Great Feral Cat Article

I came across this on article on Wikipedia – check it out! The Canadian Prime Minister has completely endeared himself to me. So that you know what I'm talking about, here's a quote:

For many years, a feral cat colony has existed on Canada's Parliament Hill in Ottawa ... they are fed by a volunteer who is given a stipend by the House of Commons... At any time, about 15 cats live in the colony. The present Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, is a cat fan and takes feral kittens into him home to socialize them before they are put up for adoption in Ottawa's shelters. Visitors to his official residence can expect to be asked if they have room in their homes for a cat.

If I were Canadian, he would so totally get my vote!

The "Feral" Cat's Meow [UPDATED 2/3/09]

Feral cats are not vocal. I don't know why that is but I surmise that they keep quiet as a defense mechanism so as not to inadvertently reveal their position to predators – human or otherwise. That is not to say they do not meow – they do – but they meow quietly, usually when they are requesting food or companionship and only once they know you and trust you. 

I've known many cats through my lifetime – domestic, stray, feral, and feral that have been domesticated. I'm not a cat expert or a breeder – my only claim in this blog is to be a cat lover and somebody who has a natural connection to cats. However, the most vocal breed I have come across is the Siamese. I also have a full grown black cat called Scotchgard whoms somebody once pronounced to be a Bombay (I call him the "King Kong of Cats" because he's so huge and glossy)  – he's particularly noisy when he wants food or attention and will have a long conversation with you in all kinds of melodic passages.

The domesticated ferals I have now are great purrers, but barely audible meowers, which is an often sought after trait by some cat lovers. Sihri and Sasha, whom I christened the Squeaker Sisters shortly after they arrived on the farm, have a mixture of a high pitched squeak and a meow. I have to strain to hear Saffron, Snow, Savannah and Samson. If they're wanting my attention – they usually do it through other means such as flopping themselves down in front of me or rubbing up against my legs. They occasionally meow quietly if they are at the screen door and want access to my studio and I'm out of their sight line. Boston, the latest addition to the family, who lives in my office at night and goes out during the day, has the minutest meow I've ever heard – it's rare for him to speak up. The colony of undomesticated feral cats will only meow quietly when they're hungry and know I'm about to bring them their food. They'll also communicate to their young ones in chirrups and staccato sounds very unlike the usual meow we associate with a cat.

The RSPCA NSW Needs Your Help

I support several charities – most of which are dedicated to animal welfare both in Australia and overseas. On the local front I contribute monthly to the RSPCA, which does an amazing job looking after cats, dogs and farm animals that have been subjected to cruelty and/or are homeless. 

I recently received a letter, asking for additional funds to help rebuild the Yagoona shelter in Sydney, which has been in operation for over thirty years and desperately needs overhauling and renovation. The plan for the facility includes new catteries and kennels, a new animal hospital, a humane education centre and property staff facilities, as well as creating an additional arm – the RSPCA Centre for Animal Rescue and Education Services. The Sydney chapter, however, doesn't have the money to rebuild it, as the NSW State government only provides 2% of its annual operating costs.

If the Yagoona shelter is not seen as a priority it will continue to deteriorate and will eventually be forced to close. The RSPCA needs  loyal supporters to assist them in lobbying local Members of Parliament to put rebuilding of Yagoona on their agendas, and to get the government to recogise that the Shelter not only cares for thousands of animals but educates children, protects pets of domestic violence victims, looks after animals of the aged and infirm, acts as a teaching hospital for vets and vet nurses and houses Australia's largest inspectorate dedicated to enforcing government laws.

You can help by making a donation to RSPCA NSW or by signing the petition.

How to Socialise a Feral Kitten - Part IV

The Feral Kitten Socialisation Process – The First Two Weeks

The time to start establishing physical (touch) contact is when your kittens have begun to relax in their new home. They know when their food is coming, they know every nook and cranny of their room intimately, and they start to become curious about you. One clue as to their being relaxed is that they are cleaning themselves comfortably in front of you. Another sign is their body language – they may keep you at a safe distance but they walk around, rather than slink close to the ground or make a mad dash to their closest hiding place. 

