- Joined
- Feb 19, 2001
- Messages
- 34,872
- Purraise
- 77
Here is my experience that I will share with you:
Capture....food usually works for a bribe, however in this case Stryker noticed something was afoot and off he took across the yard and into the hay barn. Following, I locked the barn door, turned on the light and ruefully surveyed all the hay bales stacked together. If not for my aching muscles, I could of climbed to the top (where of course Stryk was perched watching me. But now, it was a waiting game. I settled down to see if I could outlast him, but after about 20 minutes it was clear he was not going to budge. I picked up a stick laying nearby, and carefully worked it underneath the loose straw that so typically lays on the floor of the barn. I played "mouse under the straw" with the stick and saw it had caught his attention. In less than he a minute, he had executed a flying leap onto the moving floor and I had done the Hissy Grab and placed him into the cat carrier I had nearby.
Already in the bathroom I had prepared the bucket and filled it with warm water and medicated shampoo. Stryk had been pulling out tufts of his hair for the last week and I needed to try and stop this before he became a hairless Manx. I scruffed Stryker and wrapped him in a towel so that I could clip his claws before he encountered what was to be his first bath. In a matter of minutes, the bathroom was filled with indignant LOUD meows and the towel was shredded. He was not going to cooperate in having those weapons trimmed.
Since I have a short supply of towels, I decided to take the chance and just bathe him and try to stay away from his attempts to make his human the most pierced human on the planet. The minute I dunked his rear end into the bucket, he entirely froze in place, though his meows got so loud I wished I had earplugs to ease the discomfort. Ouside, I could hear an accompanying chorus of cries as the other kitties came over to the closed door to find out why one of their own was in so much distress.
I quickly bathed Stryker while he protested his complaints to the world and when he was all rinsed out, I wrapped him quickly in a towel and started rubbing him dry. There was a huge amount of cat hair left on the shower floor, I could of built another cat from it! I then carried this sopping wet barn cat to hubby so he could hold him while I finished toweling kitty dry.
Now Stryker is curled up next to the heater and he looks like a drowned rat, but for a feral who has never before had a bath he did really well. The only casuality to this encounter, is a bathroom towel I didn't need anyway.
Capture....food usually works for a bribe, however in this case Stryker noticed something was afoot and off he took across the yard and into the hay barn. Following, I locked the barn door, turned on the light and ruefully surveyed all the hay bales stacked together. If not for my aching muscles, I could of climbed to the top (where of course Stryk was perched watching me. But now, it was a waiting game. I settled down to see if I could outlast him, but after about 20 minutes it was clear he was not going to budge. I picked up a stick laying nearby, and carefully worked it underneath the loose straw that so typically lays on the floor of the barn. I played "mouse under the straw" with the stick and saw it had caught his attention. In less than he a minute, he had executed a flying leap onto the moving floor and I had done the Hissy Grab and placed him into the cat carrier I had nearby.
Already in the bathroom I had prepared the bucket and filled it with warm water and medicated shampoo. Stryk had been pulling out tufts of his hair for the last week and I needed to try and stop this before he became a hairless Manx. I scruffed Stryker and wrapped him in a towel so that I could clip his claws before he encountered what was to be his first bath. In a matter of minutes, the bathroom was filled with indignant LOUD meows and the towel was shredded. He was not going to cooperate in having those weapons trimmed.
Since I have a short supply of towels, I decided to take the chance and just bathe him and try to stay away from his attempts to make his human the most pierced human on the planet. The minute I dunked his rear end into the bucket, he entirely froze in place, though his meows got so loud I wished I had earplugs to ease the discomfort. Ouside, I could hear an accompanying chorus of cries as the other kitties came over to the closed door to find out why one of their own was in so much distress.
I quickly bathed Stryker while he protested his complaints to the world and when he was all rinsed out, I wrapped him quickly in a towel and started rubbing him dry. There was a huge amount of cat hair left on the shower floor, I could of built another cat from it! I then carried this sopping wet barn cat to hubby so he could hold him while I finished toweling kitty dry.
Now Stryker is curled up next to the heater and he looks like a drowned rat, but for a feral who has never before had a bath he did really well. The only casuality to this encounter, is a bathroom towel I didn't need anyway.
