MY GARDEN IS PROTECTED !

[Redbert31]

Good.. I've been worrying about them. I've become just a tad bit attached to them (lol) and drifter! Sorry if I've been a bit over the top when it comes to suggesting that you corral them. I'm a bit overprotective with my animals and as I've found out even with best intentions and TLC, life threatening things can happen at a moment's notice like Logan!

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[snubbyfan]

Susie, thanks for the updates. Keep 'em coming. My wife and I read them in bed from the lap top.

Les, sorry for your loss. I know what it's like to lose a furry little family member. We lost our Zachary a coupla years ago.


Him and our Natayo were buddies.



When Zachary died Natayo moaned around the house for days.

We got the 2 girls.

That's Sandy on the left and Sara on the right. They all three get along well but I think Natayo still misses his big buddy.

 

[susieqz]

there are differences between semi feral drifter n house raised kits.
they all carry their tails high. it took months before drifter ever raised his tail off the ground.
they don't worry about normal household fuss.
drifter is still not used to laundry flapping in the breeze, but they ignore stuff like that.
and, of course, they are all friendlier than mean old drifter.
they trust humans.
drifter now doesn't run from me when i stand, but this took 8 months.

looks like i'm thinning the herd, but this will hurt.
i have lots of room for outdoor cats but these guys think they are house cats.
i can't do 5 in this small house.
i might have tried but my neighbor cleared my road with his back hoe.
there was a 3' high sand drift cutting me off from the world.
he wants no money, but asked for a couple cats, so, i gotta.

this will be really hard after living with them for 10 weeks.
gonna hurt, but he has a nice barn with a bunch of dogs that like cats.

 

[susieqz]

i'm glad you guys can't see my place first thing in the morn.
there are dirty undies n socks all over.
the kits found my laundry bin n are making the most of it.

oh, the tribe have become really athletic.
they are on the roof all the time.
the terror of climbing down the first time has been forgotten.
also, if they wanna come in, they jump from the ladder to the top of my living room a/c n yell at me.
at this point, they could jump the fence, tho i doubt they could get back in.
i'm happy they haven't left, as that's where the danger lies.
right now, they think the garden is just a fun part of the house.
right after breakfast, they gather at the door n howl to get out.
they are much more vocal than drifter.
of course, what they really want is to be let in n out every 10 minutes.
if i open that door, someone will dash in, even if they don't wanna be in.

 

[Redbert31]

Did you pick out who was going to live with your neighbor yet?

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[susieqz]

i may keep the bear clan, because they like me best, but it would be nice to tell them apart easily.
the natayos look like a tuxedo, but with grey stripes instead of black.
the bears are solid grey, with 1/2'' black.spots under.
natayos are long, lean n mean. very predatory looking.
bears look like bears ,stout n stocky n it's possible they come from big cat, who weighs 40 lbs.
this decision will be impossible. i love them all.
living in the same room, they are not just livestock.

 

[susieqz]

11 WEEKS REPORT
i wanted to show you guys some outdoor pics of the clowder,
but everyone is stuck in the house.
after the blink of an eye, drifter is in heat.
i surrender. if she's gonna go into heat every 3 weeks, i have to
get her cut.
i have plenty of room for outdoor cats n cat food is cheap, but i don't believe drifter will raise a litter outdoors.
she expects her brood to be indoor outdoor cats like she is.
i'd have to use violence to keep her out when preg, but i can't. she lives here.
i'll be feeding the clowder outside soon, so they may mostly stay out.

i'll get some friendly cats.
none are as cranky as drifter.
they are loving, but i expected lap cats which they are not.
they take naps on me but don't like being held much.
i'm not sure if this is genetic, or if drifter trained them somehow.
i did want a cuddle bunny , but they are not that.

i now know why people used to think cats went with witches.
looking at their faces dispassionately, these are mean killer faces.
adorable.....

 

[BigBill]

Friday nite the coyotes were hunting early at dusk. I'm surprised my outside cats are still alive. I had something walking through the property at around 3am making a noise every few feet as it walked maybe a fisher. One of my outside male cats disappears for two days at a time. I have no clue we're he goes.

My last pair of kittens the female is sick. The vet says it's an infection. She's on steroids and doing better.

