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.
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 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
(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.
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.
from the mouth of wisdom
, I agree with you Mum. You could keep the "little" part
