Hi everyone and thanks to all for being here. I love cats but they've all been ferals. My wife is allergic so they can't be in the house (they live in my barn) although we've been doing poodle rescue for years and currently have 4 of them running around our new grandson. I became addicted to cats a few years ago when a feral "adopted" me and my barn. She had apparently been there for months without my knowing it. Once discovered, it took a LOT of work to get her friendly until finally she became a lap cat....but only for me.Since then I've adopted other ferals and I've been helping "turn" other difficult cats into friendly ones so that they can be adopted.
Saturday, I'm getting an 8 month old calico with a very bad attitude. I hope to turn her into a far more gentle cat so that the rescue group can place her. After that will be a 6 year old "fraidy cat" who has been given up on (badly mistreated and locked away for years). I hope to help her as well. That's the good news. Last fall I took a four month old kitten (third generation feral) who was mildly aggressive and defensive and within 6 weeks got her to be an adorable friend who today, shares a home owned by a retired doctor, another cat and two dogs. Her new owner is constantly amused that she had to go to reform school.
The sad news is that on Saturday, my 4 year old previous feral turned lap cat never came back from an afternoon exploration. Maybe a car, maybe a coyote....not sure. But he (Bullwinkle) ruled the barn for a long time. I hope he's just a little lost but my heart tells me it's not so. His companion (Sara) is struggling with him being missing and, not surprisingly, she is suddenly more friendly. For the first time last night, I could feed her from my hand and pet her while she ate. That never happened before.
Anyway, I'm hoping that I can contribute here in some small way and, of course, learn a whole lot from all of you.
Thanks for listening. I appreciate it.
Saturday, I'm getting an 8 month old calico with a very bad attitude. I hope to turn her into a far more gentle cat so that the rescue group can place her. After that will be a 6 year old "fraidy cat" who has been given up on (badly mistreated and locked away for years). I hope to help her as well. That's the good news. Last fall I took a four month old kitten (third generation feral) who was mildly aggressive and defensive and within 6 weeks got her to be an adorable friend who today, shares a home owned by a retired doctor, another cat and two dogs. Her new owner is constantly amused that she had to go to reform school.
The sad news is that on Saturday, my 4 year old previous feral turned lap cat never came back from an afternoon exploration. Maybe a car, maybe a coyote....not sure. But he (Bullwinkle) ruled the barn for a long time. I hope he's just a little lost but my heart tells me it's not so. His companion (Sara) is struggling with him being missing and, not surprisingly, she is suddenly more friendly. For the first time last night, I could feed her from my hand and pet her while she ate. That never happened before.
Anyway, I'm hoping that I can contribute here in some small way and, of course, learn a whole lot from all of you.
Thanks for listening. I appreciate it.
