De-Ja-Vu

jeanie g.

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Well, I was just reading a very well written and humorous story (reminiscent of Samoa, of course) written by a cat lover, and was really looking forward to a happy ending this time. What a shock. Rakes? Tell me I'm wrong. Oh, Lord help him.
 

hissy

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This just makes me very very tired. It just never stops. Ferals are almost always made out to be the bad guys and people like this, never take the time out to understand the behavior.
 

lotsocats

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I don't think he hit the cat with a rake. The way I understand the story is that rakes fell off the wall as the cats crashed into them during the battle. Although I feel sorry for the feral cat... especially since the guy was first making him feel at home by feeding him... the story seems more about how the author's female cats whooped butt when the wimpy human male was completely powerless against the macho feral cat.

So...perhaps I am being a polly-anna, but I am not offended by this story like I was with Samoa.

Also, this guy didn't want the feral killed at the shelter and he also knew about a feral colony and didn't want the colony disrupted, so he has a lot more knowledge than many -- though he obviously has a bit more to learn!
 

dragonlady

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I think it was the cats banging around that caused the rakes to fall. That kitty is still out there though and isn't neutered. Hopefully someone will find him and give him a furever home.
 

hissy

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I hope you guys are right. He leaves it open to interpetation at the end there. Perhaps because I see so much of the evil after cat abuse, I thought he took off after this feral with a rake. I withdraw my lawn mower comment........
 
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Anne

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I don't think it's as bad as the original Samoa story either. I just got this de-ja-vous - another guy protecting his pet cats from a "horrible" feral.
 

jeanie g.

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But he said, "leave it to the women. The rakes fell" That's not exact, but it surprised me, because I thought he intended to help the "bully."

Oh oh, I blew it. Renae, you were right! The female kitties beat up the tom cat. Dumb Jeanie. Poor Tom, though.
 

ldg

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I scrolled through the "contact us" section and found Michael Tsai's e-mail. I just mailed this note:

Mr. Tsai: It's a real shame your Vet didn't explain that it is un-neutered males that mark their territory. It seems like you tried to do the right thing by this poor cat (who as you understand well is just playing out his genetic and hormonal coding) but you were sadly misinformed. Now he has vanished into the "nether world," left to impregnate un-spayed females, which will bear unwanted kittens, replicating the problem hundreds (if not thousands) of times over. It is sad that cats are so good at reproducing. An unsterilized female can produce up to seven litters a year, with 5 - 7 kittens per litter.

It is wonderful that you were willing to trap this cat and take it to a shelter. It would have been the right thing to do! There he could have been neutered - which would have helped to calm his "wild" behavior. Who knows? He could have been very adoptable then. Besides - there are many cat-lovers out there who devote themselves to the "difficult" and unloved ones.

There was recently a story in the Amarillo Globe about a savage beast that the journalist named "Osama bin Laden!" After writing the author, I was able to intervene (I live in NJ) and locate someone local to trap the "savage" cat. It turns out that the cat was not only not feral, it was simply a hungry stray. He had already been neutered. Once in a loving caring institution, he became quite tame (I might add immediately).

If this poor soul turns up in your garage again, if you have the means and the will, trapping the cat and having it neutered would certainly change his aggressive territorial behavior. It would definitely save many unwanted kittens from the same unwanted fate.

If you would like more information about trapping or sterilization, and the costs to communities of humane programs versus most existing animal control policies, please feel free to reply to this e-mail.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

Laurie D. XXXXXXXX
 

lotsocats

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What a great letter! I think that hearing the information in sucha a respectful way, he might be willing to trap and neuter the poor feral!
 

yola

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Laurie, very well and rationally written. Thanks very much for doing that. Hopefully it will have the desired effect and this kitty might have a happier future than otherwise.

Let us know if the guy responds.
 

hissy

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And there you have it folks! Laurie's path is clearly defined!
Great!!! letter Laurie- I hope the man on the other end listens to the logic of it.
 

ldg

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Well - Hawaii has active readers! Michael Tsai actually wrote back VERY promptly last night (but I "signed off" for the night after the post.

Michael Tsai wrote:
Ms. XXXXXXXX
Thanks for your note. After the column ran, I was contacted by someone involved with a local feral cat program. The offending cat actually still comes around, though he now spends most of his time beneath a nearby neighbor's house and he seems unwilling to pick anymore fights with Jenka or my indoor cats. I've set up a separate dish for him at the far corner of my lot, where he and some of the other ferals now eat and fight. I plan on trapping him again and bringing him in for neutering (just $5 under the trap-neuter-release program) as soon as possible. I'm hopeful he'll be a bit less aggressive when he's re-introduced to our neighborhood.

Anyway, thanks for reading the column and for taking the time to write.

All the best,
Mike Tsai
So there you have it!!! Yeah! I wrote back a quick note that said it sure sounds like there's going to be a happy ending, and I thanked him for caring for that cat! (Actually, I should ask him to put me in touch with that TNR program to find out what they're doing and how they're running it. $5 for spay/neuter! Wow!)

Laurie
 

jeanie g.

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God bless him. I knew he was an animal lover! I'm so happy. I'm going to email him and thank him. Thank you, Laurie!
 
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