Sometimes I just can't help myself

The Lady saw me when I was sitting on the front steps today. She thinks it looks like I found something that didn't like me. My nose is scratched and my eye is runny.

She wants to try to clean up my face and put some medicine on it, but I knew she was thinking about that, so I slipped away while she was getting the first aid kit.

She thinks I might have a chronic upper respiratory infection because my eye has been runny most of the time she's known me. It seemed to clear up for awhile this fall, but now it's doing it again. I dunno. I'm not sure I can trust her enough to let her handle me the way she'd have to, to give me medicine. I don't want to bite her again, but if I get scared I don't know what I'll do.

She gave me lots of food yesterday and sat with me while I ate it.

Trapping me? I don't know if I like the sound of that.

The lady just sent an email to a local animal coalition that she found through posts on the Fabulous Ferals group. She hopes maybe they'll help her trap me and get me some medical care, since they advocate TNR and have a program for it. I'm not in a feral "colony" - I'm a loner cat, except for the housecats here and my catster girlfriend Patches - but I don't think they would deny me help just because of that, do you?

Being trapped sounds like no fun at all, but I think the lady might be right that it's for the best. At least, if I'm eartipped as a registered feral, I won't be in so much peril from the Animal Control department. I don't want them to come along with their van and take me away to an "animal shelter", because I'm not a good candidate for adoption by just anyone looking for a housecat. And you know what that means ...

I hope the lady hears back from the animal coalition people. When she tried to contact other programs for strays and ferals earlier, she never heard back from them.

what? ANOTHER cat?

The Lady talked to someone at the feral clinic last night, and they hatched a Plan to trap me and get me fixed, maybe as soon as Thursday. Hmmph. So today the Lady went into the back yard with the trap to put it near my shelter and feeding station, and put some food inside it to try to get me used to it before she sets the Trap part. We'll have to see how I take to that notion. But anyway, there was ANOTHER cat there, eating MY food from MY bowl! The nerve!

The Lady petted it, and it was very friendly, but she's concerned because she doesn't want to trap the wrong cat! She never saw this one before, but she thinks it's awfully cute. It's all white except for a gray patch on top of its head between its ears. And its ears are PINK! It's a male, but she thinks he's either not fully grown, or he's already been neutered, since he looks slim and has a triangular face - no "fight pads" like I have. But he doesn't have any tags, and he seemed pretty hungry, so she doesn't know if he has a home and was just out exploring, or somehow got lost or his people decided they didn't want him anymore. He seems awfully tame in any case - even though he had never met her before, he was letting her pet him and scritch his belly. And he wanted to go in the house.

She called the Vet to see if anyone had reported a missing cat resembling this one, but apparently not. She said if she sees him again, she'll take him in and have the Vet scan him for an ID chip. But the main thing is, she doesn't want to catch him now, when she's trying to catch ME.

There's never a dull moment around here, apparently.

Caught!

Well, I got caught tonight. It didn't take long at all - the Lady put out some tuna and a few dry nibblies around 7:30 pm, and at 9:30 she was doing stuff in the kitchen when she heard the door snap shut. When she came out to see me I mrrrowed at her a little, but I wasn't crazy upset. Then she put me, still in the trap, on the (enclosed) front porch - I've been there before, and I've peed in there so I know it's one of My Places - and she sprayed the blanket she put over the trap with Feliway. And the Man gave me a space heater. (He's a big softy.)

So I'm off to take a Ride in a Car, which I don't think I've ever done before and I'm not really looking forward to it, and then be fixed tomorrow. I hope this all works out well. At least I won't have any bugs all over me or in me any more, and maybe I won't scare Leo and Thomas so much when I'm "neutral". Because I'd kinda like to have some friends around here.

Gettin' fixed wasn't so bad

So I had quite an eventful day the other day. First I was stuck in a wire box all night long. But I was in the room I like to pee in, so it wasn't as windy as I'm used to, and I even had a little heater. And I was covered with blankets, so it wasn't really scary.

In the morning the Lady put me, still in the wire box, in the back of the car and told me I would be okay. Then she disappeared, but the car started moving, so I asked what was going on, and I heard her say it would be okay again. So I knew she hadn't really disappeared. Whenever something felt not quite right, I asked her about it, and she told me we were just going a little faster, or we were turning, or other cars were making big noises.

