Tag Archives: stray cat

BobCat, BobCat…

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We’ve had a stray cat hanging around for 3+ years now. I’ve felt so bad about him being out in the freezing cold winters and the hot and humid summers but I knew he would have to be neutered and have his shots before I could even think about bringing him inside. Even if I did that, I was always afraid of Jack and the stray getting into a fight to the death because they are both males and Jack has always been a bit on the aggressive side. He still picks on Honey Bear every chance he gets. 

I finally decided to get the poor cat, named BobCat due to his bobbed tail, neutered and vaccinated. It was money well spent but I worry that BobCat will disappear and that’s $143 lost. It could have been more but our vet’s prices are reasonable. Thank goodness. 

So, that was last week. I put a Seresto collar on him for fleas and ticks and gave it a day to work. Then began integration with Jack, Alice, and Honey.

First, I brought BobCat inside in a carrier. He looked around and peered through the little holes at the television. He turned and looked at us through the door. The other cats stopped in their tracks when they saw him. He stayed in the carrier for about an hour.


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He looks like a bunny from behind!

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I finally took BobCat out of the carrier and put a harness and leash on him. I put him in my lap and he soaked up all the lovins and cuddles he could get! 

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I didn’t get any photos of him exploring the house because he was still on the leash. I had to ensure I had control to avoid any fights to the death! Unbelievably, we had no conflicts and all 4 ate their evening meal together! Afterward, BobCat went back outside to give the other 3 a break. I feel bad that it got so cold last night but poor BobCat isn’t ready for indoors all the time quite yet.

This morning, BobCat came back inside but this time with a vest and leash, no carrier. (The harness I had on him yesterday was a bit too tight. The vest was just right.) He must have slept in my lap or alongside me in my chair for a couple of hours! He was so content and lovable. He even fell asleep for a bit! 

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I removed the leash and eventually the vest because the other 3 cats decided to hide in my bedroom. I closed the door and let BobCat roam the house, checking everything out on his own terms. He checked out all of the litter boxes. He looked under, around, and behind everything in the house. Every time he passed one of the cat toys, he stopped and kicked the shit out of it and then took off. It was quite funny to watch!

When Jack wanted out of my bedroom, I opened the door and let the 2 of them eyeball each other for a short while. Thankfully, no fights BUT Jack’s patience started to wear thin so I put BobCat back outside. He’ll have to stay another night outside. It’ll be colder tonight than it was last night but he has an insulated dog house to sleep in. 

This integration thing is going to take some time, especially since Jack is such a jerk! It took 3 stinkin’ years to get Jack integrated with my other cats. At that time I had 5 others. BobCat won’t be the problem! 

Wish us luck! If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears! 

 

 

What’s Eating Aunt Debbie?

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Well, I’m back after sporadic posts over the past few months – I’ve just not been motivated to do much in the line of writing. I don’t know why. I have a lot to say but when it comes right down to it, I always wonder, “Who really cares what I have to say?” I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that way.

Anyway, here I sit…the keyboard beckoning me to write and my fingers, which seem to have dyslexia these days, refusing to cooperate! What can I say, to start out 2022?

First, I’ll just say I hope everyone reading this has had a great start to the new year. If you’ve made a New Year’s Resolution, don’t be too hard on yourself. I learned a long time ago to make small changes as I go. If you want to make changes in your life, you don’t have to make huge changes all at once. Take it one day at a time because life just gets in the way sometimes. As they say, shit happens. If things don’t work out one day, then start again the next day.

The holidays are always an emotional time for me. I was able to spend Thanksgiving with my bestie and my son and his family. It was a nice day but it took me 2 1/2 weeks to recover. I tried not to overdo it; almost everything we had that day was pre-made or semi-homemade. Still, it was too much for my legs to handle. Christmas was nice, with my son and his family, lots of laughs, and my grandson is beginning to warm up to us. We made pizza (semi-homemade) and my grandson was happy to help! He made his very own personal pizza!

Another thing on my mind, besides the same ol’ crap with Covid, is the absolute rudeness of some folks. Online, all you seem to see are comments that are not only unnecessary but mean and/or rude as hell. Most people wouldn’t say those things to a person’s face but online, I guess they think it’s just fine. I do not.

