Upheavals

Man, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I posted an entry. Hellzapoppin' out at the colony. Big John and the Black are getting so tame they're walking up to people. and that won't do at all. By great good fortune I found a nice barn for them, so today was Moving Day. At least I didn't have to trap them again; Big John walked right into a carrier, and the Black fell for another trick; I put the carrier behind him, then tickled him on the chest (which he doesn't care for) so he backed away from my hand and into the carrier! No muss, no fuss. Well, some fuss; they weren't happy once the car started and began to move, but who could blame them? Look what happened last time they went on a car ride! Nevertheless, they're now comfortably ensconced in acclimatization cages at the new place, and their appetites are unimpaired, so all's well for now.

Phantom's a mystery

I'm seeing the Phantom (slightly) more often now that he knows where the regular food supply is (he shows up at the main dish but hangs back in the warehouse with Billie Jean). But I think I'm losing my mind; sometimes I peek under the barricade and I swear he's already eartipped! But then I see him another time and he's not. Well, looking under the door puts me at a weird angle, and looking from outdoor light into a dark interior; who knows? All I can say for sure is that I haven't TNR'd any cat of that color at this colony; he's virtually the same color as Yellow Fellow and probably related, but I'm sure I'm not confusing the two; YF is slightly yellower and he hangs out at the remote dish nowadays. We shall see...
Meanwhile, the Black's foot seems to be getting better; he's definitely touching it down when he walks and he still lets me handle it a bit. Claws are still intact and workable, but the puffiness misaligns the toes just a bit, so he looks like a cheaply made stuffed toy. It's not hot or damaged, just tender, so maybe he can get past this without a vet visit.

Dancing in the dark

Got a surprise today! As I've mentioned, it's dark when I go out to feed the kids. Today I was at the remote dish, pouring out kibble, and reached over to pet Yellow Fellow, who's the only touchable at that dish. I was still pouring, so I only absently noticed that his coat felt a little harsher than normal. Put the bag down and got out my pocket flash, and lo-and-behold, YF had stepped aside and I was petting FLAME! I couldn't believe it; she's normally one of the skitteriest of the lot. Either she's figured out I'm not a threat, or she was just too hungry to care, because she didn't even bother to shrug me off, let alone run. I treasured the moment but won't be doing it again; it's unethical to teach touchability to colony members; they need to "stay wild" for their own safety. But this is an added incentive to change the feeding time; I apparently need to better see what I'm doing, and as winter comes on I want to feed them closer to night time when they'll really need the calories. Won't be easy; cats hate change, especially regarding mealtimes, but they'll make it. I'm forever sweeping up leftover lunch tidbits that some of the employees leave for them; it's nice that they think of the cats but sometimes the food is less than appropriate; mac-n-cheese, potato chips, etc. No doubt the cats eat whatever of it they fancy, but I feel it necessary to dispose of leftovers lest they attract ants or otherwise create a nuisance and blow our cover. I've started keeping a small broom-and-dustpan set in the car; when I find food lying about I make sure everyone's finished with it and pick it up for disposal later. Usually I throw it into the woods not far from my house; I know some critters will make use of it.
Meanwhile, I'm troubled about the Black; he's holding that hind foot up lately and it's pretty puffy. He did let me touch it briefly after he'd eaten; I eased each claw out with a fingernail, so there's no apparent damage to the claws or sheaths. Still no visible trauma to the pads or the fur; I'm still leaning toward an insect sting of some sort. I must face the possibility that I'll have to trap him again and whipsaw the vet into seeing him. In the meantime, I'm somewhat interested in seeing how this impediment affects the sociodynamics of the colony; the Black is the (virtually) undisputed Head Cat in the normal course of events, but naturally he won't be swaggering around picking fights with that bad foot. I'll be interested to see if his position in the hierarchy changes, before it heals or I have to pull him for treatment.

Dramatis Purrsonae: The Phantom

No picture yet; there's a reason I call her the Phantom. She rarely appears, and only fleetingly then. But I can say she looks very much like Yellow Fellow and is probably related to him (truthfully, I don't know if she's a girl or a boy). She's fooled me a couple of times; I would see what I thought was YF peeking out from under the car but acting so shy and spooky I wondered what was the matter with "him". One of the few advantages to having two feeding stations is that now I have seen there are indeed two of the buff-colored cats, not one, and Yellow isn't losing his marbles or going schizo. Nevertheless, time to dust off a trap and grab her so we can keep the colony at zero population growth. I don't know where she came from, but I surmise there's another few cats living in the area behind this place, and they come and go through the fence.
Meanwhile, the Black is favoring a hind foot. He let me touch it briefly last Sunday; there was blood on one toe but no visible trauma and he was just stepping off of it a bit. Now he's carrying it, and it's puffed up pretty good. He still lets me handle it a bit if I wait till he's eaten some; I eased each claw out with a fingernail and they're all working, bones are intact and I see no wounds on the pads. First hypothesis is a puncture between the pads where it isn't visible, or possibly an insect bite/sting, though I don't know of one that could draw blood. The paw is not noticeably warm, nor are his ears, so if it got infected, he's fought it off.