You need to be subtle rather than overt or aggressive when you want to make your way into a feral kitten's heart. You do so by engaging in play behaviour. You can walk around the room with a long piece of string trailing from your hand or pocket. The string should be tied to a small object that catches their eye as it moves. They will become transfixed by the movement to the point of either sitting and watching it or actually stalking and pouncing on the object. 

My favourite tool, as described in the previous post, is to use a ping pong ball. I just sit on the floor and roll it side to side until it catches their attention. Their ears will invariably perk up and their eyes will grow wide. Sometimes they forget themselves and walk up closer to you to investigate. That is the perfect time to engage with them by batting the ball towards them. Aim to roll it between their paws. They may jump back slightly but usually they will test the ball with their paws. If all is clear from their standard and perspective, they will start batting the ball themselves and chase it around the room.

Socialising a feral cat or kitten is an act of expansion. By that I mean that you start off small and then build step by step so their physical play territory expands, and by virtue of that, the physical boundaries between you and the cats diminishes. You can actually start a game where you bat it to the kitten and the kitten bats it back to you. You will need to be the leader in the game and keep returning it to the kitten so that you are both participants in the same game with each other. It is not uncommon for the kitten to become so engrossed with the ball game that he/she will indiscriminately run towards you and even sidle up to you in order to get the ball and ultimately forget that he/she had previously perceived you as a threat. If that's happening, then count it as a major step in what I call your "conquest by kindness" technique, although "conquest" may be too loaded a word. Let's just say strategic in that you are working with cat psychology.

The other thing you can do is to leave various size boxes around the room, or alternatively, canvas shopping bags or the old fashion shopping paper bag. Cats love exploring these objects, and will often climb inside and make themselves at home. This will perpetuate the notion in their world that this is an environment in which they can interact yet still feel safe.

The best way to make that first physical contact with a cat is while they are eating. Once you have established the daily routine and they begin to anticipate all the elements, begin to progressively sit closer to their feeding station every day at meal times. Once you reach the stage where you are sitting alongside them and they are comfortable with your presence and continue to eat without being hyper vigilant or running away, then slowly extend your hand towards the kitten or cat. You may need to do this in increments – at first the kitten may run or hide, or maybe it will shift position or maybe it will stay there. Depending on how the kitten reacts, never try to force a touch on them. The best time to do this is when they are still hungry and fully engaged in chowing down their food. When you reach a point where you can stroke them, just do one move. Touch them gently on the back of the neck and run your hand down its spine and through to the tip of the tail. If the kitten/cat doesn't resist or shirk, continue in the same way. After a while he/she will start purring, and begin associating you with comfort and pleasure. 

How to Socialise a Feral Kitten - Part III [UPDATES ADDED]

The Feral Kitten Socialisation Process – The First Three Days

Once you have your kitten or cat in the cage or trap, take it to the room you have prepared as its new home. The kitten may be meowing pitifully or yowling in rapid succession (fear responses) at this point. Place the cage on the floor, sit back, talk to it in a gentle cajoling voice and then slowly open the cage or trap door. The kitten will usually frantically run out and then plunge into the first hiding space it can find where it will stay for several hours. This is the fight or flight survival mechanism at work – in this case it is flight and hide. If you have more than one kitten they will usually hide together. If you have the option of socialising multiple kittens then take it, as they will find solace and comfort in each other.

At this stage I suggest you leave the room and come back every hour or two for about five to ten minutes and just sit down and talk to your cat. What you are doing is getting your kitten used to humans, and specifically – you. Do NOT attempt to pick up or touch the cat at this stage, as you will get badly scratched and it will traumatise the kitten more. It is always my policy to create the trust between you and the cat so that it comes to you willingly.

How long does it take to socialise a feral kitten? That will depend on its age, its temperament and whether you have had the opportunity to do any pre-socialisation prior to capturing it. It has taken me as little as one day and as long as three weeks for kittens aged between six and eight weeks old. The older the cat gets the more difficult it can be because you will be attempting to reverse some pretty serious feral conditioning where you are perceived as a dangerous threat. And in some cases with some people – rightly so – after all, how can you blame the cat for wanting to survive...

