Caring for an Orange Cat

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daftcat75

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Scheduled downtime at work today.

I’ve been having a hard time getting started in the mornings. Worse as the mornings get colder.

I’m debating taking OC to shelter today to see how they can help. As I said, I wrote them specifically about neuter. I’m not sure if they’ll do that today. That should be a drop off not a drop on by like they replied.

Here’s what I’m thinking. I have no idea how he’s going to react to a carrier (or box) and a vet or shelter trip. I may only get one chance at this.

If I can catch up to him tomorrow morning (and that’s a really big IF), he’ll get a chip scan, lab work, and an exam.

If I can take him to shelter today, he’ll likely get intake paperwork and put on the shelter website. He can come home with me. Or I can surrender him. But I still don’t know whether they’d neuter him today or eight weeks from today like everyone else is quoting.

I could try Fri with my vet and Sunday with the shelter. But I don’t know that he’s going to come around so easily after Friday.

I may just drive down to the shelter myself to see if I can talk to someone in real-time (faster than four days on email.)
 

tarasgirl06

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Scheduled downtime at work today.

I’ve been having a hard time getting started in the mornings. Worse as the mornings get colder.

I’m debating taking OC to shelter today to see how they can help. As I said, I wrote them specifically about neuter. I’m not sure if they’ll do that today. That should be a drop off not a drop on by like they replied.

Here’s what I’m thinking. I have no idea how he’s going to react to a carrier (or box) and a vet or shelter trip. I may only get one chance at this.

If I can catch up to him tomorrow morning (and that’s a really big IF), he’ll get a chip scan, lab work, and an exam.

If I can take him to shelter today, he’ll likely get intake paperwork and put on the shelter website. He can come home with me. Or I can surrender him. But I still don’t know whether they’d neuter him today or eight weeks from today like everyone else is quoting.

I could try Fri with my vet and Sunday with the shelter. But I don’t know that he’s going to come around so easily after Friday.

I may just drive down to the shelter myself to see if I can talk to someone in real-time (faster than four days on email.)
Decisions, decisions! Praying for the right one. If you have or can get Feliway spray, and can spray the inside of the carrier or the toweling/other material you lay down for OC to rest on, it may help him. It really works for us, and worked for the airlift of 12 through a bumpy 100-mile drive and international flight.
 
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daftcat75

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And here comes the anxiety and sadness this morning.

Trying to care for this stray has been complicated by my grief for the recent passing of Krista.

I was just hit pretty hard by a soggy grief balloon. I sure hope it’s emptied.

I think I’m going to drive down and see if I can chat with a shelter worker. I can come back for OC if I like what I hear.
 

tarasgirl06

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And here comes the anxiety and sadness this morning.

Trying to care for this stray has been complicated by my grief for the recent passing of Krista.

I was just hit pretty hard by a soggy grief balloon. I sure hope it’s emptied.

I think I’m going to drive down and see if I can chat with a shelter worker. I can come back for OC if I like what I hear.
Sounds like an excellent plan.
Yeah, those come without warning. I know.
 

TooManyFelines

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He is so beautiful, and you are wonderful for helping him. Fingers and toes crossed you are able to get him neutered and he settles in. We'd be screwed if an orange stray (geez, really any stray) showed up though we have 7 cats due to having to take in a relative's cats.

We lost our beautiful orange lovebug 18 months ago, I miss him so very much. He had all kinds of health problems, including stomatitis and constant URI's. We had to have all of his teeth removed and that took care of the stomatitis for the most part, but the URI's wore him down and he only lived to 8. He was the most wonderful, loving cat and losing him broke both our hearts.
 

tarasgirl06

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He is so beautiful, and you are wonderful for helping him. Fingers and toes crossed you are able to get him neutered and he settles in. We'd be screwed if an orange stray (geez, really any stray) showed up though we have 7 cats due to having to take in a relative's cats.

We lost our beautiful orange lovebug 18 months ago, I miss him so very much. He had all kinds of health problems, including stomatitis and constant URI's. We had to have all of his teeth removed and that took care of the stomatitis for the most part, but the URI's wore him down and he only lived to 8. He was the most wonderful, loving cat and losing him broke both our hearts.
My heartfelt condolences for your loss. And my gratitude from the heart for taking in a relative's cats -- something family SHOULD do but so often do NOT do.
I moved here with 9 of our 21 cats because my ex decided to dump us. Twelve were airlifted to safety and maintained monthly by me. I was 3 over the quota for this city, but of course they are all indoor only cats and no one knew about them. Over these 13 years, only one is still here, and I adopted an additional one four years ago. My house feels so empty, even with two roomies I've had with me since last November. I WISH I could have 7!!!
 

