Stray Cats

No, Bubba belonged from the beginning, as far as he was concerned, although Ella would disagree. The black cat, who I am afraid died, accepted my food for years before he let me pet him or, mostly, touch his nose. Once, though, he was so excited about food that he rolled over onto his back and let me rub his stomach, for just a moment.

 

Would it surprise anyone to know that, for quite a while now, I have been feeding the feral/stray cats regularly? When my cats don't eat their food, I'll give them the stuff they left behind but when they have eaten everything, I'll open some new stuff for the outside cats. Usually now, Smoke and his kid will be waiting for me when I come out there. Smoke will eat first, but he'll leave plenty for the kid, and then stand there as if providing protection while the kid eats. I used to put some out for the ones who mostly come around at night, but I can't afford to feed raccoons, and, too often, they are the ones who eat it.

If I find one of the others out there during the day, and the food is gone, I'll bring them some, however. The ones that come around while I'm there have learned, "Wait here. I'll be right back with some food for you."

 

This rescued feral cat (Flossie) has vet records going back to 1997.



Flossie is one month shy of 27 years old, making her the world's oldest cat.

Born in 1995, Flossie lived the first few months of her life as a feral cat. She was then adopted by a worker at Merseyside hospital and lived with her owners until they passed away 10 years later. The sister of the owner took Flossie in for 14 years until she passed away. At age 24, Flossie needed a new home. The owner’s son took Flossie in before entrusting her to volunteers at Cats Protection’s Tubrbidge Wells this past August.

link

 

I've started to feed the feral/stray cats on our front porch rather than in the back. Noting that the black and gray cats would often come to our front door (inside the porch) as if to prompt me to hurry up with the food, I would leave some treats there for them sometimes, and the treats would soon be gone. We have a sliding barn-type door on our porch and we leave it open just a little bit because otherwise, UPS will sometimes try to open it like a regular door, knocking it off the hinges, so that's enough to allow admittance to the cats.

We don't use our back door in the winter, so this will be easier for me than trudging through the snow to feed them in the back.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been leaving wet food, kibble, and water on the porch. The one remaining black cat, the gray cat (Smoke), and Smoke's kitten, who is not so much of a kitten anymore, will check the porch throughout the day for it. Although the porch is not heated, it is enclosed so the water and wet food doesn't freeze as quickly there as it does in the back of the house, and I can leave food there without going outdoors. I collect it before going to bed at night so as not to attract skunks and raccoons. I do still leave some in the back for the other cats, but not as often as before.

The porch door is within sight of my desk, and we have a motion-activated light there, so I check to see who is there when the light comes on, and so far, only the black cat and the two gray ones come into it.

 

@Ken Anderson: You just commented on your cat food bill, and it reminded me you've not updated what's going on with the undocumented felines you have on your property. Have you seen them around lately?

 

One of the two black ones died, I think. The last time I saw him, he had a wound on his side, but he wouldn't let me get near him, and that was months ago. The other black one, the gray one, and the younger gray one, still come around for food, as do a few others from time to time. I feed them on my enclosed porch now. I leave the sliding door open just enough for them to get in. I make sure they have kibble every day but I can't afford to buy premium canned food for them, so they get what Ella and Bubba leave behind, or if I buy something they don't like, which occurs too often. They can do well on kibble alone, but, as outside cats, I will assume they also live a normal feline predator lifestyle. They're not underfed.

They don't let me pet them but when I open the door to the porch without knowing they are there, or if one of them is eating when I come home from somewhere, the cat will start to run, and, as long as it is the black one or either of the gray ones, all I have to do is talk to them, and they will come back, so they know I'm not going to hurt them.

 

We have several cats that wander around the neighborhood and through our yard almost every day. I don’t think that they are actually feral, probably just abandoned cats when people moved out and didn’t take them along. Or they might actually have homes, and just wander around, it is hard to say for sure.
Anyway, one of the big yellow Tomcats has decided to sleep on our porch at night where it is at least somewhat safe and warm, since Bobby has curtains up to keep the winds out.
I put out some dry small kibble dog food and ordered some dry cat food from Sam’s; so he will be able to eat if he is hungry when he comes in for the night, and we are going to put a soft bed out there where he sleeps in the chair .
I guess we are going to be cat people now…..

 

Of the stray/feral cats that I have spoken of and posted pictures of in this thread, there are only two that are still regulars at my feeding station. This might be because I have changed my feeding station from the back landing to the front porch. I'm getting too old and lazy to shovel a path all the way to the backdoor during the winter; plus, there was a problem with snow coming off the back roof onto the feeding station there, so it required too much upkeep.

Given that two of them, the large gray one and a large black one (who fight whenever they encounter one another), were coming to the front of the house to let me know that they wanted food anyhow, I decided to feed them in the enclosed porch at my front door. We have a sliding barn-type door on the porch, and UPS had a habit of trying to open it as if it were a regular door, taking it off-track, so we've been leaving it open just a little anyhow.

So whatever canned food Ella and Bubba didn't eat from the day before, I leave in a bowl out there for them, and if there isn't enough, I'll open a fresh can for them, and I leave water and a bowl of kibble. I don't leave kibble there throughout the night because that would attract raccoons and skunks, so it's a first-come, first-served thing. Usually, the big gray cat gets there first because he's literally sitting there waiting for me to get up, most days. He will eat all of the canned food, but leave some of the kibble behind for the black cat. The black cat will sometimes tap on the door if there's nothing there for him, at which time I'll open a can for him.

Neither of them let me pet them, and I haven't really been moving toward that because I really can't take another cat into the house, and I'd be tempted to if they were pets. However, when I come across either of them in the backyard, or somewhere, I can say, "Give me just a minute, and I'll get you some food," and they will follow me to the front of the house and wait for it.

The gray cat has always been big but he used to be very afraid of the black cat. He's not anymore. It's possible that the black cat he was afraid of was the other one. There were two who looked like they might be siblings, but I think one of them died a couple of years ago. The last time I saw him, he had a large wound on his side, and he wouldn't let me get near him. Had I been able to, I would have taken him to the vet.

Anyhow, whichever one is at the feeding station when the other one shows up will hold their own and fight it out. I break up the fight when I'm here because Ella and Bubba are scared half to death when there are two feral cats fighting on the porch. I think the black one usually comes out ahead in a fight, but the gray one doesn't run anymore. The gray one looks to be a little bigger than the black one now, probably because he's always first in line for the good food.

I have left warming stations for them, where they could get out of the winter cold, but have seen no evidence that they have ever taken advantage of it.