Oh Ya

I forgot to mention that this Vet I phoned told me I could drop him off at the clinic and she'd 'get to him' when she could, as she had other appointments. 

This cat is having serious issues breathing, very possibly life threatening and she will 'get to it!' I would have very serious issues with going to this vet for any reason.

I will post as things happen for this colony cat.

Catspaw

!!! This Baby Needs A Home NOW !!!

Hi everyone, I have a story to tell:

Last November 2011, in the middle on an island winter, three kittens were abandoned here at the dairy, probably because they knew it was a cat colony. My husband manage to lure and catch two of them, one a grey and the other a multicolor. They were as close to ferals without actually being feral as a cat could get; they were here awhile before being caught. I kept them for a week, socializing them then phoned Cat Action once they'd calmed down and we could handle them better. After two weeks, I gave them to Cat Action; they already had placements for them thanks to a Kijiji Ad I had placed. 

She suddenly found herself all alone and having to fend for herself, by herself. 

Her two siblings were gone, caught by my husband and re-homed by me.

The title of this blog is that same title as my Kijiji Ad

But, there was a third kitten. One that refused all attempts to help her and resisted any food or shelter. She scavenged in the barn for mice and rats, eating the grain off the floor when really hungry. Being a interloper and unwelcome by the colony, the cats here bullied and chased her away constantly. Finally, she started following them to my patio door where I provided food, milk and shelter during the winter months. She would always run, though she'd come to eat whatever was left, I could not come near. This past Friday, June 15th, all that changed. I put some scraps out for them and she came just close enough for me to touch her, once she allowed that, I took a further chance and picked her up. 

Does she look 9 months to you?

Once inside the house she was pretty skiddish so we took turns holding her and talking to her so she'd calm and realize we weren't going to hurt her. My cats of course will tolerate her but they aren't always kind; she spent the first night as far behind the dryer in a closed porch as she could get and it took my hubby to coax her out the next morning. She hid a lot on Saturday because of my cats but we took her out and made her mind by putting her out on the sofa. She soon caught on that she didn't need to hide. I fed her a tin of tuna to help put some meat on her bones. She's in fairly good health but very malnourished for a 9 to 10 month old cat. Yes, that's what I said  ~ 9 to 10 months and for all that, she is tiny!  

 Very close to becoming feral, there was just enough 'tame' cat left in her to accept being re-socialized

She is extremely affectionate, follows me round the house like a puppy and wants to be on my lap whenever I sit down. She tries very hard to be accepted by my cats and will immediately run up to them, trying to bond, only to be nastily rebuffed by my three females. 

Winston by porch door

Only Winston shows her a kindness. So much so that at night, when she is in the porch for the night, he will lay beside the porch door as if staying near to keep her company and my females at bay. She'd very readily take to other animals and she'd be great around children. I am hoping my Kijiji Ad will get some attention for her and she will find a new home soon. 

If anyone is interested in her please use the email at the top right of my blog to contact me. 

Catspaw

Do You Have Feral Cats Where You Live?

Believe it or not, cats are not native to all parts of the world and in many parts of the world, feral cats are the descendants of domestic cats that have been left behind or simply abandoned by travelers and visitors to a particular country. As a result, these feral cats can and probably do cause harm to foreign environments by preying on local species in the same way as they do in our back yards. This may be especially true on isolated islands where ferals have sometimes had a substantial and deleterious effect on the local fauna such as damaging trees and other plants that the native species use.

A clowder of feral cats and kittens

"Feral" is the word we use to refer to an animal that is not friendly when approached by us but it can also be applied to any domesticated animal that has been without human contact for anywhere from a long period of time to its lifetime. Hissing and growling are their self-defensive behaviors which, over time may change as the animal, whether "feral" or "stray", begins their journey towards a mutual trust between the humans that choose to provide food, water and care and the feral cat(s). 


Feral cats and strays differ only slightly in their behaviors especially if the stray cat has not been completely cut off from human interaction. Feral cats, born and living outdoors without any contact or care by people have been tamed to the point of being adoptable provided they are completely removed from their wild environment before their truly feral behaviors have been established and set into their personalities. Such behaviors are set while the kittens are still being raised by their mother as she teaches them to avoid human contact and that people are something to fear.

