Jimmy update!!!

[jcribbs]

Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy!!

He is avoiding me like the plague.  First of all, he loves going in and out of our front door so I am having to guard the door to keep him inside right now.  

He watched me frontline the others and then made the decision he is NOT going to be frontlined.  So he has to stay indoors...... OMG....... I should have done him first.  I'm not going to let him outside without his frontline.  Ticks are already out there.

It might be a week or two before he forgets and lets me frontline him.....  I can wait him out.  He just sits by the door and stares at me like I'll forget and just open the door.....  Nope!  It won't happen Jimbo.

It's a game of wills right now.  He loves being petted and loves me to carry him around, and like to lay on the back of the couch by me but right now we have frontline plus standing between us......

What a stubborn little guy.

 I'm not going to force him, but he will forget one of these days and decide he wants some loving and I'll be there --- waiting with the frontline. 

 

[jcribbs]

It's revolution time today..........  I have learned from past experiences -- Jimmy is first.....

 

[ondine]

I play this game with one of our outside guys.  He was fine the first few times but last month, he bolted and would not let me near him, the little stinker.  I have to play the waiting game and act like I am budy with something else.  I've become an expert at hiding the Revolution tube in my hand!

Good luck with Jimmy.  He's come so far!

 

[shadowsrescue]

One of my ferals hates the Revolution.  I have to really disguise it in my hand and also get all buddy buddy with him and then "trick" him by holding him firmly and quickly getting it on.  He then runs and hides from me for hours.  I dread Revolution day.  My other feral is longer furred and he doesn't even blink an eye.  My 2 indoor boys hate it too.  If only there was an easier way!

 

[jcribbs]

Ondine and Shadows rescue  --  Been in both your situations.  When I read your replies I laughed and laughed!!!!  That's Jim to a T.  It was so nice to see someone else in this same situation with a feral.  I also plan ahead to try and figure out a new strategy for Jimmy each time.  He knows when it's flea treatment time.  He really knows.

What I did yesterday was catch him sitting on the TV in the office.  So I went and got some ham and chopped it up real little.....  I had his revolution hid in one hand from his view under the saucer.  I did the quick hand switch and sat the med casually in front of the tv while he was focused on the ham and petted him while he ate -- secretly separating his neck hair with two fingers..  I kept his eyes blocked from my other hand so he would not see what I was up to.  I eased my other hand around from his rear and got him before he knew what was up.

He was still eating ham when it happened......  The ham did him in.  I'm not sure he ever knew he was revolutionized....  I'll have to try this same method next time.  One thing that helped me is that he did not see me do a single other cat.  He was in the other room.  If he sees me do another cat, he will hide and sneak around me for days.........maybe a week.  I have to get really creative when that happens.

I'm not sure why he thinks something bad is going to happen.  None of the others mind it at all and he has never been hurt by it and I've been doing it for many many years.......But he is so smart.  He knows if I am doing it to "them", his turn is coming.... 

 

 

[jcribbs]

Here's a new pic of Jimmy taken last month.  He is doing great.  He loves me to pet him but won't let husband touch him at all. (STILL).  He purrs instantly when I wrap my arms around him.  He is totally into head butt under my chin.  When I leave, I have to quickly move away, because he tries to grab me back to him..  Sometimes with claws.  I have to correct him about it.  He just looks at me blankly when I say NO.  Like "What's wrong with you?  Get back over here!"   He has come a long way!!  He even lets me pet him outside.

This picture is of him following me to the creek. i was talking to him and caught him in mid-meow.  He is a great cat!  I think got him in 2006.  This baby has come a long long way from that big guy hiding in the closet.  he goes in and out of our house like all the others do.

One thing on Jimmy.  I keep him a place on the porch to hide.  I have a piece of plywood leaning against the outside of the fireplace with a pallet in it for him.  It has a door and he lounges in it.  It is his outside resting spot.

Love, Jenn

jimmy

• jcribbs
• Jan 20, 2015

 

[ruaryx]

I just read through this thread and loved every minute of it.  Thanks for sharing your stories with your wonderful kitties and coming back throughout the years for updates. <3

 

[mani]

 
I just read through this thread and loved every minute of it.  Thanks for sharing your stories with your wonderful kitties and coming back throughout the years for updates. <3

                    

One of those great, inspirational threads.

 

[jcribbs]

Thank you so much Many and Ruaryx!!  I am so incredibly glad that someone still gets some good out of reading about Jimmy and his ordeals as I went through  years of getting him to trust me.  He was and still is truly a miracle cat in my eyes.   It took him a long time to reach this point.  So many give up on ferals.  it's a lifetime commitment and I am the only person that he absolutely trusts ..  I still, in spite of that, have to respect his space. 

i love writing about Jimmy.  There are not as many updates now as there used to be, because he is well........leveled out!! 

