My Aging "ferals"

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kittykelly

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kittykelly kittykelly I am thinking of you and hoping sweet Vinny has returned. Please do let us know.
Thank you. I have being praying for his return or that he has crossed the bridge without suffering. He is not here again this morning. I have an outdoor camera and no sign of I’m not at all. :(
 

white shadow

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Hi kittykelly.

My heart sank when I read your first post yesterday about his disappearing. I've been similarly connected to a couple of 'these guys' here - and have had similar experiences. It's just torturous. And all-consuming. And, you're absolutely helpless.

The worst days.

We 'spoke' in the other thread, about his eye condition. I was worried then about the potential for this, as were you I think.

It's known that, when a cat wants to recluse himself, often he won't go far away. Have you paid really close attention to the very immediate area? (I'm not second-guessing, you here) Any place you thought might be too small for entry? What about the neighbour's place...even though he had been briefly scared there, it's close enough to home yet a tad removed....? He left the morning after the Vet's examination - was he in pain that night? Was the experience too up-close/invasive for his liking.....did that spur his 'bolting'?

Do you know his familiar haunts? His routes? His stops?

And, the other two....are they around? Could they offer any clues if/when they leave your place?

I don't know.....it's just that I've been there and know what it did to me. Again, thinking of you both:redheartpump:
.
 

shadowsrescue

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I had a feral go missing shortly before I moved. He was gone for almost 48 hours. I was beside myself. I too had cameras and there was no sign of him. The other two were around. I told one of them to go and find Hampton. I kept an eye out and noticed that Shadow was hanging out behind some bushes. I went over there and Hampton was crouched in a small ball hiding in some dense bushes.

Keep the faith.
 
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kittykelly

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Hi kittykelly.

My heart sank when I read your first post yesterday about his disappearing. I've been similarly connected to a couple of 'these guys' here - and have had similar experiences. It's just torturous. And all-consuming. And, you're absolutely helpless.

The worst days.

We 'spoke' in the other thread, about his eye condition. I was worried then about the potential for this, as were you I think.

It's known that, when a cat wants to recluse himself, often he won't go far away. Have you paid really close attention to the very immediate area? (I'm not second-guessing, you here) Any place you thought might be too small for entry? What about the neighbour's place...even though he had been briefly scared there, it's close enough to home yet a tad removed....? He left the morning after the Vet's examination - was he in pain that night? Was the experience too up-close/invasive for his liking.....did that spur his 'bolting'?

Do you know his familiar haunts? His routes? His stops?

And, the other two....are they around? Could they offer any clues if/when they leave your place?

I don't know.....it's just that I've been there and know what it did to me. Again, thinking of you both:redheartpump:
.
Well, when the vet gave him the injection to reverse the sedative - he began panting. I called the vet and he came back - said his airway was likely compromised due to the neck mass and that, coupled with the heat and his fear was likely causing the distress. He waited and watched him until
He settled down. That night he did appear okay. I checked on him every so often and he was not panting. He even ate the food I gave him at midnight. Just an occasional meow to be let out.
In the morning, he seemed fine and ate like I said. I did think his lump looked larger. Could the vet manipulating a lymphoma mass make it larger overnight? Or maybe his face was puffy from fear? Could this be a bee sting?
I don’t know what to think.

He stays mostly in the neighbors yard if not at our house. He was there yesterday morning but the neighbor scared him - so now I don’t know if he will come back to either house.

I have a bowl of water in their yard on their side of the fence where he comes theough the opening at bottom of fence. I have left our dry food in the day only in case he comes.

The neighbor has been checking the backyard and side yard by lookingout the windows - I don’t want him to scare him and physically go out there looking like he did yesterday morning.

Luckily my neighbor also loves our kitties and he has 2 he rescued from his backyard! My other neighbor doesn’t like cats - so I don’t think he would be cooperative to let me go searching.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to give me advice and words of encouragement. I would never think of t as second guessing my judgement. I sending guess myself all the time. Should I have put him to sleep when the vet was here? Should have I kept him In a kennel so I could have had control of things, should I have never called the vet? It goes on and on and on. It’s like I am taking care of squirrels. It’s so hard.
MY inside kitty and pet insurance and is so welll cared for (he was a kitten in the backyard that I rescued) I want to do the same for these kitties. It’s just a real struggle. I call them my backyardigens. Like the cartoon. Lol
 

white shadow

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If your friendly neighbour would be willing to accompany you for a visit to the unfriendly one......he might be more amenable to a (what you will make sound like as 'quick')...look/scan around his place. It would be much harder for him to refuse a reasonable request from TWO polite, reasonable close neighbours. Maybe?

