Friend of Ferals Award Badge - Apply Here

gloriajh

FERAl born “Pepper”
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
2,027
Purraise
66
Location
CA - Desert
 
 
 do you have any pictures?
Me? I do, but I haven't transferred them over to my new computer just yet.  I'd hurriedly backed everything up to a portable hard drive that was waaay more complicated to use than I'd anticipated, so now I'm afraid to touch it 
 I guess I just found myself an excuse to spend a little time tormenting the kitties with the camera!  My two, that is.  The ferals are still highly skittish.  They'll let me observe them from behind my glass sliding door (their feeding station is close to the door, I sit on the floor near the door and try to get them used to presence), but so far I'm only allowed to glance in their direction.  I spend most of that time with my head bowed or looking off to the side.  If I look at them longer than a few seconds they tense up and prepare to flee.  The youngest is the most tolerant, but I am still walking on eggshells with that one, too.  I wish I had a way of communicating Food = Friend.  Why am I feeding you, silly things, if I mean you harm?  Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose.  And we've actually made progress over the past few months, just veeeery slowly.
 
Isn't it amazing how that happens?  I've had people tell me I must have a secret cat sign up by my driveway telling them that this is a safe haven and come on in.
Yes!  Like those symbols hobos would scratch into the dirt in front of a house they could count on for a hot meal, cats must have a way of communicating, "This person is a sucker for cats and you'll make out well here!"  
Hooray for the "Suckers" of the world - we're making a difference, even if it's just one little hungry life, it's so worth it!  
 

1craziercatlady

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
9
Purraise
6
Location
Las Cruces, NM
ok so....my work with feral cats started many years ago where i grew up (Fla) where ignorant humans would drop off their unwanted pets by the lake behind my house. soon I discovered i had a knack for getting these little guys (& gals) to come to me. Oh, it wasn't as easy as "here kitty kitty" but they weren't as afraid of me as they were of what lurked in those waters. I don't recall spay & neuter as such a big thing back then so didn't really know about population control. Now thru years of trial and error i have 7 colonies by the river here in Las Cruces NM, where I've lived for the past 10 years. Over the past 25 years i have adopted out nearly 400 feral and domestic ferals cats with 27 returns for various "adaption" issues, tho these 25 have done extremely well in other placements. What do i do beside feed them? I work very hard to socialize these cats to different types of environments,, for example, exposure to dogs, thanks to my friend Tina for her very loving Chow, those who socialize wellget exposed to collars, then harnesses and finally the leash...this is so they can still know the outdoors but safely. They are, of course, spayed & neutered and given their shots a.s.a.p. and if they're old enough they are combo tested (and please for all of you who don't know, if you combo tes prior to 6 months and get a + result, DON"T set the result in stone, especially with FIP, as all kittens are exposed to the corona virus and this often causes what is called a false positive). Because FeLV is contracted thru long term exposure to cats with it, i have a friend in the area who handles these cats. Cats with FIV/FIP either gome have amazingly long lives to carefully screened knowledgable individuals or live their lives out with me personally. Some have amazingly long lives (given the nature of these diseases) and, unfortunately some make their Bridge journey at a young age. TNR has just become somewhat legal here (in Jan) but the demands they have placed are what is designed (I believe) for failure so they can keep up the high kill rate of these mysterious and unpredictable creatures so those of in the community that have had negative dealings with the local animal control still tend to do what we do "under the radar" because we don't believe for a second that these cats are at all safe from those with ill intent towards the feral population. Our work will continue no matter what :)
 

1craziercatlady

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
9
Purraise
6
Location
Las Cruces, NM
should have done a better job at finding the edit button :( some how some of those sentences wound up in the wrong place...sorry, new to how this works
 

icey bolt

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 2, 2014
Messages
132
Purraise
7
I'm new to this site.just wondering if there is something I'm supposed to do other than my stories to apply for the badge? Pics :greenpaw: happy Mother's Day!
 

1craziercatlady

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
9
Purraise
6
Location
Las Cruces, NM
not sure...just got here today myself and i haven't even figured out how to upload more than 1 pic at a time lol. my lack of attention span won't let me sit here that long:lol3:
 

1craziercatlady

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
9
Purraise
6
Location
Las Cruces, NM
so it says but it doesn't say how to do it if you're using a netbook that "thinks" it's a smartphone...i can't access files the way it says to do it...or if i can i can't find them :lol3: Thanks tho :)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #189