He is really a character.   He takes it all in stride now. 

I was laughing at him tonight.  He was in a bit of a dilemma.  My husband fell asleep in the chair that Jimmy like to sit on the back of.  I thought at first he would hop on up there.  He sat on a stool staring at Juan snoring for about  5 minutes, as if he was undecided what to do.  He finally went to another chair.  Juan tries to pet him on occasion. He holds his hand and out and Jimmy just stares at it -- just out of reach..

Juan does all the right things, but Jimmy is just not ready for him yet.  It will happen one day.....several years from now!!

  Seriously though, he may never let Juan touch him.  But, he is not uncomfortable around him either.  He just walks around him, but far enough that Juan can't touch him.  The fact that he even walks around him, is a huge compliment.

There are actually several threads about Jimmy.  The first was his adoption thread. Then there is a Star and Jimmy thread.  And there is this thread is is strictly just Jimmy updates and life stories.

I actually adopted him from a little lady on this site named Ellie.  She was his original rescuer.  He was placed in a basement with other rescued cats but he proved very difficult for them.  He lived in that rescue facility for  about a year and they said he was miserable and unhappy.  So they contemplated on turning back out, but they were leery because his colony might reject him.  So I ended up driving to St Louis and adopting him so he would have a chance at another type of life. He originally came from the mean streets of Cincinnati, Ohio. Him and his mom cat were city cats.  They had trapped him mom too.  I think she had a stroke at some point. She was TNR-ed and released I think.

But he was treated very good by Ellie... who I got him from.  It took years before he let me really love on him.  I have had him eight years now. The first SEVEN, it was hit and miss on touching him.  Then one day, he just decided to let me and when he made that decision, he went all out.  He is all for me loving on him now.  He likes his belly rubbed and scratched.  He likes his ears rubbed. He likes his face stroked.  He likes to be scratched under his chin.  He likes it all.  I can even kiss his sweet little face now over and over and he purrs.  There is just nothing like it that i have ever experienced.  It was ALL worth every minute of it.  Every tear, every frustration, every doubt, because when he did come around, he was all his decision. He just one day decided it was okay for me to pet him and he purrs.  That purr, omg..  I love that purr from Jimmy.   He is a talker too.  If I talk to him, he meows back at me.  

And thank you very much AGAIN for reading the entire thread and actually mentioning it.  It means a lot to me..

Jenn

 

[Norachan]

I just looked through your whole thread. What an amazing place you have there! You're so lucky to have a creek nearby, my guys would love that. I'm really happy to see so many feral cats enjoying life to the full. That's the way it should be.

 

[jcribbs]

​Thank you Norachan!. 

We do love our creek.  It is about 50' or so in front of our house.  We drive across the bedrock to get to the house, but there is a big drop-off on one side that we swim in when it's warm. And when the water is low enough, some of the cats jump from rock to rock to explore the other side.  Not all of them, but a couple of them.  Basically the toms.  Only one female has ventured across to my knowledge.  She used to go visit some people 1/2 mile or so down the road. They would feed her tuna!! 

​

​It is also a living breathing creek.  An entire eco system.  Schools of minnows are in abundance in the springtime.  It is so clear you can see big bass swimming in the deep pools but I have yet to catch one.  Frogs makes their croaking noise at night.  There are crawdads. There are cranes, snakes and all type of wildlife at that creek.  I think that's why the cats love it.  There are so many interesting things that hold their interest.

​

​As far as the ferals go, I used to keep them penned, but I changed.  The world is big and I did not want to confine them for MY benefit.  It's better for them to be free.  I take care of them the best I can but they live their lives the way they were meant to now.  Like right now, they are all in the house with me.  They will remain inside until morning.  Too many coyotes at night and it's cold at night.  They like lounging in their feed room.  Jimmy is eating right now.  Cleo is sitting with me while I type.  some are laying on a big dog bed in front of the wood stove that we have in our fireplace. 

​

In the springtime and summer, they stay out at night and sleep in their enclosure for safety.  They naturally just go in it.  They feel safe there.  If they all go in at night in the spring/summer, I shut the door and open it in the morning when I get up.  Then I fix the brick in the door so they have access all day to the inside.  I just don't like them to run the woods at night.

I never thought I would be a cat rescuer, but life just turned out that way and I am glad.    

​

​Jenn

 

[jcribbs]

​I want to say too, that it was a very hard decision to open their enclosure and let them out.  It was very unnerving.  I didn't know what would happen to them.  Would they run away?  Could I get them back in the house or in the enclosure if I had to?

