I mentioned before that there had been a black hanging around my yard since the beginning of June. At first it would come at night looking for food. A few times it got lucky and found Shadow's food. Other times it was underneath my grill looking for food. After a few weeks, the cat ventured onto the deck on evening and just cried and cried. It was so skinny and just starving. I took a large bowl of dry food down to the edge of the yard and fed the cat. I had never seen a cat eat so voraciously. The cat had been interacting with Shadow and it was all very friendly. This was so nice to see since Shadow had been through so much and is always bullied. I assumed the cat was a stray turned feral. It was so skittish and would run when it saw me. Yet after a week, it would go under the deck and meow to let me know it was around. It would then come onto the deck and greet Shadow nose to nose. I brought out the other feeding station and placed it on the deck and began to feed the cat along with Shadow. The cat would come morning and evening, but was scarce during the day. I could come out onto the deck and it would stay, but I couldn't approach without it running. From inside I would watch the cat play with Shadow. Such a sweet site. I had checked all of the pet sites around to see if anyone was missing a cat. I also posted on Pet FBI. No responses. I began to worry if the cat was spayed/neutered. I could not see any intact male parts, but the cat was medium haired and it was hard to see. I made the assumption it was a female and named her Stella Luna after the bat in the children's book. She was so sweet with Shadow my heart just melted. I was away on vacation for 6 days and had my niece over to feed the cats. She never saw Stella, but her food was being eaten. The day I returned I saw she had been attacked. There was a large wound on her neck. I could see it was starting to puss. Fortunately I had some Clavmox drops on hand and began to dose her. I could not clean the wound since I could not touch her. She was acting fine. Then that first night home I was awakened around 1 am to a cat fight out my front window. I looked out and she was being chased by another cat. I knew I must get her trapped soon.
Yesterday was trapping day. It went fairly smoothly although Shadow did everything in his power to keep her away from the trap. She was 3/4 of the way in when he came running full blast at the trap. It freaked her out and she scampered out. Of course then Shadow wanted to go inside. She attempted another trip inside, but Shadow ran at her again. He was familiar with the trap as he was present for the two I did in March. By then she wanted nothing to do with the trap, but she continued to hang around as she was hungry. I decided to unset the trap and place some wet food in a bowl about 1/2 inside. She could go inside and just get used to the trap and then I would try again in a day or so. She went right inside and pushed the food bowl to the back. Then she walked right out. I decided to give it one more shot. I just put some regular wet food in a bowl, pushed it to the back, reset the trap and in she went. She did thrash around a bit, but I quickly covered the trap with a sheet. Off we went to the clinic.
When I returned that evening to pick her up I was informed that Stella is not a she! So another male. He is young (not quite a year yet). He was neutered, FIV and FELK tested and vaccinated, rabies shot, distemper and ear tip. It all went really well. He spent the night in the trap in my basement and I released him this morning. Of course he shot out of the trap like a bolt of lightening. I believe his new name will be Stellar. I just loved the name Stella and this is close and I like how it kind of goes with Shadow.
I hope he returns in a day or so. Shadow was looking all over for his this morning. In March I neutered a tomcat who had evaded the trap for a year. He was Shadows companion. Once I neutered him and let him go, he has only returned twice. He has been spotted in a nearby neighborhood so I know he is alive and well, but he does not want to come back to me. So Shadow needed a friend.
My DH said I am becoming a pro at trapping! Ha! He said it was a big step for me this time around as I didn't cry! With the 3 others I cried and cried for each one. This once was easy!!
Yesterday was trapping day. It went fairly smoothly although Shadow did everything in his power to keep her away from the trap. She was 3/4 of the way in when he came running full blast at the trap. It freaked her out and she scampered out. Of course then Shadow wanted to go inside. She attempted another trip inside, but Shadow ran at her again. He was familiar with the trap as he was present for the two I did in March. By then she wanted nothing to do with the trap, but she continued to hang around as she was hungry. I decided to unset the trap and place some wet food in a bowl about 1/2 inside. She could go inside and just get used to the trap and then I would try again in a day or so. She went right inside and pushed the food bowl to the back. Then she walked right out. I decided to give it one more shot. I just put some regular wet food in a bowl, pushed it to the back, reset the trap and in she went. She did thrash around a bit, but I quickly covered the trap with a sheet. Off we went to the clinic.
When I returned that evening to pick her up I was informed that Stella is not a she! So another male. He is young (not quite a year yet). He was neutered, FIV and FELK tested and vaccinated, rabies shot, distemper and ear tip. It all went really well. He spent the night in the trap in my basement and I released him this morning. Of course he shot out of the trap like a bolt of lightening. I believe his new name will be Stellar. I just loved the name Stella and this is close and I like how it kind of goes with Shadow.
I hope he returns in a day or so. Shadow was looking all over for his this morning. In March I neutered a tomcat who had evaded the trap for a year. He was Shadows companion. Once I neutered him and let him go, he has only returned twice. He has been spotted in a nearby neighborhood so I know he is alive and well, but he does not want to come back to me. So Shadow needed a friend.
My DH said I am becoming a pro at trapping! Ha! He said it was a big step for me this time around as I didn't cry! With the 3 others I cried and cried for each one. This once was easy!!