Stray Cats

I assume you've tried to call him? What about the grey one?

 

The gray one has been waiting for me in the morning. He's afraid of the black one so he waits for me to come out with the food so that he can eat without being chased away from the bowl.

 

The black cat came around tonight, with the other black cat. I think they're related but the only other time I have seen them together was on camera, and they were fighting. The one who I petted came close to me but wouldn't let me touch him, while the other one sat well out of the way. The gray one ate earlier.

 

I put catnip down on this carpet for them every now and then.

 

Long ago, I gave in on the idea of feeding them the scraps that Ella and Bubba won't eat. While I do that, I also put kibble out there for them a couple of times a day, and I open up a can of wet food for them at least once a day, too, more often when they are nice enough to ask, which is why the black and gray one get most of the food. I don't think I have actually seen any of the others with my own eyes, although they show up on camera a lot. I rarely leave anything for them at night anymore because I can't afford to feed raccoons, particularly now that there's a whole family of them.

When I buy food for the feral or stray cats, I usually get them the Tractor Supply Company store stuff, since the ingredients are as good as what I feed Ella and Bubba but it's a whole lot cheaper. I give Ella and Bubba the 4Health Tractor Supply Company stuff too, but they won't eat it if I give it to them too often. While I pay more than $2 a can for the stuff I usually feed Ella and Bubba, the 4Health stuff is about 50 cents. 4Health kibble is considerably cheaper than Blue Buffalo kibble too, also with good ingredients.

 

Yeah, there are two of them about the same age. I don't know if they're from the same litter though, because I never see them on camera at the same time. They have been coming around at night since they were very small. The (male) black cat seems to have taken them in. Although he chases every other adult cat away, he stands there and lets the kittens eat, like he's providing cover for them. I rarely see them on camera during the daytime and have never actually seen them, so I think they only come around at night. The photo before the last one shows the other half-grown kitten.

 

This little one is enjoying the catnip, as well as the ball that I left out there.


Smoke has presence.

 

This video made me think of this thread:

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Ferals on drugs (catnip).

 

Smoke is still doing fine. He disappeared over the winter so it could be that he has a home. The dates are way off here. I probably didn't notice that the batteries had died and lost the date before I put them out. These photos are from within the past month.


Smoke also appears to have a kid. Although Smoke is a male cat, he's been hanging around this young one quite a bit and, except for size, they look identical. He's grown quickly. He was pretty tiny not so long ago.


One of the black cats is still doing well. The other one - who looked the same, probably a sibling - has been injured. I tried trapping him so that I could get him some help but I couldn't. He may have died because I haven't seen him in the past couple of weeks.

 

Now, I have Smoke's kid waiting for me to bring food out every morning. He won't come near me though; he waits in the vacant yard on the other side of the fence and won't even cross until after I have turned the corner of the house, out of sight. Smoke, on the other hand, has let me touch him a few times, although being careful to remain far enough away that I could just barely touch him.