Cat-nabbing adventures.

[bjjones37]

One of my children recently came home from Walmart with a very small orange and white kitten. It has subsequently been dubbed Pharoah.  They just found it abandoned in a parking lot.  Common occurrence here.  It was a lost cause as far as not keeping it went, but I had already given some thought to getting a cat to help keep mice out of the yard.  So it worked out rather nicely.  Of course wifey had other ideas.  She feels that the kitten is lonely and must have a playmate.  So we organized an expedition.  Between the Zoo and the Japanese Sunken Gardens is an undeveloped plot of land with a trail and about three colonies of cats.  These are cats that have been dumped off or offspring raised feral.  So I decided to go and try to adopt one of them, if I found one I thought suitable.  So I got our pet carrier and a sheet and some milk and cat food and took off with my family down the trail.  Once the milk and food was out, the cats started coming around.  About a dozen or so altogether.  Mixture of feral kittens and friendly but nervous full grown cats. As we were watching them two women came up on the verge of being Very angry.   They saw the pet carrier and assumed the obvious - that we were abandoning a cat.  Once we explained that we were trying to adopt a cat, they completely turned around.  Unfortunately none of the cats were really suitable, but it was an interesting experience feeding them and being around semi-wild cats.  The two women were part of a volunteer organization which feeds the cat colonies. So their feelings were understandable.  The kittens were black and my neighbor is allergic to black cats so that was out.  And we an adult might drive away our current kitten.  I was tempted by one however, it was quite attractively brown and grey striped with a golden background tinge about the head and neck.  We were unsuccessful in acquiring though.

If I ever do buy a cat, it will probably be a Bengal cat.  I consider it to be the most beautiful strain of domestic cat there is.  It looks sort of like an ocelot.

@ Cymric

I have often wondered about your screen name and avatar. Do you have a Cymric cat?

[Cymric]

bjjones37 wrote:
If I ever do buy a cat, it will probably be a Bengal cat.  I consider it to be the most beautiful strain of domestic cat there is.  It looks sort of like an ocelot.

My favourite breeds are the Holy Birman, the Maine Coon, and the Somali. The Birman just looks awfully cute with those white socks on its paws; the Coon is a huge but very friendly and playful beast (my mother and my sister each own one); and I've heard great stories of the incredible intelligence of the Somali. They are reputed to be able to open doors, including the fridge.

@ Cymric
I have often wondered about your screen name and avatar. Do you have a Cymric cat?

No, I do not, although the name was taken from the breed. When I first assumed the handle many years ago I did not realize the cat is a 'stumpy'. The condition is natural, but I still consider a cat without a tail to be ... well, less than perfect. I'm sure they are just as catty as any other cat, but I wouldn't want to own one. Nevertheless, the handle stuck, and I've been using it ever since.

(Years ago I did run into a spot of trouble once when I wanted to play a MUD under the name of 'Cymric'. I was rudely informed I was not allowed to use character names from fantasy novels. Upon my surprised explaining it was simply a cat breed, I got a sneering reply that everyone had an excuse. Turns out the name occurs only a few times in an obscure series noone has ever heard of. I politely gave the admins the proverbial (yet textual) middle finger and deleted the character.)

[odin]

That's a very brave thing to do, take a semi-feral cat and trying to turn it into a nice family pet. My parents live on (in?) the countryside and over the years there have been several cats that just walked up to the house and they've become a part of the family :-).

@bj:

Is anyone sterilizing the cats in the colonies? Or are those cats just left to their devices apart from the people from the organisation you mentioned feeding them? Here when cats come into the local animal shelters it's standard procedure to sterilize them to prevent further breeding and spreading of feral cats.

Cats rule! :kitty:

[PMC]

I adore cats and they seem to like me.  Don't know what it is, but I always seem to know what's on their mind and they seem to read me.  If I'm grumpy they'll give me a wide berth or will sit somewhere where I can't fail to take notice of them and give one a fuss.  

I miss my own cat who was sadly killed in the road earlier on this year.  I felt like I'd lost a best friend when I heard the news.  

I won't be getting any more cats in the near future as g/f is allergic.  She's actually said "It's a cat or me"...