Yesterday, I was at my bestie’s place and I had parked in one of the front spots reserved for the handicapped. I have my handicap placard displayed as required for parking there. I was there for maybe an hour, if that, and when I came out there was someone parked behind me, blocking me in. I was pissed. How can anyone think that it was ok to do this? I can see if you had to run something in real quick but that was not the case. My bestie came out to find out who the owner of the car was and it was the apartment manager’s car for Pete’s sake! She pulled out so I could leave and as I left I saw her pull back into the same space. Clearly, she was not just running in real quick nor was she disabled. Who would think it’s was ok to block someone in like that? Apartment manager or not, it’s just plain rude. So sick of rude people.

I’ve been feeding a stray cat, since last year. His name is BobCat because he has a bobbed tail. He’s very sweet and I wish I could bring him in the house but it just won’t work with Jack. Jack is very aggressive and has slipped out the door a few times. Each time, the first thing he does is attack BobCat. Aside from the fighting, BobCat is an intact male and would probably pee all over the house which would lead to Jack peeing all over the house so NO, that’s not going to happen. I’d like to get BobCat neutered but I just don’t have the extra funds for that. Anyway, with the weather getting colder and colder now, poor BobCat is outside with minimal shelter and warmth. He has a small doghouse with a soft bed as padding and lots of straw but I’m sure it still gets cold in there. I just can’t help but feel bad. I wish I could afford to buy a better system for him. I pray he can stay warm enough through the winter.

There are other things on my mind, always, but that’s enough for now. I’m just trying to get back to writing, even if it’s just a little each day.

Now, tell me… What’s Eating You?

What A Coinkydink!

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Yesterday morning I told Dad, “I wish Sammy would come back around so I could give him that food.” I pointed to the 4 big cans of cat food I bought especially for Sammy. He was a stray who started coming around last year. He would come and go but seemed to always end up at my house. I’m not going to let an animal go hungry so he got fed when he was here. I knew he wasn’t going to go hungry because cats are superb hunters, but still… I felt bad when I fed my 4 furkids, knowing that Sammy was just outside the door, maybe wondering why he couldn’t come in and eat, too. So, me being me, I bought some big cans of cat food; cheap stuff my cats won’t touch with a 10-foot pole.

Sammy was a black cat, sweet as could be. He let me pet him, pick him up, brush his fur, and even apply topical flea and tick medication. He was short and stocky with a thick black neck so I’m pretty sure he could kick some cat-butt. In fact, he may have been the one Jack fought with December of 2018 when he was injured because soon after that Sammy showed up.

It rained a lot last year and feeling sorry for Sammy being out in the cold, wet weather, I bought him a medium-sized doghouse. That was mid-June. I secured it to the table on the side of the house so the wind wouldn’t blow it away. Putting it up off the ground kept it up away from critters like opossums and skunks, too. After I bought the doghouse, Sammy never came back. I figured he probably met his demise somehow, most likely a wild animal got him. It became very peaceful out on the “catio” because Sammy wasn’t there to antagonize my cats anymore. They didn’t like him but they were separated by chicken wire, thank goodness.

Around 7:30 yesterday evening I heard a horrific commotion. Cats screaming and fighting is not a good sound, at least not to my ears! My first thought was that Jack found his way out of the catio and he’s being attacked by a wild animal. I was mortified. I went out the door to the catio, and Jack shot in the house through the cat door, fur in a big ol’ fluff. Alice and Honey were out there trying to get to something. I grabbed the flashlight, and lo and behold, there was Sammy. After all these months, he came back!

They were all growling at each other. Jack wanted back out but I made him stay in and rounded the other 2 up and made them come in as well. I closed off the cat door so they couldn’t go out there and get hurt trying to get to Sammy or find a way out of the catio! Either scenario wouldn’t have been good. Kitty sat in the living room all bug-eyed and alert but she never ventured out to the catio. I bet she was thinking what I always say, “I’m too old for this shit.”