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I give OC Fancy Feast Classic pate, Turkey and Giblets flavor. I figure everyone else is probably giving him chicken and fish. He loves it! I would try Fancy Feast Classic pates with your male. They're highly appealing. They're a sound recipe. And they're cheap which is important when it's not your cat and you may have to toss a meal. I ran out of Fancy Feast last weekend and decided to give him Rawz instead. I have so much Rawz leftover from Krista! 😿 I'm relieved he didn't really like it. He ate about half of it. But he doesn't like it as much as the Fancy Feast that's about half the price too. Friskies is also universally popular. But I don't like the recipe so much. Tiki Cat has a good recipe but it's going to be a little more expensive than the Fancy Feast and they don't have pates. You have to feed more of the grilled/shredded texture as it's going to have more moisture than a pate.

Does yours meow? That would suggest more a stray than a friendly feral.
Yes he does meow, I was surprised to find him on my back steps last evening ,he wanted to be petted and allowed me to pick him up. I was wondering if he was dumped, someone's outdoor cat, or became an outdoor cat because he is not neutered and sprayed inside? He did eat a can of Tiny Tiger chicken pate for me yesterday,like O.C. he is a big cat, he ate it with gusto. Thank you for suggesting FF, my two cats love Turkey flavor
 
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daftcat75

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Yes he does meow, I was surprised to find him on my back steps last evening ,he wanted to be petted and allowed me to pick him up. I was wondering if he was dumped, someone's outdoor cat, or became an outdoor cat because he is not neutered and sprayed inside? He did eat a can of Tiny Tiger chicken pate for me yesterday,like O.C. he is a big cat, he ate it with gusto. Thank you for suggesting FF, my two cats love Turkey flavor
He sounds like OC. He was probably a sweet kitten that came of age in Covid when neuters were deemed elective and thus illegal. And when he started marking, he got turned loose. That’s what I think happened with OC. And probably what happened with yours.

OC is not a big cat. He’s a compact 10 lbs of muscle. Like a tiny orange pit bull. Sweet like one too. 😻
 
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daftcat75

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I didn’t see OC when I broke for lunch. It became a hot one this afternoon. I hope he came around for his lunch before it became refried cat food. 🤦🏼‍♂️

I drove to the shelter and managed to get in the surrender line behind a local rescue volunteer who works with ferals. She was able to answer all my questions because she’s still been taking cats down to the shelter through all of this.

Long story short, it sounds like the shelter is the best option. Rescue woman told me that if he’s friendly, the shelter will snip, chip, and vax him. If he does okay at the shelter, they’ll try to adopt him out or send him to a rescue. I can also get his animal ID once he’s in the system and contact other fosters and rescues. I will also put his animal ID on flyers and post flyers at our community and next door. And at least according to the rescue woman (didn’t end up talking with a shelter employee), the shelter would more than likely release him back to the community he came from if he ran out of options. But I’ll make sure they have my number as a home of last resort if I have to temporarily foster him until another arrangement can be made.

I canceled his vet appointment tomorrow. I’ll take him down to the shelter on Monday or Tuesday when I catch up to him next. They don’t do any medical procedures at the shelter on the weekend. That’s why I’ll wait until Monday.
 

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You got a lot of helpful information for OC. I was in a similar situation once with a dog....in fact, almost identical. The dog did get a home with a woman who actually asked for my phone number and called me to thank me for "shepherding" the dog through the channels of the shelter. Just make sure that they absolutely understand how much you want him back at the end if there is no other option. In the case of the dog, because it was a kill shelter which was trying to be more humane (but not an LA city or county shelter; it was an individual city shelter looking to improve their reputation) I did offer to pay for the dog's upkeep and food if that would mean that she would not be put to sleep. I would not have trusted a city or county shelter to do that, even if they acted interested in accepting that option.

You have done so much to insure the welfare of OC at a time which is very difficult for you.:redheartpump::thanks:

My experience with ferals is that true feral never makes a peep, much less meows. They are trained by their mothers never to make a sound as it is part of their survival strategy. Any cat who has ever made a voluntary sound as ended up not having been a true, wild feral but had some other past in his story, even if it was having been befriended by a human on the streets at a young age.

Jamie talks all the time. He was probably feral, but I found him dying at 4 weeks, so he has completely adapted to our life. The two feral sisters I brought in during the rain in March now talk a little bit, but it is an odd squeaky sound because they don't actually know how to meow.

