Showing posts with label FREE cat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FREE cat. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

O dear

Do you remember the FREE cat?
Well, she has been happily sitting on our covered porch all winter – basically waiting for me to feed her – which I did… A LOT – this of course completely negated the entire reason for getting her in the first place.

Remember, we were seeking help controlling rodents. The theory was that feral cats eat rodents… because they are hungry.
Clearly our feral cat was NEVER hungry. O well.
See this is what happens when a feral cat lives with two Italian lesbian moms. They get fat and lazy…and the rodents play.
(tho my observant wife will tell you that she has actually seen a dramatic reduction in the out-of-control chipmunk population so far this spring).

Just over a week ago – we noticed two things. FREE cat was missing, and there were signs in the gardens surrounding the porch that something was digging to try and get underneath. This concerned us – because we knew FREE cat went under there for naps and/or hiding.

All last week...every morning and every evening I looked for her on the porch. I’d flip on the light and check for her just before bed. Every time I pulled into the driveway I expected to see her sitting there…waiting for food, waiting to hiss at me as I put down her bowl.
She never appeared.
I wondered… of course I worried a little. But she was feral. I had to trust that she could manage.

This morning on my way to work … on a very busy street not too far from home… I came upon a cat that had been hit – seemingly recently. I turned around and came back to look. I called home – to tell my supportive wife that I found our cat.
She suggested I call the animal control folks to come get her. She cautioned me not take care of her myself … after all… she was a wild animal, and we couldn’t know what sort of animals she may have encountered over this last week. That wife of mine…she is wise.

Tho … if the town staff fails us today… and I find our little Sorsha still lying on the side of the road on my way home from work, we’ll find a way to give her a proper burial.

peace Sorsha

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Our clever kitty

Welp, it took all of 3 days.
Sorsha (aka the FREE cat) is now coming when she is called and eating her dinner right on our covered porch.
She eats very fast and is certainly a little nervous. But I feel better about this than leaving food in the back of the garage - where who knows who is eating it.

Last night, glowing in our success - I suggested to my cautious wife that perhaps we could train her to come into the basement on cold nights, and did she think that the basement window in the far corner might be an ideal spot for a cat door.

My wise wife agreed that it might be possible and encouraged me to think more on the matter.

Of course, I came to the conclusion later that evening that perhaps it was not such a good idea after all.

My gentle wife simply nodded.
She is so good at this.
She is so good at me.

Let's see how I fare as the temperatures drop below freezing this week.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Herding cats

You may remember, earlier this year - we had rats.

So we got a cat.
A FREE cat of course.

And --other than the fact the our FREE cat likes to spend her days elsewhere and show up only for meals - really, it's been going swimmingly.

Well until of course the mice decided that coming into the house might be a toasty and safe and fun place to spend the winter season.

Add to that - I have been leaving food out in garage for the FREE cat -but lately I suspect that I may be feeding more than our cat.

Now it's not that I mind feeding ALL the wildlife in the neighborhood - but I really, really want one or more of the eaters to be cats. Ideally - cats who might spend a little time hunting around the yard and house. Also - we made a commitment to feed this FREE cat and we want to be sure she is at least one of the diners.

So I decided I need to train the FREE cat to come and eat when I call her.

Ha.
Leave it to weese to try and train wild animals.

My sapient wife gives a simple nod and an offhanded smile as I told her my plan.

So last night there I am out in the yard with a food dish calling for my FREE feral cat.
I didn't expect her to come skampering across the yard. But I had hoped she at least heard me.
She didn't show. Tho I kept checking and calling.

She didn't eat last night.

Tonight was the same drill. Calling and calling with a food dish in my hand.
No cat.

Well... not right away.

She did actually show up, and through some coaxing and calling and using a couple of food dishes - I was able to get her to come up to the walkway to eat!
Yay!

My next step is to get her to come up and eat on the porch shortly after I call her to dinner.
I feel this is the best winter solution for everyone involved. Even though there may be some hungry rats, chipmunks, raccoons and possibly even other cats out there.
(of course... if they come to the porch when I call, rest assured I will feed them too)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Of mice and women

Friday evening, after working out in the yard and doing some house cleaning, I sat comfortably in an arm chair we have in the corner of the dining room.
We were expecting company later that night, so I sat chatting with my busy wife who was in the kitchen preparing various food items.

Suddenly, around the kitchen corner and into the dining room --- comes a very small mouse.

Yes. A mouse.

I did what any red blooded American woman should do upon sighting a mouse, I picked up my feet.
Then calmly explained the situation to my curious wife. And when I say ‘calmly’ I mean that I shrieked “A mouse!” shaking my finger wildly in its general direction.

The mouse rounded the corner and scampered under a chair in the living room.
Hmm.
Now what.

We both stood there staring at the chair.
What to do, what to do…

As humans I figured we had very little chance of actually catching the mouse ourselves. So we called the FREE dog into the room.
Our attempts to get her to look around for rodents were futile. She simply ran around excitedly thinking we were going to give her a biscuit or let her out or throw a ball.
Useless.
Clearly we needed an animal with a brain.
We needed a cat.

Technically, we have a cat. But it would be easier for me to catch a greased mouse with my bare hands than to get our feral cat into our living room

We briefly considered borrowing a cat... The Daughter The Therapist has two - certainly she could lend one… but it would take time for the cat to acclimate, and get comfortable in the house before even beginning to hunt. And we didn’t have a lot of time.