The method I use for socialising a cat is based on developing a routine so the cat knows what to expect within a 24-hour period and therefore begin to relax. Your job will be to answer the cats needs based on the following sequence:

(1) Providing safety and security

(2) Providing food and water

(3) Arousing curiousity and play

(4) Contact by touch.

The cat's first instinct, as previously mentioned, is to hide away from danger. It will need to feel a sense of safety and security before it begins to relax and venture out. If it is absolutely starving then hunger will drive it from of its hiding spot sooner, but at this stage it will usually wait until you have gone from the space before it comes out. Most of the feral kittens I have taken through this socialisation process have come from my family farm where I live. I have always fed the feral cats so I know that they have not been starving when I have taken them away from their mother/s. The exception was with Sihri and Sasha (mentioned previously in other posts) who were thrust upon me by a neighbour who had in turn had them thrust upon her by a stranger. These cats were completely traumatised – their eyes reflected their terror and they hissed and spat if I approached them. I had no idea when they had had their last meal but I set some food in front of them and they virtually dove into the dish, eating greedily and hungrily to the point of forgetting anything else around them. When they had finished they reverted to their previous fear position and then backed into a narrow gap behind a cabinet and hid there for many hours. It may be a good idea to put some newspapers around these hiding spots. Although cats are notoriously clean and most of the time know how to use litter trays to go to the toilet, they may be so terrified at this stage that they will not want to come out. The newspapers give them an alternative.

Set up the feeding routine in the morning and evening, with small midday meals if they kittens are quite young. Don't give them too much, as they can gobble up everything and get little bulging tummies that look as if they are about to burst. For the first day or two, leave the room or retreat to a distant corner once you have set up the meal so they can eat by themselves. After that, sit down a few feet away from the feeding station and let them get used to you being there when they eat (this also lays down the foundations for future contact by touch). 

What they will do when you are not in the room is to explore. They will be active in the morning till about ten and then sleep for several hours until late afternoon. They will become active again in the evening and especially at night. In the first instance, they will explore the room with the specific purpose of scouting for and establishing lots of alternative hiding places for themselves so they have lots of options. These may be behind a shelf or cabinet, under the bed, behind a basket, in a dark corner and/or in some very obscure places you wouldn't even think to look. Feral cats are in fact quite ingenious. 

While all this is happening, give the kittens their space and again do not force yourself on them. The most important attribute you can demonstrate at this stage in the socialisation process is patience. 

Once the kittens know where all the safe spots are and once they know that they will be fed with regularity, they will start to relax further and this is the prime time for them to get to know you more. Don't use stand-over tactics. Sit down when you are in their space – a towering person is perceived as a threat and you want to get as close to their level as possible. Sometimes I recline casually on my side and mimic a relaxed cat. 

Avoid staring directly into their eyes, as this can also be seen as a challenge and threat. If you are to look at them directly in the face then soften your eyes, blink occasionally and glance away at times as if you are occupied with other business.

You can also start off by communicating with them. Use a high voice that matches their meow pitch. Also use "sss" sounds like "pusssssss" or "ssssweetie". Talk to them while they eat; if you have named them, use their names (naming will be discussed in more detail in a later blog post); and just talk to them in general as you would a child. Cats respond to communication and after a while they will stay on the floor, albeit at a safe distance from you, rather than scampering away.

You can also appeal to their curiousity and sense of play. The best tool you can use is a ping pong ball. I always have a stash of them in the cat room and I was also very grateful to have accumulated a big bag of pink balls when I went to see the musical theatre version of Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the beginning of the year (a net full of balls drops on the audience from aloft in a pivotal scene – if you have seen the film or the stage musical then you'll know where I mean!).

Roll the ping pong ball around the floor – backwards and forwards, side to side – but retrieve it. The kittens will begin to watch this moving ball with fascination. Their playful and predatory hunting selves will start to emerge and they will become hypnotised and on the edge of excitement by the movement of the ball. Later on in the socialisation process, you will start to play with them and you will be swatting and batting the balls to each other with great glee.

If you see that things are falling into place quickly then don't wait for the predetermined time, just accelerate the process until you are ready to touch and make contact, which I will cover in Part IV of this series.