Then the car stopped, and she took me out. Dang, it was cold out! But soon I was in a room with a whole lot of other cats. I could smell 'em, but I couldn't see 'em, because I was under a blanket in my box. And then I went to sleep for awhile, and woke up in the warm room still under my blanket, and then the Lady came back to see me. She took me out in the cold again for a minute, but then put me back in the car, and I went to sleep again.

I woke up when she took me inside her house, and she put me in a little room with a heater. But then she took me outside AGAIN. This is getting a little ridiculous, don't you think? I went to another building that was warm, and there was a Man In White there who let me out of my box, and the Lady held me. But then the Man In White wanted to touch me, so the Lady loosened her hold on me, and that was when I decided ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE! So I wriggled away and ran around, but there was no place to hide, and I was kind of tired. So when the Lady got hold of me again it seemed like more trouble than it was worth to struggle. She snuggled me and told me I'd be okay, and then the Man In White told her to put me in this funny bag-like thing and hold it shut, and he STUCK me! TWICE!

Then the Lady put me BACK in the car, and took me BACK to the little room with the heater, and gave me a little water to drink and some nibblies. But I was really tired, so I curled up in my box and went to sleep.

Next morning I told the Lady, "You know it's nice and warm in here and all, but I'd like to get out and do my thing now". So she gave me some more water, and some more nibblies, and then she took me outside to where my food is. And I ate a lot more, and then I snuggled her for a bit and talked to her awhile before I went off to do my patrolling. I came back to see the Boy and the Man yesterday, and this morning the Lady spent a lot of time scritching me and petting me while I ate and drank.

And then the Goldilocks Cat Who Steals My Food And Sits In My Shelter came along, so I chased him away, because this is My Yard and My Lady. Oh yeah, and just in case you thought that going for all this travelling and sleeping made me somehow less of a Holy Terror Cat, it's just not true, and I let that Goldilocks Cat know it! In fact, while I was asleep the other day, the people in the room with all the cats obviously noticed that I am a Super!Cool!Cow!Cat, because they gave me a body modification as a souvenir of my travels. Yeah, now I'm sporting a cool ear stylin'. I feel like a real punk now, or maybe a pirate. I'm thinking maybe I should get it pierced too - but I'm not sure a piece of metal in my ear would be a good thing when it's this cold out.

In fact, I kind of wish I could go back in that little warm room in the Lady's house for awhile - but without being in my box. I tried telling them all that this morning, but they must not have understood. They fed me and gave me fresh water and petted me, but they didn't quite get the part where I was trying to nose the door open. I know they try to help me, but just between you and me - I think sometimes they're not the brightest kits in the litter.

Last night I learned that apparently my pal, the awesome Superhero Kitten SPARKMAN! (catster.com/cats/400733), had a similar experience the day after I did - he said he had his "barnacles scuttled". But instead of decorating his ear, the people in the room where he slept gave him a manicure. I kinda think my souvenir is cooler - and it will last and last!

what a difference a week makes!

It's been a week and a day since I was TNR'ed, and in that time I have learned so much!

When it got really cold at the end of last weekend, the Lady and the Man were worried about me because I'd just had surgery and they knew it would be harder for me to recuperate if I was outside in sub-freezing temperatures. Since I had been on their porch a couple of times already, the Lady decided that might be a good place for me to take shelter. And she made it such a nice place for me! She gave me an electric space heater, and put my water bowl near it so it wouldn't freeze, and set up some soft blankets and a few surfaces that I could sit on, and even gave me a litter tray. (That's fun to sit in!) Then she opened the outside door a little bit - just wide enough for me to get in - and put a doorstop on each side so I could come in or go out whenever I wanted.

At first I just thought it was kind of interesting to be allowed on the porch and have my food there, as well as water that wasn't icing over every half-hour. I do like drinking fresh water! But then I realized - it's WARM in there! Well, a lot warmer than it is outside anyway. So I started sitting on the blankets when I wasn't eating or drinking. Then I started sleeping there. Now I'm spending a lot of my time hanging out on the porch. And the Lady comes out and spends time with me. And ... it feels good to spend time with her! She sits in a little chair, and lets me get up on her lap, and scritches my ears, and her lap and jacket and arms are so warm and soft and safe-feeling. I have to purr at how good that feels. And the best thing is, even if she has to go away sometimes, the porch and the warm and the blankets and the food and the safe feeling stays! I worried about that at first, and nipped and growled and hissed to tell her I didn't want her to stop cuddling me and leave. But she hissed back at me and told me not to do that, she'd come back later - and she DID. It's so good to know she doesn't disappear forever when she leaves!

