Tag Archives: Floyd

Cats: Calming Collars, Anyone?

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on by

Today has truly hit post convergence, with the A-Z Blogging Challenge, the Merry Go Round Blog Tour post, and, of course, your regular Saturday Cat update (my version of #caturday), it’s a busy day of reading here at RandR.

I got a couple of fairly close shots of Mooch last week, and I have to credit Sneaky with being the bait that allowed me to get close.  See, with Sneaky between me and Mooch, I think Mooch felt comfortable with me being that close, because I was focusing on Sneaky and not him.

Sneaky and Mooch

Yesterday, I was able to get within the length of the side porch steps of him — he warned me with an emphatic meow that I wasn’t to come any closer, but he did want the bowl of Fancy Feast I had, so he stuck around.  I put it down, backed away, and he limped over to eat it.  His leg is definitely bothering him, so much on some days that he doesn’t put weight on it — it seems to be worse after not using it for a while (I can relate to that).  He’s had this injury for months, so I’m not sure what Dr. Val will be able to do for him once I am finally able to catch him, but I’m trying. (I have some Lysine treats ordered, which are supposed to help with any respiratory issues.  I’m giving him a Hip and Joint treat at well, but I don’t expect it to help a lot.)

Lady’s altercations with Rossie are averaging one or two a day, but they are shorter in duration.  There’s a chase, Rossie yells and gets under something too small for Lady, and then Lady walks away with a fuzzed tail — as if she’s the offended one.  Earlier this week, Pretty Boy Floyd attacked Rossie.  A month or so ago, Mr. L picked up a couple of pheromone calming collars.  I wasn’t sure who to try them on.  Well, after Floyd attacked Rossie, I decided to put one on him.  He also spent the night in the cage with Lady. Floyd, to my knowledge, hasn’t attacked Rossie since, and he’s been pretty mellow.  This morning, I decided to put the second collar on Lady. The Reconcile has helped her with her interaction with the other cats, but she and Rossie still have this thing.  I figured the collar would be worth a try.

Rossie is still choosing to spend most of her time under the ice cream table in the upstairs hallway.  She can see everyone coming up or down the stairs and has multiple exits.  It’s a good place for her, and I like seeing her out in the open.  It also makes it nearly impossible to catch her, and she doesn’t want to be handled or caught, so it is a mixed blessing.  Even so, I’d much rather see her out where she can observe life than see her hiding in the dark under a dresser.  She’s interacting more with the other cats.  Mr. L said he saw her and Tarzan playing the other morning.  Daphne is attentive to her.  Progress with Rossie is so slow, but we think we’re seeing some.

I ordered the Lysine treats primarily for Mooch at the recommendation of another cat-loving friend, but I can see potential benefits for Sneaky and Natasha (both seem to have some minor respiratory concerns).

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier, but I’ve started giving Lady a treat right after giving her morning medication.  She’s not fighting me as much.  I’m going to look into some pill pocket treats.  Yes, it will be easier for me, but my main concern is for the vet techs when we board them this fall.  Lady doesn’t like taking the medication from me, but she fights tooth and nail (literally) when the techs try to administer it.  If I can establish a routine that will be less stressful for everyone, that will be a good thing.

I haven’t mentioned Ruby, Ajax, or Delta yet.  They are all just fine.

Cats: Oh, No! She’s Going to Talk About Those Kittens Again!

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on by

Yes. I am. The time with the enticing kittens is drawing to a close. I made the appointment for their spaying/neutering and showing for prospective adoptions yesterday while Ajax and Natasha were were getting their annual exams.

February 20th, I’ll drop the four little kittens with all their mittens at the vet’s clinic. Dr. Val will spay/neuter at her leisure, and while they’re there, they’ll be available for adoption. They’ll stay at least a week, and we’ll re-evaluate from there.

those kittens

Here is their “Class Photo.” In a rare moment, I caught all four of them together. On the left, looking at the camera, we have Delta. Immediately to Delta’s right, with heads together, we have Ruby Mae — They are the Bengal Sisters, called such because of the bengal swirl pattern in their coats. They aren’t identical, but I have trouble telling them apart. Ruby is much smaller than Delta, and Ruby has a small white dot of rough fur on the bottom center of the back of her left ear. It looks like a dot on the photo. Delta’s eyes are set a little differently in her head than Ruby’s, but that’s not always apparent. Ruby is much more likely to be climbing on something. She’s curious and a little spunky, probably due to being what appears to be the runt of this litter.

Sprawled in a very relaxed fashion behind the Bengal Sisters, you’ll see Pretty Boy Floyd. Yes, the orange tabby with the catcher’s mitts for paws. Seriously. That big white paw underneath Delta’s rear paw is his. Delta, is a little heavier than Floyd, but you wouldn’t know it by comparing paws. Behind Floyd, in the traditional tabby colors with copper highlights, we see Rossie. Just this week Rossie has been more willing to let us stroke her, but that’s usually less than fifty percent of the time. Floyd? He’s always up for being handled. And over the last two days, he’s become very interested in what’s outside the doors of the parlor and kitchen.

In brighter news, I’ve seen both outdoor feral orange kitties this week for the first time since November. I was so worried Little Orange had come to a bad end after I’d released her after her spaying, but I saw both orange kitties together this week and realized I had probably been confusing Little Orange for Peaches sometimes. Peaches has more pronounced white on his face, but it’s not apparent when you aren’t seeing them together. Little Orange is the mama kitty for the four kittens above.

