And now we are six.....again

One of the ferals has given us the indication that she would very much
like to have a family of her own. When we go out to feed them she
comes up and says hello before running back to the feeding station and
then as we're dishing out food she winds in our legs and headbutts our
hands. When we took everyone to be spayed/neutered we began calling
her Smudge. So last weekend Spagola had to visit TED for annual shots
and we decided to see if we could take Smudge with us to be tested for
feline nasties. DH was able to scruff her but as we were zipping the
carrier she found a little opening and shot through it and ran away.
TED told us if we were able to catch her we could bring her in without
an appointment. Since this is a long holiday weekend, made longer
because I have to take Tuesday off and have a colonoscopy, we decided
this would be a good weekend to try to get her. We were successful in
getting her into the carrier and she sang to us the entire way to
TED. She managed to escape in the exam room when we took her out to
weigh her but she was so frightened she just covered under a chair in
the corner and we easily caught her. We covered her head with a towel
and she calmed down. She weighs 7 lbs and tested negative for FeLV
and FIV. She received her FeLV vaccine and a distemper booster and
worming meds and is now in our family room in the kennel condo (a
large dog kennel and a medium dog kennel fitted together). The funny
moment of the TED visit was when TED was going to take her
temperature. TED was going to locate her butt in the most usual way
of doing so - follow the tail, but Smudge doesn't have a tail, lol!
TED started laughing when she realized there wasn't a tail on the end
of the cat, just a little fluff of fur. Smudge is solid black, medium
length fur, with just a few white hairs on her chest. She looks and
feels very much like Barnabus (who isn't happy at all that there is a
new black cat in the house). I told him she could never be as
beautiful as he is because he has a long silky tail. He's not
impressed. I'll take some pictures and post a link soon.

Julie

On Jan 15, 8:20*pm, Julie_Snowshoe wrote:
One of the ferals has given us the indication that she would very much
like to have a family of her own. *When we go out to feed them she
comes up and says hello before running back to the feeding station and
then as we're dishing out food she winds in our legs and headbutts our
hands. *When we took everyone to be spayed/neutered we began calling
her Smudge. *So last weekend Spagola had to visit TED for annual shots
and we decided to see if we could take Smudge with us to be tested for
feline nasties. *DH was able to scruff her but as we were zipping the
carrier she found a little opening and shot through it and ran away.
TED told us if we were able to catch her we could bring her in without
an appointment. *Since this is a long holiday weekend, made longer
because I have to take Tuesday off and have a colonoscopy, we decided
this would be a good weekend to try to get her. *We were successful in
getting her into the carrier and she sang to us the entire way to
TED. *She managed to escape in the exam room when we took her out to
weigh her but she was so frightened she just covered under a chair in
the corner and we easily caught her. *We covered her head with a towel
and she calmed down. *She weighs 7 lbs and tested negative for FeLV
and FIV. *She received her FeLV vaccine and a distemper booster and
worming meds and is now in our family room in the kennel condo (a
large dog kennel and a medium dog kennel fitted together). *The funny
moment of the TED visit was when TED was going to take her
temperature. *TED was going to locate her butt in the most usual way
of doing so - follow the tail, but Smudge doesn't have a tail, lol!
TED started laughing when she realized there wasn't a tail on the end
of the cat, just a little fluff of fur. *Smudge is solid black, medium
length fur, with just a few white hairs on her chest. *She looks and
feels very much like Barnabus (who isn't happy at all that there is a
new black cat in the house). *I told him she could never be as
beautiful as he is because he has a long silky tail. *He's not
impressed. *I'll take some pictures and post a link soon.

Julie

So proud of you Julie. I wish more people were able and willing to
make that extra effort, and expense to give cats like that a chance.
We all know ferals can become adoptable from Cheryls Bonnie and others
on the group. She is a lucky one.
Sherry