There's also a door on the porch that goes INSIDE, just like the door at the back of the house that goes INSIDE. I wish I could follow her in there, but she says I'm not ready yet. I wish I was ready! I wish I knew how to behave inside a house, and share my territory with other cats. But I really think I'm learning fast. I can see the other cats inside sometimes, and I know they go on the porch when I'm not there because I can smell 'em, but it doesn't bother me when I come back in. It's like I'm getting used to knowing they live in the same place. It's very exciting. Maybe someday I'll be able to spend time INSIDE a house when I want, just like the other cats.

The Lady thinks maybe I did live INSIDE at one time, but somehow lost my People and my Home. I don't remember. But the way I'm learning so fast about snuggles and warmth and trust and always having enough food and sharing a porch, she might just be right.

I am a happy Cow!Cat now!

I don't understand the point of "toys"

The Lady has been trying to find something to entertain me. She gave me a catnip fuzzy ball, but I didn't care. She gave me a crinkled-up paper ball, but I still didn't care. Then she gave me a toy with a jingly bell and feathers, and another one with a ball rolling around inside that I suppose I could bat at with my paw, if I felt like it. But guess what? I DON'T CARE!

Today, she got out a shiny dot thing, and I watched it move around. It was kind of interesting, but she seemed to think I would want to chase it. Why would I do that, when I'm sitting comfortably on her lap? Doesn't she know that having a lap to sit on is much better than pretending to hunt a shiny dot?

In fact, having a lap to sit on is like the best thing ever. I napped on her lap today for a little while. So comfy!

Regarding my socialization and learning not to be aggressive, she says it's a few steps forward, and then a step or two back. I still try to grab at her gloves sometimes, especially if she needs to leave me and I want her to stay. And it looks like I might have gotten in a scrape with something again, because my nose, which was healing nicely from scratches, is scabby again.

The Man might put in a cat-door for me on my porch, so they can shut and lock the big door when they leave the house. They're trying to figure out whether they should get one that has the collar signal on it to open only for the cats it's meant for, or just a basic door that will let any small animal in if it discovers the opening. The problem with the collar-signal one is, they're not sure if I'll wear a collar - and if I manage to pull it off, which even the indoor cats do regularly, then I wouldn't be able to get inside when I wanted to.

Spring is nicer than winter. I hope it sticks around for- awhile.

Things have been busy around here the past couple of weeks. The weather's still wacky some of the time, but I'm glad to say that mostly it's been warm and sunny, so I'm enjoying myself outside some days. Today, I've been napping under the forsythia bush in the yard all afternoon. It's sheltered, it's sunny, and I can keep a lookout for squirrels and bunnies and birds and other moving things, without them even seeing me. (I think. The Lady has trouble seeing me there anyway, if she's looking out one of the house windows. I look like crumpled-up newspaper when I'm just resting, with my head down.)

The Human Boy says we have bunnies again this year, so I'm looking forward to hunting them. And the Lady says we have cardinals. She doesn't want me to eat them, but we'll see about that. Apparently they've been coming around for several years, so they might be wise to the ways of us cats.

But the big news is, the Lady took a bunch of pictures today. I refuse to pose for her - I'd much rather rub against her ankles or sit on her lap when I'm with her - but those rotten house cats posed ALL OVER MY PORCH! You can see their pics on their catster pages. Lady's sitting in front of MY CAT DOOR in her new primary photo, not to mention eating MY FOOD in another pic, and Thomas and Leo are livin' la vida loca while I'm hangin' out under the forsythia. Only Pixie has the common sense and courtesy to acknowledge that it's my territory. But that's okay, I spent all yesterday on the porch just 'cause I felt like it, and it's always my room at night. There are a couple pics of it, without me in it, on my page for now. The Lady wants to take pics of ME on the porch of course. Maybe I'll calm down a little more and let her do that one of these days.

I had some behavior issues last week that scared the Lady, but she seems okay with me again. Which is good, because I do like snuggling on her lap. She's gonna get a water pistol to use if I get aggressive or possessive with her - Patches' Mama said that might help me figure out that she's really in charge - so I guess maybe I'd better learn some good behavior. I just get really possessive of my porch and my door, because it's where I feel safest and I don't want anyone else (like LEO) to get the idea that they can do what they want there. And I certainly don't want any other critter using my cat door! But apparently the Humans think it's really THEIR porch. Humph.

