Category: Cats

Cutie

On By CarynIn Cats
Seal point feral cat

Look at this cutie, who is part of the colony next door. This photo is prior to the surgery to get the cat fixed, now the cat is sporting an ear notch to show there is no danger of this one contributing to additional colony numbers. Not sure where the point genes came from, since there are three other cats of the same age (so I assume are from the same litter) who are torti and orange. So I had to look it up. The “points” are a result of temperature dependent albinism. “A Seal point cat is actually a black cat with the Himalayan mutation altering how the melanin is developed and displayed”. (https://vibesfromaveterinarynurse.com/2018/05/03/siamese-genetics/) So Mr Tom is a flame point, which is an orange cat with the Himalayan mutation. Neat. And explains how you can have tortious shells, blacks, oranges, and points in a single related colony.

Cat blanket transfer

On By CarynIn Cats, Life Hack

I have been trained well. I put the fuzzy blanket back on my chair (excuse me, the cat’s seat) when I get up so she can get comfortable. The problem comes when I come back. She allows me to pick her up with the blanket and settle her back on my lap, but then unfolding the blanket is awkward and she leaves. I have found a solution.

Step 1: Blanket placed on the chair with the edge accessible

If I place the blanket folded roughly in half, with the edge forward, I can slide my arms under the first layer, pick up the cat, sit back down on my chair, get the blanket spread on my legs and the cat settled on my lap with minimal fuss.

Step 2: Cat in place on seat
Step 3: Cat transferred to lap and legs covered with the blanket

Yes, I am a good cat minion.

Mr Tom

On By CarynIn Cats

Mr Tom is the friendliest of the colony cats, and my neighbor’s favorite. Because of that, he received special treatment after his neuter, getting set up in our upstairs room for a couple days, rather than being in a trap until the anesthesia wears off. He eats and drinks and uses the litter box, so the prolonged inside time is OK for him. He’ll even let me scratch his chin. The more feral cats, who will not eat or drink while in our care, are better released. He is a beautiful boy too, a long haired flame point siamese with striking blue eyes.

Mr Tom settled in on a fuzzy blanket under the side table

Sit and spin

On By CarynIn Cats, Craft

I did another stake out to trap feral cats, but during the day when my eldest was at school. I set up a bench on the opposite side of the meadow, and brought my spinning with me because stake outs are boring spiked with moments of adrenaline. I ultimately had to abandon the spinning because the cats could see me across the meadow and get spooked. If I sat still, even staring directly at them, they wouldn’t care if I was there. I did eventually trap one, and a feisty black one at that. My eldest came home and trapped a second. She actually trapped two, but the first one was a repeat offender (her ear was clipped, so we’d already taken her in for sterilization). There are at least two more black cats in the colony, and they are definitely the most feral. These poor things will probably go back to their buddies and tell of alien abductions.

Spinning in the meadow (purple arrow points out the live trap)
Very scared black kitty

Three more

On By CarynIn Cats

We were able to catch three more feral cats and get them spayed (yup, all females again). It took my eldest four hours doing a stake out on the traps and watching from her vehicle to catch them. I assisted, but she did most of the work. We estimate that there are at least ten more. It is a shame they are feral, they are beautiful. This brings us up to 5 neighborhood cats taken out of the baby making ring. If each female can birth 3-6 kittens, that is 15-30 kittens that won’t be adding to the population. Let that sink in. So please, if you feed outside cats, get them fixed. Only feed the cats you’ve decided to care for, don’t leave food outside overnight or unsupervised. Cats are smart and sneaky. As are the local raccoons.

Long haired tortie. Feral.

That is my public service announcement for today. More craft posts coming tomorrow.