On 1/15/2011 9:20 PM, Julie_Snowshoe wrote:
One of the ferals has given us the indication that she would very much
like to have a family of her own. When we go out to feed them she
comes up and says hello before running back to the feeding station and
then as we're dishing out food she winds in our legs and headbutts our
hands. When we took everyone to be spayed/neutered we began calling
her Smudge. So last weekend Spagola had to visit TED for annual shots
and we decided to see if we could take Smudge with us to be tested for
feline nasties. DH was able to scruff her but as we were zipping the
carrier she found a little opening and shot through it and ran away.
TED told us if we were able to catch her we could bring her in without
an appointment. Since this is a long holiday weekend, made longer
because I have to take Tuesday off and have a colonoscopy, we decided
this would be a good weekend to try to get her. We were successful in
getting her into the carrier and she sang to us the entire way to
TED. She managed to escape in the exam room when we took her out to
weigh her but she was so frightened she just covered under a chair in
the corner and we easily caught her. We covered her head with a towel
and she calmed down. She weighs 7 lbs and tested negative for FeLV
and FIV. She received her FeLV vaccine and a distemper booster and
worming meds and is now in our family room in the kennel condo (a
large dog kennel and a medium dog kennel fitted together). The funny
moment of the TED visit was when TED was going to take her
temperature. TED was going to locate her butt in the most usual way
of doing so - follow the tail, but Smudge doesn't have a tail, lol!
TED started laughing when she realized there wasn't a tail on the end
of the cat, just a little fluff of fur. Smudge is solid black, medium
length fur, with just a few white hairs on her chest. She looks and
feels very much like Barnabus (who isn't happy at all that there is a
new black cat in the house). I told him she could never be as
beautiful as he is because he has a long silky tail. He's not
impressed. I'll take some pictures and post a link soon.

Julie

Congrats on the new owner! I'm sure she will give you so much love for
what you're doing for her.

On 1/15/2011 9:37 PM, Sherry wrote:
So proud of you Julie. I wish more people were able and willing to
make that extra effort, and expense to give cats like that a chance.
We all know ferals can become adoptable from Cheryls Bonnie and others
on the group. She is a lucky one.

Speaking of Bonnie, her purrsonality is changing so much lately. She is
getting much more confident. After all this time I still can't pick her
up unless I'm laying in bed and she'll let me pick her up and put her on
my stomach, but her eyes get all big and she stiffens up. But she's
coming in the bathroom again, and her relationship with Shamrock these
days is very funny.

On 16/01/2011 04:20, Julie_Snowshoe wrote:
One of the ferals has given us the indication that she would very much
like to have a family of her own. When we go out to feed them she
comes up and says hello before running back to the feeding station and
then as we're dishing out food she winds in our legs and headbutts our
hands. When we took everyone to be spayed/neutered we began calling
her Smudge. So last weekend Spagola had to visit TED for annual shots
and we decided to see if we could take Smudge with us to be tested for
feline nasties. DH was able to scruff her but as we were zipping the
carrier she found a little opening and shot through it and ran away.
TED told us if we were able to catch her we could bring her in without
an appointment. Since this is a long holiday weekend, made longer
because I have to take Tuesday off and have a colonoscopy, we decided
this would be a good weekend to try to get her. We were successful in
getting her into the carrier and she sang to us the entire way to
TED. She managed to escape in the exam room when we took her out to
weigh her but she was so frightened she just covered under a chair in
the corner and we easily caught her. We covered her head with a towel
and she calmed down. She weighs 7 lbs and tested negative for FeLV
and FIV. She received her FeLV vaccine and a distemper booster and
worming meds and is now in our family room in the kennel condo (a
large dog kennel and a medium dog kennel fitted together). The funny
moment of the TED visit was when TED was going to take her
temperature. TED was going to locate her butt in the most usual way
of doing so - follow the tail, but Smudge doesn't have a tail, lol!
TED started laughing when she realized there wasn't a tail on the end
of the cat, just a little fluff of fur. Smudge is solid black, medium
length fur, with just a few white hairs on her chest. She looks and
feels very much like Barnabus (who isn't happy at all that there is a
new black cat in the house). I told him she could never be as
beautiful as he is because he has a long silky tail. He's not
impressed. I'll take some pictures and post a link soon.

Congratulations, Julie and Rusty, on the new addition to your family.
She sounds adorable. Mir sends her love to Barnabus and agrees with you
that no one could be as beautiful as him.

Purrs for a smooth integration.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Julie_Snowshoe wrote:
One of the ferals has given us the indication that she would very much
like to have a family of her own. When we go out to feed them she
comes up and says hello before running back to the feeding station and
then as we're dishing out food she winds in our legs and headbutts our
hands. When we took everyone to be spayed/neutered we began calling
her Smudge. So last weekend Spagola had to visit TED for annual shots
and we decided to see if we could take Smudge with us to be tested for
feline nasties. DH was able to scruff her but as we were zipping the
carrier she found a little opening and shot through it and ran away.
TED told us if we were able to catch her we could bring her in without
an appointment.