Dramatis Purrsonae: Tarmac

This little girl toddled up to the food dishes Sunday and I couldn't believe my eyes! Lovely little black coat with reddish undercoat, and not as wary as she should have been. I couldn't touch her but when I slipped my net under the barricade and tilted it up over her, she didn't react (too busy eating) so I got it over her and eased her back out from under. She was NOT happy, but didn't put up much of a fight. So there I was with a bagful of kitten and no carrier in the car (took it out last week while shoveling out the back... again), but luckily there was a milk crate I'd found roadside and a relatively heavy basket of laundry, so I popped her into the box, bag and all, parked the basket on top, and rolled for home as fast as I could without tipping the whole thing over. Parked her in a cage with wet food, which she gulped down in great quantities, and got a better look at her. About 8 or 9 weeks, I guess; judging from her color I'll bet she was the Black's last hurrah before I got him. Started phoning around for help and Adopt-A-Cat stepped up again, bless 'em; they have a build-a-litter of several unrelated babies who are being looked after by a mom cat who's feral but is a great mother. We put this little girl with the brood; Momcat sniffed her over, shrugged and started grooming her too! A volunteer who works at Hobby suggested the name Tarmac (for her color) and we got her on the spay roster in a few more weeks when she's got some weight on her. I was kind of worried; she had something of a belly on her and I realized that I had probably fed her too much for a first meal, but she digested it with no problems and is now munching her way determinedly through a bag of Royal Canin Baby-Cat kibble. The litter she was put with was mostly tame kittens, and I hear she's beginning to follow their lead and decide to be adoptable!

clinic day

What a marvelous day at the clinic Sunday! 130 cats fixed, no losses, and six kittens pulled for foster and adoption! Truly epic numbers! and an epic work day; long and hot, but all worth it! The only less than sunny note was that one feral girl gave birth in a trap; I was helping unload and saw one kitty kind of headbumping toward me against the side of the trap. I said, "oh, are you a little friendly guy then?" and pulled the cover back a bit, but that revealed a tiny little face with buttoned-down ears and squinched-up eyes. At first I was nonplussed; why did they bring a nursing mother to the spay clinic? Then it hit me, "Aw, $&%^; y'all got some newborns here!"
Apparently she had 'em on the hour-long drive to the clinic that morning. Although she seems young, she's still being a good mom and taking care of them (thank goodness!!); some youngsters get too scared to do anything for new babies. So she was set aside in a cool dark corner and will come back in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, back at the colony, there's a minor mystery I'll have to wait for the weekend to clear up. This time of year, it's dark by the time I get out there to feed 'em; there are area lights but they're on poles two stories off the ground so they're more show than go. Anyway, I was scritching the Black on his head and felt something crusty, but it was too dark to examine it. He didn't pull away, so at least whatever it is doesn't hurt. I'll have to wait till the weekend to learn more, when I can come during daylight hours.

Thing 1 & Thing 2 update

Good news! Thing 1 and Thing 2 are taming down nicely and are available for adoption from Adopt-A-Cat (www.adoptacattexas.org ) I got to visit them at the adoption center today. Thing 1 is not as ribby as she looks; that's just her stripes and the angle of the shot. They've both got good weight and live in a comfortable foster home.I'm happier about Thing 2; she's calm enough to face me even though I'm "staring" at her with the camera. That's a big improvement.

The rest of the colony is doing all right; today was kind of a "whew" day because yesterday I put some Revolution on the Black for his ear problems and maybe-mange, and it's always a tense time using it for the first time on a feral because you never know if they're one of the vanishingly rare ones who react badly to it. But he was headbumping and demanding food as usual, so all's well with that. He has an amazingly squeaky voice for such a large tom, and boy does he use it; it's nonstop squeak, squeak, squeak till the food is dispensed. He still tries to chase the others off; I guess I need to find him a barn to himself. We'll see.