Fifteen years ago a litter was born on my front lawn. Feral mother, one friendly male, feral sisters. When I trapped the mom, she was caught with one of the females, about 8 weeks old. I kept this cat, Eve, in the house with the friendly male, Billy. The others were TNRed and continued on as cared for ferals. If Eve is alive tomorrow, it will be her 15th birthday (and I have no reason to believe that she will not be). She has been indoor only for 15 years, an indoor feral who has never made a peep in all that time.
 
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This cat is BIG and muscular too, and very sweet, makes sense what you say about lock down and neutering, his fur feels thin to me but he looks well fed at the same time too, I'm kind of new to cats, not sure what his fur should feel like,our cats are indoor and neutered but there coats are thicker than my visitor coat.
 

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Uncled Uncled some cats' coats are thinner, either naturally or due to poor diet. Some cats' coats thin out (shed a lot) in the runup to hot weather.
fionasmom fionasmom Baby Su, born feral in the Mojave 16+ years ago, doesn't meow, either. She was found wandering alone under one of our ancient junipers on our high desert land. She's never meowed. She makes a scratchy little "mnh" sound. She purrs, too.
IMG_0782.JPG
 
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daftcat75

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I haven’t seen him all day. 😿

But I did see an empty Friskies can earlier today in front of his other love stop. And a couple neighbors reported seeing him today.

There is a bigger orange cat that I did see. I guess he comes from the community next door. This may be the one I saw yesterday morning when that cat bolted from me. Because OC will meow at me and do cute belly stretch things. “I’m so freakin’ cute! Come pet me!” This one first ran into the bushes. But then when I squatted down to his level, I could see from his face and his expression that this was not OC.

I found my SureFeed motion detection feeder. We’ll start with it open. And once he gets used to that, I can put it to training mode. And then eventually I can switch it to motion. That way if he would just come to my deck for food, this should let me keep his dish stocked.
 

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I haven’t seen him all day. 😿

But I did see an empty Friskies can earlier today in front of his other love stop. And a couple neighbors reported seeing him today.

There is a bigger orange cat that I did see. I guess he comes from the community next door. This may be the one I saw yesterday morning when that cat bolted from me. Because OC will meow at me and do cute belly stretch things. “I’m so freakin’ cute! Come pet me!” This one first ran into the bushes. But then when I squatted down to his level, I could see from his face and his expression that this was not OC.

I found my SureFeed motion detection feeder. We’ll start with it open. And once he gets used to that, I can put it to training mode. And then eventually I can switch it to motion. That way if he would just come to my deck for food, this should let me keep his dish stocked.
Big props! Excellent plan.
OC and BOC!
 
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daftcat75

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Look who I caught up with this morning.
D819068F-C7C5-4334-9DE0-CF8EA3351041.jpeg FBDECFFF-DA2A-48EA-ABBE-4AD838127156.jpeg
I heard him meowing at my neighbor’s door. Turns out he was meowing at my upstairs neighbors door. When he heard and saw me, he started down the steps and squirted out the side about halfway; too eager to finish the stairs. 😹

It seems clear that I am his first meal of the day by how hungry he was, that I decided to give him the full 3 oz can. It seems like he’s polishing off a 5 oz can of Friskies grilled. So a 3 oz of FF pate should last him awhile. I hope he goes off to the pool chairs for a good nap.

And since I no longer have a cat resting under my bookcase, I repurposed that camera to monitor my deck. I’ll re-enable the motion detection on that camera and see who comes into my deck and when.
861507AA-5099-473E-9B89-57043ED77211.jpeg
 

tarasgirl06

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Look who I caught up with this morning.
View attachment 351421View attachment 351422
I heard him meowing at my neighbor’s door. Turns out he was meowing at my upstairs neighbors door. When he heard and saw me, he started down the steps and squirted out the side about halfway; too eager to finish the stairs. 😹

It seems clear that I am his first meal of the day by how hungry he was, that I decided to give him the full 3 oz can. It seems like he’s polishing off a 5 oz can of Friskies grilled. So a 3 oz of FF pate should last him awhile. I hope he goes off to the pool chairs for a good nap.

And since I no longer have a cat resting under my bookcase, I repurposed that camera to monitor my deck. I’ll re-enable the motion detection on that camera and see who comes into my deck and when.
View attachment 351425
He's looking thinner.
 
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daftcat75

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I was previously planning to take him to the vet this morning. But I was not looking forward to having to wake and walk the grounds for him. I find it highly amusing that after deciding I wouldn’t take him down this morning, he essentially sought me out. 😹😻
 
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