Male black cats are thought to be warlocks. (Male witches)

 

[Redbert31]

i may keep the bear clan, because they like me best, but it would be nice to tell them apart easily.
the natayos look like a tuxedo, but with grey stripes instead of black.
the bears are solid grey, with 1/2'' black.spots under.
natayos are long, lean n mean. very predatory looking.
bears look like bears ,stout n stocky n it's possible they come from big cat, who weighs 40 lbs.
this decision will be impossible. i love them all.
living in the same room, they are not just livestock.

Think carefully if you want to give any of them away... You might be better if you paid the neighbor in $ instead. Is he a nice person and good to his dogs?

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[BigBill]

My three tamed feral cats really didn't open up fully till I got a orange tabby called Garfield. He took them to the next level of friendly ness. Now there like fully normal cats. Garfield is like the mother to all the cats I have.

 

[TheHobbyist]

Susie, I read most of the pages and thank you for posting. I do not have any special recommendations on what to do, but I can share my story.

Our friends owned a farm house where two young feral cats would get fed. In about 5-8 years, they got a good relationship with them but somewhat distant. They were able to get the male cat neutered in this time. Put out food, eventually, got them to start using a litter box. Well our friends decided to sell their house in the country and could not take the cats. In the middle of winter. We get temps here that can go real low in the north, negative 20 with a windchill of -40 is the worst I can recall in my life.

Well, they move and say no one can take our cats. You have a hobby farm, would you be interested?

My wife and I were not looking but thought it is better than to let the critters go off on their own. The female who was 17-18 in our best understanding didn't last the winter outdoors. The male who we think is 12-13 did after a couple weeks (we even put heaters in our barn for the old gal...sad).

It got brutally cold, negative 12-15 degrees here without windchill for a few days straight. I told my wife if we see the male (cuz we would feed them) I was going to try to bring him indoors and put him in our basement if nothin' else.

I called him on a cold, cold, cold night and said come here boy, in a soft voice and he walked into our farmhouse kitchen, where it was warm. It took him 2-3 weeks before he would stop hiding on us, but he did use a litter box from day 1.

Fast forward to now, that cat is the biggest baby on the planet. He loves snuggling, actually too much, always following us walking or wants to be by us constantly or held. He is the most well behaved cat I have ever owned, having cats since I was a young kid. At night now, he likes to sleep in bed with us and snuggle. He is a talker and if we close the bedroom door, he justs stands outside it and cries. He is relaxing right now, in MY chair, not a care in the world. Very strong, muscular cat. This Tom Cat even figured out that human food is good. HaHa. Thank my wife for that one. Well, he likes treats, is a big baby, and is just the nicest cat.

He now tries to knead you if you stop petting him...

Hard to believe that 6-8 months ago he was a wild kitty and just passing from here to there.

 

[BigBill]

My three tamed feral were probably taken away from the mother too soon.
One of them sleeps on my arm at night and day. I have no clue why he just started sleeping with me. The other two love to be petted. The last two kittens we took in the orange one Tom is very friendly. But the female Jerri is very skittish and shy. I can pet her but on her terms. There all different personalities. Garfield's brother Cole he's a tuxedo and very shy too. Again petting him on his terms.

 

[Redbert31]

Susie, I read most of the pages and thank you for posting. I do not have any special recommendations on what to do, but I can share my story.

Our friends owned a farm house where two young feral cats would get fed. In about 5-8 years, they got a good relationship with them but somewhat distant. They were able to get the male cat neutered in this time. Put out food, eventually, got them to start using a litter box. Well our friends decided to sell their house in the country and could not take the cats. In the middle of winter. We get temps here that can go real low in the north, negative 20 with a windchill of -40 is the worst I can recall in my life.

Well, they move and say no one can take our cats. You have a hobby farm, would you be interested?

My wife and I were not looking but thought it is better than to let the critters go off on their own. The female who was 17-18 in our best understanding didn't last the winter outdoors. The male who we think is 12-13 did after a couple weeks (we even put heaters in our barn for the old gal...sad).

It got brutally cold, negative 12-15 degrees here without windchill for a few days straight. I told my wife if we see the male (cuz we would feed them) I was going to try to bring him indoors and put him in our basement if nothin' else.

