Happy days are here again, I did not see the 2 young feral cats for a week and a day. You remember we had an appointment for Maxine last Monday with the vet, and she and Pretty Kitty Jr. disappeared while there was gunfire next door.
I had a really full day, today, Fridays always are. I got all the groceries in the house and put away, and was sitting in the recliner with big Manny laying on me purring. I almost was derelict in my duties to the Maxie and Pretty Kitty.
So I drug myself out of the chair, got a jug of water and Cat Chow. As I approached there was a black cat looking at an empty bowl. I thought it was Pretty Kitty, but it was junior. I put out food and clean water and sat down. Junior is more standoffish but does talk. Then I see movement to my left and it was Maxine. Here’s a picture of the two of them. They were eating like they had been starving. Soon Pretty Kitty was in the bowl while Maxie look on.
It’s a little tense in the house. The queen of the house, Sheelah is watching the interloper, Maxine who is underneath my chair. So far no super aggressive behavior, a bit of hissing.
I got to pet Pretty Kitty Junior this morning and named him Paddy. I finally saw his gender, He will be lost without Maxine, but is beginning to like pets.
I will be making an appointment with the vet for vaccinations, check up and spay later this week.
One way it happens is that the cat is adopted & raised by humans as a kitten and becomes acclimated to them. Then the cat is either abandoned or “lost” outdoors when it is older. The cat becomes feral to survive, but is capable of being a domestic cat again if it is recovered.
Another way that female cats in particular can be considered “feral” only to change later is if they give birth to a litter of kittens while feral. Mother cats are often very hostile to any strangers, but especially to male cats. I think (but don’t know for sure) this is due to a hormone change. Whatever the cause, often several months after giving birth their behavior can change.
When I volunteered at a shelter we had one cat who was initially classified as being unable to be around any other cat (or dog). But as the months passed, that changed. Eventually she was regarded as a “go to” companion cat who could be depended upon to get along if placed in the same room with just about any cat.
People like to place animals into mental categories they come up with based on how humans might react to other humans. Cats are not people. Cats behave the way they do for cat reasons not people reasons. But people never seem to pick up on this.
Maxine was never touched by a human hand before mine. The mother is feral and has never come closer than 6 feet. This little girl when her litter mates were scrambling for cover at my presence, just stayed still looking in my face. It slowly advanced from there. Me feeding the tribe and sitting close and quiet. She would come over, abandoning the food to flop on my shoes for pets.
I thought I would share a picture of Sheelah, She is 10 months old and has a totally different personality than Maxine. She has a vocabulary of about 100 words, while Maxie seldom has anything to say.
Bubba is in a cone of shame for a few days until he feels better….he has a pink area in his neck that he scratched at and licked….so he went to the vet and he has that on……he has meds to help it……it’s not ringworm which is good…here a pathetic pic of him in it
Bubba Kitty, just wants to groom himself. From “The Abandoned” by Paul Gallico, Jenny the wise cat advises the little boy Peter who has somehow become a cat, in cat ways. This is a great book for all cat lovers. Mr. Gallico seems to have the inside info on cats.
The one bit of advice Jenny gave Peter is, “When in doubt, wash.” Poor Bubba can’t do that with the cone of shame, Oh the shame, Oh the felinity, it is too much to bear.
