My Feral And Rescued Cats

[bbdoll22]

Jcatbird thanks for the pics.
I have 4 rescues. 2 from a shelter 1 from the street and one who was a 2 week old bottle baby I rescued after his mom got hit by a car. They are 16 years old 12, 12 and 10 years.

 

[Jcatbird]

Mamanyt1953 So glad about your news. I hope you can hear the birds and Hekitty purring!
M maggiedemi They do loveto rub us don’t they? It’s what I call, being petted. Lol

My update is coming earlier tonight. I’ve been trying to teach BJ that it’s okay to relax. He has no real understanding of play except for his wicked sense of swatting mom and stealing her gloves if she tries to wear them for protection. Lol Smart kitty. Since the usual toys have no allure I thought we might try something simple. A sting. Here is how it went.


After much dangling, wiggling, pulling across the floor and every other movement I could imagine, this is the only reaction I got. Yeah. So......

Finally I let it drape over him hoping he would , at least, move.

For the first time he showed a flicker of interest.

He looked up at the string......

He seemed a little amused as he blinked. Calm.

Than he tilted his head so the string fell down and he looked up......in case you are new to the looks from BJ, this means , I’m coming for you!

He didn’t want the string. He prefers to leap for a swat. Ha! This time I was wise to him! He missed!

String withdrawn for now. Maybe we’ll try the ball again. At least he still wanted to snuggle!

When I went back in the house I discovered that Whistle had taken advantage of my absence and made himself comfortable on my heating pad.

Mitsy became brave for the very first time and joined Saffron to take over what is usually, MY SPOT!

Does that mean they missed me......or where they glad I was gone?!?!?!?
Have a good night everyone! ( I wonder if they wil let me in.....)

 

[Jcatbird]

bbdoll22 You have your hands full too! Wow! That’s great. I’d love to see pictures of all your babies. I know one was a bottle fed kitten but they are all your babies.

 

[rubysmama]

As the mama of an orange tabby, I usually remember other orange cats. Have we seen pics of Saffron before?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

HUH, I don't remember Saffron either! I thought I had at least a speaking knowledge of all of the cats, now.

 

[Jcatbird]

rubysmama With so many kitties passing through here the past year I haven’t always posted as many photos of the older cats or kitties who were not as socialized. I also didn’t post as many of the kitties brought in before I started this thread. My focus has mostly been on pursuing the cats at risk, socializing and finding safe homes for them. It is a work still in progress. Lol I have posted a couple of pictures of my two Orange boys but in the shuffle of a hundred plus the poor guys must have slipped past since they were early arrivals here. Lol Here is a shot of the sweet face of Saffron.

Less often seen is Sherbert. Sherrie is one of my ( the vet thinks) part Bengal cats. Large and in charge, he is a very dominant cat. It took far more than the normal dose of meds to knock this one out for neutering. Although I have taken many dozens of kitties in to be fixed, there were only three that the people at the vet’s office were wary of. All three were litter mate brothers and all male. They were Sherbie, Cheetah and Jeremiah. All great cats but intimidating. Lol Here is Sherbie. He looks like the cat that swallowed the canary here.

There were also two babies belonging to Thrasher that I brought in. Catching them was the most challenging of the babies because after catching the first three, Thrasher took the others into the woods. It was many weeks before I caught the last and caught Thrasher. The first orange baby was this one caught last April 4th. Not much was posted about Jasper because my friend that Fosters kittens took all these kittens in soon after I caught them. I probably had about 40 cats or kittens under my care at that time. She took pity on me and the kittens! Lol I think she named this one Topaz. Each kitten in this litter was named after a gem stone. I’d have to check my records to confirm.

The litter mate to Topaz is one I had been calling Elf because of the following photo. He was always watching me from the edge of the woods and then vanishing like a little elf. It was about 8 weeks after this was taken before I caught him. His final name was Sunstone. This was the palest colored orange I have ever seen. He almost looks white here but he did darken a little by the time I caught him.

The only other orange tabby that I have posted here was one of the Gingerbread babies. I think we all remember them. They were a challenge as well. I was very relieved to finally bring them in and then be lucky enough to find their Mother Kelly and reunite their little family.

Thrasher did have a litter before I started posting pictures here that had two orange tabbies. They looked much like Topaz and Sunstone. All were adopted before I started posting here. So, only 7 of the hundred plus were orange babies. Must be very rare and super sweet honey in these kitties. No wonder you have an orange tabby!

 

[rubysmama]

Nice to "meet" some of your orange tabbies. My Ruby girl is definitely a sweetie. And although there's been several orange female tabbies posted here on TCS, I have read that most all-orange cats are male.

 

[Jcatbird]

rubysmama I know that most that have crossed have been males. Just like Calicos are females, I expect it is a genetic trait. Ruby is a very rare gem indeed! But then you already know that!

