The Home Team

Theo

 

 

 

 

Everybody who comes to the house remarks on Theo.  No wonder. He's a 22 pound Maine Coon.  He was born in an Ontario cattery May 1 2002 and was sired by Bonfires Saxxon of Grandeur. Saxxon was named best Maine Coon in Canada at the 2002 Toronto show.  We have no interest in showing cats but we love the Maine Coon personality. Unfortunately, Theo is not the typical laid back "gentle giant" we expected. He is very sweet at times and loves to cuddle...which is a problem given his size since I can barely lift him.....but he can be moody so visitors have to be wary of him.  

Snowfire

 Whatever Theo lacks in Maine Coon personality, Snowfire makes up for in spades. He was a four year old retired show cat when we got him from a cattery in Maine.  He loves to greet visitors at the door, "talks" constantly, plays fetch and would never bite or scratch anyone on purpose.   Snow is now past 15 and suffers from chronic kidney disease, so he spends most of his time isolated from his brothers so he can have his special food. He sleeps a lot, but when he is awake he still demands attention and plays like a kitten. We know his time is almost up, but every day is a gift and we are so lucky to have shared in his life.

Bandit

You may have been in our house fifty times and never have seen Bandit.  He typically disappears when visitors arrive although he knows certain people and does not mind them. Bandit is very gentle and accepting with other cats and foster kittens. He was an SPCA kitten himself. We helped to foster him and ended up adopting him.  Bandit and his brother Figaro were born on leap year day and will be 10 at the end of February.

Figaro

If you are nice, Figaro will come and see you. He knows who to trust. Definitely the clown of the family, Fig does not seem to sleep as much as most cats and is usually around, participating in whatever we are doing.  He is the only one of our cats that goes outside and all he does is pop onto the step or deck and look around for a couple of minutes before deciding indoors is better.  He used to like to run much further, but since an incident with a neighbor's dogs he had decided discretion is the better part of valor. 

Foxx

 

Foxx is our only ca-r-ma cat. He is four years old and very spoiled. He has a sweet personality, loves to play fetch and to be petted but he is quite jealous, especially where his "ma" is concerned. He likes to play with the foster kittens  but is rather solitary and does not cuddle with his brothers. He is a bit shy, but will warm to visitors quite quickly.    The story of Foxx's trapping and adoption is a whole other blog. 

What is a Feral Colony?

This is a feral colony:

This is a feral colony.

So is this.

 

And this.

A feral colony may be one cat or forty...even more in some cases.  They are in the city and in the country.  The cats are not necessarily feral. A lot of them are quite friendly with their caregiver and some are very tame.

Feral colonies start when someone abandons a cat.  A feral cat is not a species, it is an unnatural result of man's inhumanity.   Kittens born to homeless cats are usually feral if there is no human to handle them from a young age.  Feral cats can be tamed, but doing so when they are an adult is a very long and tedious process, and they always retain some of their wildness, usually becoming friendly with only one or two humans who are familiar to them.

Caregivers are a diverse as the colonies they care for.  They can be any age and gender. Some are affluent but most are not and struggle to feed the numerous cats in their care.  Some of them know every cat and it's history, have given them names and let them come into their homes. Others have no idea how many cats, or which cats, they feed and confine their support to providing shelter and regular feeding.   

Let me tell you about just three of "my" colonies. 

The first colony is in a trailer park.  There are two caregivers that we have met and worked with and there are perhaps forty to fifty homeless cats in the park.  The caregivers have strong bonds with some of the cats and have named them. Other cats come and go, but there is always enough food and the cats can shelter under trailers where there are holes in the skirts.  Both caregivers are couples, working people, and each couple has taken in and adopted one of the kittens born in the park as well as having other cats of their own.  

Most of the cats in this colony are not really feral. It is very common for people living in the trailer park to move away and abandon their pets.  That is what happened to Gypsy, pictured above. This sweet and gentle little girl was spayed and placed for adoption with a family in Amherst.

Midnight was just as lucky. He was separated from his caregiver when she lived in the park through no fault of his or hers.  She had to move away without him, and was delighted when ca-r-ma returned him to her.

Another city colony has as a caregiver a very elderly lady. She feeds the cats on her porch but allows them to come into the house when they want to. Some of them occasionally spend the night and sleep on her bed, but nobody else can touch them.   We trapped and altered five or six cats there and took the kittens that were born before we finished TNR into foster care because it is unlikely the caregiver will be able to look after her colony for their entire lives.   Amongst the beautiful kittens placed for adoption was Opie, a little angel.

