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#1
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If I didn't know better
Ok, the scene is we're trying to keep our surviving feral cats out of
the clutches of the neighbor from hell, which includes keeping them well fed, so they won't be so interested in the offerings of his baited trap or worse. For chow call, I whistle the march song of the French Foreign Legion, and the faithful show for feeding time. However, for the last week or so, White Stocking shows more interest in being petted. He's actually done *flop down, roll around, scratch my tummy, how about behind my ears, can you do my back, and how about the top of my head again, etc.* then, when I've left, sometimes walked off and left the food I set out for him and the rest of the gang. Today, WS and I are interacting socially, when Bootsie, our feral mother, shows up and pushes between WS and me, for me to pet her. Then it was one pushing inside the other, so I'm petting them with the only two hands issued at birth, when along comes a new visitor, a nearly grown kitten, who seemed torn between hanging a safe distance back, and checking out what's going on at our little social club. Ah, if I didn't know better, I'd say WS and Bootsie gave every indication of what one might call sibling rivalry..... feral cats? Can it be? Bootsie, incidentally, apparently had her kittens yesterday in one of our buildings out back. Until returning *home* for the blessed event, her appearances were so irratic that I couldn't make the connection of capturing and relocating her to a new home in the country. Best information I have is that the next opportunity to relocate Bootsie and her kittens will be in about 8 weeks. However, I'm wondering, if anyone has had any success in relocating a mother cat and kittens earlier? Any suggestions? Cheers, Jack PS--I also note that WS is making a bid to become House Cat, in residence. He discovered the critter door (formerly our dog door) and come exploring for some time. The last few nights, however, mother has discovered him sleeping on the pillow of her bed, as she prepares to retire for the night. When she shows up, he will rise, stretch a few times, and exit via the criter door, at a leisurely pace. So, how do they know? Do cats receive some sort of basic training, on where to sleep in a house? Is it in the genes? There is, perchance, a standard reference book they consult? Anyway, methinks the day is coming when, instead of leaving, he'll simply move over. |
#2
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Sounds like WS and Bootsie are quickly getting to the point where
you'll have to start saying ex-feral. For me that point came when Rocky not only wanted his petting before meals, but started turning into a finicky eater. On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 22:11:04 -0500, "JHBennett" wrote: Ok, the scene is we're trying to keep our surviving feral cats out of the clutches of the neighbor from hell, which includes keeping them well fed, so they won't be so interested in the offerings of his baited trap or worse. For chow call, I whistle the march song of the French Foreign Legion, and the faithful show for feeding time. However, for the last week or so, White Stocking shows more interest in being petted. He's actually done *flop down, roll around, scratch my tummy, how about behind my ears, can you do my back, and how about the top of my head again, etc.* then, when I've left, sometimes walked off and left the food I set out for him and the rest of the gang. Today, WS and I are interacting socially, when Bootsie, our feral mother, shows up and pushes between WS and me, for me to pet her. Then it was one pushing inside the other, so I'm petting them with the only two hands issued at birth, when along comes a new visitor, a nearly grown kitten, who seemed torn between hanging a safe distance back, and checking out what's going on at our little social club. Ah, if I didn't know better, I'd say WS and Bootsie gave every indication of what one might call sibling rivalry..... feral cats? Can it be? Bootsie, incidentally, apparently had her kittens yesterday in one of our buildings out back. Until returning *home* for the blessed event, her appearances were so irratic that I couldn't make the connection of capturing and relocating her to a new home in the country. Best information I have is that the next opportunity to relocate Bootsie and her kittens will be in about 8 weeks. However, I'm wondering, if anyone has had any success in relocating a mother cat and kittens earlier? Any suggestions? Cheers, Jack PS--I also note that WS is making a bid to become House Cat, in residence. He discovered the critter door (formerly our dog door) and come exploring for some time. The last few nights, however, mother has discovered him sleeping on the pillow of her bed, as she prepares to retire for the night. When she shows up, he will rise, stretch a few times, and exit via the criter door, at a leisurely pace. So, how do they know? Do cats receive some sort of basic training, on where to sleep in a house? Is it in the genes? There is, perchance, a standard reference book they consult? Anyway, methinks the day is coming when, instead of leaving, he'll simply move over. |