Feral cats display defensive behaviors and postures towards any person who ventures to come too close to them, then they run and hide.

Feral kitten eating a rabbit

Lifespans of ferals are difficult to determine with any kind of accuracy. One study states a median age of 4.7 years with a possible range somewhere between 0 to 8.3 years; yet other sources claim a mean lifespan of a meager 2 to 8 years before death, rarely from natural causes. For contrast a people raised cat, at birth, has an average life expectancy of 12 to 14 years for a male indoor cat with females living usually, a year maybe two longer. Some domesticated cats have lived until the grand old age of 25 years being well cared for by their human companions.

Ferals take their toll on native Australian Cockatoos

Throughout the Age of Discovery passing ships released a few rabbits onto islands with the idea of a future food source for other travelers that stopped there. Very generous but ill conceived as over time they multiplied out of control by eating through their habitats so cats were introduced to keep their numbers down along with the mice and rats. The cats tended to favor local species over the rabbits; they were both ecologically naive to the islands and much easier to hunt. Then their numbers began to increase dramatically and they colonized the islands themselves; the very people who introduced both rabbit and cat saw them as pests to be exterminated. A completely human caused problem with the animals losing on all sides! Do we not have the sense not to create situations like this? Or to resolve them without the usual cruelty that we inflict.


Our historical records date the arrival of ferals in Australia to be somewhere around 1824. In spite of this its been suggested that they have been in Australia long before the Europeans settled it; they may have arrived as a result of Dutch shipwrecks back in the 17 hundreds or years before that arriving from present day Indonesia on Macassan fisher ships and trepangers who frequented Australia's shores during the past century. However they arrived, anywhere in the world, feral cats have not lead a charmed life. Rather, its been a very difficult life with nothing but hardships and unkindness from their environments and, most often from human contact. 

They deserve better and its up to us, who claim we care, to rescue and tame them, to provide medical care and a safe home for these 'lost' cats to live out what is left of their lives in relative safety and comfort. Even the wildest feral can be tamed with enough time and commitment - I have managed, these years since, to tame a few; some of the barn cats on the farms and diaries I have lived on had feral cats that eventually came around to my gentle care of them. I have even managed to find homes for a few that finally realized they could have the life of a domesticated cat. Its worth pondering on the next time you see a cat in need, whether a feral, a stray or just lost and frightened. Remember, the responsibility is yours.

This feral won't go hungry today but what about tomorrow?

Catspaw

Sailor and the Ruined Castle, Con't

As he leaned, a growing awareness of where he needed to be was breaking through the cloudiness of his mind and with it an imperative to reach the ruined castle. Sailor abruptly remembered the 'something' that lived in that place and a possible reason why no one ever passed that way. Though he still couldn't reason it out he knew instinctively that the answers were to be found inside those crumbling walls. Sailor needed to know what was happening to him and the reason for it; the ruined castle had always seemed to be the focal point for his life ~ he was born there, the place called to him, it was familiar and had always conveyed the feeling of a much missed and much sought after home to him. Why? What was it about that castle that compelled him to stay near it? Sailor simply had to find out. To the castle he would go, his exhausted mind told him. 

Catspaw 

Cat Action Team of PEI

Thought I'd give you the web address of Cat Action Team PEI so anyone who has questions or perhaps has cats that need help, can go to the site to see where they can get the aid they need.


http://www.cats-pei.ca/  Click on Cat Action Team of PEI if the actual site doesn't come up immediately.


If we all work together, we can help all the destitute cats on the island. I have looked and I am sure there is one for dogs also but I haven't found it yet.


Catspaw

Barn ~ Cat ~ Hunt

Ever wonder what they are thinking when they do this?

I thing that say it all, don u.


Catspaw

A Cat's Prayer

I am very sensitive to animals and I never have really understood the reason until today. Everything the Lord made in creation reflects His honor but because we don't recognize God in our lives we don't see His hand in creation. When we dishonor animals and creation we dishonor, not only our Creator and Savior but ourselves. When we debase any part of the earth, we debase ourselves. However there are some pockets of God's creation, like animals because of their innocence, that remain untarnished by us and its these that some of us are sensitive to.

