Project Cat Update 8/25/08
Time for an update on Project Cat. Scamp is doing quite well. She’s been dewormed via secretly inserting dewormer into a tuna treat. She is now appearing on a regular basis for food and is even taking her meals on the porch.
She scampers off at the least perceived threat which still includes any movement by the humans, a loud noise from the neighbor’s yard, too many things happening at once or just for the hell of it. She will allow the humans to sit quietly on the porch, but does scamper off now and then to test the humans to see if they will give chase. She will pretend to approach the humans, sit just a few feet out of reach and then scamper off even though no threat is posed. She still does not spend significant time in the yard. A very busy cat, she runs off to do errands right after she eats.
On at least two occasions now, she picked my cantaloupe for me and rolled them around the garden. You would think they were too big to be toys to such a small cat, but apparently she finds it great fun. I haven’t seen that she is the actual perpetrator of these crimes, but there are tiny claw marks on the evidence in question and even a rather healthy gouge that could be teeth marks or claws that got stuck while playing.
The goal is to catch her and have her fixed and then release her again. Once she has been fixed and defleaed, the problems are minimized. Of course, we’re quite a long ways from catching her, I think.
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I’m a softie when it comes to critters, too. Fortunately, in our area, feral cats and dogs are not an issue. Once in awhile, a neighbor’s dog will get loose or another neighbor’s cat can be heard cavorting in the middle of the night.
You say you’ll release the cat once you’ve had her fixed. Is taking her to the local animal shelter not an option because her chances for adoption are nil?
Comment by Trina — August 26, 2008 @ 9:13 am
We “release” her into our backyard and try to convince her she is a pet. As you can imagine, this sort of “training” takes a lot of time and effort and is sometimes not appreciated by the cat. Our local animal shelter has not proven to be…a good resource. We have visited it and were appalled at how they treated us and also the way they handled a cat we took in there.
I guess the best way to put it is that we are open to adopting her, but cats are funny. They aren’t always willing to be adopted.
As for someone else adopting a feral cat, from talking to our vet, it generally isn’t possible. You can’t just put them inside and expect them to act like a kitten (which many people adopting pets, want–a pet that is friendly to members of the household.) You can’t put them outside in an unfamiliar place because they run away and try to find food.
We had very good luck “adopting” a cat a couple of years ago. She adjusted well, became quite friendly and was very happy with us for a couple of years. Of course, she was never going to be an indoor cat, which meant she was exposed to the perils of nature outdoors and well, sadly that eventually caught up with her.
Comment by Maria — August 26, 2008 @ 9:23 am
Gotcha. Totally understand what you are saying about cats in general and feral cats in particular. This one sounds like she’s slowly but surely adjusting to “having you around”
Comment by Trina — August 26, 2008 @ 9:42 am
How can they resist us? We do funny faces, awesome songs, cute dances…
After a time, they feel they must stick around to “help” us because we are so undignified.
Comment by Maria — August 26, 2008 @ 9:44 am