When a TNR’d Colony Cat Shows Up With a Collar On

Today was really nice out finally so I decided to go for a run here and check on the feral cat colonies. I have not been able to do that since the new year started and we were hammered with this snow and polar vortex and Chiberia mess. I was also out of town during most of this – I’m a flight attendant and work ended up sending me out all over the country.

Well, today’s run was great. I saw Macario for the first time since he “ran away.”

Macario the outdoor cat was trapped by another colony cat caregiver that I’m friends with in the neighborhood. The cats in her yard are called the Thompson Twins Colony.

She trapped Macario using a humane Tru-Catch trap this past August, 2013.  

She could see there was clearly something wrong with his paw.

After testing at North Center Animal Hospital, that big red thing turned out to be a benign tumor. The vet removed it. Macario’s caregiver had a fundrasier for his $500+ vet bill and we were able to contribute to it.

During his recovery, she noticed that he seemed friendly, and the goal was to get him adopted out or admitted to a no-kill shelter.

But Macario had other plans. One night he dashed out an open door and did not return.

We were worried, but then again, there are a lot of feral cat colonies around here being fed and sheltered so we knew he would be fine. A lot of the cats that I have TNR’d here visit multiple feeding stations regularly and cross-over into other colonies. 

Today I saw Macario for the first time since then. He went right into the open back door of this house and up their back porch, where I was able to get a good picture of him and confirm that this was Macario. So Macario is actually part of the Martino Awesome Colony, where another friend of mine TNR’d six other cats in 2009/2010. He was clearly at home here, and now he was also sporting a green flea collar. Interestingly enough, the black cat I saw inside peeking out at me did not have a collar.  I’ve talked to the people at this house before but at the time, they insisted they were only feeding a few cats. I’ll have to talk them again to make sure that the rest of the cats are spayed/neutered.

I’ve TNR’d multiple outdoor cats in this area that have shown up again sporting some sort of collar. There are a lot of  cats here whose owners allow them in and out of their homes. Or sometimes, the cats become friendlier after being spay/neutered and THEN they are “adopted” by the people who are feeding them. Luckily most people are receptive to getting their pets spayed or neutered once we talk about it, as well as trap-neuter-return for feral cats.