Animated Cats

I got thinking about animated films about cats a few months ago and remembered two I had seen in my childhood – The Aristocats and Gay Purr-ee. The first is the story about a family of kidnapped and dumped cats who must find their way home (sound familiar – how many strays and feral cats go through this!) with Eva Gabor voicing Duchess the mother cat and Phil Harris voicing O'Malley, the Alley Cat who helps them overcome an unscrupulous butler who wants to cut them out of their owner's will. I had seen this one in the cinema – my grandmother used to take all the kids to see Disney movies in the holidays. 

The second is an earlier release. I hadn't seen it in years and remembered it fondly from television on various leisurely Sunday afternoons before sports became king on the weekend programming. Gay Purr-ee is about a farm cat called Mewsette voiced by Judy Garland, who is lured from the provinces of France to Paris by the promise of romance and adventure. The male farm cat Jaune Tome who adores her and who is voiced by Robert Goulet, sets out to find her with his faithful sidekick and comes up against a multitude of slinky villains as well as the master con-cat and a madam who are grooming Mewsette to become a mail order bride for a rich American fat cat. I bought the DVD recently from Amazon and watched the feature fondly at home. I especially like the animated interpretation of various French artists' work. I've found a few clips for you to too. Check them out and if you like them, put them on your Christmas list – I've bought three copies in all to distribute to friends and family.

Xmas Donations

Animal welfare (obviously including taking care of feral cats) is very close to my heart. I support a number of charities such as the RSPCA, WIRES, AnimalsAsia, and IFAW amongst others. Most of these organisations have special Xmas programs which give specific examples of where and how your donation helps. If you choose the IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), for example, you can donate to any of five campaigns – you can provide Urgent Pet Care, Rescue Animals, Protect Elephants, Save a Seal or Help a Bear Cub. The gifts start from $25. I would urge you to start checking out these sites now. As far as I'm concerned, the people who run these animal welfare groups are heroes and they need all the support we can muster.

Couldn't Resist

Sasha, sister of Sihri (the champagne and white kitty in the bannerhead), the duo otherwise known in my family as the Squeaker Sisters.

How to Socialise a Feral Kitten - Part II

Catching Your Feral Kittens

A hungry cat is more likely to step into a cat trap than one that has just been fed, so the best time to catch feral cats or kittens is at meal time – that is, early morning or evening. 

The first tool you will need is a humane cat trap that is triggered by the cat eating and pulling on the bait. A panel slides down and the cat is trapped inside. You do not have to be present for this to happen. If you cannot access a cat trap then get a cat cage or a box with air holes on the side and a lid, blanket or towel to go on top. However, you will need to manually catch the cats and put them inside for transportation.

The best age at which to catch a feral kitten is between six to eight weeks old. Too young and they may not have been weaned; too old and they may be more shyer, suspicious or street smart. That is not to say you can't catch and work with an older kitten or cat (I recently caught one that was four months old), it's just that if you intend to rehabilitate it then you may need to make adjustments to the basic socialisation techniques, which will be covered in a future blog post. 

There are several ways you can approach the task of catching a feral cat or kitten, depending on your proximity, access and cat receptiveness to human contact.

Firstly, you can do what I call the "snap catch" or the "slow conditioning catch". The "snap catch" basically means catching the cats quickly without any preemptive socialisation or human contact. The advantage of this method is that you can make a decision and get things started, especially if you are operating under a time constraint. The disadvantage is that you can traumatise an already terrified cat to a higher degree and make it more difficult for it to trust you.

The "slow conditioning catch" means gradually getting the kittens or cats to associate you as being a food provider prior to you catching them. This won't instantly get them to trust you from the outset, but it will maintain the continuity of you being a carer (and therefore less of a threat to their safety) so that they ease into the rehabilitation process more easily.

Just remember that feral kittens are taught from the outset by their mothers (and nannies or aunties if they live in a cat commune) to fear humans – from their point of view we are predators – and accordingly they will hiss and spit at us. It will take some patience, kindness and love to convince them otherwise.

 

Here are some tips for setting up a cat trap or cage:

1. Do not feed the cats prior to setting the cat trap so that hunger becomes the motivating factor to step inside the trap.