In disappointing news, I missed catching Sneaky in the trap twice this week. The first time, she walked in, ate some bait, and walked out without triggering the trap. She’s done this several times already, which is how she got her name. I attached a string to the trap, and I can trigger it from inside the house. Friday morning, Sneaky began eating her way into the trap. I triggered the trap, but she must not have been quite far enough in, because when she heard it triggering, she bolted, and the door hadn’t locked into place yet, so she escaped. I’m giving the trap a rest until Monday. Maybe I’ll be able to entice her to re-enter the trap then. We’ll see. A cat smart enough not to trigger it may be too smart to go back in once she’s already nearly gotten caught. I really want to get her spayed, so I hope I can catch her soon. Once that happens, I’ll have three outdoor feral neighborhood kitties, but we won’t be getting any more. There is a long, ranging gray tabby, whom I believe is the daddy cat for these kittens, but he seems to belong to the house kitty corner across the street from us, so I can’t mess with him. Belong as in when the kids are outside playing, he doesn’t run from them.

Cats: Pretty Boy Floyd

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on by

Pretty Boy Floyd is the latest kitty in the feral kitty saga.  I captured him the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 20th.Pretty Boy FLoyd

 

I got him transferred to a carrier the next morning, and I took him in to get examined and initial shots.  I already know he’s too young to neuter, so I’m going to keep him fostered and see if I can socialize him before he’s old enough to neuter.  His sister is on ten-day quarantine at the vet for biting a vet tech.  I’ll be able to get her on Monday morning.

Some of you may recall me lamenting losing Pretty Boy Floyd in the garage while I attempted to transfer him to the big crate.  After one night on the loose and being completely unsuccessful at finding a little kitten in a big garage, I set the trap again the next night.  Thankfully, Floyd was hungry, so hubby found him in the trap and not very happy the next morning.  Hubby transferred him to the crate.

Yesterday, Floyd was very cooperative by taking refuge in the carrier located in the crate, so I could close the door and clean the cage, scoop the litter (Floyd is a very good litter box user!), refresh water, and provide food.  He wouldn’t come out while I was there (I’ve since learned it’s about a two-week process or longer to build the trust with older feral kitties before they will eat in front of you.)  This morning, I placed the food closer to the crate, and he was hungry enough to come out and eat while I was standing around the corner and talking to him.

Tonight, we got home from being gone all day, and Floyd had pulled the carrier out from the back of the crate and had hidden himself between the carrier and the back of the crate.  No dice, Floyd.  I opened the garage door behind the crate, moved the traps I’d stored between the crate and the door to the third bay, and got down on the ground to talk to Floyd.  He seemed remarkably interested in being talked to.  About that time, hubby brought out some food for Floyd, and we tried putting some on our finger to see if he would take it.  He sniffed but didn’t seem interested.  What he was interested in was being petted.  So Floyd got him some petting and ear rubbing through the mesh of the crate.  He has one loud purr for such a little guy. I had a bear of a time getting him out in front of the crate to get him in there so I could open the door and take care of his crate and get him food, but I tried to make a game of it, and he seemed to enjoy the attention.

After all that, he started running out of the carrier after I put the food in and opened the carrier for him.  Then he remembered he wasn’t supposed to do that and got all shy on me.  But Floyd let his guard drop and showed his hand.  He’s going to be one lover of a kitty.

Here’s a brief update on the other six kitties:

– Peaches has been around and very visible — usually in the evening.

– I don’t think I’ve seen Little Orange since I released her last Saturday morning.  She seemed healthy at the time, but I’m concerned just the same.

– Sneaky has been around regularly.  She is a smart kitty.  I hope I can trap her this week and get her spayed.

– I haven’t seen the other two kittens (the tabby and the tortie) since last Sunday.  I take that back, one of the two walked in and out of the other trap on Tuesday night when I caught Pretty Boy Floyd.  She just wasn’t heavy enough to trigger the trap.  Like Sneaky, she cleaned the trap out but didn’t trigger it.  In fact, I saw both her and Floyd in the traps but hadn’t noticed hers hadn’t tripped yet, so I barged out onto the porch, and she ran (THAT’s when I noticed she hadn’t tripped the trap.  I rebaited the trap, she went in and cleaned it out again. That’s when I realized she wasn’t heavy enough to trip it.

– And, of course, the last one is at the vet’s — I’m looking forward to picking her up and bringing her home on Monday.  She’ll go in with Floyd.  In fact, I think I’ll take Floyd with me to pick her up.  That way they’ll both be in the carrier, making it easier to get them reestablished in the crate.  I’m trying to come up with a name for her.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Pretty Boy Floyd had a sister, so there goes the easy answer.  She did escape while at the vet (they had a fun time recapturing her), so I looked up female escape artists, but none of their names resonated with me.  Suggestions?Little Girl

 

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NaNo Day 21: 47,134/50,000

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on by

Still on track.  It’s been a good day, except I caught Pretty Boy Floyd, the little orange kitty who is too small to neuter, last night in a trap.  I successfully transferred him to a travel crate this morning, got him to the vet for shots, and brought him back home only to screw up and let him escape when I was transferring him to the big crate because I did something stupid.  I’ve been bummed out about it all day.  Floyd is safe — somewhere.  I’m not sure if he’s in the garage or not, but I suspect he is.  That’s not a problem — until we leave town for three weeks.  I have to get better at this feral cat process.  They aren’t like house cats which you can catch if they get away.  It takes a whole different mindset to work with them.