Fervour For Ferals.

[Furballsmom]

He's actually in the radiator.

I wondered - oh my goodness! What a marvelous story of felinity and humanity coming together - you're awesome!!

 

[Norachan]

What wonderful stories!

Most of my current 22 cats were born feral. I've heard it said that you have to get feral kittens before they are 2 months of age if you want to socialise them, but most of mine were closer to 5 months when they realised I was giving out free cat food.

I'll tell you the story of Gin Kun, the oldest feral cat that came to live with me.

He showed up about a week after I had the tom cat of the colony I cared for neutered. I guess he heard there was a situation vacant. He was a huge silver tom with a cork screw tail. He walked with a bit of a swagger, due to a healed break in a back leg. He also had a bit of a sneer like Elvis. I later found out this was because he had a rodent ulcer that was pushing one tooth out.

It was impossible not to fall in love with him.

A short time after he started coming to be fed regularly he turned up one day with his ear half torn off. I managed to trap him and took him for the first of several vet visits. He had his war wounds stitched up, his teeth pulled or cleaned, his parasites dealt with and, of course, he was neutered.

Our vet said he was about 10 years old.

It took about a year to convince him to stay indoors. First he only came for food, then he started hanging out for an hour or more, then in the winter I managed to get him to stay in overnight. Two of the last kittens he fathered, Sophie and Albert, moved in at about the same time.

When we moved house they all came with us. Gin was a great cat. He never sprayed indoors, was incredibly gentle with the other cats, got used to being petted and picked up, even sat on my lap a few times. After all those years living outside he was more than happy to have a home.

He's not with us anymore, but he lived to be at least 15 which isn't bad for a cat with FIV.

Feral cats are the best. I love the challenge of trying to win them over and get them to trust people. It's so rewarding seeing them looking healthy and well-fed after they've turned up looking so haggard.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

What wonderful stories!

Most of my current 22 cats were born feral. I've heard it said that you have to get feral kittens before they are 2 months of age if you want to socialise them, but most of mine were closer to 5 months when they realised I was giving out free cat food.

I'll tell you the story of Gin Kun, the oldest feral cat that came to live with me.

He showed up about a week after I had the tom cat of the colony I cared for neutered. I guess he heard there was a situation vacant. He was a huge silver tom with a cork screw tail. He walked with a bit of a swagger, due to a healed break in a back leg. He also had a bit of a sneer like Elvis. I later found out this was because he had a rodent ulcer that was pushing one tooth out.

It was impossible not to fall in love with him.

View attachment 235767

A short time after he started coming to be fed regularly he turned up one day with his ear half torn off. I managed to trap him and took him for the first of several vet visits. He had his war wounds stitched up, his teeth pulled or cleaned, his parasites dealt with and, of course, he was neutered.

Our vet said he was about 10 years old.

It took about a year to convince him to stay indoors. First he only came for food, then he started hanging out for an hour or more, then in the winter I managed to get him to stay in overnight. Two of the last kittens he fathered, Sophie and Albert, moved in at about the same time.

View attachment 235770
When we moved house they all came with us. Gin was a great cat. He never sprayed indoors, was incredibly gentle with the other cats, got used to being petted and picked up, even sat on my lap a few times. After all those years living outside he was more than happy to have a home.

He's not with us anymore, but he lived to be at least 15 which isn't bad for a cat with FIV.

Feral cats are the best. I love the challenge of trying to win them over and get them to trust people. It's so rewarding seeing them looking healthy and well-fed after they've turned up looking so haggard.

View attachment 235772

Norachan my Friend, I would say, "may your God Bless and keep you," but you have plenty of evidence that He already does just that.
.

 

[kittypa]

Much respect

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

Do the old "hold the cat up so it can get the bug" trick

Lol! It’s amazing how that’s one trick no one ever teaches you- and yet you just DO it! Ugh! Right now I’m more of the mind to “hold the cat up so the BUG can get HER!

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

What wonderful stories!

Most of my current 22 cats were born feral. I've heard it said that you have to get feral kittens before they are 2 months of age if you want to socialise them, but most of mine were closer to 5 months when they realised I was giving out free cat food.

I'll tell you the story of Gin Kun, the oldest feral cat that came to live with me.

He showed up about a week after I had the tom cat of the colony I cared for neutered. I guess he heard there was a situation vacant. He was a huge silver tom with a cork screw tail. He walked with a bit of a swagger, due to a healed break in a back leg. He also had a bit of a sneer like Elvis. I later found out this was because he had a rodent ulcer that was pushing one tooth out.

It was impossible not to fall in love with him.

View attachment 235767

A short time after he started coming to be fed regularly he turned up one day with his ear half torn off. I managed to trap him and took him for the first of several vet visits. He had his war wounds stitched up, his teeth pulled or cleaned, his parasites dealt with and, of course, he was neutered.

