Help! I received a warning from animal control taped to my front door that only 3 cats are allowed per house, but I have 14 foster cats (plus 3 cats of my own, plus 3 dogs) as a result of a massive TNR effort in which I have sterilized 160 cats from two adjacent colonies, provided insulated shelters, and covered feeding stations. Most of these cats would have died. I do not know how long I have to remove these cats from the premises but at $10/day I could not board 13 cats for very long.
I am hoping someone reads this who knows someone who knows someone who has a barn and wants barn cats. 6 of them will make good mousers. A shelter in Howell said they'd take my cerebellum hyperplasia cat. That leaves 7 house cats looking for famlies. Here are descriptions:
The 6 barn cats are all female:
Miss Lydia looks like a little cougar. She was taken in as a juvenile in the middle of a cold, cold January and was so undersized I thought she was 3 months old. Actually it is more likely she was 5 or 6 months old. She made friends with the other fosters by deliberately playing with a ball and making them jealous. Pretty soon they all wanted to play with her and she became popular. I was doing the bulk of my TNR at the time so I could not spend time with her then. I spayed her at a later date and she became more laid back after that. After she was 8 months old I found someone with a teenaged daughter to spend a week cuddling her. She loves to be petted if she's lazing around (but not if she's busy playing floor hocky with a bottle cap or chasing a fly!) She licks her chops and snaps her teeth in anticipation of fly dinner should a hapless bug get into the house. She has the instinct to run when she is approached but you can come right up to her if you don't look at her or if she's half asleep. She doesn't come to you. Her life is complete with her cat buddies. She is likely to be a fantastic mouser.
Miss Paige is a black and white cat from a colony of nice, gentle black and white cats. She was taken in a month after Lydia, also as an undersized juvenile. Paige never became partially socialized because she hid behind Katrina, a feral juvenile who spit and consistently expressed dislike of humans (Katrina has already been adopted out with 3 friends to a barn home). Without Katrina to hide behind, Paige started to develope her own confidence, but she is still very timid compared to other cats. It would be difficult to ever get close enough to pet her.
Miss Willa is a slender, grey juvenile of 9-10 months. She quakes in her boots if you look straight at her. She cries if you try to catch her. She shakes in your arms and may scratch trying to get traction to escape. However, she is gentle and does not deliberately try to hurt you. Willa is submissive and seemed so lost and alone when most of the cats hissed at the newbie. She curled up next to Lydia, who did not hiss and offered her some comfort on her first day. Willa is more timid than Paige, both with people, but even with other cats. She was too skinny to have survived the winter outdoors.
Miss Pilar is a black adult of 2 years. She was taken in as an adult before the first shelters were built when winter was upon us. I never had time to work with her, I would only pantomine a pet every day to ask her if I might, and one day, she let me! She used to :censor::censor::censor::censor: her head at me, watch me, and try to puzzle out if I was friend or foe. After 5 months, she self-tamed, and let me pet her anywhere, even on her belly. She is a mature and intelligent cat. She has the instinct to run when approached, but if she's all cozy and doesn't want to move or if you approach without looking at her, then you can pet her. I have never picked her up and I'm sure that would be a problem for her. I love her to pieces.
Miss Francine (Frankie) is a grouch. She was trapped as an adult when there were no winter shelters built yet and she pouted about it for months. SHe would not let me pet her and she makes discouraging noises if I pantomine a pet to her even now. She is black. I wondered if she would be happier replaced with her original colony, even after 1.5 years? Another friend in rescue said that returning her after all this time would be mean. She gets along with the other cats but I have never seen her play. She likes to sit on the winow seat and watch.
Miss Gillian is a diminutive black cat taken in at 5 weeks, who used to sit on my lap and play with my necklace, but started consorting with the ferals and now can't be caught. She was a popular juvenile, playing bottle cap floor hockey with Lydia, and getting groomed by my neutered males when she was in heat (couldn't afford to spay her prmptly). After she was spayed she blended in with the woodwork. She does not come to me and she prefers to hang out with the other barn cats as listed here in my basement. I have great difficulty picking her out from my other black cats so I can't tell you much about her once she settled down. She would obviously be gentle enough to pet if you could catch her, and she would purr. She could use someone with the time to catch her and pet her, poor confused girlie. In the right environment, she could even become tame again. There's no telling.
