Tag Archives: cat

Feral Cat Update

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Since my last post on the subject, I have seen the feral cat that has been eating the food I put out at work two or three more times. It is strange that I put food out for a month or more without seeing who was eating it, but now I see him almost every day I am at work. I call it “him” because it sounds better than “it” but I don’t know the sex of the cat. I know there have been other cats in the area. One even looks like a skinny Chris, but they have either moved on or are much shyer than my new friend.

The last time I pulled into the driveway at work, he was nearby. It almost seemed like he was waiting for me. I quickly went inside for the cat food, put a handful in the usual place, backed away to a safe distance, set my camera to “video” mode and waited for him to move to the food, but he didn’t move. He stood there waiting for me to leave. It was just as well. The camera lens had fogged up due to leaving the air condition truck to the warm, humid Florida outdoors.

I walked inside my work and wiped the fog off the camera lens. I then looked out the door to see he was no longer in sight. I walked outside and quietly walked to the edge of the building while zooming out the telephoto lens. I peeked around the corner and saw him eating the food I put out. I then pointed the camera in his direction and got off a couple of shots. I even made a noise so he would turn around and look. People driving by must have thought I was some weird voyeur or something.

Feral Cat

Feral CatI can’t wait to see if he is waiting for me on Monday. Maybe I should bring him a treat like sardines or something. What do you think?

Feral Cats at Work

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We have feral cats that hang out behind where I work. I don’t see them very often and when I do it is from a distance. There is a large fenced in area that has been abandoned for about a year now, although the cats have been there much longer. Because seeing the cats is rare, I thought there was no colony of cats, just a few loners who’s territories intersect near my work. If there was a colony, I thought, my work is at the outside of their territory.

About a month ago I saw a cat walking the perimeter of the fence behind my work and I thought maybe the cat has a routine. As an experiment, I brought some food to work and put a handful near the fence, on a plastic Verizon cover. By the end of the day the food was gone so I decided to continue to put food out.

I don’t want to feel responsible for these cats because I only work four days a week, but I thought a handful of food three times a week would be more like a treat for them. I have been doing that for a month now, never seeing the cat, or cats, that have been eating it.

Yesterday morning, to my surprise, I went out with the food and surprised a beautiful feral cat that was walking across our parking lot. I don’t remember if it was the same cat I saw last month, but it could be. It immediately ran to the tall grass to take cover. I said some friendly words to it and then set down the food and went back inside, but I peeked out the door and watched the cat walk toward the food. I then quietly walked back outside and saw the cat eating the food I put out.

Feral cat

Later I went out again to empty the trash and saw the cat not far from the dumpster, watching me. He made no attempt to run away as a dumped the trash inside. 20150706_Feral cat_1809I went back inside and about ten minutes later I decided to bring out another handful of food. My hope was that the cat would see me as a friend, but when I got outside, a man on a riding lawn mower was outside and, of course, the cat was gone.

As I edited these pictures, I noticed the cat had its ear tipped, which means he is probably part of a TNR program. If that is the case, perhaps there is a colony nearby and perhaps someone is looking after them. I hope so.

On the Cat Walk

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Saturday morning Chris and Frankie were being very loud and annoying in their efforts to be let outside. Since Chris was throwing up a lot on Friday and a little more that morning, I thought eating some grass might be good for him, so I let him out. He didn’t go for the grass as expected but instead went up the driveway and found Rose’s plants. He then did some nearby exploring before settling down and eating grass, which he soon  up when he got inside. I guess he needed that.

Bad Cat Chris in flower bed.

It was then Frankie’s turn. He’s a runner so I had to put his harness on before going out.

I then grabbed my Canon Powershot camera and then walked out the door with Frankie. The camera is about six years old, ancient but today’s standards, but it takes good pictures. It was also close and my good camera was in the closet, too far away to make an excited cat wait. I turned the dial to video mode, pushed the shutter button and off we went.

Frankie is quite the explorer and we went here, there and everywhere. He even saw a bunny before I did and ran after it, surprising me and probably him too when the leash tightened up. Towards the end of the walk we came across a couple of neighbors which made him a little nervous and hastened our return.

