Off the Blog Radar

Apologies to my regular readers for my temporary disappearance of the Tame Feral Cats blog, but I've been up at the Gold Coast doing Internet marketing training and (irony of ironys) didn't have access to a computer. I don't like travelling with my laptop as it's my foremost business tool and I'd rather keep it safe at home. It turns out that the Internet service provider who had been contracted to the hotel to establish lines in and out for the 100 or so participants, got it all wrong and they could barely use the Internet for the duration without going through a three hour upload process for something that would ordinarily take 10 minutes. The organiser was not impressed to say the least. The people I was staying with had an old PC and although they had Broadband (DSL) they were restricted in their upload/download capabilities and asked me merely to check my email an nothing else. In the meantime, I've had major deadlines and am going up to Brisbane to attend the Supanova pop culture convention in a "non-feral cat" but writing capacity so you may not get very much more until next week when I resume my normal routine. So just a couple more posts between now and then ...

Adventures of Mimsy's Kittens – Journal Entry 3

Thought I'd better hunt for Mimsy's kittens after she moved them a couple of weeks ago. I had a pretty good idea where she'd taken them – the old dilapidated shed we have right near the cattery. It's falling apart and a bit of a safety hazard so I spent Saturday morning removing iron sheets, fallen wooden doors and lots of scrap metal from the vicinity so that the kittens could move around in relative safety. They'll also be exposed to the elements because the shed has no roof and we a HUGE downpour the other day so I'll do what I can to make them comfortable without actually touching them and freaking out their mother. 

I also sadly found the body of the white and ginger kitten that had died – or should I say what remained of it. Only the dried out skin and hair from its back was left. I quickly buried the nameless kitten in some freshly sprung lush grass.

The other three kittens were under the broken floorboards as I suspected. They're very tiny and possibly malnourished. Their eyes are half-open but their faces haven't softened yet from that just born baby look to the traditional cutesy kitten archetype. I'd say it will take another two weeks for that to happen. The first time I saw them, the remaining white and ginger one was sleeping with its head on the side of one of the black ones who in turn was sleeping with its head on the white and ginger one. They looked like the ying and yang symbol. Pity I didn't have my camera on me. 

They're too little to be scared at this stage, although I did hear a little hiss this morning. They move around slowly and topple a bit. I had one question answered when I observed them – although they're only about four weeks old, one of them actively cleaning her- or himself so that was interesting information to file away in the memory banks.

I've been leaving low-lactose kitty milk in a shallow dish for them in the morning – shallow so they can crawl up to it and drink over the lip but not fall in and drown. The milk is gone when I return but I'm unsure whether it's been drunk by them or their mother. I also tried some soft kitten food but again I'm unsure of whether they're eating it or not, as I've not had the time to actually sit down for an extended period and just watch them.

I poked my camera through the floorboards this morning and here is the result. I'm going to push a bit of straw inside so it's a little bit more insulated but my master plan is to catch them in about two weeks.

The reason I'm visiting every day is so they get used to me and make the connection that I'm a food source for them. This is my pre-socialisation training. It usually doesn't take long to rehabilitate kittens that have had this kind of preparation. Mimsy's kittens have always been good that way. After that I'll need to focus on catching Mimsy and getting her desexed. I've already set the cat cage up near the cattery so she and all the other cats get used to it. I'll start putting food in there too so they (and she obviously) think of it as a benign object, get a false sense of security and actually walk inside to eat the food while the door is open. And then sometime in the near future when I just so happen to be sitting nearby, I can just close the cage door on Mimsy and whisk her down to the vet.

Ohio Cats

One of my blog readers, Cat (appropriate name!) from Ohio, USA, kindly sent me these pics of some of the feral cats she's taken in over the years. Only Lucky (the long haired calico) is still with her. Baby (the tortoiseshell) had five kittens in Cat's closet and her first born still lives with Cat. Prince (the white cat) was found while Cat was still in college and they enjoyed a good 14 years together. Apparently, Cat's mother's now tends to a colony that lives nearby and some of the kittens born into the colony have been adopted and rehomed now.

Chronicles of the Xmas Kittens – Journal Entry 16

I've separated the three bold kittens (two blacks and bi-colour one) into the rumpus room and left Miss Tortie-and-White by herself with the occasional visitor – Samson. The three of them have made it well beyond the seventh stage of stroking a feral cat which I identified in a previous blog post – they're now lap cats, I can pick them up for a cuddle while I'm standing up and they perform spontaneous roll overs accompanied by loud purrs whenever I enter into their vicinity. Miss Tortie-and-White on the other hand has always held back. I have to admit I gave the other three rambunctious ones more attention, simply because they always jumped into the fray in whatever game I was playing with them and never really gave Miss Tortie-and-White the chance to participate. She's been a fringe dweller during the time she's been living here but hopefully that will change now that she'll get some one-on-one attention.