Was DH wearing gloves? She actually sounds more tame than Lacey
was.

On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 18:20:47 -0800 (PST), Julie_Snowshoe
wrote:

One of the ferals has given us the indication that she would very much
like to have a family of her own. When we go out to feed them she
comes up and says hello before running back to the feeding station and
then as we're dishing out food she winds in our legs and headbutts our
hands. When we took everyone to be spayed/neutered we began calling
her Smudge. So last weekend Spagola had to visit TED for annual shots
and we decided to see if we could take Smudge with us to be tested for
feline nasties. DH was able to scruff her but as we were zipping the
carrier she found a little opening and shot through it and ran away.
TED told us if we were able to catch her we could bring her in without
an appointment. Since this is a long holiday weekend, made longer
because I have to take Tuesday off and have a colonoscopy, we decided
this would be a good weekend to try to get her. We were successful in
getting her into the carrier and she sang to us the entire way to
TED. She managed to escape in the exam room when we took her out to
weigh her but she was so frightened she just covered under a chair in
the corner and we easily caught her. We covered her head with a towel
and she calmed down. She weighs 7 lbs and tested negative for FeLV
and FIV. She received her FeLV vaccine and a distemper booster and
worming meds and is now in our family room in the kennel condo (a
large dog kennel and a medium dog kennel fitted together). The funny
moment of the TED visit was when TED was going to take her
temperature. TED was going to locate her butt in the most usual way
of doing so - follow the tail, but Smudge doesn't have a tail, lol!
TED started laughing when she realized there wasn't a tail on the end
of the cat, just a little fluff of fur. Smudge is solid black, medium
length fur, with just a few white hairs on her chest. She looks and
feels very much like Barnabus (who isn't happy at all that there is a
new black cat in the house). I told him she could never be as
beautiful as he is because he has a long silky tail. He's not
impressed. I'll take some pictures and post a link soon.

Julie

Thank you for giving this VERY lucky cat a wonderful home!

And, for taking care of the ferals, as well.

There are so many feral, 'stray', other homeless cats, and so few of
them are as lucky as Smudge is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^..^

"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, in loving memory of the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico
kitty, Kenzie.

Every day was a treasure with Kenzie; I tried to treat them that way.
There would only be so many, and now, there will never, ever, be any
more

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

Julie_Snowshoe wrote:

One of the ferals has given us the indication that she would very much
like to have a family of her own. When we go out to feed them she
comes up and says hello before running back to the feeding station and
then as we're dishing out food she winds in our legs and headbutts our
hands. When we took everyone to be spayed/neutered we began calling
her Smudge. So last weekend Spagola had to visit TED for annual shots
and we decided to see if we could take Smudge with us to be tested for
feline nasties. DH was able to scruff her but as we were zipping the
carrier she found a little opening and shot through it and ran away.
TED told us if we were able to catch her we could bring her in without
an appointment. Since this is a long holiday weekend, made longer
because I have to take Tuesday off and have a colonoscopy, we decided
this would be a good weekend to try to get her. We were successful in
getting her into the carrier and she sang to us the entire way to
TED. She managed to escape in the exam room when we took her out to
weigh her but she was so frightened she just covered under a chair in
the corner and we easily caught her. We covered her head with a towel
and she calmed down. She weighs 7 lbs and tested negative for FeLV
and FIV. She received her FeLV vaccine and a distemper booster and
worming meds and is now in our family room in the kennel condo (a
large dog kennel and a medium dog kennel fitted together). The funny
moment of the TED visit was when TED was going to take her
temperature. TED was going to locate her butt in the most usual way
of doing so - follow the tail, but Smudge doesn't have a tail, lol!
TED started laughing when she realized there wasn't a tail on the end
of the cat, just a little fluff of fur. Smudge is solid black, medium
length fur, with just a few white hairs on her chest. She looks and
feels very much like Barnabus (who isn't happy at all that there is a
new black cat in the house). I told him she could never be as
beautiful as he is because he has a long silky tail. He's not
impressed. I'll take some pictures and post a link soon.

Good luck with the new addition! I hope she calms down soon and starts
to adjust to her new home. Looking forward to the pics!

