My Feral And Rescued Cats

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Jcatbird

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I haven’t had a sighting yet today. I don’t expect one in the heat of the day. I spent a quiet day working on a second catio even though I dare not put anything new where it can scare Thrasher away. I may place it in the cat room or the Bengal room to let the kitties have more options for places to go inside. Bonjure likes that idea! :lol: It’s an idea that seems to be gaining popularity.

Are you done yet?
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What do you mean it can’t stay here?
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I think it’s fine right here!
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The inspector is here. :lol: Thanks BJ!
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Look out above Banjo!
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There is a Kodiak Bear above you.
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Well, I didn’t get very far but I think the kitties are enjoying it anyway. Lol Maybe they will let me do some more later. The door is closed on the first section but what cat needs a door anyway?:flail:
 

tarasgirl06

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tabbytom tabbytom Here is your photo of the greenhouse. I don’t know if it is hard to judge scale but the structure is 11 1/2 feet high, 33 1/2 feet long. It is not terribly far from the house. The photo was taken from the back door which is where the cat room is located. View attachment 379077
The layer of plastic with the claw marks is still under the current layer. Maybe she will climb again!
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When we lived in the Mojave, we had the catio, the barn compound which was a fair distance from the house, and a number of outbuildings including the 12x12 "kitten cabin" which had 2 windows, insulation and a door that led into a chainlink-fenced small yard with a chainlink gate leading out. It was an excellent little building for anyone first joining us, like wild Baby Su, or anyone who had to recuperate from surgery/medical stuff. We had planned to put more outbuildings on the land and have at least one with a conduit leading to the house. If only your greenhouse had such a conduit into the cat room!!! and doors that could be closed into/out of the greenhouse.
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The Kitten Cabin with its little yard. Baby Su first made herself known to us when she was found wandering under the huge juniper to the right of the cabin.
 

tabbytom

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Here is your photo of the greenhouse. I don’t know if it is hard to judge scale but the structure is 11 1/2 feet high, 33 1/2 feet long. It is not terribly far from the house. The photo was taken from the back door which is where the cat room is located.
Oh, so it's not joined to the house by any means. I thought if there';s a passage through to the house will be better if Thrasher would have gone into the greenhouse and it'll lead her straight to the house or catio.
 

Mamanyt1953

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I don’t think she is going to be quick to follow me home but stranger things have happened! She is in the company of one or two other cats. I am glad she is not alone. I may have to convince them all to come. Lol
And Heaven said, "Thrasher, your Mama thinks she is done bringing in cats, but...there are a couple nearby who need her desperately. And you're just the girl to befriend them, and lead them to her. It will mean being VERY brave, indeed, and leaving your home for a while, but We know you can do this. Thrasher, are you willing?" And Thrasher replied, "I am so small, and the world is so big, but I will do my very best." Her candle remains lit.
 

Whenallhellbreakslose

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Today was a “Quality of Life” vet check. That really means that for a sick kitty we want to make sure she is not suffering and is well enough to maintain a good quality of life. Because of the type of cancer Smokey has, she was not expected to survive very long. She has already outlived all predictions. I am aware of some weight loss so I felt we needed a coupe of tests so I scheduled this visit.
Upon seeing the weight change, the first opinion from the vet was that we might be at a pony where they did not want me to see Smokey in a severe decline. I insisted on complete bloodwork. I wanted to know if her kidneys are okay, breathing, red blood count and white blood count as well as things like temperature and heart. This vet is a friend and she cautioned me not to get my hopes up. Heh. I do maintain my hopes. I think she was humoring me by running the tests. After the tests the vet came back on with a skip in her step. She was very happy! Although these tumors do tend to bleed a bit externally, the only things she found the least bit off on the test was a slight rise in white blood cell count. Smokey was well hydrated, red blood count purrfect, no signs of any real distress. Maybe the beginning of an infection in the one tumor that has bled recently. That has happened once before. That is not to say that there are not adjustments that I have been having to make to keep Smokey comfortable or that everything is always going purrfectly but it is to say that she still has a good kitty life. The vet said that she cannot explain why Smokey is still doing so well but she is one very tough little cat. Smokey purred, did her “fake you out, I’m asleep” routine, made biscuits and objected to being poked for blood before giving head butts all around and then playing with her toys. Not bad for the eldest lady of the Clowder! As always, she brought all the hearts home with her. For now, she is still holding her own. Good fortune was with us.
Hi everyone! How are you?!
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Oh. If you are going to poke me then I am going to pretend that you have stepped on my paw.
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That won’t work because I wasn’t on the floor?
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Well, okay then. Do what you must.
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Peace offering? Okay. You owe me after that thermometer!’
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Yucky stuff over?!
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Then give me that catnip toy!
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I do enjoy good catnip.
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Can you take my Bunny’s temperature too?
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Time to go home?
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Rats! I was just going to ask for more pets! Can we stay?
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Lol It’s so great when your fur baby wants more vet pets!
Thank you to everyone for all the thoughts , wishes, hopes and prayers for Smokey. Each day with her is another , very special, gif
:yess: Thank you for sharing this good report about Smokey. I will keep praying for Smokey and Thrasher. I pray that the next good report is that Thrasher is back home for good. Thrasher must know she had a good thing at Chez Catbird. Hopefully her feelings for you and the Clowder override her feral nature taking over. HUGS.🤗
 