#3
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Could be we are indeed close to that point, Steve. Actually, this
little affair got started this evening when I went out to the car. WS comes up to greet me, does flop down, roll around, etc., and then Bootsie intrudes on the scene, doing the *how about me?* routine. So, then I go back inside and get some food for them. WS is spring loaded to the takeoff position and did so yesterday when a neighbor lady came over to ask about something. The moment she got to the end of the drive, he was gone. Also, any sudden or unusual noise will cause him to flinch and take flight. Otherwise, I've been conditioning him to being picked up (for loading in a carrier) a little bit at a time. I lift him a few inches off the ground. Then, this evening, as I started to go in for some food, WS apparently was curling around the front of my leg, at the moment I took a step. He got lofted and pitched about 4 feet. Surprisingly, he took it in stride (no pun intended) and came right back for more attention. After the way Miss Kitty nailed me when I tried to put her in a carrier, I'm trying to be smarter about it. Also, I'm seeing if I can induce him to play by gently grabbing a paw and shaking it. He's a neat cat, and I'd like to keep him, but the situation simply won't allow it and I must send him on his way...and I might be guilty of delaying that. I have made the discovery that hand sanitizer seems to nutralize the cat dander--or whatever it is--that I'm so allergic to and keep a small bottle in my pocket all the time. That discovery is making much of this possible. Please not to mention *finicky eater* on the same page with either of these critter's names. We have enough to cope with at present ;-) Cheers, Jack "Steve Touchstone" wrote in message ... Sounds like WS and Bootsie are quickly getting to the point where you'll have to start saying ex-feral. For me that point came when Rocky not only wanted his petting before meals, but started turning into a finicky eater. On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 22:11:04 -0500, "JHBennett" wrote: Ok, the scene is we're trying to keep our surviving feral cats out of the clutches of the neighbor from hell, which includes keeping them well fed, so they won't be so interested in the offerings of his baited trap or worse. For chow call, I whistle the march song of the French Foreign Legion, and the faithful show for feeding time. However, for the last week or so, White Stocking shows more interest in being petted. He's actually done *flop down, roll around, scratch my tummy, how about behind my ears, can you do my back, and how about the top of my head again, etc.* then, when I've left, sometimes walked off and left the food I set out for him and the rest of the gang. Today, WS and I are interacting socially, when Bootsie, our feral mother, shows up and pushes between WS and me, for me to pet her. Then it was one pushing inside the other, so I'm petting them with the only two hands issued at birth, when along comes a new visitor, a nearly grown kitten, who seemed torn between hanging a safe distance back, and checking out what's going on at our little social club. Ah, if I didn't know better, I'd say WS and Bootsie gave every indication of what one might call sibling rivalry..... feral cats? Can it be? Bootsie, incidentally, apparently had her kittens yesterday in one of our buildings out back. Until returning *home* for the blessed event, her appearances were so irratic that I couldn't make the connection of capturing and relocating her to a new home in the country. Best information I have is that the next opportunity to relocate Bootsie and her kittens will be in about 8 weeks. However, I'm wondering, if anyone has had any success in relocating a mother cat and kittens earlier? Any suggestions? Cheers, Jack PS--I also note that WS is making a bid to become House Cat, in residence. He discovered the critter door (formerly our dog door) and come exploring for some time. The last few nights, however, mother has discovered him sleeping on the pillow of her bed, as she prepares to retire for the night. When she shows up, he will rise, stretch a few times, and exit via the criter door, at a leisurely pace. So, how do they know? Do cats receive some sort of basic training, on where to sleep in a house? Is it in the genes? There is, perchance, a standard reference book they consult? Anyway, methinks the day is coming when, instead of leaving, he'll simply move over. |
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