Celebrating more birthdays!

Happy 5th birthday to Erin's Smokey and our Little Bit!  Wow, can't believe these two girls are that old already.  Smokey acts older than she is, but Little Bit acts like a kitten still.  Little Bit is zooming up and down the hallway, almost running over Dare on her way around the house!  Smokey sometimes snuggles with the other cats, and sometimes plays, but most of the time she acts like a grumpy old lady, proving that you can never tell personalities only by heredity.

Remembering their sister, Baby Chiba, who went to the Bridge as a kitten.  These girls had a tough first year, being neglected by their original family.  Smokey was abandoned along with her cousin-cat Starla, whom we adopted.  Little Bit got pregnant when she had just turned 1, and had four little boy-kits.  We fostered them all and found homes for three of them.  One ended up dying of genetic complications.

Even though we love these girls, please remember it's important to spay and neuter your pets!  It's also important to spay and neuter feral cats.  Little Bit's dad was a pet cat, Smokey's dad was probably a feral, and their mom was feral-born.

From left to right on the porch:  Starla, Little Bit, Smokey.  From left to right in the back:  Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, Boo-Boo Kitty.

Smokey as a kitten

Little Bit as a kitten

Baby Chiba and Starla as kittens

Photo Friday: Sunshine

Outdoor Fluffy Buddy enjoying some winter sunshine last year at our old house.

He's a feral (wild) cat, doesn't tolerate humans,

but would come and eat at the bowl we put on our back porch.

Photo Friday

Goodbye & Hello

Trailer Kitties write:

Our trailer's gone! The people in the green house left, took all their stuff, and took the trailer! There's just a bare patch of brown grass where it was. We can still go into the basement to hide and be dry, but it's not as convenient as the trailer was.

The lady and the man said they'd miss us all, but they were moving to a bigger house in a different place. We'll really miss them, and our daily two bowls of food.

Love, forever,

Grey Kitty, Tux, Dot, Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, the siamese from the next street over, Spongebob (neighbor's pet cat/welcoming committee), and all the rest.

Shadow writes:

The people in the green house haven't been around in a while. They don't come home anymore. Spongebob's dad, George, said they left a note with him that they really wanted to have me come live with them, but they would have to trap me to do that. They asked him to help them trap me. He hasn't called them back about it.

The lady who types my diary for me is the lady from the green house. I'll let her tell what's going to happen next.

Karen here:
We're going to let Shadow stay with Sponge & George, because she's happy there and she and Sponge are best buds. George will feed her and take care of her the best he can, and hopefully she'll learn to trust him more. Scott's going to go over and talk with him one of these next weeks and explain what techniques we were using to get her to trust us more, and so hopefully those will work for him as well.

It breaks my heart to give her up, just as it breaks my heart to give up the rest of the Trailer Kitties, but it's best for them to stay where they are. We'll never forget you!!!

Love,

Mommy/the lady who lived in the green house.

Spooky writes:

I'm at my new forever home! No, I didn't go somewhere else. I got to stay right here with my foster family, who are now my REAL family! Mommy and Daddy had a serious talk tonight, and they told me that my new last name is the same as theirs now. Yay!

Happy snuggles,

Spooky T.

Happy National Feral Cat Day!!! :)

This last year has been a year of drastic changes in our feral colony: some bad, mostly good. Shadow (pictured above) has been coming to our back porch bowl for a few years now, and is now letting me (Karen) pet her most times! She also enthusiastically headbutts Tabby (who follows me out of the house to go say hi).

Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, pictured here in late January, hasn't been seen since March or April. He may still be around, just have found other hunting grounds for the moment.


Tux hadn't been seen for over a year, but now makes regular appearances again! We're so glad he's doing well.

Little Bit and Starla are now both inside cats, and Little Bit's kittens all have wonderful homes. Starla is getting socialized more and more every day, and now comes out on her own most days to sit with my husband and snuggle when he gets home from work.

The little shelter we built on the porch hasn't been used, because all the ferals now prefer the basement/laundry room. We're glad they feel comfortable inside there.