Mamanyt1953 I am surprised that you keep track of as many as you do. Lol It’s not a short list. I don’t put many photos of the three Bengals up because they really don’t like the camera. It seems to stir up some agitation between them. Those are three I don’t want to irritate! Big kitties!

 

[Jcatbird]

Today was mop day here. Mykitties have been migrating all day to avoid wet floors. Lol Except for Purry Man. He spent the day chasing the mop. Then he spent ten minutes washing his wet feet. I was amused by the looks I got from the kitties. All looks of total disgust or panic as they tried to find high and dry spots to avoid getting wet paws. Everyone managed quite well. My old lady cat, Smokey owns the house and she just made me mop around her. Lol I had to come back later to clean her “spot”. She was determined to stay sitting in one place through the entire process. Here is our day.

Whistle. Whhhhhyyy Mom? It’s wet!

Flowers. When you let in with the others, you didn’t tell me about mopping!

Mama. If I have any say in this then I say, no.

Lady. I’ve seen this before and I did not give my approval.

Cally and Alley. Stay there Alley. I’m going to try and scare it away!

Thrasher. When I came to live inside I thought it meant no more wet feet!

Smokey. This is my house and I’m not moving. Mop around me!

It’s okay Whistle. You won’t melt.

Mitsy. I just don’t understand. If I get Mom maybe she can fix it.

Bonjure. I’m guarding the cat food. Survival of the supplies is essential. Besides....I’m so fluffy, if I get wet I’ll sink.

Tortuga. Well.... it may be the bathtub but it’s dry right now!

Banjo. Maybe if I spread my toes the wet will go away!

Purry. Mop day!!!! That was fun.

Purry. Nothing more relaxing than a day spent chasing the mop.

Bj hasn’t seen the mop yet. Hmmmm. I wonder if I’ll make it through the night?!?!? One more room to go. Have a good night everyone. Hope to see you tomorrow!

 

[Norachan]

I plant Spearmint and catmint in the yard. I have read ( no guarrentees) that these repell fleas. In places the cats can’t get to them I also keep Chrysantemums in pots. Cats should not eat those!!! I use the Sevin dust that is safe for pets in the yard. Some forms of this are labeled as safe to use on pets. It is a battle some years. I find the best way is to search the cats fur for them and use tweezers to remove them.

Ah, that might be a challenge for someone who lives in a damp, dark pine forest. My mint and basil did quite well this year, but for a lot of plants all I can offer them is hospice care while they succumb to the inevitable.



Maybe I'll try some chrysanthemums in hanging baskets next year. Up high where the cats can't reach them.

I usually have to resort to tweezers to get rid of ticks too. A fine tooth greyhound comb does a good job as well.

HUH, I don't remember Saffron either! I thought I had at least a speaking knowledge of all of the cats, now.

I think she's been hiding that one from us. What a beautiful girl! Ginger cats are very eye-catching, aren't they?

We have a regular ginger visitor called Digby. He's feral, but he takes very good care of himself. I think he must be a phenomenal hunter because he never shows any interest in the food I offer him.

He's good pals with Little Boy, my tux.

Sorry to hear your friend and family have been having a rough time Jcatbird I hope everything is sorted out now.

Thanks for all the lovely BJ pictures.

 

[dustydiamond1]

rubysmama I know that most that have crossed have been males. Just like Calicos are females, I expect it is a genetic trait. Ruby is a very rare gem indeed! But then you already know that!

Mamanyt1953 I am surprised that you keep track of as many as you do. Lol It’s not a short list. I don’t put many photos of the three Bengals up because they really don’t like the camera. It seems to stir up some agitation between them. Those are three I don’t want to irritate! Big kitties!

 

[dustydiamond1]

Today was mop day here. Mykitties have been migrating all day to avoid wet floors. Lol Except for Purry Man. He spent the day chasing the mop. Then he spent ten minutes washing his wet feet. I was amused by the looks I got from the kitties. All looks of total disgust or panic as they tried to find high and dry spots to avoid getting wet paws. Everyone managed quite well. My old lady cat, Smokey owns the house and she just made me mop around her. Lol I had to come back later to clean her “spot”. She was determined to stay sitting in one place through the entire process. Here is our day.