Our vet said he was about 10 years old.

It took about a year to convince him to stay indoors. First he only came for food, then he started hanging out for an hour or more, then in the winter I managed to get him to stay in overnight. Two of the last kittens he fathered, Sophie and Albert, moved in at about the same time.

View attachment 235770
When we moved house they all came with us. Gin was a great cat. He never sprayed indoors, was incredibly gentle with the other cats, got used to being petted and picked up, even sat on my lap a few times. After all those years living outside he was more than happy to have a home.

He's not with us anymore, but he lived to be at least 15 which isn't bad for a cat with FIV.

Feral cats are the best. I love the challenge of trying to win them over and get them to trust people. It's so rewarding seeing them looking healthy and well-fed after they've turned up looking so haggard.

View attachment 235772

What a noble looking fellow! How wonderful that he had such a lovely life with the family you pulled together. It sounds like he really was a loving little Patriarch to his fuzzlets. Beautiful!

 

[Etarre]

I get so mad sometimes - this great cat sat in the rescue booth for 6 months.

20170319_163836.jpg

• duncanmac
• Mar 19, 2017

I hear you! My Juniper wasn't feral, but she did languish in the shelter for almost two months before the rescue that I adopted her from pulled her out (to keep her from being deemed 'unadoptable' and euthanized) to take to a big adoption fair where I found her. It breaks my heart to think about what those weeks must have been like for her, since she so clearly craves affection now, even though she's not always able to accept it yet. The first time she looked at me, she seemed so eager to connect, and so sad.

 

[basscat]

Feral? I guess you could say that.
Won her over to a gentle loving pet? Never.
Hands down the prettiest cat I've ever seen up close though. Never could capture the auburn coat color in a photo though.

 

[duncanmac]

I hear you! My Juniper wasn't feral, but she did languish in the shelter for almost two months before the rescue that I adopted her from pulled her out (to keep her from being deemed 'unadoptable' and euthanized) to take to a big adoption fair where I found her. It breaks my heart to think about what those weeks must have been like for her, since she so clearly craves affection now, even though she's not always able to accept it yet. The first time she looked at me, she seemed so eager to connect, and so sad.

Someone here on TCS or out there IRL told me that some cats never adapt to a shelter environment and languish there. They never come out of their shells. Barry was like that - every time I saw him there he was "wrong."

When I first met Barry and tried to pet him, he just sat there. He didn't lean in to really get petted, but he didn't pull back - he just sat there and took it. He did that when we went to adopt him too. I'm used to cats either avoiding me or seeking me out for pets. (Full disclosure - I'm really a dog person and got our first cat with the basic assumption that they were like dogs but different, so it took a while to get their body language and communication.)

I think these withdrawn cats suffer. A lot of people want a ready-made pet that it cute, cuddly and affectionate right out of the box. Investing three weeks or more on a cat that might never be cuddly is too much for some people. I see it a lot on TCS with the "my cat hates me" or "why isn't my cat cuddly" threads.

Happier thoughts: Barry likes my wife; we think its because of all the women who worked at the shelter. He really perks up when he hears her and he does follow her around the house. But - she doesn't believe that he is as friendly with me as I tell her - after all this time she just get "drive by" pets and no good chin scratches, yet.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

Feral? I guess you could say that.
Won her over to a gentle loving pet? Never.
Hands down the prettiest cat I've ever seen up close though. Never could capture the auburn coat color in a photo though.

basscat - Gibs might not have been, "won over to a gentle loving pet," but he was surely won over by a gentle Loving Heart." The wild cats I've known and known of - Ocelots, Bobcats, a Margay, a Cougar and a Snow Leopard - all had caretakers who Loved them and who didn't fear them - and who had great respect, and infinite patience and understanding.

A feral cat - no matter his or her size - remains a wild cat by any standard, and every one requires hard work, patience, diligence and Love to get them on your side. Whether building a multi-thousand square foot outdoor enclosure, or a Feral Cat Palace or cold weather shelters, or caring for a feral colony, it's always work and an enormity of dedication, both of resources and of time - but work and dedication whose rewards, once reaped, are so great that they can neither be measured nor quantified.

I'll give you tree-fitty for dat Bobcat any old time.


.

 

[basscat]

basscat - Gibs might not have been, "won over to a gentle loving pet," but he was surely won over by a gentle Loving Heart." The wild cats I've known and known of - Ocelots, Bobcats, a Margay, a Cougar and a Snow Leopard - all had caretakers who Loved them and who didn't fear them - and who had great respect, and infinite patience and understanding.