Marble came and visited us for a few months, but hasn't been seen since we brought Little Bit inside. We do have a new grey kitty who comes around, who is comfortable with humans but hasn't let us pet him yet.

Happy National Feral Cat Day to one and all!

Photo Friday: In Shadow

Our feral Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, foster kitten Cloud's dad, in February.
When I was uploading these pictures, Cloud was up on the desk.
He batted at the picture, which he's never done before!

Photo Friday

PhotoHunt: Advertisement

Mommy has a Zazzle and a CafePress store with products from her photographs. So, here are a few favorites from the Zazzle store, featuring us kitties!

"Feed a Feral, Save a Life" feral kitten button by TraceElements
Browse more Baby Buttons

Cat "Love Bug" Valentine's Day car... - Customized by TraceElements
card online at www.Zazzle.com

"What will I be?" feral kitten button by TraceElements
More Smokey Buttons

Feral Cat in Sunlight mug by TraceElements
Browse other Outdoor fluffy buddy Mugs

PhotoHunt

Feral Friday by the Trailer Kitties

Food bowl rollcall:

Little Bit, Tom Kitty, Orange kitty from down the street, Marble, little grey kitten, Orange-head Kitty, Shadow, Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, black tom cat with the red collar who looks like Carbon, Precious.

Despite the downpours, it's been a good week. Yesterday was very nice, in the 60's, and today will be in the 70's!

Happy May Day! Have you presented your people with a flower today?

Feral Friday by the Trailer Kitties

Food bowl rollcall:

Tom, Orange-head Kitty, Shadow, Spongebob, Little Bit, Boo-Boo Kitty, Outdoor Fluffy Buddy.

It's raining today, so the people can see our pawprints on the porch. We've had a few really warm days for the season (up to 78 F). Not quite sunning weather, but almost. Pretty soon, we'll be laying out on the porch and in the grass, getting some rays.

Feral Friday by the Trailer Kitties

Food bowl rollcall:

Little Bit, Boo-Boo Kitty, Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, Shadow, Spongebob, Orange-head Kitty, Tom Kitty, baby possum, raccoon.

Our big surprise this week was the return of baby possum. You can read our post from Tuesday about that. The lady also observed Tom Kitty licking Orange-head Kitty's ear while OHK was screaming about it (both unfixed males)!

The lady sold 20 pins this week: 10 of Baby Chiba and 10 of Shadow.

"Feed a Feral, Save a Life" feral kitten button by TraceElements
Create custom buttons At www.Zazzle.com
See more Styles Subjects Buttons

Trap-Neuter-Return button by TraceElements
Create affordable button on Zazzle.com
See other Styles Subjects Buttons

Feral Friday by the Trailer Kitties

Food Bowl Rollcall:

Little Bit, Boo-Boo Kitty, Shadow, Spongebob, new white kitten, Orange-head Kitty, Black Tom Kitty, Outdoor Fluffy Buddy

On Monday, Outdoor Fluffy Buddy hissed at the lady when she put food out, but didn't run this time. We see Starla inside, watching us through the window. She looks like she's glad she's not out here with the boys after her anymore. Outdoor Fluffy Buddy got braver as the week went on, and let the lady within a few steps of him.

Little Bit is still in heat, unfortunately. There is nothing the people in the green house can do about it, because she belongs to the neighbors two doors down. One night, the man in that neighbor's house (who previously "owned" both Smokey and Starla) was fighting with the others and repeatedly dented a car with a pipe. Now the lady in the green house is scared to talk with him or his wife anymore. So unless they move and leave the cats, there's nothing that can be done about Little Bit or Boo-Boo Kitty except to love them, pet them, and let them come inside the green house when they want to. At least that much can be done, and they're obviously happy kitties.

Feral Friday by the Trailer Kitties

Food Bowl Rollcall:

Shadow, SpongeBob, Outdoor Fluffy Buddy (hiding under the trailer and hissing at the man when he came out to see if he was ok), Little Bit, Boo-Boo Kitty, Orange-head kitty, black big-head tom kitty, orange kitty from down the street.