My furbabies were pissed at me for keeping them inside all night. Every time I walked that direction they ran to the door. They would just sit there, pouting with their ears cocked. When I went to bed, well after midnight, they were still pouting but had given up on going outside for the night. they settled in for the night and I never heard a meow or scratching all night long. This morning, there was no sign of Sammy so I opened up the cat door. Jack and Alice seemed to smile at me as they pranced out the door.

As I type this tonight, Sammy is nowhere in sight. Honestly, I hope he has gone back from whence he came because obviously, he lives somewhere. Let his owners feed him! I guess I should be careful what I wish for next time. (What a coinkydink ‘eh?!) I was only half-joking about wanting him to come back. It’s nice to know he’s ok but my furbabies don’t need to get so riled up all the time and I’m getting too old for this shit!

Sunday Night Musings

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It’s been a very wet and rainy day today…and noisy. Thunder had the cats under the bed all day. At dinner time things had settled down a bit so they’re a little happier but it’s still wet outside and Jack keeps whining at me like it’s my fault.

Sammy hasn’t been around in over a week. Last weekend I bought him a (15-25 lb) doghouse so that he has a shelter when it rains. He doesn’t even know he has a place to sleep! I paid $60 for it so he’d better get his butt “home.” I just can’t imagine him getting better food somewhere else, even if he has a home. I feed him well. I’ve put Frontline on him because he was covered with ticks and that stuff is expensive! Now the doghouse. I do hope nothing has happened to him.

The past few nights we’ve had some visitors. One night Jack came running in the cat door as if something was after him. His tail was all puffed up and he hid between Dad’s chair and the end table. He looked scared to death. I knew something was up so I went to investigate. There were 2 beautiful red foxes just outside the catio. Of course, I didn’t bring my phone out with me so I didn’t get a close-up photo. I did eventually get some video and a few photos but I hope to do better soon. Here’s the video; I hope it works. I’ve made my Facebook post public so you could all see it if you’d like.

 

In case you can’t make out the convo, the poor little guy is favoring his upper right leg or paw. I just love the wildlife here. In fact, I love animals more than I like most people, but that’s a post for another day.

Have a great week, peeps!

Aunt Debbie

A Rainy Day & A Wet Cat

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It’s been raining a lot here lately. I can always feel it in my bones before it even starts, but once it does I ache so bad I can’t do much of anything. I end up staying in my recliner most of the day. Today I worked on a crochet project that has taken much of my time the last 2 months. I’ll show you photos later, as it’s a gift and I don’t want to risk it being seen by the recipient before the special occasion. I managed to finish said project, thankfully. I was really getting tired of working on it! It turned out beautifully if I do say so myself.

We’ve had a stray cat hanging out here for a few months. In fact, I think he must’ve been the guy Jack fought with just before Christmas. I can’t risk them tangling again because Jack cost me an awful lot of money after that with x-rays and two vet visits, just for the wounds from the fight. Jack wants to fight him so badly, though! The stray cat, Sammy is what I’ve been calling him, looks like Alice but he’s buffed up! He’s short and stocky, and has the thickest neck I’ve ever seen on a cat! Anyway, I’ve been feeding poor Sammy when he comes around, which is only once every couple of weeks. I think he makes his rounds. I always wonder how far he travels.

This morning, I looked outside to see Sammy back so I brought him out some food. The thing is, he likes to hang out on top of the catio. The catio doesn’t have a roof. It’s covered on top and around the sides with chicken wire. It’s needing some reinforcement because it’s beginning to sag. Sammy has been laying out there all day long and in the rain! He’s wet and he doesn’t seem to care…but I care. I feel so bad for him. Sammy is an intact male so I can’t let him in the house. He and Jack will tear each other up AND Sammy will mark his territory in my house, which means then Jack will do the same! Plus, I love my furbabies and I don’t want to traumatize them or put them in close contact with anything Sammy might have. I guess I’ll have to put a shelter out there for him so he has a dry place to sleep instead of laying in the rain, although I don’t know why he doesn’t go out in the old shed! It’s got to be drier than the top of the catio!

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Image Copyright Being Aunt Debbie