A feral cat - no matter his or her size - remains a wild cat by any standard, and every one requires hard work, patience, diligence and Love to get them on your side. Whether building a multi-thousand square foot outdoor enclosure, or a Feral Cat Palace or cold weather shelters, or caring for a feral colony, it's always work and an enormity of dedication, both of resources and of time - but work and dedication whose rewards, once reaped, are so great that they can neither be measured nor quantified.

I'll give you tree-fitty for dat Bobcat any old time.


.

You do know....That's not Gibs. Gibsy not feral.
He has no clue as to what feral or wild is. He is a tame, sweet, loving pet. Albeit, a little rambunctious and high strung every now and then. SO, as for "gentle"? That has it's on/off moments. More-so now that he's getting older.

 

[Mer.kitten]

Is there more about Gibs somewhere? An intro thread or more info on how you got him, his parentage, what its like caring for him, ect?

 

[Etarre]

Like Mer.kitten , I'm also curious about Gibs and how he came to be a NONwildcat.

 

[basscat]

Started with "Bob".
Bob showed up at the end of the driveway one morning, almost dead, curled up on a warm rock. I assumed somebody had dumped a cat and it couldn't fend for itself, was starving, almost dead, and had decided that warm rock would be a good place to curl up and die.
(((I'll not get into my cold hearted or kind hearted solution)))
As I walked up to this cat, I noticed the colors were REALLY pretty. I could see no spots, but, I had never seen such a unique grayish dark auburn pattern. Then I saw the ears and thought BOBCAT!
So, between my curiosity of being uncertain of "bobcat", and just wanting to know more? I went back to the garage and got a fish landing net. Away we went through the woods. I would get about 3ft away, and cat would stagger and stumble 30ft. And this went on until me and that stupid net were tangled up in some really thick underbrush. And I had enough.
That's when I gave up and headed back to my cold morning coffee.
Later that day I was hauling some firewood wood back to the house and my wife was following me on the atv. She stopped me at the barn and asked if I saw that cat? No, but, I grabbed the landing net and hopped on the atv with her and back we went.
It could hardly walk now, so, netting it like a fish was pretty easy.
That's when we were sure it was a bobcat. It may not have been able to walk, but, it was very able to be extremely upset. Cat was struggling to breath also. Almost as if it might have internal injuries or something.
I put it in a large cage, made a few calls. Was told it was probably about 4 months old. My best guess was that it's mother died and it wasn't old enough to fend for itself. And had somehow gotten injured as well.
I gave it some water and tossed a chicken leg in the cage and the next morning the leg and the water were gone
Continued this for about a week. She started eating the food when I would bring it, drank a little water, and FINALLY pooped. Still wheezing, but, the poop was a good sign.
I thought I'd see what else I could do for her. So, I built a 20ft x 8ft enclosure using a barn stall as half of it for some shelter. Cost me $50 for the wire, and a Saturday. The lumber, nails, and stuff I already had laying around taking up space.
Put her in there and considered taking her to the vet to see what the breathing problem was. PROBLEM....Try getting a not so grateful wild bobcat in a carrier. A 4 month old bobcat kitten is not something one should take lightly. ESPECIALLY considering I didn't know for sure what was wrong with it. (an early stage of rabies, or ???)
So, I decided to give it some time, make sure it wasn't rabies, and then I would figure out how to get her to the vet.
Two months later I had ruled out rabies, BUT, while she was still wheezing, it was getting LOTS better. And she kept getting more excited about food and was looking better. Bouncing and playing if she thought nobody was around.
Backed up on a high shelf in a corner, and growling, if somebody was around.
This continued for almost a year. Wheezing cleared up completely and she got fat, furry, healthy, and brave to start protecting her food.
Every now and then I would give her a "still alive" discard from a local chicken grower. She knew exactly what to do.
Released her when she was about 14 months old.
She was a wild cat. Wild is what she knew. She would never be tame, She would never be a pet. The wilderness is where she belonged. And that's I did. I sent her back to what she knew.
I hear that little low throaty growl in my head every time I walk by the barn. I sure do miss that.

Well, that's how this whole bobcat thing started. With Bob.

 

[basscat]

Like Mer.kitten , I'm also curious about Gibs and how he came to be a NONwildcat.

I was told that when Gibs opened his eyes and was able to focus, the 1st thing he saw was a people. I say that because if a person gets a bobcat, lynx, raccoon, fox, etc. from the wilderness, AFTER it can focus? It's then too late for them to be a pet. They say 1st impression is everything and I guess in this case, that's true.
We bottle fed Gibs and took him everywhere with us. He has no idea what "wild" is. All he knows is central heat and air, cable tv, and food that comes in a bowl.