Later, when Rose’s mother and sister came to the house, I cooked some hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill. As I was bringing in a plate full of food, Frankie ran out the door. I quickly put my shoes on and went after him. Eventually I ended up on the next street over trying to coax Frankie out from under a car. I actually was giving him space, hoping he would move on.

That is when Rose’s sister, Felice (our hero kitten rescuer), showed up to help. She kneeled next to the car to see where he was at. I knew she was thinking about grabbing him and dragging him out from under the car but I remembered when I tried to do that Frankie scratched up my arm and became even more entrenched and angry as well. Felice managed to grab Frankie and drag him out without getting a scratch.

When everybody left, I was excited to upload the video I took of our walk but I had an unpleasant surprise. I discovered that the video was set to the smallest resolution possible. It was so small that it was essentially worthless except for maybe an iWatch.

I did find another video though. It was Frankie and me walking around the neighborhood for the first time about two weeks ago. That day Chris escaped when I took out Frankie. He normally stays close so I was trying to watch him while I was walking Frankie but he wandered too far and I had to put Frankie away and get Chris. When I came back out I couldn’t find him at first. When I did find him, I brought him in and took Frankie out again.

Walking a cat is not like walking a dog. They go where they want and if you try to influence them too much the resistance increases. The best I could do is keep him from going to far into people’s yards.

Cat Frankie outside

Chris Proofing the New Home

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Before we moved into our new home, Rose told me I needed to do something about the hole under the bathroom sink. She was worried Chris would get under there (which he is good at) and manage to get inside the walls.

I assumed it was a hole like we had in our last home when we moved in. That one was under the kitchen sink. It was an opening that allowed the pipes to come through the wall but it was bigger than necessary. At that time she was worried about bugs getting in so I filled the opening with foam insulation.

Shortly after that I noticed there were pieces of foam scattered around under the sink and then saw a large hole was chewed through the foam. We had a rat! I don’t remember if I realized it at the time but it was sure clear a few days late when I opened the door to put trash in the small garbage can we kept under the sink and saw a large rat in the can. I quickly covered the can with a cutting board and then dumped the rat outside. I then nailed some wood over the hole.

But this hole was not like that one. This hole was almost big enough to shove a body into and definitely big enough for a cat, even a fat, bad cat. I discovered that when Chris opened the cabinet door and walked inside. It was then that I remembered what Rose warned me about and I quickly looked under the sink to see what she was talking about. When I saw the opening, I grabbed Chris and pulled him out of there. He was not happy about that and let me know.

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Inside this large cavity there was an opening both to the left and right. I could even see daylight coming through the left opening.

IMG_20150524_113350_722I needed to keep Chris out of there until I could find a permanent solution. I started looking for something long enough to stick through the handles when Rose remembered we had leftover baseboard. It worked.

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As soon as I was able, I bought child safety locks and put them on the doors.

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This worked but I was concerned because Chris was adamant about getting through the security and I did not doubt his ability.

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I decided to add a second level of security so I cut out some aluminum screening and stapled it over the opening.

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Good thing I did because later that day Chris managed to break one of the child locks.

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Of course, Chris is still getting into the other cabinets but I don’t worry so much about that.

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I apologise for the quality of some of these pictures but they were taken with my phone in low light and I thought they would be somewhat useful to tell the story.

 

 

 

 

Chris Turns Six

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Today is Chris’s sixth birthday. Actually, we don’t know his exact birthday but he was about six months old when we adopted him so I thought we would just celebrate his birthday six months from his adoption day. I thought it would be fitting to re-post some pictures of him at each year in his life.

Cats Alex, Chris and Tigger

This is Chris between Alex and Tigger in November, 2009.

ginger cats, Chris and Tigger

Tigger washing Chris, June, 2010.

Bad Cat Chris, Abbey and Tigger

Chris between Abbey and Tigger, February, 2011

Bad Cat Chris on railing

Chris the daredevil, November, 2012

Bad Cat Chris outside

Chris at the pool showing off his expanding belly, November, 2013

Bad Cat Chris jumping off Fridge

Chris showing he can still be bad, October, 2014

Bad Cat Chris with lizard

Chris with Frankie, showing off his catch, March, 2015

Unfortunately Chris has been sick with a cold and we have to work all day and then go to a wedding this evening so he won’t get the attention he deserves. Perhaps I will leave the bedroom door open for him tonight.