​

​All my fears were groundless.  It actually helped them.  They are much more trusting.  It was like taking it one step further in their progress.  They meow at our door to come in or out.  They know their routine.  If a hunter is out there and they hear a gunshot, they all head to the front door and meow loud until I open it.  Then they all come running in as a group.. 

​

​This is their place and they feel safe here.  

​

​The very best thing I ever did was letting them be free so they can be free to make their own decision to stay or to go.  They all stayed.  They have developed their own territory.  They all have certain spots in the woods they they like to hang out in.

​

​Right past our yard is an old German encampment where a concrete house was built by hand in the mid 1800's.  the wall are still there and they are about 18" thick.  The cats lounge on top of these walls.  If I walk through the initial thick brush to the other side of the old homestead, there is a large cleared meadow that they hang out in and hunt in the thick tall grass.  They lay in wait and stalk their prey.  A lot of people probably disagree with this but it is awesome to watch them in action.  It's like the discovery channel in my yard.  One of the cats, Wooly, is a fat little pig cat from eating so much wildlife.  She is a roly poly girl.  Her and Snoopy are the best hunters.  They eat first outside.  The other wait for the scraps.  I have taste of the wild in the house and they eat that too.  But hunting is instinctive to the nature of the cat.  All cats, big or small and everything in between. 

​

They like rabbits, mice, birds, groundhogs, lizards etc...  They even share their porch with possums that come up.  The cat will eat and sit with them. They do not feel threatened by possums. 

They don't like raccoons however.  I don't like the raccoons either for that matter.  They can be really mean and they are so distructive.  The cats avoid them when they come on the porch.  I try to run them off and they face off at me, standing up..I have seen one nearly up to my waist when he stood up.  I put food outside for the cats in the daytime, but i bring it in at night if they haven't finished it -- due to raccoons.  Since the trees are basically bare right now, I can see their nests sitting tall in the tree tops.  I haven't seen a raccoon in several weeks so I suspect something else is in the woods right now at night keeping them away and hidden.  Before my old lab passed away, one summer I put her in the enclosure at night with the cats for probably three nights.  We did this for several days, because the raccoons were digging under their enclosure to come eat the cat food.  Emma the lab scared the raccoons to death.  They have never dug under the enclosure again. Emma loved the cats and she wasn't going to allow some stray animal to get in there with them.  She did not kill a raccoon.  She just freaked it out pretty bad.​  Raccoons are strong.  They can bend and break welded wire in lieu of digging if they want to.  I had no idea they were that strong.  I know  it was raccoons because I put flour out so I could see the prints along the enclosure fence line.

​

But the funniest thing is the groundhogs.  When the animals roots under the ground and the ground moves, they cats just go nuts watching the ground move.  It's like wiggling a string in front of their face.  They pounce, Jump straight up in the air.  It's hilarious to watch their reactions to this.  I know this is a tough topic for some people, but anyone who lives in the country and has cats, if that cat goes outside, and they are feral -- they WILL hunt.  

​

So -- ​I'm just saying, IMHO, it was a great choice for ME and the CATS  to let them be free to be real cats..  And not penned up animals due to my paranoia that "something is going to happen to them"..  You know what I mean?   If I lived in town, in a neighborhood filled with dogs and mean people, I would feel different, but out here, they need to be free to roam.  They are all fixed with their shots updated.  They get revolution once a month and they sure hate that.  They go to the vet when it's necessary.

​

​I do what I can to keep them healthy but at the same time, I let them just be the animal they were meant to be, and that is a happy free predatory cat. 

 

[Norachan]

I can imagine how nerve racking it must have been to let them out for the first time. But you're right, you've got to trust their instincts will lead them safely home again. The last place we lived was too dangerous for cats, even though it's a quiet farming area with very little traffic. While I was living there lots of kittens from the colony I was caring for disappeared, I guess a fox got them. After I'd had them all TNR'd the numbers stayed fairly stable, but a few of the adult cats got hit by cars or sometimes just disappeared and I never had any idea what happened to them.

The place we live now is much safer, but I try to keep them inside the enclosure. One of them can get over the enclosure fence no matter what I do, but the rest all seem happy where they are. I'm sure they'd love to be allowed to roam around the forest but the area I live in is national parkland and I wouldn't be very popular if I let them go off and hunt birds. They get a lot of lizards and mice even within their enclosure.  Also there are a few holiday homes around here and I worry about people walking dogs or not paying attention when they're driving.

You're area sounds amazing, it must be nice to see all that wildlife. We get deer, fox, rabbits, wild boar, bears, Asian raccoon dogs and monkey around here.