Whistle. Whhhhhyyy Mom? It’s wet!
View attachment 261643
Flowers. When you let in with the others, you didn’t tell me about mopping!
View attachment 261644
Mama. If I have any say in this then I say, no.
View attachment 261657
Lady. I’ve seen this before and I did not give my approval.
View attachment 261645
Cally and Alley. Stay there Alley. I’m going to try and scare it away!
View attachment 261656
Thrasher. When I came to live inside I thought it meant no more wet feet!
View attachment 261646
Smokey. This is my house and I’m not moving. Mop around me!
View attachment 261647
It’s okay Whistle. You won’t melt.
View attachment 261648
Mitsy. I just don’t understand. If I get Mom maybe she can fix it.
View attachment 261649
Bonjure. I’m guarding the cat food. Survival of the supplies is essential. Besides....I’m so fluffy, if I get wet I’ll sink.
View attachment 261654
Tortuga. Well.... it may be the bathtub but it’s dry right now!View attachment 261658
Banjo. Maybe if I spread my toes the wet will go away!
View attachment 261653
Purry. Mop day!!!! That was fun.
View attachment 261651
Purry. Nothing more relaxing than a day spent chasing the mop.
View attachment 261652
Bj hasn’t seen the mop yet. Hmmmm. I wonder if I’ll make it through the night?!?!? One more room to go. Have a good night everyone. Hope to see you tomorrow!

 

[rubysmama]

Wonder how mopping that last room went? Hope no blood was shed.

 

[Jcatbird]

Norachan I use a comb too. Yesterday was mop day and that made today, flea comb day. Even if I could do a cat every half hour it’s more than an ,all day affair. Lol I will do the last four tomorrow. They managed to escape my grasp until I gave up. Most of the cats love being brushed but not all like the comb. No ticks but I did find a few fleas. I think I hate them even more. I only find ticks on the cats when they first come inside but the fleas manage to find us no matter what! We spray, mop, vacuum, use flea treatments, flea lights, plant flea repelling plants, treat the yard and use upholstery cleaner. This has been the only year I have ever battled fleas like this. Of course this is the only year I have brought in this many cats too. I suppose the chaos of cats is how I missed posting poor little Saffron. Did I post Jeremiah? He’s not orange but now I am wondering if I missed him too. Out of about 6000 cats photos I have taken in 11 months it’s no wonder!
Thank you for the good wishes for family and my friend. My friend seems much better, still working on the family.


rubysmama Well.....I did survive last night. BJ always manages to surprise me with every new experience. He is an unusual cat. Here’s the way it went.


What is that?!?!?!

Hmmmm.

Is that wet? I thought this place was dry......

What does this mean?

She’s putting wet under me.

She’s putting it everywhere!

Well! That’s just disgusting. I better let her know what I think of this.

I hope she gets the message!

Good ole BJ! An opinion about everything.
No blood was lost but I did get a swat once he was able to cross a dry floor to get to me.
Sweet kitty dreams everybody!

 

[surya]

Jcatbird, do you have any idea's for affordable flea treatment? I just discovered my four indoor cat babies have them bad. I can't afford to treat them all with Revolution.

 

[Jcatbird]

surya For about 7 dollars a pill you can get Capstar from a vet. It kills all the fleas on them for 24 hours. You can dose the cats every day you need to or can afford to until you get control. You may find it for less through an online store, pet supply chain or maybe even Walmart. My foster care friend uses a Frontline spray that she sprays on a washcloth and then uses to rub down her cats. I have not tried that but she says it works. If you can bathe any of them use Dawn dish liquid to soap them up and then rinse well. The ones I can’t bathe, I use a hairbrush dipped in the suds to brush them. They like the brushing if they don’t see the bubbles. Lol Then I get a warm wet cloth to wipe the soap off. A flea comb works well. You can also dip that in Dawn dish liquid soap suds to be more efficient. Some forms of Sevin dust are sold to be used on pets. It’s like using flea powder. Read the label. I have used that before but it’s messy. Not sure I would make that an , all the time, treatment. To kill any fleas on hard floors you can mop with Dawn. If you keep the cats away and let everything really, really dry you can use Clorox to kill the eggs and larvae. Any eggs on upholstery can be dehydrated with plain old salt( Make sure it is color fast in a hidden spot.) Leave it overnight and vacuum. Dispose of what you vacuum up. I have read that baking powder will do the same thing in carpets/upholstery. I also boil cut lemons in water, let it sit overnight and then use the strained liquid to spray furniture to repel fleas. Again, test a spot to make sure colors won’t fade.
With my quality of cats , I can sympathize with the problem. I use a flea comb a lot! It gets them before they have time to multiply if you do it regularly and often. I did that today. Hopefully, someone else will have some suggestions too and post them here. I hope this helps. Let me know how it goes. Good luck!

 

[surya]

Thanks for all the suggestions Jcatbird. I have begun flea combing them and I am going to clean thoroughly today. A wonderful catsite person PMed me and is going to send me some Frontline, yay!

 

[Jcatbird]

I am so glad! I don’t know who is sending the Frontline but I thank them for that. The fleas can lead to much worse problems if you didn’t get rid of them. I am very grateful to them. Whoever you are I send you the best vibes possible!

 

[maggiedemi]

Well! That’s just disgusting. I better let her know what I think of this.

Ha! Funniest pic & caption ever!

 

[Jcatbird]

M maggiedemi Trust BJ to let us know what he thinks! I’m glad it made you laugh. I did too.