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#11
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Dataw's Feral Cats are Fine
jmcquown wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes:
It is good news! 43 feral cats. They've all had their ears notched so they can be identified as having been trapped, neutered/released. Buffy has a notched ear. She was one of the ferals until her former owner scooped her up as a kitten. Who says you can't turn a feral into a completely spoiled love bug? Introduce them to a life of luxury when they're young, of course you can. Grin, you can even do it with older ones but it is much harder. I've had Daisy-chan since Feb 2008 and she was estimated to have lived wild 7 years before we got her. Accounting for her time in a no kill where she went through 5 foster-moms until no more would take her, she's between 17 and maybe 18 now (likely). Vet concurs, she has that distinctive 'aged kitty face' similar to what horses and dogs get in advanced age. It's rare for a feral to live that long wild and rarer yet for them to find the right home to tame in. I suspect, she wanted to be tame and safe. Well, she's safe at least (grin) and generally tame now. We still have, and always will have issues that speak back to her wild times. Her issues are a little different. She wasn't a colony cat and will not tolerate another cat (considers them as dangerous and taking her resources). We love her and she's perfect for us. -- |
#12
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Dataw's Feral Cats are Fine
MaryL wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes:
On 10/19/2016 11:23 AM, jmcquown wrote: On 10/19/2016 2:14 AM, MaryL wrote: On 10/18/2016 10:31 AM, jmcquown wrote: Feral cats are apparently very resourceful little creatures! DIFF (Dataw Island Feline Foundation) volunteers made sure there was plenty of food and water at the feeding stations before the evacuation order due to Hurricane Matthew locked down the island. I inquired last night on the Dataw Net, any word on the ferals? All the cats have been accounted for except one shy little guy named Mini-Peanut. By all accounts he never wanted to feed with the other cats, preferring to eat by the tennis courts. Some county [shelter] workers tried to check on him before the resident volunteers came back. I'm told they couldn't get to the tennis courts due to storm debris. Yeah, it's a big mess out there, folks. It could be he Mini-Peanut is still being his usual reticent self and simply hasn't been spotted yet. I hope! Purrs that Mini-Peanut is okay. Jill Great news! Thanks for letting us know. Sending purrs for Mini-Peanut. MaryL It is good news! 43 feral cats. They've all had their ears notched so they can be identified as having been trapped, neutered/released. Buffy has a notched ear. She was one of the ferals until her former owner scooped her up as a kitten. Who says you can't turn a feral into a completely spoiled love bug? Introduce them to a life of luxury when they're young, of course you can. snip Jill My very first cat, many years ago, was feral. He was about 8 months old when I adopted him. My neighbor was planning to trap the cats that were running loose in that area and take them to a shelter. I was leaving for my first semester in graduate school and would be about 1100 miles from home. I wanted a cat for companionship, and the neighbor offered to trap one of the cats for me. I was told later that 8 months was too old to become a companion cat. Well, that is wrong! It took a lot of time and work, but he became one of the most loving cats I have ever seen. Within about 2 years, we were bonded and he was a lovebug. He lived to be 20 years old, and those were 20 years with a most remarkable cat. I trained him to walk on a harness and leash so he could still go outdoors--although it was more like he took me for a walk than me taking him for a walk. MaryL Correct MaryL. While the chances of success go down with age of the cat, they probably have no end date. Just less likely to adapt. The level of skill of the person is critical. I took in my first foster cats before graduating from HS. I worked my way up to the more difficult cats and semi-ferals (raised as kittens by humans but left for a 6mo or more to make it on their own) then to true feral kittens and so on. I do not suggest attempting a true feral age 8+ without a LOT of background experience. By then, I had close to 30 years worth and it was TOUGH, yet easy (with experience) to make that first attachment of trust as I knew to let her guide the timeline, not me. It was more us letting her be until she wanted to do something. Frankly, most that age can not become house cats. Daisy-chan was the 1 in a million who could. She has issues still, but with experience, they can be workable in a home. -- |
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Dataw's Feral Cats are Fine
On 10/24/2016 5:54 PM, cshenk wrote:
jmcquown wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes: It is good news! 43 feral cats. They've all had their ears notched so they can be identified as having been trapped, neutered/released. Buffy has a notched ear. She was one of the ferals until her former owner scooped her up as a kitten. Who says you can't turn a feral into a completely spoiled love bug? Introduce them to a life of luxury when they're young, of course you can. Grin, you can even do it with older ones but it is much harder. I've had Daisy-chan since Feb 2008 and she was estimated to have lived wild 7 years before we got her. Accounting for her time in a no kill where she went through 5 foster-moms until no more would take her, she's between 17 and maybe 18 now (likely). Vet concurs, she has that distinctive 'aged kitty face' similar to what horses and dogs get in advanced age. It's rare for a feral to live that long wild and rarer yet for them to find the right home to tame in. I suspect, she wanted to be tame and safe. Well, she's safe at least (grin) and generally tame now. We still have, and always will have issues that speak back to her wild times. Her issues are a little different. She wasn't a colony cat and will not tolerate another cat (considers them as dangerous and taking her resources). We love her and she's perfect for us. Thank you for taking in and taking care of Daisy-chan. She does sound like a bit of a challenge. I'm glad you took her in, love her and found a way to make it work. That is a rather old age for a cat. Jill |
