Sherbet writes:
Happy National Feral Cat Day! I'm proud to say that I'm an inside feral. Last year around this time, Mommy and Daddy trapped me and got me fixed. They were going to let me outside again, the "R" part of T-N-R (trap-neuter-return), but I had other ideas, MOL! I didn't want to go back outside! I bit Mommy's finger when she opened the trap, dashed out, and hopped onto the desk in the dining room! Here is a picture of me in the trap and then one of me on the desk:
I watched everyone for about two hours, then climbed down and ran into another room. I found a nice cave, which now I know was a bed, to hide under/in. I spent a few months under there, and every so often one of the other cats would come say hi to me (usually Dare, Rori, or Tabby).
After Daddy took the bed out, cleaned the room, and gave me a nice box and open carrier to call my own, I became a much happier cat! I learned where the other rooms were in the house, learned to tolerate the humans coming into my room (although I still hid in my new carrier/house), and even touched Mommy's fingers one day!
The next breakthrough came when Mommy was away, but Daddy told her about it and she saw where I was when she came back. I found a shelf in Mommy's office room and that became my new home! Rori is hanging out with me in the picture. There's another shelf, too, and I'm currently hanging out in it! The only really scary thing in here is the door to the room, because it swings when Mommy puts her backpack on the knob or takes the backpack off. I'm always worried that the door's going to come get me, but it hasn't yet!
I love being able to walk out into the hallway, and even to the dining room to eat with the others if I want to! I'm not afraid of the others or worried that the humans will chase or grab at me. If the humans get too close, I still move to safety, but I have multiple safe spots and I walk to get there instead of scoot or run! I'm very proud of myself for the accomplishments in the last year!
Now, I'll turn the stage over to our current outside feral boy.
Niss writes:
Um, hi? Have any of you seen Auntie Tigress in the last few weeks? She went away and I don't know where she went. I still smell her around occasionally, but I haven't seen her for a while, and it bothers me. I'm hanging out closer to the food because I don't want to lose my way or miss her when she comes back.
The humans still haven't put me in a box and taken me to have a surgery done, whatever those things are. I hear them talking about it, but they say that I'm too skittish yet and the want me to know it's safe when I come back here from the surgery. They say that after I get the surgery done, I will calm down a bit more and not be so worried about where girlcats are. That would be just fine with me! I'm now just over two years old. Last year at this time, I didn't even know where this nice place was, and now it's my home! I also didn't have a name last year, and now I do, and a great one at that, after a fellow blogging cat. Everyone says I look like he did, and he was a feral boy, too. Does that mean that he celebrated National Feral Cat Day every year, too?
We all hope you have good noms today, a safe place to hang out and nap, and humans who care for you! If you know of anyone who could use some tips on feral (unsocialized) cats,
Alley Cat Allies has some awesome resources! If you see an eartipped cat, say hi to your neighborhood feral!
Looking for a way to introduce the idea of T-N-R to children? Check out Mommy's book,
Three Feral Kittens, on
Amazon!
