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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / December 2004Catching up - and clueless neighbor rant
Well, RL has been keeping me busy this week with a combination of a couple lawn care customers wanting their yards cleaned before Christmas, and the night job delivering pizza. Sooo, I'm WAY behind, and am sending purrs and holiday wishes out to everyone before I start reading the many many messages. mini rant on dumb neighbors One of the neighborhood kitties has been making a bid to move in. This is one of the cats who has been a regular at the outdoor food bowl. Poor thing has owners. Not slaves, since her family leaves her outside 24/7, even though we've been having several days of sub-freezing weather. Unfortunately, I threw away the old plywood shelter I had set up for Rocky, so I've set one of my carriers (wrapped in a towel to try to keep it a little warmer, and old t-shirts inside to curl up on) for her to sleep in and keep warm. I haven't seen her inside the carrier, but she has investigated it. The good thing is that there are a couple occupied houses in this older neighborhood. So I imagine she has places where she can get out of the weather. I'd like to bring her inside, but she isn't sure about coming inside - having always lived in the Out. Besides, Little Bit and Sammy have made it plain they don't want her inside. They both run and bounce off the sliding glass door to scare her off when she comes to the patio. And she just turns her back on them and eats her fill. I've tried locking the girls in the bedroom and to try to lure her in, but so far she won't come inside. Although she lets me pet her, she's pretty skittish and won't let me pick her up. I'm seriously thinking about cat-napping her and finding her a real home.  SignatureSteve Touchstone, faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky (RB) stouchst@JUNKsirinet.net [remove Junk for email] Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html <snip> >One of the neighborhood kitties has been making a bid to move in. This >is one of the cats who has been a regular at the outdoor food bowl. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >a couple occupied houses in this older neighborhood. So I imagine she >has places where she can get out of the weather. <snip> Mickey, my neighbor's cat is not quite so abandoned: they do let him inside so they can pet him occasionally, but they don't really take much care of him. A couple of months ago, he had a bad mat on his back - 1.5 inches by 6 inches. I called his people to tell them about it, and they said they knew about it and planed to cut it off with a razor blade sometime soon. I told them not to do it that way and described a couple of much safer ways. A week or so later, he came in to eat some of my cats' food and he still had it. I picked him up and put him down on a small table - I held him down by the scruff of his neck and clipped the mat off. He fussed and he cussed, but he made no effort to leave - he even stayed there while I went back to the kitchen to get a comb and a dose of Frontline. About a week later, he moved in and set up housekeeping under a table in my living room. Most of my cats don't seem to mind, but he growls at most of them, though he is getting better about it. There have been a couple of fights with Fleagor, and most of the tufts of hair on the floor seem to be his. When he first moved in, his coat was dull, but the cheap food I feed (plus the half-and-half (milk/cream) treats) have made a word of difference: the black parts now shine almost as brightly as the black parts of mine do. There is another, worse off, cat around: a handsome red tabby that was abandoned when his human died a couple of years ago. He's been coming in ... as far as all the way through the mud room and the kitchen, but he hasn't tried to move in. This is a rural area with many outbuildings and much forest, so he does have shelter available, and he knows he can come in and get food and water anytime he needs to, so I'm not really worried about him, though I think I would like to have him join my cat family - what's another mouth to feed when you're already feeding a dozen or more? SignatureT.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) > <snip> >>One of the neighborhood kitties has been making a bid to move in. This [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > him join my cat family - what's another mouth to feed when you're > already feeding a dozen or more? You have a heart of gold! MLB > ...I picked him up and put him down on a > small table - I held him down by the scruff of his neck and clipped > the mat off. He fussed and he cussed, but he made no effort to leave > - he even stayed there while I went back to the kitchen to get a comb > and a dose of Frontline. > About a week later, he moved in and set up housekeeping under a table > in my living room... > When he first moved in, his coat was dull, but the cheap food I feed > (plus the half-and-half (milk/cream) treats) have made a word of > difference: the black parts now shine almost as brightly as the black > parts of mine do. You're his guardian angel! It's wonderful of you to take care of him, and I'm sure - your other cats notwithstanding - that he's much happier at your place. Otherwise, he'd leave, I'm sure! Have you heard anything from your neighbors regarding this matter?? Joyce > > ...I picked him up and put him down on a > > small table - I held him down by the scruff of his neck and clipped [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >Have you heard anything from your neighbors regarding this matter?? No - I keep promising myself that I'll call them, but something always seems to come up or they aren't home when I do call. I don't think they would ever call me to ask about him, even though they know he spends time here ... well, not unless they got a mouse infestation that their other cat couldn't handle. I get the impression that they keep cats because they raise cattle and need the mouse control, but Mickey has always preferred to hunt the rough fields and woods on this side of the road, though with half a dozen of my cats and a couple of ferals hunting the same area, it isn't a very good hunting territory: it's pretty well hunted out. SignatureT.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) Lots of purrs and best wishes for the kitty to find her onetruehome really soon - thank you for taking such good care of her, SignaturePolonca & Soncek > Well, RL has been keeping me busy this week with a combination of a > couple lawn care customers wanting their yards cleaned before [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > 24/7, even though we've been having several days of sub-freezing > weather. <snip > Well, RL has been keeping me busy this week with a combination of a > couple lawn care customers wanting their yards cleaned before [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > skittish and won't let me pick her up. I'm seriously thinking about > cat-napping her and finding her a real home. More power to you -- I hope you do just that. Purrs for a successful venture. MLB |
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