he'd be happier if he could roam.

So I let him go when I got back. He bolted for the barn and I thought that'd be the last I'd see of him till the morning earliest. However, 5 minutes later he was out and about and sniffing round Little Cow's food bowls so I took out two sachets of whiskas salmon and watched him wolf down 1.5 sachets in next to no time. Clearly hadn't lost his appetite (indeed, this is normally more wet than he gets all day).

And within 10 mins, whilst I was weeding away in my bedraggled rhubarb patch, guess which forgiving boy decided to come and join his Big Friend to see what was going on and, just maybe, get a belly rub or two? You guessed it - see photos below. You'll see what I mean about his eye in one/ both of them.

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/...inrhubarb1.jpg

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/...inrhubarb2.jpg

What a good and accepting lad he is!! Rest assured, he got quite pampered tonight.
....and Little Cow wasn't forgotten either. There are some very small signs of her warming up to me now, too, though my exclusion zone is still on or around the 30ft mark. But she seems to be having the time of her life on the farm at the moment and that is reward enough in itself. At some point down the line, I shall convince the other members of the house that a couple more ferals need the good life here, too.

Oh my goodness that last picture is heart stopping!

I'm so glad you were able to get him to the vet... and even happier he forgave you so quickly!

Now you must keep us posted on how giving him all those eye drops is going.....

Oh yes, I think that last picture is fantastic . What a gorgeous boy Rudi is. Glad you got him to the vet and yes, let us know how you are managing that eye ointment

Thanks, both.
Eyedrops going fine (he's being pretty calm) and, while it's hard to tell if the conjunctivitis is clearing, the bash he got has definitely gone.
It's a drizzly, grey Bank Holiday in England today - one of the first this year. So when Rudi came around for his supper (and affection), I didn't feel inclined to leave the door open for too long as I didn't want to heat the street. Hence I took a little risk and very gently closed the outside door. Good news: he didn't freak at all. I think this may be because the indoor doors in the house were open, meaning he could still explore.
Anyway, not wanting to push my luck too far I let him wander around for a couple of minutes, made a cup of tea (after all, I am English ;-)), gave him a few 'who's a clever lad, then?' rubs and opened the back door again. He did look quite grateful to be heading outside for freedom, but definite progress made. As I've said before, I want him to make the choice: come in and be happy, be outside and be happy. It will just break my heart if, come the winter, he decides to take up residence under the hedges (not even in the barns: oh no, Rudi likes to really rough it!) and eschews the indoor comforts of our utility room or a nice, dry barn. Whichever way, he's a good cat: he's still a little feisty when playing/ being loved (indeed, I got another didn't-break-the-surface nip on Saturday), but it's not surprising really.
And he even tolerates Little Cow now - he sat watching her eat (from about 40ft away) today. She's becoming quite a little brave one: I've now seen her round the back of the farm chasing mice and it's so funny to watch as she gets into a trance-like state whilst hunting and totally forgets that, less than 20ft away, the Big Scary Giant is chuckling away to himself and gently calling 'Go on, girl, go get that mouse!'.
best to all

AW If they only knew how nice and sweet the Big Scary Giant is . I also try to "sneak" up on my ferals, one step at a time, while they are not looking . It usually works until I get about twelve feet away and then they realize I am too close for comfort. Although, Yogi (I miss him so ) was letting me get soooooo close to him before he went missing. Just keep at it, it can take months or YEARS to make true friends with ferals. Actually, they are the ones who decide when it is time for a Big Scary Giant friend or not.

I'm so sorry about Yogi - am still counting on a miracle for you.

You're so right on the time involved in these things. I've been amazed by many of the stories on this site: the time, patience and love exhibited by people trying to befriend their indoor ferals is astonishing.

But outdoor ferals are a whole new ball-game! Instead of having a room corner to run into or something to hide behind, Little Cow has a few busy old barns that are virtually inaccessible to me or, if needed, 30 odd acres to disappear into. Moreover, cats are clearly all so different - and she's one of the more skittish, it seems, although I'm guessing her circumstances may allow her to be so!

