Many years ago (I think 6) I found a young 6-week-old kitten in my driveway. She was feral at the time and was afraid of humans. I had left milk out in hopes to get the attention from a neighbors cat but aparently this kitty was living off it. For about 2 weeks she lived under our shed, although it's not the best place for a cat because that is where we keep garbage. I never owned a kitty before so I went down the street and got cat food. It took the two weeks to get her used to getting petted (first with a brush) and to get slightly used to getting picked up. Eventually I manged to cox her indoors with some food and slammed the door behind her.
It took a while but eventually she became perfectly domestic and very sweet. She would play so much that she would start to run otu of breath! We think she was a pure Russian Blue.
It's no suprise to find feral kittens in my neighborhood. This stupid guy down the street feeds stray cats, and our street is right near the town woods where they live. He dosn't get them nuetered (I think) and is difficult to contact since he dosn't actually live in that house.
We named her KC and one day she had a whole 7 kittens! She was a very very small cat so she had a very difficult time with them. She was still somewhat of an outdoor cat. Everyone in my neighborhood has a cat so we thought it must be safe, but unfortunetly, just as the kittens were weened, at one years old she was hit by a car.
We kept three of the kittens, Mustache, GC, and Stripe (Mustache and Stripe were a matched set of tuxeudo kitties and GC, grey like his mom, was named after her.) We continued to let them be outdoor cats.
Mustache, the smallest one, was the first to go. He was also hit by a car on the very same street as his mom and at the same age. That day we decided to not let them outdoors ever again.
But once a cat has been let ourdoors for a year it's very difficult to stop them from going out. They became some serious escape artist.
GC was an extremely strong kitty. He would tear holes in anything that we put in his way. After tearing the plastic siding of the AC to escape, he later teared his way through layers of duct tap he put to cover it. When he was 4 years old, his antics were his downfall and he disappeared forever when he escaped for the last time.
I supose the last cat learned the lesson after seeing his two brothers go. He dosn't escape nearly as much. We got two kittens when he became lonely and they've never been outdoors. Still, I wonder why our house is so differant then everybody elses on the street. Nobody on my street keeps their cats indoors. Our street has more ourdoor cats then outdoor people! I feel sorry that our kitties arn't part of the large cat social life outside, and they are all neutered and have shots so that is not so dangerous. Stripe and one of his new "brothers" still escape once in a while, although the female kitty I would never let outside. She is small and very skittish.
As a consequence, I always drive slowly when I go down the street, keeping an eye out for cats.
Do you keep your cats outside? How do you know if it's safe enough?
-Sarah of Borg
It took a while but eventually she became perfectly domestic and very sweet. She would play so much that she would start to run otu of breath! We think she was a pure Russian Blue.
It's no suprise to find feral kittens in my neighborhood. This stupid guy down the street feeds stray cats, and our street is right near the town woods where they live. He dosn't get them nuetered (I think) and is difficult to contact since he dosn't actually live in that house.
We named her KC and one day she had a whole 7 kittens! She was a very very small cat so she had a very difficult time with them. She was still somewhat of an outdoor cat. Everyone in my neighborhood has a cat so we thought it must be safe, but unfortunetly, just as the kittens were weened, at one years old she was hit by a car.
We kept three of the kittens, Mustache, GC, and Stripe (Mustache and Stripe were a matched set of tuxeudo kitties and GC, grey like his mom, was named after her.) We continued to let them be outdoor cats.
Mustache, the smallest one, was the first to go. He was also hit by a car on the very same street as his mom and at the same age. That day we decided to not let them outdoors ever again.
But once a cat has been let ourdoors for a year it's very difficult to stop them from going out. They became some serious escape artist.
GC was an extremely strong kitty. He would tear holes in anything that we put in his way. After tearing the plastic siding of the AC to escape, he later teared his way through layers of duct tap he put to cover it. When he was 4 years old, his antics were his downfall and he disappeared forever when he escaped for the last time.
I supose the last cat learned the lesson after seeing his two brothers go. He dosn't escape nearly as much. We got two kittens when he became lonely and they've never been outdoors. Still, I wonder why our house is so differant then everybody elses on the street. Nobody on my street keeps their cats indoors. Our street has more ourdoor cats then outdoor people! I feel sorry that our kitties arn't part of the large cat social life outside, and they are all neutered and have shots so that is not so dangerous. Stripe and one of his new "brothers" still escape once in a while, although the female kitty I would never let outside. She is small and very skittish.
As a consequence, I always drive slowly when I go down the street, keeping an eye out for cats.
Do you keep your cats outside? How do you know if it's safe enough?
-Sarah of Borg
