Sissycat has made a new friend, it seems.

[gingersmom]

Sissy, the "outside only" cat (her choice) that recently adopted me, had what seemed to be a voracious appetite. She was dewormed a few times, and now gets monthly Revolution treatments due to roundworms. No sign of tapeworm, so it was strange to me that an entire bowl (about 20 ounces) of dry food would disappear SO quickly.

The other night, we came home to see what looked like Sissy sitting on the chair on the front porch by the door, eating from the food bowl. As we pulled up, though, this imposter "cat" turned around and ran off the porch, and I saw not only it's long, pointy face, but its rat-like long tail as well - it was a huge opossum!!!

Tonight I came home again to find this, ahem, guest of Sissy's once again sitting at her food bowl. I was able to snap a couple of pictures, and have posted them in the "other animals" section. Will post the link shortly.

What a riot to find an opossum helping itself to Friskies - it seems cat food is one of their most favorites.

Now I need to get my hands on a have-a-heart trap somehow so I can trap and relocate this pesky 'possum. I just can't afford its appetite, LOL!

Edit: Here's the link to the pictures!

 

[crittermom]

LOL!!! nice guest.

 

[strange_wings]

I've always liked opossums and they seem to not bother cats. The only problem with relocating wildlife is that you're taking them out of their established territory - away from it's warm nest, food and water sources. Has it stopped getting below freezing for good?

Left on their own, opossums will move on and tend not to stay in one place too long. But they're not likely to go hunting for a new home with any winter left.

 

[gingersmom]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I've always liked opossums and they seem to not bother cats. The only problem with relocating wildlife is that you're taking them out of their established territory - away from it's warm nest, food and water sources. Has it stopped getting below freezing for good?

Left on their own, opossums will move on and tend not to stay in one place too long. But they're not likely to go hunting for a new home with any winter left.

I researched them thoroughly: As long as there is a steadily available food source offering their favorite vittles (Sissy's food dish) they will stay and come back night after night.

Otherwise, they are scavengers and tend to roam. They are marsupials and carry their young therefore they can easily be transient. They do not hibernate during the winter, and don't tend to catch rabies due to their low body temps. They have 50 teeth but tend to "play 'possum" when threatened. They generally won't be aggressive.

Trapping and relocating them is the most humane and best choice in most cases. They will just scavenge happily in a new area. I simply cannot afford to feed wildlife in addition to six cats, LOL!

 

[strange_wings]

They don't play possum when faced with a human, they just sit there and look at you. They will growl and bluff if they think it will work and feel cornered - if truly scared enough they actually can become aggressive.

The simplest solution is to feed Sissy earlier instead of feeding all of the local nocturnal wildlife (racoons and skunks that can carry rabies). The only problem is that opossums are smart enough to learn "kitty kitty kitty".

 

[gemlady]

At least she hasn't been inviting the local skunks to dinner like Sis's cat Lucky did...

 

[fifi1puss]

Awww, the possums cute!

My coworker who I cat sit for also had one in her HOUSE eating her cats food. They left the bulkhead open accidently and heard some scuffling downstairs early one morning. Their cat didn't usually make a racket so they went to investigate. They found their cat Teddy on the kitchen table calmly watching the possum eating out of his food bowl.

They quickly grabbed Teddy while the possum never even looked up from the bowl. Googled whether they were viscous and how to get rid of one from your house. They successfully herded him out the front door but not before it pooped in their living room.

I was sooooo glad I wasn't cat sitting that time!!

 

[killerapple]

When we were feeding Patches, we also had a possum visitor for a while - it was this adorable younger possum that we called Squishy.

We just changed the feeding time to be earlier and if Patches didn't eat all the food within half an hour, it got taken away, so we weren't feeding Squishy anymore (Squishy came out when it was dark).