Anne

Site Owner
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Admin
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On TCS
ok so....my work with feral cats started many years ago where i grew up (Fla) where ignorant humans would drop off their unwanted pets by the lake behind my house. soon I discovered i had a knack for getting these little guys (& gals) to come to me. Oh, it wasn't as easy as "here kitty kitty" but they weren't as afraid of me as they were of what lurked in those waters. I don't recall spay & neuter as such a big thing back then so didn't really know about population control. Now thru years of trial and error i have 7 colonies by the river here in Las Cruces NM, where I've lived for the past 10 years. Over the past 25 years i have adopted out nearly 400 feral and domestic ferals cats with 27 returns for various "adaption" issues, tho these 25 have done extremely well in other placements. What do i do beside feed them? I work very hard to socialize these cats to different types of environments,, for example, exposure to dogs, thanks to my friend Tina for her very loving Chow, those who socialize wellget exposed to collars, then harnesses and finally the leash...this is so they can still know the outdoors but safely. They are, of course, spayed & neutered and given their shots a.s.a.p. and if they're old enough they are combo tested (and please for all of you who don't know, if you combo tes prior to 6 months and get a + result, DON"T set the result in stone, especially with FIP, as all kittens are exposed to the corona virus and this often causes what is called a false positive). Because FeLV is contracted thru long term exposure to cats with it, i have a friend in the area who handles these cats. Cats with FIV/FIP either gome have amazingly long lives to carefully screened knowledgable individuals or live their lives out with me personally. Some have amazingly long lives (given the nature of these diseases) and, unfortunately some make their Bridge journey at a young age. TNR has just become somewhat legal here (in Jan) but the demands they have placed are what is designed (I believe) for failure so they can keep up the high kill rate of these mysterious and unpredictable creatures so those of in the community that have had negative dealings with the local animal control still tend to do what we do "under the radar" because we don't believe for a second that these cats are at all safe from those with ill intent towards the feral population. Our work will continue no matter what
Wow, you have quite the rescue organization going! Well done! 


So good to have you here with us - I hope you stick around and share advice based on your vast experience!

Badge awarded, of course.
 

1craziercatlady

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
9
Purraise
6
Location
Las Cruces, NM
I'm sorry...maybe it's a description of the work you do with your ferals that's being asked for, I'm not really sure but if you work with the feral population in your area that's fantastic!! they really are in need of loving hearts
 

icey bolt

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 2, 2014
Messages
132
Purraise
7
I don't know but I briefly shared how I cared for and found homes for ferals and not even an acknowledgement from site owner. Trying to figure out how to delete my account but looks like I can't :/. This site is just not what I expected.
 

1craziercatlady

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
9
Purraise
6
Location
Las Cruces, NM
it's a small group here it looks like tho lots of visitors... please don't give up on them, you've only been here a few days and you know how things like this work....you have to put it out there on your social sites,, get people interested, entice them to join up if they're cat peeps and have them share their stories & experiences with their beloved felines. there's quite a bit to be learned here and plenty of room for healthy advice it seems like...and heck, even after all the years i've been working with cats i learned something about giardia, which i never heard of :)
 

sweetthangtx

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Messages
126
Purraise
25
Location
San Antonio Texas
We have been caring for a colony of cats for about two years now. We have taken four inside to make that population six. There are about a dozen or so thst live outside. All of the outside cats have access to the laundry room via a pet flap. About half of the outside cats are very social and tame. I am able to give them meds and treat them for parasites. The best part is that I can stroke them and let them know how much I love them.

There are three wild and wooly toms and at least two youngsters that are probably pregnant.

We have been doing TNR and had things under control until a couple of weeks ago. Suddenly there are about half a dozen new cats at our place.

We have been in the throes of a family situation that had taken us away from home for most of the last couple of weeks. I am eager to get the new kids on the block into traps and out of the baby making business. I would rather trap and neuter five or six now than a dozen or more later.

I love this site and learn so much from it. I don't know why I couldn't figure out how these cats always seem to find us. I may have to start sprit zing my tame cats butts with Chanel # 5 so they don't bring so many new friends back to the table.

I'll take a badge if you have any extras. I'll also raise my glass to all of those who do so much for cats. Every cat that I feed blesses me in some way. I enjoy watching the way that they treat one another. A lot of people could learn from feral cats!
 

icey bolt

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 2, 2014
Messages
132
Purraise
7
Thanks again.im sure I'll stick around. The little things having been hurting me personally lately due to some personal struggles and today the loss of one of my fur babies.thanks for you concern :)
 

catspaw66

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
5,508
Purraise
1,616
Location
Waldron, Arkansas
Thanks again.im sure I'll stick around. The little things having been hurting me personally lately due to some personal struggles and today the loss of one of my fur babies.thanks for you concern
I'm glad to hear you are staying here. My heart goes out to you on losing one of your fur babies. I wrote you a PM about 3 hours ago, but I see it never went through. If you want to, I am available through PM to help you cope.
 

catwoman707

TCS Member
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Joined
Dec 16, 2011
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Location
Vallejo, CA
Thanks again.im sure I'll stick around. The little things having been hurting me personally lately due to some personal struggles and today the loss of one of my fur babies.thanks for you concern
Oh...I'm so sorry you lost one of your babies:( How awfully sad for you, so many of us here know that feeling, unfortunately.

Big hugs for your other furry kids, always make sure they know how loved they are.

Sometimes it is the plan, for what reason, we just don't know.

I also read how you and a friend helped the strays out at your apts. Those apt complexes are quite often a great place for people and former tenants to dump or abandon their cats, this is just so sad to me. Imagine how they felt......

Sometime soon you should look into getting them fixed. If they are tame, they can be rehomed, maybe a local rescue group?

This way you are contributing to controlling the cat overpopulation, as well as stopping the cats fighting and marking, all of that!!
 
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