Skin problems

The past week or so, I've been a pretty mellow dude. I just hang out on the porch most of the time, talk to the Lady and the other cats through the porch door window, and chill.

The Lady is surprised that I don't go outside more when it's nice out, but I'm happy on my porch where it's cozy and I have everything I want. Well, everything I want except INSIDE. The Lady says I'm like a reverse prisoner - I can go anywhere in the world I want except INSIDE, but that's what I want most, especially when she's in there, so I sit at the door pining and looking sad. Meanwhile, the house cats sit at the other door or at a window, pining and looking sad because they all want to go OUTSIDE.

This amuses her, and I don't understand why. She has a most un-catlike sense of humor.

A Man came over last night to go to a concert with the Lady, and since he was talking to the lady nicely and she seemed to like him I decided he must be okay, so I rubbed against his legs to mark him as mine. It surprised her that I was so friendly with someone I'd never seen before.

She's worried about me because yesterday she noticed I have a sore in the right corner of my lips. It's pink and shiny and has a little yellow crusting on it. And my eye is running again. She called the vet today and talked to the tech lady there for awhile, tossing around ideas for getting me checked out. She thinks it might be ringworm, or feline herpes, or calicivirus - she's not really sure, but she doesn't want anything to spread into the house or to the other cats, and she'd rather help me get rid of it if she can.

She also took a sample of my fur over there, where I pulled it out in a clump with a little bit of the roots or skin attached. I had been doing that regularly awhile ago, and she thought it was because something had scratched me near my shoulder and a scab was falling away with the fur attached - she could see the torn area sloughing off. But that stopped happening after a couple of weeks, so when this new clump sloughed off today when she was petting me she saved it, since she had noticed the mouth sore yesterday. Maybe the doctor can look at it and figure out what's going on with me.

The tech lady also said maybe the vet could prescribe some sedatives to give me at home, so getting me to the vet's would be easier and I'd be more manageable once I got there. The Lady doesn't really want to take me there when I'm at full power. She asked about the possibility of a home visit from the vet, but although that would solve the problem of having to take me somewhere in the care, I'd still be very hard to handle on the porch.

The tech lady also says maybe I have a bad tooth, and that could cause both the lip sore AND the runny eye. If that's the case, the Lady definitely wants to take care of the problem so I'm not hurting anymore and so an infection doesn't make me really sick.

I can't say I can argue with the idea of her taking care of me. I like being taken care of, especially the way she does it. I just don't want to have to go to that weird-smelling vet's office. I don't want anything strange to scare me. When I'm scared, it's hard to remember that I am being taken care of - it feels like something might hurt me instead, especially when something tries to touch me. And when I get scared, that scares the Lady, so it's not any fun for either of us.

Tuna twice a day!

The Lady talked to the Vet the other day about my runny eye and the sore on my mouth, and came home with a bottle of Medicine called Clavamox.

The Vet Tech told her to put the Medicine in canned food, instead of squirting it on top of dry. But the Lady wasn't having any of that. She did find some wet food in the house that she had bought awhile ago and the house cats didn't like - but it was one of the brands and flavors that was on the Menu Foods recall list. So even though it was a different expiry date than the "problem" lots, she decided to throw it out rather than give it to me and worry about it in the back of her mind. So I get my medicine in a spoonful of Tunyfish. Yum yum yum! That is so good!

I get to eat it twice a day until the Medicine is gone. I hope the Medicine is magic and stays in the bottle forever!

When the Lady brings me the plate of yumminess, though, I still want to sit with her for awhile first, and purr and snuggle and rub all over her. I have my priorities, you know. But when she has to leave the porch, I go straight to my plate and eat up all that Tunyfish.

I find myself thinking of her as the Lady less and less, and Mama more and more. Hmmm.

I'm also enjoying this nice weather a lot. I sleep on my porch most of the morning, and then go to the back yard and hang out and watch things. The breeze is nice, the sunshine feels good on my fur, and it's been warm enough that the heater on my porch doesn't go on much anymore, even at night. Tuna, and warm dry weather outside, and a Mama-Lady, and a porch full of blankets and flat surfaces to nap on - what more could a Cow!Cat want?