2. It is preferable to trap cats in the warmer months rather than the cooler months, as the cold weather will interfere with the scent molecules emanating from the food (this, however, is out of your control because the timing of your catch depends on the age of the kittens and not what season it is or what the temperature gauge is telling you).

3. Set up two feeding stations in the same place every feed time close to the cat's home or nest. One is for the older cats (feed them first so they are distracted) and one is for the kittens close to their nest or where they hide or play. Try to get the kittens' feeding station set up out of the line of sight of the adults' one.

4. If possible, set the empty cat cage down near the kitten's feeding station several days before you want to trap the kittens so that the cats get used to it, explore it and it becomes part of their normal landscape. 

5. Use a sheltered area so the cat is not exposed to extreme weather or temperatures, and cannot be accosted by any passing predators – human, dogs or otherwise.

6. Avoid catching the cats on days or nights where there are high winds, rain or snow, or any inclement weather.

7. On the catching day, cover part of the cage to provide some protection from the elements. This will also give the trapped cat some small degree of psychological comfort. However, do not let the covering interfere with any trap mechanisms.

8. Hang some aromatic food on the end of the hook (this can be raw or cooked chicken, a chunk of fish or red meat but not tinned cat food). It needs to be solid so it won't shred and break on the hook when the cats eats it or pulls it.

9. Leave the vicinity and if possible check in every few hours in order to bring in the caged cat to safety as soon as possible. 

In the "slow conditioning catch":

1 to 6 as above

7. For about seven to ten days prior to the proposed catch date, sit down close to the kitten feeding station and talk to the cats and kittens as they eat so they get familiar with your voice, smell and presence.

8. Communicate with the cats by using a high sing song voice that matches the pitch of normal cat meows. Use 's' sounds like "psssss" or "puss puss" as they also respond to those.

9. After a few days try to stroke the kittens by rubbing down their spines, hind quarters and tails. (It may be too early to go for their chin, head and neck). The kittens will then associate your loving touch to food and perceive it as a positive thing.

10. If you build up the trust in this way, then on the proposed catching day it will then be easier to pick up the kittens while they are eating and put them into a cat cage or box with a cover before transporting them elsewhere.

I usually scoop up the kittens at breakfast time while the mother is out of the line of sight, so as not to induce her into defending and protecting her kittens or to traumatising her into perceiving me as just another "evil" human (I may be projecting a little and anthropomorphising the experience but it has worked up to now). There is a point at which she will begin separating from the kittens and not be guarding them 24/7. This will vary according to how many litters she's had, her maternal instincts, her personality and the age of the kittens, but as a general rule, the older they get the more she will leave them on their own.

When the mother comes back she will usually search high and low for her kittens and then wait in one place for them to return. However, after 24 to 72 hours the memory of them will start to fade and she will revert to her single life again.

Emotionally the catching time can be stressful for you too, as you may experience a sense of guilt for the act of separating the kittens from their mother. The way to cope with this is to keep focusing on the bigger picture – you or someone else is going to love and care for them and give them an opportunity of living out a happy and healthy life in a way they previously may not had. The life of a wild cat can be a hard one!

How to Feed Feral Cats on a Budget 2

Speaking of Aldi, check out their line of Sylvester cat food which is considerably cheaper than many other well known name brands you buy at the supermarket. The flavour I favour (a nice piece of alliteration there folks!) is the Sylvester Complete (400gm) Lamb and Kidney Meat Loaf which is very chunky and goes a long way. There's also Chicken and Turkey, and Beef and Chicken. In the seafood variety there is Seafood Platter, as well as Sardine with Smoked Salmon Jelly. The cats absolutely love the chunks of fish in the latter two. However, the cans don't go a long way in winter. The cats tend to eat more and get hungrier quicker, probably because I would estimate that half of the contents in the can are jelly. The meat loaf varieties appear to be much more filling and they mix well in the rice recipe I provided in my previous How to Feed Feral Cats on a Budget 1 blog post. I buy the Sylvester cans for around AU$0.79c in my local store. You can also buy them on the Aldi website. Most other well known brands can range from $0.80+ for 80gm of a 'gourmet' style food or around $1.22 to $1.36 for 400 or 410gm cat food. I know that Coles has a generic brand which sells for around 0.75c per 400gm, and Woolworth has one that is 0.74c per 400gm which is better value than the Aldi one, but I still have to test these. Reports coming soon.