Little Bit's been in heat. No sign of Precious, so we don't know for sure if she's pregnant. Outdoor Fluffy Buddy won't let us come close or see if he's eating, probably because of being traumatized by the indoor cat fight the other week. Orange-head kitty and the black tom kitty let the lady pet them and orange-head kitty let her pick him up to move him to a spot where he could eat in peace. (They were fighting over Little Bit, but declared a truce for eating, with a bit of growling and human intervention.)

The lady in the green house wishes that she could do t-n-r on everyone, but they all belong to other people except for Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, who is feral and they were trying to get him trapped before all the excitement inside.

Feral Friday by the Trailer Kitties

Food bowl rollcall:

Shadow, Starla (now inside only), Little Bit, Orange-head kitty, Big-head black tom kitty, Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, Boo-Boo Kitty, Precious (grey & brown calico from across the street who may have been abandoned), the raccoon, black tom cat who's Carbon's look-alike, SpongeBob.

Shadow's back! She's very hungry, so she may have been hiding from the construction guys. Raccoon came three consecutive days. Precious, who we hadn't seen in a few weeks, came back, and she may be pregnant.

To the green house lady

Outdoor Fluffy Buddy says:

I'm sorry, green house lady. I didn't mean to hiss and swat at you when you came out to feed us yesterday. I wanted to sniff your hand instead, but you reminded me of the little cat that attacked me inside. So I swatted your hand and scratched you instead. You didn't hurt me, so I know you were sorry I was attacked.

When you came out today, I let you come close. You put out your hand, and I walked by it without touching, letting you know that I was doing better and not scared anymore. I didn't hiss, didn't scratch, didn't run. I know you would never hurt me and didn't mean to scare me by having the inside cat attack. I know it was not your fault.

I trust you again. I will eat out of the food bowl and sleep under the trailer. I will watch and wait, and eventually I may try to come in again. If that little cat behaves herself.

Purrsonality Change?

Ok, kitties of the blogosphere, we need your opinions on this. Please. Our former alpha cat, Lydia, died last October, and since then Rori took over as alpha cat. No problems there; she's an awesome alpha cat and looks out for everyone, taking care of everyone and making sure they're ok.

Now, tonight we had the second rolling cat fight with a "visitor". Outdoor Fluffy Buddy came in, thinking maybe Starla was inside. Once he realized she wasn't in, he was fine exploring the food bowl and exchanging sniffs with Tabby and Smokey. I didn't shut the door because I didn't want him to feel trapped. He's one of the ferals, and this is his first time in a house since he was a kitten (when he was abused or abandoned).

He decided to walk into the living room from the kitchen, and Rori followed him. He went into the hallway, and looked like he was going to check out the litterbox (headed into the bathroom, where we keep it). That's when Rori attacked. Hissing, screaming, rolling cat fight. Fluffy Buddy escaped out the door, and then it was Rori, Tabby, and Carbon rolling around fighting. Rori and Tabby almost made it out the door, but I closed it just in time!

Ever since Rori's spay mid-January, she's been growling at outside sounds, and even sometimes at my husband. It's like her personality was swapped with another kitty's! And, yes, we're sure it's really her.

Any suggestions? Any ideas why this is happening or what we can do about it?
Thanks in advance!

Feral Friday by the Trailer Kitties

Food bowl rollcall:

Little Bit, Orange-head kitty, Orange kitty from down the street, Black tom kitty, Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, Boo-Boo, Starla, SpongeBob.

No sign of Shadow this week. Everyone else has come, though. No raccoon either.

The big adventure this week was Little Bit's entrapment in the "shop" next door. You can read about that in the post she wrote after she was freed.

Also, Starla's in heat and Fluffy Buddy's "interested". Starla gets spayed on March 4th, so we're hoping it won't be a spay-abort (the lady in the green house would rather it not be, because she believes in not killing kitten fetuses). If there are signs by then that Starla's pregnant, we won't do the spay until after she's delivered. If there are no signs she's pregnant, we'll go through with the spay.