If this morning is anything to go by, she'll progress nicely. I used a piece of cloth with a knot tied on the end and dragged it all over the floor. She surrendered completely. I've never seen her so relaxed or indeed so animated in play. She pulled out all her best cat moves; she was pouncing and tumbling, twisting in the air and wrestling. She came within about six inches of me, which is the closest she's ever been before. She still pulls back if she thinks I'm going to man-handle her but the good thing is that her eyes are no longer filled with suspicious and are telling a new story. She's asleep in the old gym at the moment so I'll have another play session with her tonight and hopefully encourage her to eat from my hand.

Never Say Never Feral Cat Video

I found this video on YouTube, which deals with the feral cats crisis in America (according to the video there are 60 million feral cats there), exposes the myths and advocates the humane TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) strategy at the same time. Looks and sounds like this is a universal problem with the same practical and sensible solutions if people started looking after the feral colonies living on their plot of land or in their local area.

Recommended Cat Books 4

This recommendation came in via Cat (appropriate name!) – one of the Tame Feral Cats blog readers. I haven't read it but completely trust Cat's opinion and will get it in my next Amazon order. It's called Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook. Check it out here. In the meantime, thanks for your input, Cat.

Feral Female Farm Cat Caught

Good news on the homefront. Many of you may have read about the ongoing saga of Sweetie – one of the fertile feral females on the farm and how I've been trying to catch her on and off for about a year. Well, I caught her two evenings ago and she's now back home desexed and recuperating in our rumpus room, which overlooks her territory on the outside. The vet did a splendid job and she has dissolving stitches in her abdomen which means she doesn't have to make a return visit.

The entire experience has been traumatic for both the cat and myself because she trusted me and I felt as though I was betraying that trust when I caged her up and took her offsite for the operation. She's doing well now and is communicating with me again with her soft meow whenever I visit her. I paid extra for pain relief so I hope it's holding. I'll release her in the next 48 hours or so once I'm content there are no complications from the surgery. The best signal for me is that she appears to be relaxed and has eaten a lot since her return last night. This is a great relief. Her last litter was the Xmas kittens, which I've written about in the Chronicles of the Xmas Kittens series – two of which are sitting on a cushion right next to me in the office as I write this blog post. The emotional stress was a temporary discomfort to the long term stress of having the cats constantly reproducing when I'm trying to curtail the cat population on the farm, and then having to socialise and find loving homes for the kittens. I don't indiscriminately give kittens or cats away without checking out the character of the human companion who will be taking them. The quest is on now to find good homes for Sweetie's offspring.

At a later time I'll write a dedicated post on the subject of how to and how not to catch feral cats based on all the tricks I've learned during the last 12 months.

More Feral Cat Cattery Pics

These pics are related to today's previous two blog posts. Here we have the feral farm cats utilising the space on the outside and on the inside of the cattery we built. The black cat sitting on the 44-gallon drum is called Diamond; the black and white cat peeking under the plastic curtain is called Patches.

Feral Cat Cattery Pics

Here are some photos related to my previous blog post. Pic 1 is the sleeping quarters on top of the wooden palettes. Pic 2 is of the feeding station and the straw-lined interior.

Building a Feral Cat Cattery

We used to have four old square sheds at the top of a hill on our farm in a kind of oblong formation. They were enclosed on three sides by walls and had a gate on the fourth side. The sheds were used to store various materials, and in the middle was a weed garden. This is where the feral cat commune lived for many years. Then the sheds started to break down in the elements – the doors fell off their hinges, the roofs started to flap in the wind and the floorboards to crack. We decided to pull two of the sheds down last year for safety reasons and will be doing the same to the other two next month. But that would have left the cats without shelter so what to do?

The back wall also had sort of an undercover parking area attached to it where we used to park our tractor. It was basically two corrugated iron sheets attached to some thick wooden posts with more sheeting on top for a roof. You could drive the tractor in and then straight out again. What we did is convert this little section into a cattery for the feral cats. We added a third wall of sheeting (it sort of looks like an old garage now), making sure that there was a gap near the ground which the cats could use a an escape route (see pic 2). We also put a gate at the other end so the cats could have easy access but any medium or large dogs or other roaming animals would find it difficult to get inside (see pic 1). It's important to note that if you're building a cattery you must have at least three exit routes for them to use if they're cornered and escape is necessary. This will make them feel safe and secure to adopt the cattery as their home.

We then scrounged for other bits and pieces around the farm that could be utilised on the interior. We found some thick plastic sheeting that we hung up like a curtain on the gate end of the cattery. In summer this can be moved aside to let in the fresh air, and in winter or in the rain, it can be pulled completely over the entry to keep it dry on the inside. We also found these wooden plank constructions, which we stacked on top of each other along one wall (I'm not a builder so I have no idea what these things are used for in the world of construction). We lined the top of them with various cat beds and old towels and blankets. There are also two levels in which the cats can hide away in these wooden pallets – on the ground or in the middle. Unless you're deliberately searching for them or have a good nose then you wouldn't even know they could be hiding in there.