[Vincent]

PMC wrote:
I won't be getting any more cats in the near future as g/f is allergic.  She's actually said "It's a cat or me"...

If I said that to Siouxsie, I'd be homeless and the cat would have my room all to itself :-P

And she's got a slight allergy to cats, but that's never stopped here speaking to/looking after/owning them.  Well, the cat owns us really ;-)

[bjjones37]

odin wrote:
That's a very brave thing to do, take a semi-feral cat and trying to turn it into a nice family pet. My parents live on (in?) the countryside and over the years there have been several cats that just walked up to the house and they've become a part of the family :-).

@bj:

Is anyone sterilizing the cats in the colonies? Or are those cats just left to their devices apart from the people from the organisation you mentioned feeding them? Here when cats come into the local animal shelters it's standard procedure to sterilize them to prevent further breeding and spreading of feral cats.

Cats rule! :kitty:

The cats were abandoned so I imagine most of them were probably not fixed.  They do not recieve any care other than what those volunteers provide. One of them did provide boxes stuffed with hay for them to nest in when it was cold.  That same volunteer adopted EIGHTEEN of the cats herself! I like cats, but not THAT much. :-D

[PMC]

Vincent wrote:
 Well, the cat owns us really ;-)

And that is the secret to understanding a cat.  I didn't chose Leonard from the cat rescue place, he liked the look of me.

If they don't like you, they move on and find another home.  

[Speelgoedmannetje]

odin wrote:
That's a very brave thing to do, take a semi-feral cat and trying to turn it into a nice family pet. My parents live on (in?) the countryside and over the years there have been several cats that just walked up to the house and they've become a part of the family :-).

Ot, but if I may ask, wich village? :-)

[adz]

odin wrote:

Cats rule! :kitty:

I too adore cats, I used to have both of mine in my avatar if anybody remembers, so i would like to second that...

Cats rule! :kitty:

adz wrote:

odin wrote:

Cats rule! :kitty:

I too adore cats, I used to have both of mine in my avatar if anybody remembers, so i would like to second that...

Cats rule! :kitty:

I love pussies too! ;-)

[adz]

mdma wrote:

I love pussies too! ;-)

You dirty little so and so ;-)

[PMC]

Cymric wrote:

My favourite breeds are the Holy Birman, the Maine Coon, and the Somali. The Birman just looks awfully cute with those white socks on its paws; the Coon is a huge but very friendly and playful beast (my mother and my sister each own one); and I've heard great stories of the incredible intelligence of the Somali. They are reputed to be able to open doors, including the fridge.

I'd love a Maine Coon, so named because local legend speaks of feral cats mating with raccoons to produce a very unique cat.  They're supposed to be very large, friendly and love playing in water.  I got this scraggy black moggy from a rescue home once.  She quickly got her paws under the table and started to grow...  And grow...  And grow some more.  Before I knew it, she was huge.  She was also extremely tame and I wondered if she had any Maine Coon in her.

As for intelligence, my cat Leonard used to confuse me by opening doors around the house.  He'd be shut in the kitchen at night, but in the morning I'd awake to find him on my bed or sometimes in my bed.

I used to let him out the kitchen window, and one day caught him pawing the latch that held the window shut!  

[KennyR]

Cats like to live alone and have the run of their territory - that's what kind of animals they are. Another cat doesn't keep a cat company, it often stresses it out. Eventually you may even find that one wanders away and finds some other owner. Territorial predators are like that. You wouldn't be doing it any favours getting it a friend - it just doesn't need or want one.

[odin]

@speel:
The wonderful completely-utterly-positively boring and nothing-to-be-done-there town of Veendam.

@pmc:
Maine Coons are yet even bigger when compared to Norwegian forestcats innit? (My parents have one, though she's sort of a mini-version).

[PMC]

@KennyR

Absolutely right.  Cats are generally solitary creatures, but they seek companionship in people for more reasons than just because we give food and shelter.  

You can keep two cats together, but they don't generally socialise together unless they have to.  Even then there's a strict hierarchy.

@Odin

I've heard of Norwegien Forest Cats but don't know much about them, tell me more?