I called him on a cold, cold, cold night and said come here boy, in a soft voice and he walked into our farmhouse kitchen, where it was warm. It took him 2-3 weeks before he would stop hiding on us, but he did use a litter box from day 1.

Fast forward to now, that cat is the biggest baby on the planet. He loves snuggling, actually too much, always following us walking or wants to be by us constantly or held. He is the most well behaved cat I have ever owned, having cats since I was a young kid. At night now, he likes to sleep in bed with us and snuggle. He is a talker and if we close the bedroom door, he justs stands outside it and cries. He is relaxing right now, in MY chair, not a care in the world. Very strong, muscular cat. This Tom Cat even figured out that human food is good. HaHa. Thank my wife for that one. Well, he likes treats, is a big baby, and is just the nicest cat.

He now tries to knead you if you stop petting him...

Hard to believe that 6-8 months ago he was a wild kitty and just passing from here to there.

Good job! Glad you took him in and it looks like he and your family are happy about it too [emoji177][emoji177]

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[susieqz]

guys, i love it when you post stories.
i don't really notice ''likes''.
for me, a thread is successful when lots of people chime in.
that makes fun reading.

man, i have no idea how many mice drifter has brot in.
this is an old habit of hers, which intensified once she started training kits.
she hasn't been outside for two days since she's in heat.
but yesterday she gave the kits a mouse n today, another, which got away.
i never had this many mice before i had cats.

i'm thinking that drifter brings in mice to terrify me as a form of long term job security.
she figures, as long as i'm screaming at mice, she'll always have a home.

 

[Redbert31]

guys, i love it when you post stories.
i don't really notice ''likes''.
for me, a thread is successful when lots of people chime in.
that makes fun reading.

man, i have no idea how many mice drifter has brot in.
this is an old habit of hers, which intensified once she started training kits.
she hasn't been outside for two days since she's in heat.
but yesterday she gave the kits a mouse n today, another, which got away.
i never had this many mice before i had cats.

i'm thinking that drifter brings in mice to terrify me as a form of long term job security.
she figures, as long as i'm screaming at mice, she'll always have a home.

I like that. Long time job security! We'll have to make her the cat shop steward, or Union rep, whichever gets more pay! The mice were always there, she just wants the kits not to get lazy and complacent

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[susieqz]

this week has been a real lesson on how messy kits are.
i lost my left knee sunday.
a cane didn't help because i could put no weight on it.
i had to go to crutches.
all i've been able to do is feed us, n that was hard.
in 3 days, this has become the dirtiest place i've ever seen:
not nearly as clean as a primitive camp site.

the first thing they did was to toss a flat of tomatoes on the floor.
i can't sweep it or vacuum it, i can just grind the potting soil into the rug.
i was getting used to dirty socks being dragged from the other end of the house to my living area.
well, i guess i left my sock drawer open, because now there are balled up socks joining the dirty ones in here.
in the junk room, i keep packing paper to start fires.
they found that n there's a 6' piece of that next to me.
they even found a clip board n brot it in, for no reason i can think of.
i had a collection of empty pop cans on my coffee table.
i'm waiting to get better to put them in the trash.
the kits decided these needed to be strewn around the room.
as you can see, this has passed the point of just vacuuming twice/day.

i did manage to clean the litter boxes, because they were at the point of animal cruelty.
i do what i can.
drifter never did any of this.

 

[snubbyfan]

Our two girls used to have their nightly ritual.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e531WQzsZUw[/ame]

 

[snubbyfan]

By the way, you don't necessarily havta leave drawer open for a cat to get into it.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daCy_14TnLk[/ame]

 

[susieqz]

just adorable, snub.
i wish i had a cat as loving as yours.

 

[susieqz]

it seems like everybody in the world has loving cats.
but me.
drifter has never been a bundle of love, n now, she has kits to play with, so she ignores me, unless food is involved.

the kits think i'm just part of the landscape.
i'm furniture, like a couch, unless food is involved.

what am i doing wrong?
is it i don't play?
anyone that comes within arm's reach does get cuddled.
is it these guys haven't been neutered?
i must be doing something different than you guys n i'd like to know what it is.