We also positioned two 44-gallon drums on the interior to add some height elements – cats like being high and surveying the landscape. However, this also serves as another safety feature in case any other larger animals get inside. I also have a third 44-gallon drum on the outside so the cats can make a quick get away by climbing on the roof. 

I lined the ground with straw, which stays dry and warm. I rarely have to change it or add to it. The cats use the outside as their toilet and so the straw is remarkably clean. I then added a big plank of wood as a feeding station and put in a large container of fresh water plus several dishes for their food. I leave them breakfast in here but feed them wet food  on the outside unless it's raining, as I want to avoid attracting cockroaches, ants or other insects. I wash the dishes and replace the water every few days.

We didn't spend any money in setting this up – we just used our imagination and resources we had laying around on the farm. You can also build a cattery on a budget if you improvise like we did. 

To summarise, the key elements to have when constructing a cattery similar to this one are:

(1) shelter from the elements (warm and dry)

(2) at least three exit routes

(3) height elements on the inside and outside

(4) sleeping stations (old towels, blankets, cat beds etc), and

(5) feeding station (two water containers and several food dishes).

Adventures of Mimsy's Kittens – Journal Entry 2

I'm sorry to say that this will be a sad journal entry. Last night when I went to feed the commune of feral cats, I went into the cattery while they were eating to check up on the little ones and found a ginger and white one dead. It was lying slightly apart from its three siblings – it wasn't breathing, its belly was distended and its body was cold to the touch. I reached out and picked it up and was holding it in my hand when the black nanny/auntie cat "Hissy Fit" who looks after kittens with Mimsy, came charging inside. She instantly went to check out the kittens. I returned the little dead one to the nest so she could see what had happened. She tried to revive it by licking it but obviously didn't succeed. My scent was on the little kitten too, which didn't help. I don't know how cats process information but on some level these ones may equate my being there with the baby's death. On another level, Hissy Fit showed no hostility towards me, possibly because I have a long term record of feeding them and looking after them so they recognise me as a carer. 

This morning I returned to remove the dead kitten and found all of them gone. This has happened once in the past when my very kind auntie came and fussed over a previous litter and returned one that had crawled away. Within hours the mother had moved the lot of them. It's my observation that the moment humans touch the babies and get there scent over them, then the mothers will move the kittens to another nest.

After finding them gone this morning, I began searching for them. I believe they've been moved under the broken floorboards of a dilapidated shed which stands next to the cattery. There are lots of pipes and crawl spaces there, and Mimsy has brought previous kittens up in this spot. Belle, my cross border collie with the amazing nose for finding kittens, also started sniffing in the vicinity. 

Chronicles of the Xmas Kittens – Journal Entry 15

Finished putting up the flyer around the vicinity, although I missed the deadline with some shopping centres and it won't go up on the community bulletin board until Monday next week. 

I tested the white and red kitten at a next door neighbour's place the other day. They have a Siamese female who lives in the house at night and in a huge custom built cat cage (which she loves) during the day. They're wanting to get a companion cat for her and, although they're exceptionally kind to their animal family, I'm a little reluctant to let the male go for several reasons – (1) feral cats do better in pairs with their siblings; (2) the neighbour has a small yappy dog that chases everything she comes across; (3) no formal inter-species introductions have been made yet to introduce the cat and dog; (4) the cats were separated into two parts of the cage and watched each other through the mesh – I don't know yet how territorial the female will be when they come together as she gave mixed signals in the first stage; and (5) the little one is better off transitioning from the inside of the house to the outside cage and hopefully into the garden so he can roam free. One of the reasons the neighbours have the cage is because there are poisonous snakes in the vicinity and also a mean dog on the property next door that would have no hesitation in attacking any animal (dog or cat and in fact has done so in the past) should they wander close to each other. This is a dilemma.

I brought the white and red one and the black kitten 1 (the female) into my office yesterday. They loved it. They climbed over and sniffed everything out. Samson came in too and the black one curled up with him on the bed. I also brought Jake our kelpie in, and the white and red kitten sneaked up on him and played with his tail. They later had a bit of a face off – Jake just stood there in fascination and wonder, the cat went into protective mode with an arched back, hair standing up on end on the neck and back, and a tail twice the size of the norm. I have pics but still need to upload them to my computer. 

I'll bring in all three of them today and then spend a little one on one time with Miss Tortie-and-White. The trick with transitioning her will be to bring her into my office either by herself or with one other in the future when I can catch her again. I will then ignore her and let her wander around by herself. I've done this on a previous occasion where three of the five kittens were socialised in 48 hours and found a good home about a week later, and the two remaining kittens completely avoided me for nigh on three weeks. Once I brought them into my office so they were with me for a good part of the day, they relaxed and were purring in my lap before long.