maggiedemi

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She is in the company of one or two other cats.
Just like Demi! When he escaped, I found him playing with another cat in the woods. He went tap, tap, tap on the other cat's back, follow me friend! Then they ran around & rolled around on the ground together. 💞

Defensive but also trying to be invisible as ferals do in the wild.
Hmmm...remind you of anyone? 😉

Isn’t that what they call a Baaa colounger? :p
Cheesy!!! 🧀

I’ll be getting Bonjure to help me practice setting it off.
He actually likes traps, even when they slam shut?! 😲

through the bleakest of times, we must keep hope. Prayers, and hope. Always.
I will try my best. Thank you for the song. ❤

maggiedemi wrote to say she has a few things to attend to again. She may be absent for a bit but will return.
I decided not to disappear again. Progress? 😉

She had years to try and survive on her own but just a few as an indoor lap cat.
What year did you bring Thrasher indoors? :think:
 

tarasgirl06

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Just like Demi! When he escaped, I found him playing with another cat in the woods. He went tap, tap, tap on the other cat's back, follow me friend! Then they ran around & rolled around on the ground together. 💞



Hmmm...remind you of anyone? 😉



Cheesy!!! 🧀



He actually likes traps, even when they slam shut?! 😲



I will try my best. Thank you for the song. ❤



I decided not to disappear again. Progress? 😉



What year did you bring Thrasher indoors? :think:
Progress!...but only if you wish it. You have the right to lurk.;)
Bonjure, besides being a *black, fluffy* cat after my own heart (as all cats are, but with an extra measure for those qualities) is obviously uniquely helpful. *Helpful kitteh is helpful!* :crackup:
 

Jcatbird

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strider rose strider rose Thank you. A busy day. Lol Take outs would be nice. I would have to drive a half hour for them though. Both ways. Prayers and a candle will surely help! We need all that we can get.

tarasgirl06 tarasgirl06 You had the Purrfect set up in the Mojave. I would love to have all that for these kitties. A conduit from the greenhouse would be great but it would cross too many things. The cable is underground across there, the drain field runs between for the washer, the drive through to the back of the land is between the house and greenhouse too. Not to mention, giant oak trees. I couldn’t put the greenhouse next to the house for similar reasons. That’s why I gave up my back porch and garage for the kitties. It was the only option unless I built up. Outbuildings are the best I could do outside of that.

tabbytom tabbytom That would have been nice. Of course I never intended for any animals to be in the greenhouse. It isn’t a beautiful conservatory but a commercial greenhouse that was my livelihood to take care of Sarah. At the time that was built, there were no ferals here. It would cost a fortune to try and bridge that gap if any way to do it could be figured out. The sides are not hard plastic and it still would not mean that Thrasher would be caught. She could easily claw her way through the walls. I’ll be happy if she just uses it as a safe sanctuary. A place for me to sit with her to start things. I still see it as a good thing though. It is shelter from rain , humans, cars, hawks and owls for her. Plus, plus.;) Way better than the storage shed she was under and now she is inside my fence. That’s really a relief to me.
I totally agree with the midweek Pawverb. Some humans are a headache so tarasgirl06 tarasgirl06 said, we are lucky to have everyone at TCS! They give us healing purrs for the pains.

Mamanyt1953 Mamanyt1953 That is the most comforting idea. She has rescuing to do. I would have to find places for any other cats but I do hope she has company. It does seem the neighbors cats are around. Not sure if my neighbors would appreciate it if I scooped up their kitties but they would be put on notice about them! Who knows too, there may be others out there. Please do keep the candle lit.Thank you for happy thoughts.

Whenallhellbreakslose Whenallhellbreakslose Thank you for the hugs. I can really use them right now. The prayers too. This has been a long run of searching. It’s exhausting and difficult. Not that previous rescues were easy but Thrasher was always the most difficult cat to get through to. Rightly so. It’s going to take a lot of time and patience if her past is going to be repeated. She vanished for about a year at one point when she was hurt. She always returned in time but she had kittens that needed help. I’m just going to try and keep up a routine for her that will let her feel secure.

dustydiamond1 dustydiamond1 I am so glad Todd got both Maine coons! Yay! If I had the space.......Lol Someone will love those fur babies. They are gorgeous!

