while i have only posted once to this site i feel like i know most of you as i am ldg's husband. That said i wanted to write on a great day for my feral kittens and especially one of them, Tuxedo! today we worked out a deal for our kittens to begin the final leg of their journey to new familys, except Tuxedo who will be joining the ever increasing inside feral colony in my home. the kittens with some cajoling were transported to blairstown animal hospital on friday where they have been several times in their short lives, but were taken today to the "Cat Chalet" where they will spend a few weeks living the life of leisure and preparing for several prospective parents to view in just over two weeks! i feel a little bad that our requirements for these prospects are no less stringent than if they were going to adopt a child (human) and that will include a trip to the prospets home! but in the end hundreds of hours and untold amounts of love have gone into these kittens and though our hearts are being rent open we cannot become hoarders. There is one exception, Tuxedo.
From the begining, 4-6 weeks old, he was a very unhappy little kitten. his siblings loved to play and loved mealtime (3 times a day) and after a short time were easy to handle - but not tuxedo. no he did not like me so we tried with ldg feeding him but no go. he actualy attacked me! no kidding a 1 lb kitten attacking a 190lb man (without my moving toward him and he had no other interactions with people that would cause that). that however was not the problem, he attacked the other kittens and generaly was anti-social. on advice ldg got here, we began feeding him alone and further and further away, but that was not an answer (long term), so he finaly became so agresive that i took my vet aside and asked him to spend a few days with tuxedo and help me find a way to socialize him. We X-ray'd him we did full blood studies, ultrasouund, everything that we could. After a few days he gave me an option that was TOTALY unaceptable. so we found a new vet. nothing worked and he finaly atacked me realy good (i was putting a bowl of food down and he came at me from behind, well he not only scared me (i was Airborne for 6 years and dont scare easily). He got in a few really good scratches and a good bite. well i sat down almost in tears and at the end of my wits in about a foot of snow and all of a suuden he walked over to me and up popped up his tail! i couldnt move i was frozen, and when i did nothing for a minute he headbutted me in my foot, well you can fill in the following month and a half, but when we dropped him off today he came running when i called him tail straight up in the air. i got chastised by susan of the cat chalet for exagerating the dificult job she was going to have with him for a week or two! needless to say i no longer believe i will be able to let him go anywhere but home to our house, so today was a really good day for my kittens and for me!
From the begining, 4-6 weeks old, he was a very unhappy little kitten. his siblings loved to play and loved mealtime (3 times a day) and after a short time were easy to handle - but not tuxedo. no he did not like me so we tried with ldg feeding him but no go. he actualy attacked me! no kidding a 1 lb kitten attacking a 190lb man (without my moving toward him and he had no other interactions with people that would cause that). that however was not the problem, he attacked the other kittens and generaly was anti-social. on advice ldg got here, we began feeding him alone and further and further away, but that was not an answer (long term), so he finaly became so agresive that i took my vet aside and asked him to spend a few days with tuxedo and help me find a way to socialize him. We X-ray'd him we did full blood studies, ultrasouund, everything that we could. After a few days he gave me an option that was TOTALY unaceptable. so we found a new vet. nothing worked and he finaly atacked me realy good (i was putting a bowl of food down and he came at me from behind, well he not only scared me (i was Airborne for 6 years and dont scare easily). He got in a few really good scratches and a good bite. well i sat down almost in tears and at the end of my wits in about a foot of snow and all of a suuden he walked over to me and up popped up his tail! i couldnt move i was frozen, and when i did nothing for a minute he headbutted me in my foot, well you can fill in the following month and a half, but when we dropped him off today he came running when i called him tail straight up in the air. i got chastised by susan of the cat chalet for exagerating the dificult job she was going to have with him for a week or two! needless to say i no longer believe i will be able to let him go anywhere but home to our house, so today was a really good day for my kittens and for me!