- Joined
- Jul 16, 2015
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Good afternoon. I have been reading the forum here this week as I've had a chance due to a question I had about a feral cat. I like to think I know most of what I need to know about ferals and strays but they can always find something new to throw at you. I've been owned by cats since I was a child. I currently have 5 indoor cats who are established, one semi-feral that we are currently introducing to life inside and right now a backyard colony of about 5 sometimes 6 or 7 feral cats. All of our indoor cats were strays or ferals at some time in their life with the exception of one cat that we "stole" from a neighbor. The cat actually chose us over the neighbor but I don't think the neighbor realizes we have the cat.
Six months after we moved into our current home a very tiny, young orange tabby male kitten chose us as his family. Not long after that I felt he needed a companion so I adopted a beautiful stray that looked like a Himalayan. She was at an adoption clinic being held at PetSmart and I fell in love with her. Our tabby, Hobbes did as well. He was fascinated by her long fluffy tail.
A few years later a little calico started showing up in our yard. I don't know that she was completely feral, but if not she did not have a happy home life because she did not trust me at all. It took almost 4 months in some of the harshest parts of winter (if one can call Georgia winters harsh) before she would let me even touch her. When I finally reached the time when I could pet her I decided to get her to the vet for testing and shots. She had other ideas and when I turned to put her in the carrier she twisted around and bit me and ran off. I ended up in the hospital for 3 days but eventually she consented to living indoors and she and I were truly bonded.
Our next cats were kittens (my avatar here) and they wandered out of a landfill and found my husband on the loading dock where he worked. They meowed at him and he scooped them up and put them in a box with some food and brought them home. About this time, or just before, our Himalayan, Selena, died of CHF.
Not long after that a black, medium haired male cat began coming to our backyard. It was in the winter again and I started feeding him. One cold February morning my husband asked me if I thought I could catch him. Barnabus was probably a stray because he had no trouble letting me hold him. He became our next indoor cat. At about the same time, our next door neighbor who we thought had adopted the neighborhood stray, moved and left Sam behind. He came to us and asked if he could live with us. Of course we said yes but told him he'd have to live inside and have his male bits removed. He thought that was a fair trade and he moved in. Sam developed asthma and required twice daily doses of Flovent and Albuterol as needed when he had an attack. A few years later he was found to have an osteosarcoma on his rib. We had his rib and part of his chest wall removed and he lived another 5 years. Not long after Sam was diagnosed with cancer, Hobbes was diagnosed as diabetic. We lost Sam first and then maybe 6 months later Hobbes died. Hobbes was about 13 years old when he died.
This was about the same time the neighbor's cat moved in with us. His name is Spagola and he is a black and white "cow" cat. About 6 years ago on a cold January morning I left to go to work and discovered very tiny paw prints in the snow. I looked around and found a Mamma cat living under the playhouse in our back yard. She had 5 little kittens. I began feeding her and her babies. When they were old enough to care of themselves, Mamma disappeared and one of the kittens left as well. Mamma was a black cat with a bob tailed and three of the five kittens were bob-tailed and all were black. We fed and cared for the 4 kittens who stayed but they were well instructed by Mamma and they remained feral. About six months later Mamma came back and brought with her 2 more black kittens - she had a strong color line. I've lost track of who is who and where they all came and went from but Mamma and one of the kittens disappeared for about 1 1/2 years then returned and we had a lot more kittens. I managed to trap one female, all of the original litter of kittens and a stray male that had come around because of the food we were leaving out. All were spay/neutered and received rabies and distemper shots. About a year later Mamma returned one last time and left us with six adorable kittens - 4 calicos, 4 tabbies and 2 black cats. When Mamma left this time she never returned.
All told, we have had neutered/spayed and vaccinated 16 cats. One of the original bob tailed cats came into the house and has heart bonded with my husband. My heart cat, the calico, died this past March. Last weekend we brought in the second of the bob-tailed cats. He is currently being integrated into the household. This has taken several hours for me to post. I'll stop here because I think you have a lot of information on me and my cats. Thanks for reading this far.
Six months after we moved into our current home a very tiny, young orange tabby male kitten chose us as his family. Not long after that I felt he needed a companion so I adopted a beautiful stray that looked like a Himalayan. She was at an adoption clinic being held at PetSmart and I fell in love with her. Our tabby, Hobbes did as well. He was fascinated by her long fluffy tail.
A few years later a little calico started showing up in our yard. I don't know that she was completely feral, but if not she did not have a happy home life because she did not trust me at all. It took almost 4 months in some of the harshest parts of winter (if one can call Georgia winters harsh) before she would let me even touch her. When I finally reached the time when I could pet her I decided to get her to the vet for testing and shots. She had other ideas and when I turned to put her in the carrier she twisted around and bit me and ran off. I ended up in the hospital for 3 days but eventually she consented to living indoors and she and I were truly bonded.
Our next cats were kittens (my avatar here) and they wandered out of a landfill and found my husband on the loading dock where he worked. They meowed at him and he scooped them up and put them in a box with some food and brought them home. About this time, or just before, our Himalayan, Selena, died of CHF.
Not long after that a black, medium haired male cat began coming to our backyard. It was in the winter again and I started feeding him. One cold February morning my husband asked me if I thought I could catch him. Barnabus was probably a stray because he had no trouble letting me hold him. He became our next indoor cat. At about the same time, our next door neighbor who we thought had adopted the neighborhood stray, moved and left Sam behind. He came to us and asked if he could live with us. Of course we said yes but told him he'd have to live inside and have his male bits removed. He thought that was a fair trade and he moved in. Sam developed asthma and required twice daily doses of Flovent and Albuterol as needed when he had an attack. A few years later he was found to have an osteosarcoma on his rib. We had his rib and part of his chest wall removed and he lived another 5 years. Not long after Sam was diagnosed with cancer, Hobbes was diagnosed as diabetic. We lost Sam first and then maybe 6 months later Hobbes died. Hobbes was about 13 years old when he died.
This was about the same time the neighbor's cat moved in with us. His name is Spagola and he is a black and white "cow" cat. About 6 years ago on a cold January morning I left to go to work and discovered very tiny paw prints in the snow. I looked around and found a Mamma cat living under the playhouse in our back yard. She had 5 little kittens. I began feeding her and her babies. When they were old enough to care of themselves, Mamma disappeared and one of the kittens left as well. Mamma was a black cat with a bob tailed and three of the five kittens were bob-tailed and all were black. We fed and cared for the 4 kittens who stayed but they were well instructed by Mamma and they remained feral. About six months later Mamma came back and brought with her 2 more black kittens - she had a strong color line. I've lost track of who is who and where they all came and went from but Mamma and one of the kittens disappeared for about 1 1/2 years then returned and we had a lot more kittens. I managed to trap one female, all of the original litter of kittens and a stray male that had come around because of the food we were leaving out. All were spay/neutered and received rabies and distemper shots. About a year later Mamma returned one last time and left us with six adorable kittens - 4 calicos, 4 tabbies and 2 black cats. When Mamma left this time she never returned.
All told, we have had neutered/spayed and vaccinated 16 cats. One of the original bob tailed cats came into the house and has heart bonded with my husband. My heart cat, the calico, died this past March. Last weekend we brought in the second of the bob-tailed cats. He is currently being integrated into the household. This has taken several hours for me to post. I'll stop here because I think you have a lot of information on me and my cats. Thanks for reading this far.
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