Stray Cats

Discussion in 'Pets & Critters' started by Gary Ridenour, May 12, 2015.

  1. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2018
    Messages:
    10,664
    Likes Received:
    19,998
    Oh my. I count at least 4 different cats. :D
     
    #31
  2. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2015
    Messages:
    55,628
    Likes Received:
    23,289
    Ken, have you seen any signs of them sleeping in the shelter?
     
    #32
  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,325
    Likes Received:
    42,608
    The black one goes in and out of the one I have set up in the back of the yard, by my storage shed, so I think he's sleeping there. He also goes in and out from under my Tracker and the above-ground planters, which might provide some shelter. Between the tarps that I put over them and the snow that's packed up around them, there are only two or three entryways. Next summer, I might build a shelter under the planters, with a little bit of a platform and some bedding. The black one is also the one I see most often (I used to see the gray one a lot but haven't seen him lately). When I put food out, the black one is usually there for it now within ten minutes, before the wet food freezes. Also, in the video that I take, his actions are that of a cat who is at home here. When he finishes eating, he cleans himself right where he is, and spends time grooming himself. The black one and Ella yell back and forth at each other when Ella is in her place in the library and the black one is out. Then again, there are two black ones because they were both on video at the same time one night, fighting over the food.
     
    #33
    Shirley Martin likes this.
  4. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,325
    Likes Received:
    42,608
    One looks a lot like Ella, but with a fluffier tail.
     
    #34
  5. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,325
    Likes Received:
    42,608
  6. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2015
    Messages:
    55,628
    Likes Received:
    23,289
    Ken, you should name that one "Curiosity". :)
     
    #36
    Ken Anderson likes this.
  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,325
    Likes Received:
    42,608
    If not for the fact that Ella still hasn't forgiven me for Bubba, I'd seriously consider taking him (or her) in. If you had the sound up, s/he was talking to the camera.
     
    #37
  8. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2015
    Messages:
    55,628
    Likes Received:
    23,289
    I turned it up. I heard it. She might be ready for prime time. :)
     
    #38
  9. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,325
    Likes Received:
    42,608
    I have had from five to ten cameras set up in my backyard for the past several months, some of them for security, but most of them placed low so that I can monitor the cats and other critters that might come into the yard. One of these cats, the black one, is a male. I know, because I think he thought he was filming a porn video one day. But anyhow, he seems to have taken in a couple of kittens that come around under his protection. The kittens come at separate times and are of different ages, so they are probably not siblings. This black cat chases every other adult cat away from the food bowl when he's there, and they run, despite the fact that a couple of them are considerably larger than the black one. However, he lets the kittens stay. He doesn't necessarily let them eat until after he is done, but they both walk up to him with their tails in the air, all happy and comfortable, so it's clear that they are not intimidated by him. He has hissed at one of them when it tried to push its way into the food bowl, but that was as far as it went. Otherwise, in another video, a third cat appears off-camera. I assume that it was a cat. The kitten shrinks while the black cat puffs himself up, protecting both of them. The intruder apparently left.
     
    #39
    Last edited: May 24, 2021
    Shirley Martin likes this.
  10. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,325
    Likes Received:
    42,608
    The black and the gray cats are, I think, not feral. They probably belonged to someone once, and that's sad. The reason I think that is that when I talk to them, they stop and consider whether they dare come to me or not, and it would take a lot more effort to get that from a feral cat. I have been feeding them but I haven't been trying to socialize them because I really can't take any more cats into the house. I walked up on the gray one today, as he was eating from the bowl. He started to flee. I said, "That's okay, kitty. You can eat. I won't hurt you." He didn't even wait for me to back away; he just returned to the bowl, although he kept an eye on me to make sure that I kept my end of the bargain.
     
    #40
  11. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,325
    Likes Received:
    42,608
    The stray/feral cats will be making out like bandits. When I ordered a case of Evangers Rabbit canned food a couple of months ago, I didn't remember that I had subscribed to it on Chewy, but another case arrived today. The problem is that neither Ella nor Bubba would touch it, so the ferals ate the last case and now they'll get another. Evanger's is more expensive than the usual premium food that I buy. When I ordered it, I thought that I was getting something special for Ella and Bubba, but they never once tasted it. Bubba walks away from it immediately and doesn't come back, while Ella makes digging motions on the floor alongside the bowl, as her way of telling me that it's crap and she's trying to bury it.

    It's a grain-free wet food, cooked in its own broth, with no preservatives or fillers. Ingredients: Rabbit, Water Sufficient for Processing, Liver, Guar Gum.

    And that's it. It is excellent food, as far as being a healthy choice for the cats, but they hate it although they have never had a bit of it in their mouths. Cats taste their food through the power of smell so if they really don't like the smell of something, they won't even take a bite. So now the ferals will get another case of super-expensive premium cat food. By the way, I bought an expensive bag of cat treats for Ella and Bubba a while back; I forget what it was now, but it should have been something they'd like. But they didn't. I left some next to the cat food for the ferals, but they wouldn't eat it either. I forget what it was now but I left a review saying that it was so bad that the feral cats wouldn't even touch it. They do eat the Evanger's Rabbit cat food, however.
     
    #41
    John Brunner likes this.
  12. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2015
    Messages:
    55,628
    Likes Received:
    23,289
    Ken, that's the difference between being hungry and being overly pampered. ;)
     
    #42
    Ken Anderson likes this.
  13. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,673
    Likes Received:
    32,144
    Okay, I laughed. That's far from high praise...
     
    #43
  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,325
    Likes Received:
    42,608
    Okay, both the black and gray feral cats are pretty trusting of me now. I haven't tried to approach them because I don't want to make them my cats, for a lot of reasons, but they do trust me when I tell them that they don't have to run from the food bowl. The last time I walked up on the gray one, he started to run, but when I stopped and told him I wasn't going to hurt him, he just went back to eating. I left him alone.
     
    #44
    John Brunner and Yvonne Smith like this.
  15. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,325
    Likes Received:
    42,608
    Today, I had been in the backyard working on the garden for more than an hour when my wife came out to get her car and go somewhere. She told me to look under my Tracker, and the gray cat was lying under it, near the front where we were, although I had walked past it several times. So, it looks like I now have at least one outside kitty as well as the inside ones.
     
    #45

Share This Page