|
"Me on my Papasan on my Porch!" |
| Home:East Purrsville, PA | [I have a diary!] |
Age: 3 Years Sex: Male Weight: 15 lbs.
|
"I shall mesmerize you with my magical eyes ... you will feel very sleepy ... now give me tuna!" |
|
"I love to nap on a nice soft bed." |
|
"Thomas and I are tolerating Dougal's existence." |
|
"Thomas and me being all cozy on my Porch, on a cold winter's day. I'm all dirty because I was playing outside this morning. I love rolling in the dust in the driveway!" |
|
"This is the best place I know of to sleep. Sometimes I even allow Mama to breathe." |
|
"Me and Daddy hanging out." |
|
"This is my "come hither" look. Hey Patches, baby ..." |
|
"Ooooh! Head scritchies!" |
[See My CatsterPlus Photo Book] |
|
|
|
Leave a treat for ♥ Cow!Cat ♥
Special Gift Box:
Nicknames:
Monster, Bad!Cat, Critter, Urchin, Sweetheart, Punky, Punkin, Cow, Cow!Cat Wilde
Kitty Complexion:
| | | | | | | | | Activeness | | | | | | Intelligence | | | | | | Curiosity | | | | | | Friendliness | | | | | | Vocal | | | |
| |
| | | | | |
Quick Bio:
Coloration:
Black and White
Likes:
terrorizing Leo, being with Mama, being brushed, reading the newspaper with Daddy
Pet-Peeves:
sudden movements, loud noises, the people going inside or not petting him as long as he wants, Pixie and Leo screeching and growling at him
Favorite Toy:
at first, the real world when it wasn't scaring him. He had no use for conventional "cat toys", or even for a laser pointer. But sometime in fall '07, to my great joy and delight, he started playing with small objects and catnip socks.
Favorite Nap Spot:
under the forsythia; on the picnic table; the papasan chair on the porch; on the cool concrete floor when it's hot; cat tree middle shelf; on top of or next to Mama
Favorite Food:
Royal Canin SO wet and dry - he needs it for his crystals; cat tuna (it's a great way to give him his meds!); Friskies Special Diet
Skills:
survival
Dwells:
indoors and outdoors
Arrival Story:
Cow!Cat first came around in spring '06, a shy stray cat who looked hungry and beat-up. We started putting out food and water for him, and gradually he became less cautious around us. After a summer living in the open air , in fall '06 we started sheltering him with a small, purr-pad-lined dog house, and in winter he progressed to blankets and a few basic furnishings along with a space heater on an enclosed porch. We free-fed him, gave him water, and paid him some attention daily. He also was fed by our back neighbour and took shelter in their garage on occasion. With consistent feeding he became healthier, and after about six months of regular unthreatening contact from us, he began greeting me and my family if he was around when we went outside. He'd talk to us and insistently seek physical affection. (I started thinking of him as our friendly backyard stalker - whenever I'd open the door to go outside, there he was ready to wind between my ankles. Whenever any of us pulled a car into the driveway, he came running to see what's up, and of course to demand some attention.)
Feb 2007: after trapping and neutering him, he moved onto our sheltered front porch.
December 2007 : after a few daytime explorations, he made the move into the house for overnight warmth, and has integrated pretty smoothly, although recently he's shown some inappropriate urination issues that we're working on.
Bio:
Medical/behavioral history and rundown of integration into household: As a young tom living the life of a lone feral, Cow!Cat started out extremely wary of humans, highly aggressive toward other male cats including those in our household, and extremely territorial about things/places he wanted to be "his". He used to tree Leo regularly. Halloween 2006 he bit me quite hard, when I startled him into reacting by foolishly trying to soothe him with a scruff-touch from behind, while he was tense over the proximity of 2 other cats. This necessitated antibiotics and precautionary rabies shots for me, as at the time he had no record of vaccination or any medical care. (The silver lining to that episode, I guess, is that now I have rabies immunity if I'm ever bitten again by a stray.)