Joyce

--
Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me,
for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me
the hell alone. -- Unknown

Thanks everyone for the kind thoughts and messages regarding bringing
Smudge in and taking care of the ferals. I just wish I could do the
same for all of them. There is one more that I thought might make a
good house cat. Cricket. Cricket had been letting me pet him when we
fed them but since we snatched Smudge he won't let me get anywhere
near him. One theory I have is that we have icy snow on the ground
and have had since before we brought Smudge in. Whenever we go down
to feed the ferals we make a lot of crunchy noises. They will stay in
the shop until we leave and then come out to eat. They are so cute
when they do this...especially when they were babies! The shop is a
pole barn type building and probably was never in excellent condition
but that allows for little areas at the base for critters to get
inside and out. When they were babies and there were five babies they
would watch me come down to feed them with their little faces showing
up in the open area near the floor of the wall. It was like five
little faces pressed against the window waiting for Santa Clause (or
in this case food). In the end we have three of the five remaining.
I'm not sure what happened to the other two. Of Smudge's litter there
is just her and her brother, Sugar Britches. Sugar Britches will not
let us get anywhere near him. When we trapped him for neutering he
went ballistic. Anyway, I'm not sure the four that are still outside
will ever want to come in but they will be fed and we'll trap them
regularly for rabies shots.

Tak, Rusty did wear gloves when he caught Smudge, but we both learned
a lesson with Lacey and when we put an unknown cat (or Lacey) into a
carrier they go in tail first rather than head first. Much more
control that way At least with Smudge we could have told the
doctors, honestly, that she was current on her rabies shot.

Smudge is adjusting. She loves to be petted and sill press herself
against the side of the kennel and beg us to pet her. Occasionally
she'll wake up and cry, loud and frantically. I'm not sure what she
is worried about but as soon as she sees one of us she'll calm down.
The others are basically ignoring her although Spagola has discovered
that she usually has food after all of the other gooshy food is gone.
He's been studying the kennel trying to figure out a way to get to
that food. Smudge is using a litterbox. Someone told me that they had
tried to rescue a feral once and it never learned to use a litterbox
and eventually had to be an outside cat. I can say Smudge will use a
litterbox. Now all we have to do is try to get a stool sample to the
vet to make sure we don't have any parasites that the others can get
and we'll be ready to integrate her into the clowder.

On Jan 16, 1:26*am, Marina wrote:
On 16/01/2011 04:20, Julie_Snowshoe wrote:



One of the ferals has given us the indication that she would very much
like to have a family of her own. *When we go out to feed them she
comes up and says hello before running back to the feeding station and
then as we're dishing out food she winds in our legs and headbutts our
hands. *When we took everyone to be spayed/neutered we began calling
her Smudge. *So last weekend Spagola had to visit TED for annual shots
and we decided to see if we could take Smudge with us to be tested for
feline nasties. *DH was able to scruff her but as we were zipping the
carrier she found a little opening and shot through it and ran away.
TED told us if we were able to catch her we could bring her in without
an appointment. *Since this is a long holiday weekend, made longer
because I have to take Tuesday off and have a colonoscopy, we decided
this would be a good weekend to try to get her. *We were successful in
getting her into the carrier and she sang to us the entire way to
TED. *She managed to escape in the exam room when we took her out to
weigh her but she was so frightened she just covered under a chair in
the corner and we easily caught her. *We covered her head with a towel
and she calmed down. *She weighs 7 lbs and tested negative for FeLV
and FIV. *She received her FeLV vaccine and a distemper booster and
worming meds and is now in our family room in the kennel condo (a
large dog kennel and a medium dog kennel fitted together). *The funny
moment of the TED visit was when TED was going to take her
temperature. *TED was going to locate her butt in the most usual way
of doing so - follow the tail, but Smudge doesn't have a tail, lol!
TED started laughing when she realized there wasn't a tail on the end
of the cat, just a little fluff of fur. *Smudge is solid black, medium
length fur, with just a few white hairs on her chest. *She looks and
feels very much like Barnabus (who isn't happy at all that there is a
new black cat in the house). *I told him she could never be as
beautiful as he is because he has a long silky tail. *He's not
impressed. *I'll take some pictures and post a link soon.

Congratulations, Julie and Rusty, on the new addition to your family.
She sounds adorable. Mir sends her love to Barnabus and agrees with you
that no one could be as beautiful as him.

Purrs for a smooth integration.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Marina,

Barnabus sends his love to Mir and says she is the most beautiful cat
in the land.
-j