I am unwilling to adopt out a single one at a time as they are very social and will need a buddy to be with them when they are scared. However, anyone who only wants one should say so anyway because if the choice becomes euthenasia or a single cat situation, the cats and I vote for life.
Does anyone know if a prior industrial (city) cat who is now an indoor feral can survive the country? My concern is foxes and coyotes...
Adoptable house cats:
Phillip - Mr. Friendly, black, rear leg lameness, absolutely sweet and friendly even to newcomer cats. Always has a cheerful churr to welcome you and a head butt. Friendsly with dogs too. Knows his name and sometimes comes when called.
Gracie - graceful as her name. If you put your hand out to pet a cat before it descends, her head will be under it. Silver tiger with pale blue eyes, little white snout. She knows her name and sometimes comes if called. She was rescued days before death from an upper respiratory- pneumonia combination in the cold of winter. She hates the outside with good reason. She is good friend with Phillip. Gracie is very mature and thoughtful.
Rupert - Nosy Norman. Black, male, 2 years, playful male with a suprisingly high pitched voice. He loves to sleep at your side and inspect everything you're doing. He would really miss having buddies were he a only cat. He doesn't really like dogs.
Misty - Pretty black kitten, 10 months, loves Phillip and Rupert. Has been seen rubbing her head on Rupert, was observed warning a new female foster away from "her" male, Phillip. She is playful and creative but looks solumn and diminutive.
Rein - Homely black kitten, 10 months, sister of Misty. Nick-named Vampirella, Rein is so affectionate that she sticks her nose up your nose, and into your ear, while nuzzing, then licks your neck. It grows on you. What would a day be like without a serious cat cuddle!
Martin - 7 month old tiger kitten, skinny and tall, he will be a large cat. Playful, confident, adventuresome, used to lots of cats, doesn't much like dogs.
Perry Bear - a very gentle orange and white male who is very, very shy. You must pull him out from under the bed to pet him every day for awhile but once he gets used to you he will knead you, head butt, and snuggle.
I am from Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. I have a friend in Brighton I am asking to check out any offers of barn homes for me, so we could probably take advantage of any offer from Detroit to Lansing. If I get extra offers, I have quite a few friends looking for barn homes too (such as an 84 year old woman with 15 indoor ferals who can't care for them anymore).
Thanks, everyone.
P.S. If anyone living near me wants to help with TNR, I am helping out a couple of retired ladies now with a colony of 60 and can always use help.
I am hoping someone reads this who knows someone who knows someone who has a barn and wants barn cats. 6 of them will make good mousers. A shelter in Howell said they'd take my cerebellum hyperplasia cat. That leaves 7 house cats looking for famlies. Here are descriptions:
The 6 barn cats are all female:
Miss Lydia looks like a little cougar. She was taken in as a juvenile in the middle of a cold, cold January and was so undersized I thought she was 3 months old. Actually it is more likely she was 5 or 6 months old. She made friends with the other fosters by deliberately playing with a ball and making them jealous. Pretty soon they all wanted to play with her and she became popular. I was doing the bulk of my TNR at the time so I could not spend time with her then. I spayed her at a later date and she became more laid back after that. After she was 8 months old I found someone with a teenaged daughter to spend a week cuddling her. She loves to be petted if she's lazing around (but not if she's busy playing floor hocky with a bottle cap or chasing a fly!) She licks her chops and snaps her teeth in anticipation of fly dinner should a hapless bug get into the house. She has the instinct to run when she is approached but you can come right up to her if you don't look at her or if she's half asleep. She doesn't come to you. Her life is complete with her cat buddies. She is likely to be a fantastic mouser.
Miss Paige is a black and white cat from a colony of nice, gentle black and white cats. She was taken in a month after Lydia, also as an undersized juvenile. Paige never became partially socialized because she hid behind Katrina, a feral juvenile who spit and consistently expressed dislike of humans (Katrina has already been adopted out with 3 friends to a barn home). Without Katrina to hide behind, Paige started to develope her own confidence, but she is still very timid compared to other cats. It would be difficult to ever get close enough to pet her.
Miss Willa is a slender, grey juvenile of 9-10 months. She quakes in her boots if you look straight at her. She cries if you try to catch her. She shakes in your arms and may scratch trying to get traction to escape. However, she is gentle and does not deliberately try to hurt you. Willa is submissive and seemed so lost and alone when most of the cats hissed at the newbie. She curled up next to Lydia, who did not hiss and offered her some comfort on her first day. Willa is more timid than Paige, both with people, but even with other cats. She was too skinny to have survived the winter outdoors.