The growing mind, filled with the love of Jesus, searches creation for the message: God the Creator be praised!  Because of our spiritual and natural gifts each of us is able to see and hear them in particular areas more than in others. For me, its animals. And we are enabled to take this creation material and identify it, shape it, reconfigure it or in other ways use it so that God is further glorified. The carpenter works with wood; the physician listens to the body; the musician shapes sounds; the educator trains youth; the researcher analyzes, innovates and implements with the elements of the universe. We develop our minds for these tasks and rejoice as we do them for all that God is revealing to us out of His loving and forgiving heart.

What is your toughest decision today?  Pray over it and search God's word for advice. Its there for the accepting.

Catspaw

Stray Cat Poem

This was written by by Zachariah Atteberry of Hannibal, Missouri.

She was thrown away and found again...

The cat in the picture is a cat one of my friends rescued. She was found in a ditch in a trash can (that's really what its coming to these days!).

Well they gave her a good home.

 Fore When I grow old   
I shall become a stray
To live the mournful life,
As a cast-a-way.

Abandoned like all the rest
buried like past in the sand
I will surely remember the past
As I leave paw prints in the land.

Shipwrecked away far from my home
I meow, with a fellow purr at the door
they now have a kitten all cuddly and warm
A younger cat, for them to adore.

We grow old and dusty
Thrown away like trash
Why do I still ponder...
I figure I might as well crash.

I still wander this land
One day soon to depart --
I leave paw prints in the sand
Perhaps... for another human to take heart.

 Catspaw

Winkin, Blinkin and Nod and their Amazing Rescue

The neighbors were just gaining their drive when a car sped past after heaving what looked like a duffel bag from the window, it landed with a dull thud and a weak, painful yowl. One of the kids though he heard a sound coming from the crumpled sack and ran to check. Carefully unzipping it, four tiny kittens lay shivering and traumatized. They were put inside the shed of a dairy with a cat colony and provided with food, water and shelter. A few days later one kitten was dead.

I learned about it and inquired of my neighbor if I could have them; she gratefully brought them over right away. An orange and two grey kittens were the worse for their usage. They were no more than four weeks old, wasted and ripped from their mother way too soon. They'd been ill-treated by whomever had chosen to 'rid themselves of them' instead of doing what you and I would consider humane and take them to a shelter. The first thing they got was a warm bath and wrapped in warmed towels then placed beside the register in the kitchen for extra warmth; they refused to go anywhere else. Here they slept, ate and kept warm but they treated it like it was the only source of warmth they had.

Winkin, Blinkin and Nod (she looks like a mouse)

Nod, Winkin & Blinkin

Of the three that had survived, the tiny all grey female caused the most concern. She was so diminutive in size that she fit in the palm of my hand, literally. She clung to me constantly so I was obliged to hold her all the time. The poor creature could not eat without being sick, although she was ravenous. When she ate solid food she brought it up again just as quickly so she stopped eating altogether. The other two fared better, with a tuna and milk diet they were recovering and starting to play together the following day.

Nod

I dropper fed Nod tuna juice for a few days until she started to come round. All she did was rest and watch Winkin and Blinkin play. I could tell by watching her reactions that she wanted to join them but she just couldn't, she was still too weak. Finally by the fourth day Nod could sit up on her own and I was able to put her down for brief periods; the fifth day saw her actually jumping down from the chair and attempting to join her siblings. She started eating on her own now and sought the company of Emerald as a mother; Em was not too enthusiastic at first but she tolerated Nod being near her, perhaps sensing her need.

Nod and Emmy

As their health improved their personalities began to blossom; orange Winkin was a gentle soul who was especially fond of ambushing Blinkin, the grey and white kitten. Blinkin was overtly curious about everything in his new environment and Nod seemed bewildered at her good fortune, that someone could be kind to her and my four cats were careful with all three of them.She would crouch on the floor and gaze up at me with a long, fixed stare until she started to doze off. Searching those wide grey eyes, she seemed to be pleading a thank you for her rescue.

