From Feral To Lap Cats

[mani]

You know MoonstoneWolf the number of times in these 57 pages you have said one, more or all of them are 'gone forever' is a lot.
The number of times you'll 'never see them again' is a lot.
The number of times you've mentioned the 'no bond' and that they don't love you is a lot, not just here, but increasingly all over the forum.
It's all so extreme.

You have feral/stray cats. They have their own nature and the ones you look after come and go. People who look after stray and feral cats need to have a sense of selflessness.. just doing what needs to be done. If you want a cat that loves you unconditionally, go to a shelter and find one. If your mother won't let you, I'm sorry about that, but perhaps it's time to stand up to this 96 year old who totally relies on you.

Please don't use this post as a reason to write another epic about it all. Please just sit and read it and take it in and work out steps to stop this constant angst. A counsellor may be helpful.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

You know MoonstoneWolf the number of times in these 57 pages you have said one, more or all of them are 'gone forever' is a lot.
The number of times you'll 'never see them again' is a lot.
The number of times you've mentioned the 'no bond' and that they don't love you is a lot, not just here, but increasingly all over the forum.
It's all so extreme.

You have feral/stray cats. They have their own nature and the ones you look after come and go. People who look after stray and feral cats need to have a sense of selflessness.. just doing what needs to be done. If you want a cat that loves you unconditionally, go to a shelter and find one. If your mother won't let you, I'm sorry about that, but perhaps it's time to stand up to this 96 year old who totally relies on you.

Please don't use this post as a reason to write another epic about it all. Please just sit and read it and take it in and work out steps to stop this constant angst. A counsellor may be helpful.

Thank you for your input.

I now know what happened. Spirit and Gypsy were TNRd. We still have one vet that does that but taking the precautions of come out and get them. Obviously the other cats ran off as they've been there done that and don't want to repeat. Before there were no eartips but I kept the cam in the pet carrier and watched last night as they ventured in to eat and both Spirit and Gypsy had the tipped ears. Gypsy was more obvious (like Treasure's) and Spirit's ear tip is more like Shadow's. I did see Shaman and CG 2 houses up. They didn't come to eat but that's ok. I know they're all safe now.


Anyway it was cute getting a close up video of the possum and the raccoon helping themselves to the food bowl.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Happy Easter everyone. So as of this morning, all the cats have been accounted for. Or at least all but Shaman came to visit and eat here. While Treasure and Cooper are't fighting they are having a stare down. Then Cooper just walked off but he came to visit. Hopefully things here will begin to change.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

No I'm not writing an epic tale. All cats are accounted for however Shaman seems reluctant to come back although her buddies come and eat at night. I'm wondering, W Willowy is it possible that she is in false heat? And is it true that some female cats experience this every year all their lives while unlike Pepper she never had false heat after her spay? I'm not asking from an angst position but just truly curious, as otherwise how would I learn if I don't ask? I find her behavior odd. But then she's a cat and she may find my behavior even more odd. lol It's been at least 2 years since she was TNRd. Spirit finally got the nerve to eat out of the pet carrier though as I saw last night.

 

[Willowy]

Some cats have a bit of missed ovarian tissue and go into heat after being spayed, but that's fairly rare and there's no reason to think that happened to her unless you see her standing for a male.

Cats are weird. They do weird things. I gave up trying to explain cat behavior a long time ago.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Ok thanks. Was just curious as to what other reasons would they wander during mating season. Guess I'll have to observe their behavior more as I have like 7 cams in the yard. And naturally the red fox hasn't returned since I installed the last cam. Guess he/she is camera shy

 

[KarenKat]

Olive always gets a bit of Spring fever when the weather changes to be warmer, if I let her outside I’m sure she’d wander more

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Ha but these cats live outside 24/7/365, and just to clarify, Shaman is female and the only cat not accounted for since Friday morning Hasn't ate since Tuesday (remember she runs scared of a leaf and doesn't know how to hunt). Oh well I need to get my steps in and finish cleaning the basement.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Shaman and CG were just 2 houses up lazing around in the bushes. I guess she's eating ok. Not sure how (100% not here as I have cams on the feeding areas), CG is former pet (ferals don't usually have collars) and Shaman runs and hides from a leaf lol. Guess she's testing the neighborhoods smorgasbord right now. Odd as I also saw Treasure with them too. I think they're playing tricks on me. Cats.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

At least I think that was her. I'll just believe it was.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Is there anyway to keep a raccoon from figuring out a timed feeder? I know that's like asking for blood from a turnip lol Gypsy came several times this morning looking for food and none was there because Harrison ate it all He figured out how to squeeze into the pet carrier. I do this so that the cats are left alone and that Spirit, Gypsy, CG and Shaman if she returns have food.


However I am not getting up at 3 or 4 am to take food out to the cats, even if Mom wasn't here. I only know she was here from cam playback. I have cams on both feeding areas and the rest for security around the house.