Ok. useless FREE dog, AWOL FREE cat – clearly we would need a trap.

I had recently tossed out our last ‘humane’ mouse trap.
Figures.
So I went out in search of one.
I was on my third store, – with no hope of getting a humane trap anywhere local… dismayed I purchased a standard ‘quick-kill’ trap.

At the checkout my cell phone buzzed.
Maw: “You can come home now”
Weese: “I can? What happened?”
Maw: “I let him out.”
Weese: “out?"
Maw: "Yes, out the door."
Weese: "How did you get him to go out the door?"
Maw: “I told him to.”

Hmm.

So I went home.
My gentle wife explained that the mouse circled the whole first floor and wound up near the kitchen door. So she simply opened the door for him and gave him a little nudge and out he went. She said he was clearly just a baby mouse and rather cute and confused.

Hmm.
Don’t mice have lots of babies?

Against my beliefs I thought it best to set the ‘quick-kill’ trap in the basement, just in case there were more babies. With no cat, a useless dog and company on the way... I felt it was best.

My curious wife questioned why I would put the trap in the basement. This mouse was clearly a baby…and much too small to climb stairs.

Hmm. Really…

Just the thought of the little guy… trying to make his little way up the steep basement stairs… I realized there was no way I could actually set out a ‘quick-kill’ trap. I sheepishly put it back in the box.

I decided to finish up my tidying so I started up the stairs to get the vacuum – and stopped dead in my tracks.

“Umm-- love, it seems baby mice can climb stairs.”

There on the top step was …yes… another tiny mouse.

Hmm.

He was obviously scared, and simply froze, never trying to escape. We easily popped a little cup over him and escorted him waaaayyy out in the back yard.

We explained to him that he would have a wonderful happy time there – plenty of friends, including the little pet lizards which we had released out there so many years ago...

Back in the house we waited and watched.
We are still watching.
No mice yet.

Tho, I still think we need more cats.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Cats

Welp. Looks like we have a cat.

Our little feral kitty, locked up in confinement for 8 weeks, is now FREE.
We opened the doors Friday and waited. She popped out of her kitty door and walked around the back of the garage like she owned the place. (I know this because I was sitting in a lawn chair waiting.)

We have seen her exploring around the barn/garage, up around the house and out into the yard a little bit all weekend. And then she comes right back to nap on her shelf in the garage.

The world is her oyster (or rodent... as it were).




But wait, there's more.
Meet Jasper.


Jasper is The Daughter The Therapist and Her Handsome Beau's newest addition to their family. Last year they rescued Sophie, and this past weekend scooped up another little feral.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Independence Day

Tomorrow is Independence Day.


We will open the door for the FREE cat.
And wait to see if she ever comes back.

Monday, June 09, 2008

The FREE cat

The FREE cat is still under lockdown in the barn. The cat expert people say we need to keep her in there for at least six weeks. She is doing fine - eating, peeing, pooping... all is well. She seems a little bored to me, but we have seen no signs of rodents out there since we got her.

Meanwhile this is what we found in the basement last night...


Those are teeth marks. This is the cord for the dehumidifier. Which was plugged in.

Not sure this whole 'feral cat' thing is working the way we planned.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

picky picky picky...

Tidy Cat to the rescue.

so far so good.

Doesn't it just figure we got a 'fastidious' feral cat.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

the scent of a womanFREE cat

The FREE dog suspects something.

She has yet to actually see the FREE cat - but she is circling the garage and whining.
We have this image of her digging out under the foundation.

The headline would read: FREE dog frees FREE cat

We have yet to see the cat ourselves. But we know where she is hiding.
Because of course we checked every nook and cranny.
We found her in a corner tucked behind the snowthrower. You can see just a little bit of her ...with a flashlight ...if you twist your body to the right and crane your neck against the wall ...and get up on one tippy toe.
Yeah - we're a little over the top.

She is eating like a horse, and using her litter box.
We are so proud.

Monday, May 12, 2008

The FREE cat

What happens when you give two lesbians a free, feral, unfriendly cat?

Why… we buy cat toys of course.

I have to give credit to the woman from the feral cat rescue place – she really didn’t start snickering until I showed her the nightlight I installed.

ok ok ...so we did a couple things to modify the back of the garage to make the transition easier.

First – since the cat was going to be confined in the garage for several weeks, I framed out one side of the double doors and installed some fence. This way - the cat can see out, get some fresh air, and maybe not feel so locked up.
We are hoping she will learn some very important things from this vantage point. The most important being that the FREE dog is behind a fence. I think once she figures this out she will find it comforting.


This open fenced area also allows us to see in. That way we can locate her before entering with food and water.

There is a window in the back of the garage, so we built the cat a little perch there. (we also fenced the window so it can be opened on warm days.)

Then we got some little fuzzy cat bed things for her, and some organic wheat cat litter.


The shelter people provided us with this nifty little box with straw inside. They say that feral cats love these things. So of course we thought it would be even nicer if we put a little rug in front. We set her food bowls out there ... so her little feet would be warm and dry while she had a snack.


So, yeah... the cat lady is totally rolling her eyes now, while gently trying to explain to us that we may not really see this cat. That we should be prepared for her to take off when we let her out and that she may not return for a couple weeks.


We listened...politely.



And yes... to my adorable wife's delight The Cat Whisperer (aka TheDaughterTheTherapist) did in fact bring some catnip toys.





And here is possibly the only picture we may ever get of her.
Meet Sorsha.