Miss Pilar is a black adult of 2 years. She was taken in as an adult before the first shelters were built when winter was upon us. I never had time to work with her, I would only pantomine a pet every day to ask her if I might, and one day, she let me! She used to :censor::censor::censor::censor: her head at me, watch me, and try to puzzle out if I was friend or foe. After 5 months, she self-tamed, and let me pet her anywhere, even on her belly. She is a mature and intelligent cat. She has the instinct to run when approached, but if she's all cozy and doesn't want to move or if you approach without looking at her, then you can pet her. I have never picked her up and I'm sure that would be a problem for her. I love her to pieces.
Miss Francine (Frankie) is a grouch. She was trapped as an adult when there were no winter shelters built yet and she pouted about it for months. SHe would not let me pet her and she makes discouraging noises if I pantomine a pet to her even now. She is black. I wondered if she would be happier replaced with her original colony, even after 1.5 years? Another friend in rescue said that returning her after all this time would be mean. She gets along with the other cats but I have never seen her play. She likes to sit on the winow seat and watch.
Miss Gillian is a diminutive black cat taken in at 5 weeks, who used to sit on my lap and play with my necklace, but started consorting with the ferals and now can't be caught. She was a popular juvenile, playing bottle cap floor hockey with Lydia, and getting groomed by my neutered males when she was in heat (couldn't afford to spay her prmptly). After she was spayed she blended in with the woodwork. She does not come to me and she prefers to hang out with the other barn cats as listed here in my basement. I have great difficulty picking her out from my other black cats so I can't tell you much about her once she settled down. She would obviously be gentle enough to pet if you could catch her, and she would purr. She could use someone with the time to catch her and pet her, poor confused girlie. In the right environment, she could even become tame again. There's no telling.
I am unwilling to adopt out a single one at a time as they are very social and will need a buddy to be with them when they are scared. However, anyone who only wants one should say so anyway because if the choice becomes euthenasia or a single cat situation, the cats and I vote for life.
Does anyone know if a prior industrial (city) cat who is now an indoor feral can survive the country? My concern is foxes and coyotes...
Adoptable house cats:
Phillip - Mr. Friendly, black, rear leg lameness, absolutely sweet and friendly even to newcomer cats. Always has a cheerful churr to welcome you and a head butt. Friendsly with dogs too. Knows his name and sometimes comes when called.
Gracie - graceful as her name. If you put your hand out to pet a cat before it descends, her head will be under it. Silver tiger with pale blue eyes, little white snout. She knows her name and sometimes comes if called. She was rescued days before death from an upper respiratory- pneumonia combination in the cold of winter. She hates the outside with good reason. She is good friend with Phillip. Gracie is very mature and thoughtful.
Rupert - Nosy Norman. Black, male, 2 years, playful male with a suprisingly high pitched voice. He loves to sleep at your side and inspect everything you're doing. He would really miss having buddies were he a only cat. He doesn't really like dogs.
Misty - Pretty black kitten, 10 months, loves Phillip and Rupert. Has been seen rubbing her head on Rupert, was observed warning a new female foster away from "her" male, Phillip. She is playful and creative but looks solumn and diminutive.
Rein - Homely black kitten, 10 months, sister of Misty. Nick-named Vampirella, Rein is so affectionate that she sticks her nose up your nose, and into your ear, while nuzzing, then licks your neck. It grows on you. What would a day be like without a serious cat cuddle!
Martin - 7 month old tiger kitten, skinny and tall, he will be a large cat. Playful, confident, adventuresome, used to lots of cats, doesn't much like dogs.
Perry Bear - a very gentle orange and white male who is very, very shy. You must pull him out from under the bed to pet him every day for awhile but once he gets used to you he will knead you, head butt, and snuggle.
I am from Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. I have a friend in Brighton I am asking to check out any offers of barn homes for me, so we could probably take advantage of any offer from Detroit to Lansing. If I get extra offers, I have quite a few friends looking for barn homes too (such as an 84 year old woman with 15 indoor ferals who can't care for them anymore).
Thanks, everyone.
P.S. If anyone living near me wants to help with TNR, I am helping out a couple of retired ladies now with a colony of 60 and can always use help.