 

[Mer.kitten]

Started with "Bob".
Bob showed up at the end of the driveway one morning, almost dead, curled up on a warm rock. I assumed somebody had dumped a cat and it couldn't fend for itself, was starving, almost dead, and had decided that warm rock would be a good place to curl up and die.
(((I'll not get into my cold hearted or kind hearted solution)))
As I walked up to this cat, I noticed the colors were REALLY pretty. I could see no spots, but, I had never seen such a unique grayish dark auburn pattern. Then I saw the ears and thought BOBCAT!
So, between my curiosity of being uncertain of "bobcat", and just wanting to know more? I went back to the garage and got a fish landing net. Away we went through the woods. I would get about 3ft away, and cat would stagger and stumble 30ft. And this went on until me and that stupid net were tangled up in some really thick underbrush. And I had enough.
That's when I gave up and headed back to my cold morning coffee.
Later that day I was hauling some firewood wood back to the house and my wife was following me on the atv. She stopped me at the barn and asked if I saw that cat? No, but, I grabbed the landing net and hopped on the atv with her and back we went.
It could hardly walk now, so, netting it like a fish was pretty easy.
That's when we were sure it was a bobcat. It may not have been able to walk, but, it was very able to be extremely upset. Cat was struggling to breath also. Almost as if it might have internal injuries or something.
I put it in a large cage, made a few calls. Was told it was probably about 4 months old. My best guess was that it's mother died and it wasn't old enough to fend for itself. And had somehow gotten injured as well.
I gave it some water and tossed a chicken leg in the cage and the next morning the leg and the water were gone
Continued this for about a week. She started eating the food when I would bring it, drank a little water, and FINALLY pooped. Still wheezing, but, the poop was a good sign.
I thought I'd see what else I could do for her. So, I built a 20ft x 8ft enclosure using a barn stall as half of it for some shelter. Cost me $50 for the wire, and a Saturday. The lumber, nails, and stuff I already had laying around taking up space.
Put her in there and considered taking her to the vet to see what the breathing problem was. PROBLEM....Try getting a not so grateful wild bobcat in a carrier. A 4 month old bobcat kitten is not something one should take lightly. ESPECIALLY considering I didn't know for sure what was wrong with it. (an early stage of rabies, or ???)
So, I decided to give it some time, make sure it wasn't rabies, and then I would figure out how to get her to the vet.
Two months later I had ruled out rabies, BUT, while she was still wheezing, it was getting LOTS better. And she kept getting more excited about food and was looking better. Bouncing and playing if she thought nobody was around.
Backed up on a high shelf in a corner, and growling, if somebody was around.
This continued for almost a year. Wheezing cleared up completely and she got fat, furry, healthy, and brave to start protecting her food.
Every now and then I would give her a "still alive" discard from a local chicken grower. She knew exactly what to do.
Released her when she was about 14 months old.
She was a wild cat. Wild is what she knew. She would never be tame, She would never be a pet. The wilderness is where she belonged. And that's I did. I sent her back to what she knew.
I hear that little low throaty growl in my head every time I walk by the barn. I sure do miss that.

Well, that's how this whole bobcat thing started. With Bob.

Amazing, thank you so much for taking care of her Hoping to get Gibs story soon

 

[Norachan]

I thought that bobcat in the first picture looked a bit different to Gibbs!

What an awesome experience. I'm glad Bob was tough enough to survive whatever was wrong with her with a bit of help from you.

 

[orange&white]

Farrell got inside the warehouse at work during a rainstorm and couldn't find her way back out. My boss bought a humane trap at Tractor Supply and for a few days there was no sign of any cat in the warehouse. The boss started making fun of my "imagination" and chuckling about the "ghost cat" in the warehouse. The next day the trap went off. He just wanted her out of his warehouse and said "Just let her go." I told him we should take her to the TNR program so she didn't get pregnant. The managed colony was behind a convenience store, next door to our office. He grudgingly allowed me to take unpaid time off work to drive her to the shelter.

Farrell went for TNR on a Tuesday, and was supposed to be spayed on Wednesday. They had too many cats that week and they kept her another week. It was a Friday, ten days after taking her to the shelter that I picked her up. I had picked her up on my lunch hour and brought her into the office instead of releasing her immediately. She was so tiny and frightened. Then she mewed and I saw baby incisors. She was much younger than I had guessed.

I reached in the kennel and picked her up, fully expecting to be shredded and bitten. She relaxed, just momentarily, then wriggled for freedom. I put her down. She went home with me that evening.

She's still home with me. Really home.

My "smart" camera which is supposed to adjust for me being a cripplingly amateurish photographer seems to have a hard time getting good photos of Farrell. It usually can't figure the contrast with all the various colors of her coat, and many photos of her end up washed out. Here are a few to share.

The End...

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

The End...

orange&white - And what a lovely end(ing) it is.
.

 

[orange&white]

orange&white - And what a lovely end(ing) it is.
.

Don't you have about 10 other "tails" you could contribute to this thread? Please?