News from the Food Bowl

Feral Friday food bowl rollcall at the green house:

Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, Big-headed black tom kitty, orange-headed kitty, Boo-Boo, Little Bit, the raccoon, Starla, SpongeBob, Shadow, and the orange cat from down the street. Everyone came this week again, even the raccoon.

No females are in heat anymore, so the yowling has gone away for the moment. Starla and Smokey will be spayed on March 4th, and we have a vet for the big-headed black tom kitty to be neutered as well (but not a date set yet). All their "fixes" will be done through the Tom & Mom Special. Many, many thanks to organizations like these who provide low-cost spaying and neutering!

Name poems

Skylar

Suave
Kinda crazy
Yowler
Loving
Adult
Retiring

Tabby

Trippy
Adult
Belly
Beautiful
Young

Rori

Rowdy
Outdoor-born
Ready for anything
Intelligent

Carbon

Caring
Able-bodied
Raring to go
Brilliant
Onyx
Nervous

Smokey

Sweet
Maniac
Ornery
Kitten
Easy to love
Yours to adopt

Starla

Shy
Terrified at loud sounds
Articulate
Racing around the yard
Loving
Adoptable

Fluffy Buddy

Funny
Living outside
Under the trailer
Feral
Friend
Youthful

Bashful
Unsure of humans
Dashing
Daddy
Yeowling

Shadow

Sweet
Human-wary
Audible
Daily visitor
Outside
Watcher

SpongeBob

Silly
People-friendly
Outdoor/indoor
Neighbor
Gregarious
Eating
Buddy
Orator
Bully

Boo-Boo

Beautiful
Outdoor/indoor
Obvious

Birthed three kittens
Our neighbor
Often around

Little Bit

Leader
Intelligent
Tiny
Troublemaker
Lives at our neighbor's
Eats constantly

Brat
Indifferent to the other cats
Tabby

Feral Friday by the Trailer Kitties

Food bowl rollcall for this week: Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, Starla, Shadow, white kitty with orange spots, orange kitty from down the street, Little Bit, SpongeBob, the black big-headed kitty, Carbon's lookalike kitty with the red collar.

It snowed on Tuesday, but melted by the afternoon.

Fluffy Buddy sniffed outstretched hands from both the humans this week, at different times. The lady thought she'd try touching him, and got hissed at. Fluffy Buddy ran to the safety of the shelf on the porch and turned his back on her. He came right back to eat from the bowl, though.

Smokey is outside at the moment. She escaped out the door when the man went to do laundry, and is playing a game with the people. She says hi, then runs off to play with her cousin Starla. When she wants in again, she'll let the people know by jumping at the door. She's going to be in trouble, though! We heard them talking about a bath for her once she gets back inside!

Updated: 1:03 am
Our raccoon friend is back! We just looked out the door and there he was! He's a nice raccoon, though. He doesn't pick fights, and he eats out of the bowl and takes his turn with the kitties.

Updated: 1:55 am
Smokey's back inside now. She went running up to the man when he went to check on the laundry, so she got scooped up and put back in the house. The lady washed her paws, and she screamed about it, but is very happy to be inside again.

Welcome to our new blog!

Welcome to the new blog home of the PDX pride! We are Rori, Carbon, Skylar, and Tabby. We live in Portland, OR, USA, in the green house. We also have a foster kitten friend named Smokey who lives inside, and feral friends who live outside. Our outside friends, the Trailer Kitties, currently are Outdoor Fluffy Buddy (feral), Shadow (feral), SpongeBob (neighbor cat from across the street), Starla (tame cat being fostered outside/Smokey's cousin), Little Bit (neighbor kitten/Smokey's littermate), Boo-Boo Kitty (neighbor cat/Smokey & Little Bit's mom/Starla's aunt), and the black big-head kitty (stray cat). Sometimes there are other trailer kitties, but those are the regulars who come and eat out of the porch food bowl.