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Dataw's Feral Cats are Fine
On 10/24/2016 2:54 PM, cshenk wrote:
jmcquown wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes: It is good news! 43 feral cats. They've all had their ears notched so they can be identified as having been trapped, neutered/released. Buffy has a notched ear. She was one of the ferals until her former owner scooped her up as a kitten. Who says you can't turn a feral into a completely spoiled love bug? Introduce them to a life of luxury when they're young, of course you can. Grin, you can even do it with older ones but it is much harder. I've had Daisy-chan since Feb 2008 and she was estimated to have lived wild 7 years before we got her. Accounting for her time in a no kill where she went through 5 foster-moms until no more would take her, she's between 17 and maybe 18 now (likely). Vet concurs, she has that distinctive 'aged kitty face' similar to what horses and dogs get in advanced age. It's rare for a feral to live that long wild and rarer yet for them to find the right home to tame in. I suspect, she wanted to be tame and safe. Well, she's safe at least (grin) and generally tame now. We still have, and always will have issues that speak back to her wild times. Her issues are a little different. She wasn't a colony cat and will not tolerate another cat (considers them as dangerous and taking her resources). We love her and she's perfect for us. How wonderful that you and she found each other! |
#15
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Dataw's Feral Cats are Fine
jmcquown wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes:
On 10/24/2016 5:54 PM, cshenk wrote: jmcquown wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes: It is good news! 43 feral cats. They've all had their ears notched so they can be identified as having been trapped, neutered/released. Buffy has a notched ear. She was one of the ferals until her former owner scooped her up as a kitten. Who says you can't turn a feral into a completely spoiled love bug? Introduce them to a life of luxury when they're young, of course you can. Grin, you can even do it with older ones but it is much harder. I've had Daisy-chan since Feb 2008 and she was estimated to have lived wild 7 years before we got her. Accounting for her time in a no kill where she went through 5 foster-moms until no more would take her, she's between 17 and maybe 18 now (likely). Vet concurs, she has that distinctive 'aged kitty face' similar to what horses and dogs get in advanced age. It's rare for a feral to live that long wild and rarer yet for them to find the right home to tame in. I suspect, she wanted to be tame and safe. Well, she's safe at least (grin) and generally tame now. We still have, and always will have issues that speak back to her wild times. Her issues are a little different. She wasn't a colony cat and will not tolerate another cat (considers them as dangerous and taking her resources). We love her and she's perfect for us. Thank you for taking in and taking care of Daisy-chan. She does sound like a bit of a challenge. I'm glad you took her in, love her and found a way to make it work. That is a rather old age for a cat. Jill True Jill. She is very unique and the rare example here where a no-kill was about to be turned in. They had no one willing to foster her and she spent the last 12 months in a cage before we adopted her. If it helps, what made it work was she was at deaths door when she was found with one surviving kitten of her last batch (he didnt make it, half grown?) and she was pregnant. Under a bush. Dying. She was in such bad shape, they could handle her and didn't know what she was. Taken to no-kill as a solid white cat with green eyes, they expected a fast adoption. By the time we found her, we had to prove we could safely handle her and her final of 5 'foster-moms' refused to come in the room with her with us as she was let out. She has mishandling issues from her first foster's trying to treat her as a 'lap kittie' due to her looks. She isn't and never will be a classic lap kittie. Frankly, I do not like lap kitties bothering me but she suits me well. -- |
#16
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Dataw's Feral Cats are Fine
Joy wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes:
On 10/24/2016 2:54 PM, cshenk wrote: jmcquown wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes: It is good news! 43 feral cats. They've all had their ears notched so they can be identified as having been trapped, neutered/released. Buffy has a notched ear. She was one of the ferals until her former owner scooped her up as a kitten. Who says you can't turn a feral into a completely spoiled love bug? Introduce them to a life of luxury when they're young, of course you can. Grin, you can even do it with older ones but it is much harder. I've had Daisy-chan since Feb 2008 and she was estimated to have lived wild 7 years before we got her. Accounting for her time in a no kill where she went through 5 foster-moms until no more would take her, she's between 17 and maybe 18 now (likely). Vet concurs, she has that distinctive 'aged kitty face' similar to what horses and dogs get in advanced age. It's rare for a feral to live that long wild and rarer yet for them to find the right home to tame in. I suspect, she wanted to be tame and safe. Well, she's safe at least (grin) and generally tame now. We still have, and always will have issues that speak back to her wild times. Her issues are a little different. She wasn't a colony cat and will not tolerate another cat (considers them as dangerous and taking her resources). We love her and she's perfect for us. How wonderful that you and she found each other! Exactly! LOL, we had to sign a waiver to get her. We are however really with happy with her. Here's a silly bit. She learned to play the bed mice game with our toes about 4 years in, but she inately understood real feet were there. No bites or scratches *ever*. Just purrs and capturing paws for a moment or so. -- |
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