Strange happenings

[JMJimmy]

 
OMG Scotty is breaking my heart! He has such a sweet little face. I'm so glad to hear he's getting used to you. I think he must have been someone's pet and gone through an awful time being dumped or abandoned.

If you start getting them spayed and neutered at a regular vets could you claim back some of the money once you've got the forms all sorted out? I just thought it might make your lives a bit easier if you got some of them fixed soon. Scotty probably needs his ears checking by a vet too.

Think how much money you'll save on bleach once they're all fixed and settled in!

 $0.55/L! Woohoo! 

The subsidy isn't a refund unfortunately, it's done at a specific clinic run by the city.  It has to be approved prior to the surgery otherwise we pay full price.  We'll get it done though and once we get the first one done the others will be easier. 

It's just a matter of patience or so I keep telling myself as I rock back and forth

He is a real sweety - a few battle scars but once he's fattened up and a fresh coat he'll be stunning.  He circled back 4 times in the hours after he left but his fear of the door opening is getting the better of him.  He knows he found a home though.

Edit:  And the 5th time was the charm.  I had the door open already (-11C - it was freezing in here) and he walked right in, did a quick lap and went right up stairs.  I closed the door quickly and he came down a little scared, looked at the door a bit and then ran back to the bed.  I gave Alpha Kitty some treats to feed him and he gobbled a couple up, then she hand feeds him and is able to pet his head while he's under the bed.  She's of course doing this from atop the bed so is upside down hanging off the edge - it was quite a scene but he's in for the night.  Luckily Junior is tomcatting this evening so we'll be able to let Scotty have free reign of the place while we sleep.

 

[JMJimmy]

oh and Mama came up to greet him without being dominant -

- though the presence of treats likely had something to do with it

 

[JMJimmy]

A sleepless night tonight.  Scotty has been fairly well behaved overall, he's done some stress spraying which was expected - unfortunately it was on the curtains in the bedroom.  The smell of urine was just too much, especially after Sissy decided she needed to copy him.  He's got the most wonderful "chur" - he and Sissy have little churring conversations it's adorable.  Mama seems to be infatuated with our new friend.  She watches him, perks up in an interested way (like a curious kitten would) and she doesn't even vocalize when he comes near her.  Around 4am he was scratching at the door and any time he indicates he wants out I open the door for him.  I present him with a challenge though by making it a condition of his "early release" that he must work up the courage to walk past me.  It took him an hour and a half to make it outside.  I think he was in shock that I didn't move - he stopped 4-5 times to look back like "you're not going to attack me?".  This is in contrast to Missy who tore past me at the first opportunity.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Well, aside from the small issue of the curtains, that went well.  Which may be saying, "Well, Mrs. Lincoln, aside from that,  how did you enjoy the play?"  You are both so very patient with this mass of semi-feral, slightly neurotic spray factories.  In fact, to have gone from having NO cats to having an entire clowder and still retaining your sanity is remarkable.  Never mind the fact that they all started out feral/stray.  Are either of you, perchance, named "Francis," and where's your halo?

 

[JMJimmy]

Honestly, the only challenging part of this experience has been dealing with Toronto Animal Services.  We would own a zoo if we could and the fact that these sweethearts chose us makes it that much easier to be ok with the changes to our lives.  Sure we have to clean more often, we've been meaning to do that anyway.  Sure we've had a few sleepless nights, but every one of them comes with a story and an experience that wouldn't have happened otherwise.  At this point it's a done deal, they're our family and we'll take care of them as best we can.  That is something I worry about, not being able to care for them as they need (who knows what the clinic will find) but even if something bad does come up that we can't take care of, we'll know that we made their lives better and it was never in our control to begin with.

My motto is "Life, it's funny that way" meaning you never know what it's going to throw at you and it's best laugh at it if you can.

 

[hbunny]

Wow, and I complain about how I feel like all I do is open cat food cans and scoop kitty litter!!  I am nowhere in the ballgame with you!  I am not sure I could manage all the spraying, whew.  Do you have a black light that you can check for the pee/spraying with?  I have been through that before and it helped me immensely to find all those hidden spots, I just got one at Walmart for about 7 bucks, the kind you put over a black-light poster.  My main problems were if they got wood surfaces that it soaked in to, I used the heck out of some enzyme cleaner before I got it all stopped (and him fixed).  I still have a very elderly female that will back up to a wall and twitch her tail, but thankfully nothing comes out!  My two boys are wonderful.  Shortstack stopped spraying the minute he was neutered.  Wurp, my old dude, was fixed years and years ago, and he lived outside long after he was fixed.  He has never sprayed since he came to live indoors.  BUT---right before he came to live inside, he bounded up to me in the yard one evening and sprayed my leg.  No idea why other than he was trying to tell my hubby (who was walking in the yard with me) that I was his!!

 

[JMJimmy]

Beautiful morning here, sun was out, it's actually somewhat warm, Sissy/Junior/Mama were hopped up on catnip - life is good.  Scotty made an appearance briefly, he was under the tarp all morning without any of the kitties noticing.  He popped out around 10am looking well rested and happy, gobbled down some fresh food I put out, and went on walkabout. 