To give an example: a couple of weeks before I got Little Cow and Ruby (wherever she is...though I think I sadly know), the shelter placed three ferals at a c. 10 acre smallholding a few miles from here. Apparently in the first week their keeper/ adopter had no idea they were there except for the odd dead mouse left around...but by the second/ third week, apparently they would pretty much all come running when he turned up from his house a mile or so away to give them their food. I don't believe for a second he got to pet them: but it sounds like they got within 15-20 feet and watched him preparing their chow. This would be magic for me: just close enough to see if there's a problem with the cat and, of course, have a chat.

I think the a-b-c I've put below mean that it will, as you suggest, be a matter of years rather than months before she reaches the 'happy to see me' phase.

a) I tend to free-feed my cats...I don't have really set times and, because I live at the farm, I don't have to make special journeys. That said, I am starting to bring food in at night.
b) she is on her own and hence has her defences up (Rudi and her are on tolerating terms, no more....I think I'm allowed to get closer than he is!)
c) she's just very, very twitchy!

Don't get me wrong, lots of progress made and I'm a patient man. She's now been 'unconfined' at the farm since early November and, in the last 2-3 months, has reached the stage where she doesn't mind us seeing her, as long as we are a long way away. There are also an increasing number of instances like this morning when she is clearly waiting for me to bring her food, but from behind the safety of her barn door (she was at her bowl as soon as I got back in the house). Moreover I love the fact that she sits out on the roof of one of the barns in the sun and lets me talk to her up there....but, again, with the caveat that I am 25-30ft away!

It's a bit like life, I reckon, in that the girls who play harder to get are the ones who attract you more and the ones you spend more time wooing (he says harking back to the days when he cared about these things!!!) Each little knockback steels your resolve more and every little step forward seems like a revelation. But, as you say, feralvr, it'll be her who chooses me and not the other way - so it really is like teenage courtship! And before anyone gets the wrong idea, I've never tried to impress a girl by giving her Whiskas anti-hairball treats.......

Ultimately, seeing her around the farm is enough reward in itself, as she came from a miserable, kitten-filled existence on a lorry park and then spent 15 months in a shelter before she came to us as a c. 2.5 year old.

Sounds like progress to me . Not sure if I already told this story about Chloe, a barn feral, that I trapped about three years ago and got her TNRd and she was released back on the barn property. I fed her each day in an old vacant, run-down house on the barn property. I rarely saw her, just her tail running off when I would bring the food. It took almost eight months for her to feel comfortable at a distance to watch me come in with the food. Then a few more months, she would purposely show herself to me each day. AND almost two years, before she started coming down to the barn where I always was and would sit outside the door. Eventually she would come inside to the barn lounge where we would all be sitting. She would just come in and sit by the door (from the inside) and watch. It took many more days, but she eventually started coming in further and further each day till she reached the couch and jumped up to take a nap It was just an amazing LONG process and she had to do it in her own time, when she was ready. I am no longer at that barn (I sold my horse) but keep in touch with the other cat lover there. Chloe is now an inside barn kitty and stays in the viewing room, kitchen and tack rooms. She does not allow anyone to pet her, but she is at least comfortable with this living arrangement, has daily food, and a warm place to sleep (a couple of nice kitty beds for her). I just think these ferals decide when they have had enough of the harsh, outdoor life and start to make an effort in our direction, almost wanting that connection and relationship. It takes alot of patience on the human's part and alot of trust on the feral's part.

I love this story of Chloe.
It must have been intensely rewarding for you - and it gives me hope that Little Cow will one day be comfortable in our company.
I was telling my dear old Mum, bless her, about LC the other day. Her wise words were 'Give her a nice name, you can't expect her to be friendly if you call her a Little Cow'. Hey, what's an indefinite article between family?

Originally Posted by dunnyboy69

I love this story of Chloe.
It must have been intensely rewarding for you - and it gives me hope that Little Cow will one day be comfortable in our company.
I was telling my dear old Mum, bless her, about LC the other day. Her wise words were 'Give her a nice name, you can't expect her to be friendly if you call her a Little Cow'. Hey, what's an indefinite article between family?

Click to expand...

from the mouth of wisdom . And, frankly , I agree with you Mum. You could keep the "little" part . Little Cutie (cause she is so cute) or Little Cuddles (because someday you want to cuddle her) or Little Cupcake (because you want her to be sweet), Little Cloud (because she can disappear in moments notice ) Good luck with the name, you MUST follow Mum's orders