Ferals in Kuwait

Some of you probably read my first thread on this site, Reuniting two feral cats, the story of Cookie and Aladdin. Well this is Chapter 2.

There are two other cats I've been feeding regularly since I started looking after Cookie and Aladdin. I never got around to naming them because they weren't as personable and didn't come around every day like those two did. After I caught them and brought them inside, these two started coming around a little more regularly.

For the longest time I called the girl "preggo" because she was clearly very pregnant. She seems to have given birth now, but god knows where the kittens are. I've been feeding her regularly and she's been a steady customer ever since my other two came upstairs to live with me.

The boy I just called "the tomcat" because he was big and loud and grouchy. He's dirty and covered in scars from god knows how many battles. The instant he would show up demanding food, Aladdin would high-tail it outta there, as would Cookie. Preggo never paid him any mind, though. Over time I could tell these two were kind of an item....and he's probably responsible for her moniker being Preggo.

Although Preggo became a more consistent customer, Tomcat was the opposite. He started coming around less frequently. Then one day a few weeks back he turned up limping with a hurt paw. 

Bellatrix


Diesel

Diesel's story is just like my cat, but his name stayed Tom. This scruffy Tom cat who stayed intact as I could never pick him up just walked into my house one day with all his battle scars and retired himself to the good life. I'd been feeding him and trying to capture him, he was too smart for any trap. After seeing his injuries from fight after fight I started leaving the front door open and he just waltzed in one day and never left.

hexiesfriend said:

Diesel's story is just like my cat, but his name stayed Tom. This scruffy Tom cat who stayed intact as I could never pick him up just walked into my house one day with all his battle scars and retired himself to the good life. I'd been feeding him and trying to capture him, he was too smart for any trap. After seeing his injuries from fight after fight I started leaving the front door open and he just waltzed in one day and never left.

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• hexiesfriend
• Sep 28, 2015

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Too funny! We had a battle scarred ruffian appear in our house in the Philippines one day. Hard to explain unless you see the house and know the climate there, but our house is mostly air cooled (no AC) thus we have a lot of Windows, doors, gates, and other architectural features that allow our cats to come and go as they please. This does mean the occasional neighborhood stray cat (or dog!) shows up and makes themselves at home. This cat appeared on my kitchen counter one day in the middle of our other cats and dogs, not even batting a whisker as he yelled at me demanding food. That night he found his way into our bedroom and woke us up at 3am with a bloodcurdling warble. LOL

The next morning he let me pick him up. I took him straight to the vet for blood work and neutering. When they asked me his name I realized I hadn't given him one yet, but one look at his half battle-worn, half mange-eaten face with perfect pale green almond eyes...I dubbed him Scarface.

It's like these Toms know when it's time to retire and let another Tom take over the neighborhood. Tom came in picked the prettiest rug I had, and plopped down on it and started making biscuits. Though he never let me pick him up he would let me scratch all over and rub his belly. It got where he became just like a small child and would howl his tomcat meow whenever id get on the phone and as long as I went over to him and put my hand on his head he'd quiet down. It was the funniest thing. Tomcat to crybaby. I spoiled him rotten!!!

This is Scarface about 2 months after he moved in.


And this is what he looks like now.

Wow he's got the good life now!! He looks great. They also end up being the most affectionate of all cats. Ive had cats for over 30 years now and the rougher their former life the sweeter they are to the one that takes them in!!

I was just reading alot about different cat breeds. I don't know much except for what i just read. It seems to me that diesel looks just like a turkish van because he's all white except for his head and striped tail and he has the typical head markings. What do you think?

juleska said:

And this is what he looks like now.

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• juleska
• Sep 28, 2015

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Wow, what a difference!  Lucky boy to be in your care.  

Well Bella and Diesel have not been cooperating with my feeding schedule. Unlike Cookie and Aladdin before them, they are almost never there at the same time and only half the time together....so I have to keep checking back to get them fed. Sometimes I don't see them for days. I didn't see Diesel for 2 weeks recently.

I'm really worried about his front right paw. He's been hobbling on his front leg for several weeks now, maybe almost a month. There's no visible external injury, no broken skin I can see, he just can't bear any weight on it, and it doesn't seem to be getting better. Makes me wonder if it's broken?

I can't do anything about it right now. He won't let me near enough to catch him, and I don't have time to work on a trap (trap would be hard anyway because he's not consistent with his feeding schedule). I'm leaving on vacation in less than a week and don't have time to try and catch him to get him to the vet before I go. I've got someone who will be feeding him and Bella while I'm gone, as well as looking after Cookie and Aladdin. Whatever's going on with his paw I just pray he can hang on until I get back, then I can try and get him to the vet.

yummy520 said:

I was just reading alot about different cat breeds. I don't know much except for what i just read. It seems to me that diesel looks just like a turkish van because he's all white except for his head and striped tail and he has the typical head markings. What do you think?

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Turkish Vans are a longhair breed with a very specific type of coat, so no, Diesel isn't a Turkish Van. What he does have is the van pattern which is color on the head and tail This is a pattern that can occur in a number of different breeds including the random cat population. It's a very striking look on Diesel. :heart4:

GoldyCat said:

Turkish Vans are a longhair breed with a very specific type of coat, so no, Diesel isn't a Turkish Van. What he does have is the van pattern which is color on the head and tail This is a pattern that can occur in a number of different breeds including the random cat population. It's a very striking look on Diesel.

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I confess, I've had strays and mixed breeds my whole life, so I'm not highly educated in the various breeds or breed markings. It's interesting you note that pattern, though, because a LOT of our cats in the Philippines have similar markings. Scarface is one of them. He's mostly white with the orange tabby markings on the head, orange tail, and a splotch on his back. My other name for Scarface is Maneki Neko, because he looks like the Japanese lucky-cat. Those markings are highly prevalent in Japan and Asia in general. Suppose the breed trait traveled the Silk Road?

Interesting stuff....