Hi & Thanks!

Hi! What a fabulous site! I'm not only new here, I'm new to cats, and am thanking all of you who have posted helpful items. A stray adopted us - well, sort of. Our home (an RV) is too small to confine us, let alone a cat, but she's adopted us nonetheless. We give her food, water, treats, healthcare, shelter in a storm and lots of love. There's a bed here for her when she wants it, but she loves the outdoors. We live full time in our RV, which has been parked in a farm community where lots of cats have gone stray/feral. "Our" stray kept raiding the garbage cans near us last fall. We tossed her some cheese a few days in a row and that was it. Any time we were out she came around meowing (although it took weeks for her to come near us and begin to trust us). It took about a month to gain enough confidence to be able to pick her up - but now she loves to be groomed (not bathed!) and to fall asleep on my lap while I pet her. Turns out she likely wasn't a barn cat. Once we'd been handling her for a week or so we took her to the vet for a check up and to be spayed. The vet informed us she is a pure bred Maine Coon cat and was already spayed! And except for her cat shape and some white under her chin, and on her belly and paws she looks like a racoon! There's a new feral family in the woods behind us - but that's whole separate issue (which I wrote about in the Feral Forum). But this site has been an enormous help, and I wanted to say "Hi" to all the cat lovers - we can't imagine our lives without this beautiful stray.

Hi, LDG! Welcome! I'm so glad your new family member has won your heart! People who have newly discovered cats often wish they had always had one. It's great that you found the CatSite; I hope we can continue to help. By the way, what is her name?

Although not too original I'm sure, we named her Rocky because she must have been so tough to make it through her first winter (North Jersey) all alone - besides, she looks like a racoon. But if she's around she does not come running if we call her name, she only comes to a whistle.

Well, so that you don't insult her femininity, tell everyone that her name is Rochelle, but you call her Rocky for short!

Thanks for the suggestion - I just changed the spelling of her name to "Rocki." Should work just as well, don't you think? I'm not too worried about offending her femininity - she's one very confident kittie, and certainly Queen of her kingdom!

Rocki sounds beautiful! Welcome to The Cat Site!

Thanks for the warm welcome, and thanks for all!

How lucky you are to have had a Maine Coon adopt you. I have always wanted one, but since all my kitties are rescues, I haven't gotten one so far. We would all love to see your kitty! We shamelessly beg for pics around here.

I feel sorry for the family that lost her (or that she ran away from), she is beautiful and so loving. At least she's built for the cold, snowy winters around here. I don't have a digital camera, but recently took lots of pictures. As soon as I have them developed and in digital format I'll post one (or some). I'm happy to show her off!

LDG~

Rocki sounds quite wonderful. How lucky you are to have had her choose you! My older cat, Squirt, used to be indoor/outdoor too, and he would come to my whistle. I lived in an apartment complex, and if I went to check the mail or do laundry, he would trot alongside me. People would always comment on how he followed me like a little dog.

Since there are other feral cats nearby, do you worry about her getting bitten and coming down with something?

I've seen a number of other strays (or ferals) around here. But other than Rocki and the feral family that just moved in behind us (there's a thread in the feral forum) I don't see any of them regularly. I've only seen them running away from each other: the cats always seem to keep their distance from each other. This is a 240 acre farm/RV park in a farming community, so there's lots of space. Neither territory nor food is an issue here. There's a lot of space and a lot of garbage cans (unlidded) from the other RVers. If you head out at night for a walk here, it is unusual to not have a cat or two hop out of a garbage can along the way and run away from you.

We took Rocki to the vet once she was comfortable with us to have her spayed (which it turns out she was already), and got her all her shots, dewormed, etc. We'll keep them current. And as soon as the feral family out back is over 12 weeks (by Labor day for sure they'll be that old) we'll trap them and get them to a vet to be spayed/neutered and vaccinated, and since we're caring for them and cross-over with her territory, those are the only ones I really worry about. I worry more about her getting hit by a car or something (God forbid). There aren't a lot of roads or people traveling on them around here - but when she doesn't show up in the morning I start worrying. When she doesn't show up at night I start freaking out. Since we started our daily relationship with Rocki last fall, she spent almost every night here during the Winter. Summer came and she started acting really bizzare. Took a couple days for us to figure out it was because she was shedding. She's not around for long stretches of time like in the Winter, but she comes usually 1-2x per day for 1/2 - 1 hour. Only two days this Spring/Summer has she not come at all (me, completely insane). She has been sick twice - and she comes and stays as close to full time as I think she gets when she's not feeling well. Just like me, she wants someone to hang out with and take care of her when she's under the weather!

Hi LDG.

What a treat - to be adopted by a Maine Coon. I'd LOVE one of those - as I'm really partial to fluffy cats.

Pardon my stupidity what is an RV? Is it some kind of trailer/mobile home?

2 of my cats are indoors only (unless supervised). One, my ex-stray gets let out and sometimes goes for a walk. I go out of my mind also until I see him again.

We live on a really busy road but we have some wilderness behind us - and I never know where he goes.

I'd love to see pictures of Rocki too - can't wait.

Cheers

Haven't been on the site for a few days - yes, an RV simply stands for Recreational Vehicle, which is a motor home. Ours is ~40 feet long and 8 feet wide - I think not big enough for Rocki to adjust to having lived outside on her own for 1 1/2 years.