We also had a new arrival today, another female whose pouch looks very loose.  She had a good meal, checked out the various scent markings and had a good roll in a patch of sunlight.  She has to be the most gorgeous tortie I've ever seen.  The deepest bright red & blackest black with just hints of white.  She got spooked when we opened the door but quickly returned.  She seems more like an outdoor cat than a stray/feral as she knew what treats were.  She didn't have any due to being too afraid of the mass of cats swarming around Alpha Kitty but she came within a couple feet and rolled on the ground some more.  Here's a couple pictures, please ignore our dirty windows

We've decided to call her Morgan.

Not afraid, she went back to eating after seeing me and with Mama right there.

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• JMJimmy
• Mar 21, 2016

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• JMJimmy
• Mar 21, 2016

Here you can see her rather large pouch hanging down

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• JMJimmy
• Mar 21, 2016

Our planned but unfinished garden with a kitty in it, along with some Christmas decorations I made and subsequently became a kitty spray spot

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• JMJimmy
• Mar 21, 2016

 
Wow, and I complain about how I feel like all I do is open cat food cans and scoop kitty litter!!  I am nowhere in the ballgame with you!  I am not sure I could manage all the spraying, whew.

I'm a firm believer that the stories we tell ourselves determine our truth, if you want your truth to be different, tell yourself a new story.  I won't lie, it can get a little pungent  in here (I'm pretty sensitive to the smell) but for now (and possibly forever) we just assume that everything 45cm (18") above any surface has been sprayed and clean accordingly.  For me anyway it's a lot easier to just clean everything rather than seeing what they're actually doing - takes some of the gross factor out of it

 

[kittychick]

She's gorgeous! I'm a big tortie fan -  I think they're gorgeous. 

And I think you need to teach seminars in how to remain calm in the face of an onslaught of kitties....and spraying. Your "zen" impresses me

 

[JMJimmy]

One of the posts got me thinking that I should really learn how to sex cats.   From my understanding it has to do with the distance between the anus and genitals but for the life of me I cannot see the difference between a fixed male and a female.  So, with your expertise maybe you could tell me how wrong I've been in guessing

Contestant #1 - I want to say this is a fixed male (sorry it's a little blurry, uncooperative subject)

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• JMJimmy
• Mar 21, 2016

Contestant #2 - I think this is female, it's hard to tell with all the fur

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• JMJimmy
• Mar 21, 2016

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• JMJimmy
• Mar 21, 2016

 

[DreamerRose]

They both look like neutered males to me. A female would have a clear slit just below the anus.

Female

.  

Male

 

[raina21]

The first one definitely looks like a male. Clearly looks like hs's got a pair of testicles.

The second one kinda looks like a neutered male, but it's hard to tell with all the fur. Could be female.

Easiest way to spot a male cat is to look for testicles/scrotum, which are usually about an inch down from the anus.

Picture of an un-neutered male: (in neutered males, the testicles will be much smaller)

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• raina21
• Mar 21, 2016

In females, the vulva is directly below the anus and it looks like a vertical slit.

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• raina21
• Mar 21, 2016

 

[Mamanyt1953]

It never ceases to amaze me that, while I don't have the strongest tummy, I can eat cereal while looking at close ups of kitteh genitals.   So, this is the simplified version of the "sex the cat" discussion.  Males, even neutered males, are a bit 'bulgy" below the anus.  Females, as has been stated, have more of a neat little slit.  And don't apologize for the blurring,  Tis' the rare kitteh that will cooperate with having its fanny photographed at close range.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Posted that while Raina21 was so kindly illustrating exactly what I was trying to say!  HOW FUN!!!

 

[JMJimmy]

 

[raina21]

Junior doesn't look like he's been neutered. Especially in that last picture you just posted.

Also, I believe scottie is a male, he looks like he is an intact male, from the looks of his cheeks and neck.

If a male cat remains intact into adulthood, he will develop large cheeks and jowls due to testosterone causing his scent glands to become prominent. This is why mature intact males often look like they have very round chubby cheeks and a double chin. Their cheeks are also firm pretty firm.

Once they are neutered and the testosterone starts to leave their systems, their cheecks deflate and are a little softer.

 

[JMJimmy]

Junior doesn't look like he's been neutered. Especially in that last picture you just posted.

The first picture was of Mama LOL  Junior is unmistakably unfixed male - they're half the size of his head at this point.

Also, I believe scottie is a male, he looks like he is an intact male, from the looks of his cheeks and neck.

Based on how Junior reacts to him, that's what we figured but the checks/neck is likely the breed.  Scottish Folds tend to have wide faces

 

[DreamerRose]

Junior is undoubtedly an intact male. I don't know why the neutered males spray. Mingo is a neutered male, and he has never sprayed. Maybe a vet should check. 

 

[Mamanyt1953]

DreamerRose, these are feral/strays, accustomed to living rough and fighting to survive.  The instinct to spray and mark their territory will be higher than in a housecat, although even in housecats, if there are a bunch of outdoor cats in the yard, spraying can occur.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OH OH OH!!!   By the way guys, did you all catch that this blessed man is sitting in his living room WITH THE DOOR OPENED FOR THE CATS, and it -11C out?  For those of us in the USA. that's about 12 degrees Fahrenheit.  Man is freezing his bits off for these cats!  There must be some kind of medal of honor for this.

 

[DreamerRose]

 
DreamerRose, these are feral/strays, accustomed to living rough and fighting to survive.  The instinct to spray and mark their territory will be higher than in a housecat, although even in housecats, if there are a bunch of outdoor cats in the yard, spraying can occur.

I was thinking that maybe they weren't neutered after all, not the ferals marking territory thing.