M maggiedemi Ewe thought my sheep joke was cheesy?:lol: It was! We’ll send that one baaaaack.
Vanish if you need a break but if it feels like progress, it is progress. :goldstar:Taking care of yourself is most important.

I brought Thrasher inside in the middle July of 2018. We are nearing her gotcha day. It took some time to get her vet care done, spay and then socialize her. Even more time to integrate her to the household. This is a link to where her socializing began. You may want to skip over her history outside though. Beware because her story outside is very, very hard to read. That is post number 347 I did not tell it all but there is enough there to be help everyone to understand how delicate she is in relation to feeling that she must be invisible to be safe outside. This is why
My Feral And Rescued Cats

For everyone, each small step forward with Thrasher is actually huge. I know we all want her back inside immediately , me more than anyone, but if you go back and understand why she kept to herself in spite of fighting huge odds for survival, it may help to understand that she can never feel pushed to return. No rush or being pursued or she is likely to stay gone further away and for a longer time. I know it’s complicated but I have had miracles already. She is alive, I have seen her, she was brave enough to acknowledge me AND one new thing. Someone came inside to eat some dry food as I slept last night. I covered the room with catnip and did not put canned food to attract most other creatures. I know it was not Tripod that ate it because he cannot jump into a window. This is back at the front of the house which is where I have thought, from the start, that she would try to come in. I knew the noise the other day would scare her to the backyard and it did. I have done everything in my power to keep silence back at the front. I think she traveled to the greenhouse and then through the feral shelters like a path way back to the front. Mr. Possum is being fed away from that area now and Tripod has been led to the other side of the back. That still leaves other possibilities but this is my hope. I am leaving that entry open for her and I have put fresh dry food and more catnip there. I laid down there for awhile today to try and leave my scent. I think I heard a paw scratching at something nearby. There are no guarantees, only hope. Anyone who has ever worked to save a severely abused cat who withdrew from the world may be able to explain this better but I must be very careful not to push Thrasher beyond her capabilities to deal with stress. I have to work within what she can understand in cat speak. So, that said, we can rejoice at any sighting and any little sign that Thrasher is staying close. That’s how we start. It may not seem like it but we have had progress that is huge for a cat like Thrasher. :hangin: Hanging in there is hard but it can work.
 

pearl99

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I read through your post 347 and some after. Angel doesn’t even begin to describe you!
The things some humans do unfortunately doesn’t faze me as much anymore.
You’re so brave and just one great big heart in a human body.
I’m sooo happy it sounds like Thrasher ate the dry food! What can I say, you inspire me to be a better person!
 

Jcatbird

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Smiles needed? Well, we may have some smiles for you.

A whole wall of jasmine flowers! Smells wonderful!!
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The phlox are blooming for the butterflies.
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A rose named Sarah. :hearthrob: Sweet.
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A sweetheart rose in Sarah’s garden.
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A cat bird on my shoulder. Lol Mackie, you are a very big catbird!
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Treats? But you don’t want to get down?
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Ha! Luxury is eating treats wherever you choose.
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Heh! His breath on my neck tickled!
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I never knew that catbirds have such big pink tongues!
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After the treats, he took a nap on my shoulder. I guess I make a pretty good cat tree.
 
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Jcatbird

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pearl99 pearl99 It’s some tough reading. I wish I could say I was brave but it was more that I just could not stand to let that happen. I was angry and felt the pain. Battling strangers was one thing but I also faced dismay from people who knew me. Why would I put myself out for those cats? That was hard for me because it was my opinion that it was wrong for anyone to ignore what was happening. As I often say, “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” I believe that with all my heart. It would have been much easier if I had gotten support from those who knew. The strength in numbers that I found here. Now that things have changed, those people tell me I did a good thing. I’m glad they finally came around. Those who were hurting the cats mostly ended up in jail for other things. The gang was disbanded and the serious trouble here ceased for the cats. It’s a huge relief for me. So very many tragedies. I hope I never see anything that bad again. However, I would do it all over again if it ever came to that. No hesitation. The rewards were beautiful lives saved and so many loving kitties came into my life. Each dear member of the Clowder has kept me in smiles ever since. They have healed each other and healed my heart. We are all better than we were before. That’s the happy ending for us. Fortunately for me, I meet others like you here. Inspire you? You inspire me. We link hands and become a line that cannot be crossed. Together we all make the world a little better. Thank you! You are a kitty guardian and kitty hero. My big old heart can feel it. It feels good.

tabbytom tabbytom Yes! The jasmine has the whole property smelling so great! The roses are a soft sweet scent and the phlox very mild but there are thousands of jasmine flowers open so that is amazing! Deep breath! Ahhhhhhh. You might be able to catch it from there! Lololol I’ll ask Banjo to get the kitties to blow it your way.
 
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