Cheap Cat Tunnels

Don't know whether Aldi has sold out, but I picked up one of these nifty cat tunnels, which I thought was good value for $10.00, from one of their local stores. My cats have found it quite fascinating, as it appeals to their intelligence, sense of curiousity and play. My tunnel – or should I say my various cats' tunnel – is black and white rather than blue and yellow like the pic. If you want to buy it just go to the Aldi website.

I just had a moment of great amusement about the tunnel. It's located in the room next to my office. My door was open and one of the feral farm cats called Boots (I need to get a photo of him to show you) who is black with white paws hence the name, just sauntered inside just to have a look at what he could find in here. I sat quietly for about ten minutes and let him be, and then peeked around the corner to see what he was doing. He was exploring the cat tunnel. Evan feral cats like to let their guard down and play every now and then!

How to Socialise a Feral Kitten - Part I

Preparing Your Room or Space for Feral Kittens

You will need a dedicated room in your house or your property for the purpose of socialising a feral kitten. I recommend you organise a room according to the following criteria:

1. Window/s and doors – the windows need to allow in natural light and air. The window should be covered in fly screen/mesh to prevent the kitten from escaping, but please note that the kittens will climb up the mesh so it will need to be stretched tight and secure over the frame. Cats like to sit on window sills and watch the world go by, so that can be one of the considerations when you are choosing a room in your house as the cat room. As far as the doorway is concerned, make sure that the door can open and close securely and with ease in order to keep the kittens in and strangers (including other family pets) out until you are ready to introduce the kittens to your human and pet family.

2. Hide- or crawl-spaces – the room needs to contain a variety of different furniture with some crawl and hide spaces. I have a large carpeted rumpus room that contains three windows with views to the rest of the farm so that the kittens can watch human or animal traffic from the safety of their abode. The room also contains a single bed covered with an old bedspread, several stacked boxes of newspapers, a ping pong table, two old desks covered with material, a bookshelf covered with a tarp, and several filing cabinets. There are gaps between the furniture and the wall for the kittens to hide when they are first introduced into the room. This is VERY IMPORTANT for the socialisation process to go smoothly, as the first thing the kittens will do is dart for cover until hunger drives them out to look for food.

3. Feeding station – Lay old newspapers on the floor; the broadsheets such as the Sydney Morning Herald or the Australian (or similar if you are an overseas reader) are the best because you get better space coverage and they are also good for wrapping up rubbish. The space should be about two or three double sheets wide. On top of the newspaper place abowl for dry food, a second bowl for wet food and a container for water. Depending on the size and age of the kittens make sure the water container is something they can't fall and drown in. Place a second water container in another part of the room as a backup in case the first one is tipped over when you are not there. Allow some sitting room next to the feeding station, as part of the socialisation process will have you sit by the kittens while they eat.

4. Toilet station – lay down more newspaper for the toilet station close to (but not right next to) the feeding station. The kittens want to be able to spot the toilet station but being clean animals they don't like having to do their ablutions next to their dining area. The toilet station should contain one kitty litter tray per two kittens. The trays are available for around $8 to $10 in cheap shops. These will need to be cleaned morning and night – you will not need to remove all the kitty litter but just the droppings and the soiled clumps. I have trialled a number of kitty litters and the most economical one I have found that is also durable and low maintenance is the Woolworths Home Brand Cat Litter (large red and white bag) which sells for just under AU$4.50 for 15 litres. One bag lasts me about two weeks looking after four kittens serviced by two kitty litter trays. You will also need a kitty litter shovel, which costs around $2.50 in supermarkets or cheap shops. 

5. Cat toys – best thing out are ping pong balls. You can also buy balls with bells in them, or rip up old rags into strips, or depending on how elaborate your set up is and how much you want to spend, get a scratching pole. What is important is for the kittens to keep themselves entertained. Cats are extremely curious and they love to play and be mentally stimulated.

This is your basic set up. I recommend you prepare the room prior to bringing your kitten in so that things can run smoothly and that you don't spook the kitten too much.