I hope I hear on this as I would like to set a timed feeder for Gypsy without Harrison or one of his buddies figuring out how to open the thing.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Shaman as still not returned. That is one week since she was last seen. I am confident thought that she is fine as she survived for a year without me. At least she has CG and Spirit with her and I appreciate the time she honored me with her visits. The others come and go but looks like someone tried to hurt Ellie Mae the Possum as there was a gash in her back. Of course I couldn't go out and do anything as she'd just run off anyway. Harrison was a no show last night.

 

[KarenKat]

Shaman and CG were just 2 houses up lazing around in the bushes.

I thought you saw her Tuesday two houses up?

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I thought you saw her Tuesday two houses up?

I thought I saw her but by the time it was confirmed by my neighbor's brother it was just CG the edit portion of the above post was over and I didn't want to bother anyone. I thought it was kind of clear that I was mistaken about seeing the two of them with the following posts that I made. I did post this one right after which kind of shows that I think I was wrong. When I said "At least I thought it was her." In my neck of the woods that means that I probably was mistaken again as usual.

And I still cannot get close enough to CG to remove the non breakaway collar. Look all the way back by the tree. I only took the photo because I know there is nothing white by that tree. It's been my property for 64 years or rather my Mom's in which I have lived here for 50 years of my life. Although I will say CG stood up to Treasure and did not allow herself or himself to be run off the property like before. The phone camera was on the highest zoom there was so in reality CG was farther away then what the photo looks like.

Here's the thread that I said I thought it was her. So that was in correction of my above post. I do make mistakes at times. In fact most of the time I do. Believe does not mean it is or isn't, it's not an absolute.

Meanwhile take a look at Sopdet's markings. I have been putting one of my cams in the pet carrier (where I keep the food for the other cats) and Sopdet likes to give a nightly inspection.

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[MoonstoneWolf]

Pretty rainy and cold day so the only cats that showed were Treasure, Sopdet and of course Shadow who walks through tornadoes like it's nothing at all lol. 10 days since Shaman ate (here) 7 days since she was spotted. As stated just above as usual I messed up and thought that I saw Shaman but it was just CG. I'm good at seeing and hearing things that aren't there, even with cams. Ugh CG and Shaman usually do hang out together though. Oh well. I guess whatever lessons I had to learn from Shaman are complete and she moved on to teach someone else. As long as I find out she's safe and alive that's all that matters. If something happened to her and she is no longer alive I could never forgive myself for not doing something to control the chasing from food bowl situation. I just wish I could have let her known how much I love her before Treasure ran her off. Her buddies kind of slip in and out during the night not realizing there's a cam inside the pet carrier. haha

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Aren’t possums supposed to be nocturnal? If so Ellie Mae and Cherry Blossom didn’t get the memo.

I'm finding the behavior of a lot of wildlife to be totally bizarre this past year. Raccoons trusting me and being out during the day, groundhogs approaching me and sniffing me and then walking off, red foxes approaching humans wagging their tails and then leaving. Cat's acting weird (although they always act weird but more so than normal). Sopdet in particular still makes only raccoon sounds. Just very odd. I even walked right past a couple of squirrels (like within inches) yesterday and they did not take off. I'm not saying they're sick or anything as they all look very healthy but their behavior is truly out of the norm.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I think Gypsy has an owner. I found him on Next Door and Paw Boost. If Shaman is alive she's going to be upset but I know how it feels with a missing cat and Shaman is feral so I can understand how this guy feels when the cat was indoors for 3 years. So hopefully all cats will be reunited with their humans and I at least hear that Shaman is alive and well. It's her choice and free will if she returns to me. I just hope I did the right thing and didn't tell a psycho but he did have a photo of himself with the cat and posted a photo of his car with LP visible. Hope I didn't mess things up like I usually do because of my feelings and emotions, as I failed to protect one cat already .

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Shaman returned in the middle of the night to eat. She was with Spirit and Gypsy (Midnight?). So either Gypsy isn't Midnight (the guy looking for him yesterday) or he didn't find Midnight. I have no idea. From the looks of it she may not come during the daytime when I'm outside because of Treasure. Which is fine, at least I know she's alive, well and eating. I may have to tame her again though at some point. Anyway, since I'm getting errors on my media being copyright (what?) I'm linking to YouTube videos. One is of Harrison trying his hardest to turn the food bowl right side up. Have to watch all the way through as Patty bit him in the tail lol



And here is Shaman eating. I know it's not overly exciting but I'm glad she has returned, is alive and well. And Eating in Peace as Treasure was sleeping on the other side of the house at the time.


And here is CG inspecting the food.

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[MoonstoneWolf]

None of the cats showed up last night. Guess it was too warm outside and they decided to explore. It looks as though Shaman is totally feral again so I'll have to do the taming process all over with her, if I decide to. I'm scared she'll be aggressive like Cooper became during his absence.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Went shopping and workers tearing up the streets and all around the house so it may be awhile before the cats return. So noisy I want to join them. haha