One of our favorite country colonies has about 10 cats left although there were 15 when we started TNR two years ago. The caregiver is an elderly lady living alone. She recognizes the cats she feeds, but does not name them.  She adopted one of the kittens born in the colony. All the cats in the colony have been spayed/neutered. One had to be put down because she had a badly crushed leg and it was impossible to treat her because she was feral, and a couple have disappeared as homeless cats are wont to do, but when we deliver food we often see the remaining colony members, fat and sleek, basking in the sun.

FE 2000

Last night the caregivers who had the drop trap in their kitchen caught FE2000, the mother cat and FE 2002, her kitten.  (Don't ask me what happened to FE 2001; Marlah gives me the numbers.) They have been making progress taming the kitten and can now pick him up. They no longer let him go outside and they will adopt him.  The mother cat will stay in after surgery for 24 hours and after that will be able to come in when she wants to. Usually, she comes in at night, and I expect she will spend more time inside as the weather gets colder. Yesterday was the first time I had seen her, but I am convinced she is not a feral cat, just a scared abandoned pet.   Perhaps she will settle in with the caregivers over time or it may be possible to offer her for adoption later.

The First Archie

On a summer evening in '07 David and Marlah went trapping at a colony out in the country.  They watched the cats come and go and were pleased to trap two adults and a small kitten, perhaps 9 or 10 weeks old.   David also saw another kitten about the same size, hanging back, probably intimidated by the larger cats. 

The next day the cats went to the vet, were spayed/neutered and had their left ears notched to indicate they are altered.  I had been away on business but got home in time to go with David to release them back into the colony.

When the traps were opened the two adult cats sped away.  David took the trap that contained the kitten out of the van and carried it to the area near the house where food is placed. He held the trap high and looked at the kitten.

"He doesn't look feral" he said.

"He looks like a kitten, Dave" I replied, "But we are not taking kittens in just because they are there. He's very close to being too old to tame and he must have a mamacat here in the colony; he will be fine with her. You know it's a good colony and the cats are well fed and have lots of shelter."

"I don't know." David said "I don't want to let him go.  Let's see if I can touch him."

"No. Don't." I protested.  Even a small feral kitten can do quite a job on an unwary hand and David has the scars to prove it. He's been to the doctor several times for antibiotics, but he persists in trying to rescue every kitten he sees.

Ignoring me, David lifted the trap high, released the lock and pushed his hand inside.   I expected the kitten to hiss and spit, and probably bite and apply his claws if the hand got too close.   To my astonishment and David's delight, the kitten done none of that. It rubbed against David's hand and started to purr.   

We took the kitten home, of course, and named him Archibald which quickly became Archie. When we handled and examined him we realized his claws had been clipped.   This was a bit of a mystery. I spoke to the caregivers but they did not remember seeing any kittens and they certainly had not clipped any claws. I spoke with the people at Maritime who had done the surgeries, but I knew before I asked that they would never have clipped the claws of a feral animal.   The only explanation is that some very cruel person had adopted the kitten, clipped it's claws, then abandoned it in a feral colony full of strange adult cats.  His chance of survival was almost nil, so Archie was very lucky that David took a chance on him. 

Next evening, Marlah and I went to the colony as spend several hours watching and counting the cats, but we did not see the other kitten.

Archie remained grateful for his rescue and developed a very sweet and loving personality. He was also very pretty with promise of being a handsome cat some day. David found it very hard to offer him for adoption.  When an adopter was chosen, he was concerned because she was a young woman and only agreed to part with Archie when the adopter's parents came forward to say they would care for him in the event she was not able to.

Here is photo of the first Archie along with one of the current Archie. 

Archie I

Archie II 

We have stayed in touch with the adopter of the first Archie, and she provided photos of him as an adult. What a handsome cat he grew up to be!

Just When I Thought I'd Seen It All

You never know with trapping. Ingenuity and inventiveness are necessary: after all, you are trying to outsmart a cat.

Sunday night David and I set a drop trap in the very nice well-appointed kitchen of a couple who live in central Moncton.  I've set snap traps inside a house before, but this was my first time to set a drop trap that will stay there for several days.