How to Socialise a Feral Kitten – Table of Blog Contents

This is the first in a series of blog posts/articles on the process of socialising feral cats that will appear over the following weeks. The subheadings I will be posting under include:

Preparing Your Room or Space for Feral Kittens

Catching your Feral Kittens

The Feral Kitten Socialisation Process

Healthcare for Feral Kittens

Finding a Good Home for Your Feral Kittens

Desexing and Microchipping Your Socialised Feral Kittens

Keep reading for updates.

Burrows vs Nests Part II

Here's a look at Mimsy's second nest, which is located about three or four metres down the cattle enclosure from the first one.

Burrows vs Nests Part I

The other day in my Hide and Seek and Kittens post, I mentioned that Mimsy the feral cat had just given birth to some kittens. I described her birthing place as a burrow but have since discovered that die-hard cat people call them nests. Anyway, I took out my camera yesterday and took some snaps while the cats were eating and I thought you might want to see what the nests looked like. The kittens were deep inside and I didn't want to disturb them. The nests have an entrance and an exit, rather like rabbit warrens, for easy escapes. In this case, Mimsy has three nests right next door to each other. I'm surmising that she shifts the little ones around in case the other homes become uninhabitable or in case she wants to flummox my dog Belle who is fascinated by all cats (but who poses no threat to them) and who just wants to sit down outside and stare at the nests and cats in wonder. I deliberately put the iron grating up so that the cats can still have easy access but any large predator will have a hard time getting inside, although it won't keep any snakes out. Oh to be a naturalist and have access to those miniature cameras on cable to see what's happening inside the nests ... I see a nature documentary coming on (or at the very least a YouTube video)!

Recommended Cat Books 1

I have been an admirer of Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen of the inspirational Chicken Soup for the Soul books for a long time. Their story is in fact quite fascinating, and you can read about the how the "chicken soup" title came to one of them in a dream on the history page of their website. Now they have about 100 spin-off titles in the series, including Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul: Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit of Writers which I have sitting on my bookshelf at home. I also recently came across a more recent addition to their backlist – Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul, which I am about to order. If it's anything like the other ones, I will be moved to tears. 

There is something you must know up front – I am a goner when it comes to animals. I cannot watch animal movies or read tragic animal books because I get very distressed and I feel physical pain when the major animal characters (animated or real life) get lost or die or something bad happens to them. This goes for all animal movies not just ones with cats. I haven't see Free Willy to this day. I think Bambi was the start of it all – I have it on good authority that several generations of children were traumatised by that film in ways that we are all still working through. Even Stephen Spielberg attested to this in a recent interview I heard.

But getting back to the major subject of this blog post, I will occasionally be highlighting cat books in this blog. This particular title is probably the only one I haven't read up front as I only stumbled on it today – so the "recommendation" in the blog title is perhaps a misnomer. But working from the position of an excellent reputation of the other CS titles and working on the basis that other cat lovers have praised it highly, I am starting off my recommended cat book list with this as the lead title. Let me know what you think of it when you have a chance.

How to Feed Feral Cats on a Budget 1

I am feeding 20 cats at the moment. I give them breakfast and dinner. For breakfast each cats gets half a handful of dried cat food or pellets, which seems lousy but I have found if they eat much more they can become prone to vomiting. I buy 10kg bags of dried cat food from Big W. I have compared prices to farm supply shops and found that on the whole Big W prices are considerably cheaper. Keep checking the shelves at local department stores in your area, because they often have specials and the prices can drop by around $5.00 per bag. You should be paying the equivalent of about AU$20-$25 per bag. The bag should last around four weeks if you are feeding the same number of cats I am.

I occasionally give the cats watered down milk for breakfast too – mostly in winter when they are hungrier. Kitty milk can be very expensive, so I use normal milk that has been mixed in the following ratio: 500ml (milk) to 300ml (boiling water) to warm it up. Be aware that some cats can be lactose intolerant. This will usually manifest in gassiness, cramps or diarrhoea. Don't give cow's milk to kittens for this reason. There is an excellent article on Human Foods for Cats? A Guide to Safe vs Toxic "Table Scraps" for Cats, which has a more substantial section on milk. Di-Vetelact, a low lactose animal supplement, is more suitable for kittens, but it will cost approx AU$22.00 for a 375gm tin. Check the feeding instructions on the tin as the dosage/dilution varies according to age, weight and species of animal. The manufacturers recommend four feeds per day for kittens.