The first time I coaxed him on the porch in bad weather he showed lots of spraying behaviour, and he was only allowed back on the porch due to extenuating circumstances. In early 2007 I finally found some information about a local TNR program and I was able to trap him and have him neutered, eartipped, and given shots on February 1 2007, as well as tested for FeLV and FIV (both negative). Bitterly cold temps that weekend forced the issue - he had to have a sheltered, warm place to recuperate from surgery. So I cleared out everything on the porch thatI didn't want damaged, and made him a bed of disposable items.
Within a few months he progressed to pretty much having his own apartment out there, without damaging any furnishings even after the other cats hung out on the porch while he was locked outside. Our wild boy also calmed down considerably post-neutering, although he still has a strong will and lots of "herding" behaviour toward me. Now he is fully vaccinated and basically healthy, although apparently he has allergies that result in chronic tear stains. His eyes clear up with antibiotic treatment, but once the course of treatment is over the eye discharge and stains recur within a few weeks. Not using plastic food and water dishes, and being diligent with flea treatment, also seem to minimize his allergic symptoms.
August 2007 he had some trouble with crystals, requiring hospitalization. He was switched to a diet of Hills C/D.
Problems with integrating him indoors were as follows: I have many allergies including cats, and dander is often the tipping point between my feeling okay and feeling miserable even with extensive daily meds. So adding one more copiously-shedding feline to the indoor environment is not the most brilliant notion I've ever had. In addition, we have one elder, FIV+ cat who didn't really need to be stressed out by a young ruffian. But a few months post-neutering, Cow!Cat's response to Thomas became more and more respectful and submissive. His moving into our house (and not just the porch) was not the ideal solution, but we were not able to find anyone to adopt him, and he deserves - and made it clear that he wants - a proper home. So once his behavior showed he was ready to move indoors, he did so in late 2007.
February 2008: we are now harboring another feral tom (see Dougal MacDuff) on our porch intermittently, and this has caused Cow!Cat some stress. I suspect this is one of the reasons for his renewed inappropriate urination. He's also been more "herding" in his behaviour toward me. He also has had a bout of conjunctivitis, so he's taking eyedrops and antibiotics for that.
March 2008: After a month of repeated veterinary visits for urination issues and two more urinary blockages, Cow!Cat had perineal urethrostomy surgery and switched to a diet of Royal Canin SO and Friskies Special Diet food. He's done well for the past 8 months on that, aside from some persistent inappropriate urination, and hopefully he will have no further problems with crystals or other urinary tract conditions.
Lives Remaining:
7 of 9
Forums Motto:
Diamond in the rough
Catster Local Spots I've Marked:
 Springfield Animal Hospital, Animal Coalition of Delaware County, Matthew J Ryan Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (MJR VHUP), Forgotten Cats
The Groups I'm In:
"Cobblestone Square", ♥ Hello Kitty Fan Club ♥, ♥ Democats ♥, PETS for OBAMA, ALFIE & Mr Ds PURRS AND WOOFS FOR THE MISSING., Black And White Units, De House of Isaac, Fabulous Ferals, Febreze® Pet Odor Eliminator™, Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease/Feline Urologic Syndrome, Frends of Skeezix (FOS), I love Cookie!, Navin and Buds, Philadelphia Feral & Rescue Kitties, The Black and White Ankle Biters, The Catster and Dogster Railroad, The Summer of Scooter, Voki Madness!
The Last Forum I Posted In:
Aldo and Tess need new Homes ASAP
About the Lady:
My Lady has a human diary that you can read here. She loves making new human friends!
Tunez for a sensitive new age tomcat:
|
Patches, my gorgeous femme fatale:
My lovely guardian angel, Izzy:
|
| January 14th 2007 |
 |
More than 1 year! |
Rosettes Given In The Past Month:
Stars Given In The Past Month:
| |
My Account
close