I kept them for two months before I wrote and posted a single ad on a popular classified site over the Christmas of 2010. Within hours of acquainting the internet world of their plight, I was blessed with emails and phone calls from people offering their homes and their hearts to them. I personally met each new owner of each kitten and offered food to go with them. Then they were gone, entrusted to loving new owners and exciting new homes but the gift they gave to me and my husband will never be forgotten and will continue to enrich our lives.

Winkin   

Blinkin

Catspaw 

Coming February 2nd, the story of Winkin, Blinkin and Nod

Presenting Winkin, Blinkin and Nod. Three rescued, 4 week old, throwaway kittens that were tossed from a moving car one day just before Christmas 2010 and their story of heroic rescue.

Catspaw

Sassy Has a Tail to Tell

Cat Friend Two

We’d been hearing an otherworldly meowing for three or four days. Boo and Molly were inside but we could never be sure if it wasn’t them playing. Winter hit hard that year, a cold snap that included gale force winds and freezing rain like daggers, turning to blizzard blowing snow. We lived in a trailer less than a quarter mile from the farm Merrill worked at; since he had decided it wasn’t much sense to drive such a short way he walked. This particular morning I was to discover where the source of the ethereal meowing was coming from. 

Just before 8 am I opened the porch door for Merrill when we both caught a glimpse of an orange cat before it vanished down a hole in the skirting around the trailer. How long it had been under there we didn’t know but now we had an accounting for the ghostly meowing we’d been hearing. After he left I opened a can of tuna, bundled myself into my parka, boots, mitts and scarf and sat myself down next to the hole with the tuna held out just far enough that it had no choice but to crawl out to get the food. The bribe didn’t take long to work but the feline fought like a wildcat to get free of the towel and my grasp. In the dead of winter and so obviously a  ‘throw-away’, an unwanted that someone dumped because, being near a farm thought there would be a means of survival or they just chucked the helpless little thing out to die in the freezing cold. Someone was grievously in need of a heart.

Once I managed to get this struggling little bundle inside and while the cat ate I had a better look at it. ‘It’ was not a cat in the real sense of the word, more like a pale shadow of one. The sad package before me was a dirty orange color, more bone than skin or fur and ferocious when defending food. Boo and Molly didn’t know what to make of this unwelcome, belligerent stranger suddenly in their midst so they stayed at a constant distance and gave way in everything so now, there was a perpetual tension in the house. Kitty was equally vicious towards us. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you, I had to be extremely careful when putting food down so as not to lose a hand to a sudden flash attack at anything that threatened the food and milk dishes; the cat was utterly convinced that I would the food away from it. 

Puss was sick, undernourished and piddled everywhere. I soon learned that we had another female in the house, unsprayed. Now I had to practically reinvent patience when it came to teaching her to use the cat box, this only when she would allow me to touch her, let alone to pick her up but as time went on and with slow improvement, she started gaining some weight. As her health improved so did her temperament, somewhat, but still she remained openly defiant and distant as if afraid to give in and rely on me for her care. It took several months to win her trust and more than a few more months before the three of them would learn to like each other and get along. It was a long winter! 

She took delight in doing her level best to dominate Boo and Molly. Taking over their personal places and making them hers; eating out of their dishes and playing with their toys. I think it amused her to annoy them and get away with it but eventually Molly began to take exception and quarreled with her over things that were rightfully hers. So the sparing events started. It was not unlike the Roman Gladiators, all one had to do was put armor on them and a sword in their paws and Wawla!  Gladiator Cats!  

They never actually hurt each other and even Boo would wake up and take notice; it was the loud caterwauling that got the neighbors attention and brought an almost endless stream of visitors and sudden friends to my door. For obvious reasons we named her Sassy because of her sassy disposition. Eventually, Sassy and Molly worked out their differences and played together, this usually involved racing up and down the hallway to see which of the two was faster and squabbling over the highest seat on the cat tower Merrill made for them, much to the annoyance of Boo. 

For a time Molly forgot about venturing outside to follow Boo, now she had a new friend to play with. Summer wore on and after a time it became a little too quiet in the house; I went to check. Merrill had repaired the screen in the spare room window, now I found it torn again and this time, two kittens were out and about in the neighborhood. 

Sassy has had a happy home with us for the past few years and joined us on our adventurous cross Canada road trip to PEI. 

Catspaw