I also learned a trick from my cousins who live in Fiji where the stray animal problem is quite rife. My auntie and cousins live on an island called Ovalau, and they often feed feral cats and and homeless dogs. Cheap supplies are hard to come by in some of these towns and villages, so my auntie buys large bags of broken rice considered to be second grade and therefore not sold for human consumption purely because you don't get the full grain. My auntie then cooks the desired quantity in a large pot of rice and mixes it with left overs.

The most economical place to buy rice is in Asian stores in your area. I just bought a 25kg (55pd) bag of Jasmine rice from an Asian butcher for AU$43.00, which works out at $1.73 per kg. Compare that to the cheapest retail price I came across at my local Woolworths – $19.98 for 10kg, which comes to $2.00 per kg. These large bags of rice will last you about two to three months.

I played with that idea and came up with a variation on my auntie's recipe. Here's my interpretation. It should feed around 20 cats, allowing for about 1/2 to 3/4 cup per cat, depending on their size.  

Ingredients

3 cups of uncooked rice

6 cups of boiling water

4 tins of cat food

cooked vegetable scraps such as beans, peas or potatoes (optional)

Place uncooked rice in a large round bowl with low sides. Add boiling water and cook in microwave for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Mix cat food into rice and combine until all rice is coated with gravy or meat from the tin. 

You can also add chopped up left over (and deboned) chicken, fish or red meat to this recipe.

Hide and Seek and Kittens

Mimsy, the tortie and white mother feral cat on our property, has been walking around with a bulging belly full of kittens for the last few weeks. She has about three litters a year, and is too intelligent to walk into the cat trap I have consistently set up for the last six months in order to get her to the vet to be desexed. I've switched around the bait, switched locations, switched tactics but to no avail. Our vet said that cat traps in winter are often unsuccessful unless the cats are absolutely starving, because the cold affects the smell molecules in the food so the smell doesn't carry in the air. I just think our older ferals are too street smart to walk into the traps. Anyway ...

I fed the cats this morning in the cat shed we had built for them and I noticed that Mimsy came in last. Her stomach was still a bit puffy but not the awkward swaying balloon I had been accustomed to seeing. I thought she may have had her kittens but when I looked into the nooks and crannies in the shed I couldn't find them. (The shed itself has many levels and many escape routes so that the cats have free passage in and out. I have lined the ground with straw which keeps it very tidy but also warm in winter.)

I later saw my cross border collie Belle, who is absolutely incredible at sniffing out kittens, sitting to attention near a fenced in cattle yard. Mimsy spotted her too and, in a great display of maternal courage, ran across the grass to launch her hissing self at Belle who promptly backed away. When I investigated further, I found two dug out burrows in the long grass with an entry and exit to each. When I peered into one, I spotted four tiny black and white kittens nestled inside and squeaking for either attention or in fear at being disturbed by the unfamiliar sounds around them. 

I took our two dogs away and then returned. I found two lengths of old criss-cross iron (don't ask me what it's called or what it's used for) and then attached them to the fence that ran around the burrow so that the cats could still walk through the holes but the dogs couldn't get in. Then I left them alone.

As I mentioned before Mimsy has had three litters this year. The first one was the most beautiful bunch of cats I had ever seen – all five of them were completely different in colour (a tabby, white with black stripes that looked like paint, a tortie and white, black with white face and paws, and a silver and white tabby). Gorgeous. Their temperaments were lovely as well – they bonded quickly with humans and were and are very loving. I found good homes for three of them and kept two. 

The second litter died from the cold I suspect. We had a bitter winter this year and unfortunately they must have been affected, despite the fact they were completely sheltered in the straw of in the cat shed. I heard their tiny meows for about two days and then they stopped. When I looked for them on the third day, all four of them were dead. They were ginger and white. My cousin buried them in his garden.

This one is the third litter. I wonder how they'll go? You can mark my words I will keep you posted on their progress.