Back a few months ago, I captured a little stray kitten along the road. When I first saw her, I also saw her mom, a small black cat, and another little kitten, black, running up the road. By the time I caught the first little one, the other two were gone. I brought that one home to keep her, but continued to watch for the mom and the other kitten.
And then came a note on my door. The neighbor who told me that the mom was wild left word that there was not just the mom and a black kitten, but there were four(!!) kittens that were wild and living under their deck. As they were getting ready to move away, did I want to come and rescue the kittens? Umm..... Duhh.... Of course!! It's not that I *need* more kittens, or *wanted* more kittens (ok, strike that... I always want more kittens), but that there were four kittens and a mother out in the wild is completely unacceptable. Must rescue. Must make safe.
So I went up there immediately and took my cages and a live trap that we've used on raccoons and foxes. I set the trap with some food and waited. Didn't have to wait too long. Soon, the four kittens came up. I reached out and grabbed the little black one that I had seen before. He gouged me pretty good, so even though I caught him and he was now in a cage inside, I decided to let the live trap do the scary work.At dusk, the remaining three came up for some of the stinky food I put in the trap. All three headed into it at once and SNAP!! One backed out just in time, but I'd caught the other two. The final one was caught the following morning. Never did see the mother, but all the kittens are now safe, fed, and growing up loved and together. And wow, are they beautiful!!
New kittens, hiding as best they can!!
When I brought them home, they were held in the bathroom for a few days to see how wild and healthy or not they were. They decided the toilet was best to hide behind.
Four new kittens, waiting to see what will eat them.
After a bit, just later the same day, they were all comfortable enough to stay together on the towel when I came in. They adapted to us so quickly!
Four new kittens in hiding
After a few days, they were able to explore the bedroom and living room a little. Since they still wanted to hide, I kept them only in the living room during the day so they could get accustomed to our sounds and us. They chose to stay in the bottom of the kitty castle scratching post. The original kitten, Winky, used these days to re-acquaint herself with them. She was afraid at first, but quickly learned or remembered them.
All five kittens, back together again
Within a week, the formerly wild feral kittens were all back together and snuggling with me on the couch. You wouldn't know they were feral at all. They are so sweet, smart and strikingly beautiful! Along with the original, Winky, we named them Blinky, Zot, Carbon and Silicon. There are four little girls and one boy (Carbon).
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October 26th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Joy -
I love this story. I have a couple of feral cats myself. My little Gatsy was seriously wild and did not want to be close to people at all. He had a hurt foot (I think he was bitten by a raccoon), but I couldn't get close enough to look at it every good. He was very scrawny. He would eat canned food if I put in on the front porch so I got antiobiotics from the vet and put it in the food. His foot just didn't seem to improve. After a while, the vet wanted to see him in order to keep giving him meds, so my husband and I snuck up behind him, grabbed him and dropped him in a carrier. It turned out that he was an FIV+ kitten, so I put him in my basement, away from my other cats. He howled for a few days and wanted to bite and scratch, but after a while, he became part of the family. I went to a no-kill shelter and adopted Lily Marlene, another FIV+ cat to be his companion. They were very close and he is still upset that she passed away last year. They were together for 8 years.
Daisy was also outside and wild. We could never catch her. She got hit my a car in front of the house and my husband rescued her and took her to the vet. She was bleeding from the mouth and he thought she was seriously injured - internal bleeding and all that. Luckily, the car just knocked some teeth out. We have not have her for 10 years and she is a sweet little tortoise shell cat - but still a little feisty at times, particularly to the other cats.
I lost four of my cats within a year and I wasn't going to get any more, but Gatsby was very lonely without Lily Marlene, so I went back to the shelter for another FIV cat. Julie is not as friendly to Gatsby however. I have had her for about 10 months and at least they don't hiss at each other all the time now. I guess that's a start.
So that's my cat story of the day.
October 26th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Kathy, Thank you for taking in FIV strays! Hopefully Julie will warm up more to Gatsby. But even a little animosity is better than being completely alone. We lost four cats within a year too - it was heartbreaking. I certainly wasn't actively looking for more, but I just couldn't bear the thought of them being out in the wild. Too many dangers out here in the country. And it was good, because I found that one of them was extremely sick, the boy, and he would not have survived much longer. He's healthy, happy and very appreciatively loving now!!