The couple in question contacted ca-r-ma because they have been feeding a female cat and her kitten.  There are racoons in their area and they wanted to make sure the cat and her baby could get the food without attracting the coons so they started to feed them inside their house. The cats can come in, eat and then leave when they want to.  Over time they have begun to spend more time indoors but their hosts cannot touch them. A litter pan has been set up, the kitten uses it well and the female most of the time.  When we went to set up the trap the kitten was asleep on a chair in the kitchen. He woke up but did not leave. His foster mom has been trying to tame him and he will now eat from her hand. When I dangled my keys near him he came over to sniff curiously and got within an inch of my fingers.  I know he can be tamed and the caregivers will likely adopt him as a pet.

I wish I had photos of these animals.  The mother cat is a very pretty dark tortie and the kittens is just beautiful. He (presuming gender based on appearance) is orange with mid-length fur and white paws and bib.   I will try to get pictures when they are trapped.

The plan is for the caregivers to place the cats' food inside the trap, which is tied open, and next Sunday night they will drop the door and catch them.   They work shift work, but both are off on Monday so they will be there for the cats when they get back from surgery. Mama cat will be able to stay in overnight in order to recover and since she comes in at night to sleep the cold should not bother her too much. If all goes well the kitten will remain indoors and never go out again.    Perhaps even the mother will eventually become tame enough to be an indoor cat and either stay with the caregivers or be adopted.  

Archie and Hunter Today

I estimate the boys are about 14 weeks old now. The photos clearly show Archie's little folded-in front paws. He can grab things between them but there is no strength to his grip. He waddles around quite quickly, loves to be held and petted and has a great purr.   Hunter is a slim handsome guy, a deep rich orange with a triangular-shaped head, large ears and a long tail. He is nervous of strangers but very friendly with me. He will roll on his back to get his tum tickled and will purr whenever he is petted. He does not care to be picked up, but will tolerate it quite well and even purr so long as you don't try to hold him for too long.  Hunter seems to understand Archie's limitations and does not try to tussle with him, but he loves to play with toys. Both kittens are Whiskas treat addicts.  Second x-rays of Archie's feet were taken and sent to AVC, but nothing has come back yet.   The boys are almost ready for adoption.

Final Trapping?

"This could be the last time, this could be the last time, may be the last time, I don't know..."

Tuesday night Cathy and I went back to the colony where we got Archie and Hunter.  We took the drop trap and set it on the caregivers' deck where the cats are normally fed.  The caregivers were not home. Shadow, a beautiful shiny black cat that the caregivers rescued when she was a kitten, watched us intently through the patio door.  The grey male we previously altered watched us too, not coming too close, but crying plaintively because he had not been fed that day.  He is only semi feral and Cathy and I have both been able to touch him in the past.

We got into the van and started the waiting process.  It was not long before a large beige and white cat appeared. He circled the trap just once then walked in as if he knew the way. I waited a few minutes, hoping other cats might be attracted by the sound of him devouring the feast of sardines, but no other cats appeared except the grey, who circled the cage cautiously and tried to reach the fish with a paw through the wires.  

I dropped the door and we bailed out of the van quickly. Cathy got a transfer cage and I brought the flashlight, my camera and a blanket.  Inside the cage, the cat was doing acrobatics trying to free himself. I wanted to get a photo of him hanging from the top with all four paws, but he was becoming so upset that I stopped taking pictures and helped to get him into the transfer cage.  The only good shot I got was this one:

Once he was in the transfer cage and we shined the light on him, we could see the notch in his left ear.  A small, neat slit that means he is altered.   We opened the cage and he was off like a shot into the night.

We stayed until after 9.  We saw several cats, and some of them spent time inspecting the trap. One even went part way in to eat the fish offered just inside the door, but backed out without fully entering. We saw the black cat whose tail we amputated earlier this year, looking sleek and healthy. We saw the orange tuxedo that Marlah and I brought in with a wound on his neck, completely healed and looking good.   There was another black cat, this one with a tail, that Cathy and I trapped a few weeks ago, and at least two orange males we are quite sure we also already altered. 

Finally we decide to give up and go home. We are not actually sure there are still any un-altered cats in this colony, but the colony has certainly increased since the man next door moved.  From the old man's place, at least eight cats have joined this colony, bringing the total being fed from four or five to twelve or thirteen. Two cats were euthanized and I have the two kittens in foster care. 

Is this the last trapping for this year?   Will  I trap again next year?   Good questions, and only time will tell.