It doesn't sound like he was hurting when he left the garage.

Have you checked your garage in the meantime?

Staying tuned.
.
 
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kittykelly

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sorry for all the typos - typing on my iPhone
.
If your friendly neighbour would be willing to accompany you for a visit to the unfriendly one......he might be more amenable to a (what you will make sound like as 'quick')...look/scan around his place. It would be much harder for him to refuse a reasonable request from TWO polite, reasonable close neighbours. Maybe?

It doesn't sound like he was hurting when he left the garage.

Have you checked your garage in the meantime?

Staying tuned.
.
The other neighbor has his yard paved with all concrete, so there are no hiding places. There are other yards I suppose, but I just think in my gut he’s in my friendly neighbor’s yard, but has already passed. It was 97 degrees here today. Very hot for a sick kitty. :(

I posted on the Nextdoor app with his photo and my phone number and asked to call me if they spot him. he definitely isn’t in our garage.

Walter is breaking my heart. He looks so so lost. We gave him some fried chicken as a treat and told him to tell Vinny to come home. He comes briefly to eat in the morning and evening and doesn’t stay long. Peek-a-boo comes separately and also eats and leaves. Vinny was our cat that truly lived in our yard. I was so happy when he got some buddies, but he was a full time resident. I’m so devastated over this. I always dreaded this day. I’m praying he has an alternate water/food source.

When I had him neutered 10 years ago, he disappeared for 3 whole months after we released him from the trap. I have no idea how he survived. He has only 1 canine tooth and a couple other teeth in the back. He can’t really hunt and eat mice or birds without teeth. Not sure how he survived without human help. Maybe that human is helping him now?? I hope !! Tomorrow morning will be 48 hours.
 
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kittykelly

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I had a feral go missing shortly before I moved. He was gone for almost 48 hours. I was beside myself. I too had cameras and there was no sign of him. The other two were around. I told one of them to go and find Hampton. I kept an eye out and noticed that Shadow was hanging out behind some bushes. I went over there and Hampton was crouched in a small ball hiding in some dense bushes.

Keep the faith.
I am trying. I want him home so bad. I hope I have a good news to report. I know that anything is possible - these guys are survivors.
 
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Avery

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Just wanted to let you know I am watching your postings and my heart is with you. I took care of a semi-feral cat for a few years before I brought her inside, but I know the awful feeling when they are missing for any period of time and you just can't stop worrying about them. I am praying for good news for you and your kitties.
 

Norachan

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I've had semi feral cats disappear for over a month and come back safely. I hope he's just lying low because of the heat and surviving on what he catches.

:vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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kittykelly

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@shadowsresue Norachan Norachan W walli Furballsmom Furballsmom
VINNY IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!:hyper::clapcat:
When I opened the door for the morning feeding, there he was with Water and Peeky! He even walked into the garage and walked around. He is not scared of me or the garage! His fur was really mattet on his back side (where the vet gave him the injections) but looks good!

I have NO idea how he survived the heat without food or water.

So now I think we are going to have a catio built. I have a patio cover and want to build the catio within that area with a flap leading into the garage where there will be another catio for cold nights. I have so many questions and need ideas for what would work and how to get this done! I’m so scared they will freak out, but I can’t live like this. I guess I will start a new catio thread :) I am so happy our teddy bear is back. I thought our bond isn’t broken.

thank you everyone for your support and good thoughts!
 

walli

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Yay Vinny's Back!!!!
Catio is a good idea!
Not sure how much you can afford but that will determine how you go!
make sure you post a link to the catio thread in case I miss it!
 
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kittykelly

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Yay Vinny's Back!!!!
Catio is a good idea!
Not sure how much you can afford but that will determine how you go!
make sure you post a link to the catio thread in case I miss it!
Price is no object! I just can’t do it myself because I have physical limitations. I’ll have to pay a carpenter or handyman to build it, but I want to make sure they cannot escape and I draw up some plans.
 
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