Maxfield made a full recovery from his neck wound and checked out of my feral recovery lounge today.

I finally was able to get a decent photo of him when I transferred him back into the trap from the crate today. He was aggressive and growled the entire time, which means he’s feeling a lot better.

Just look at him! Look at that face! That glower! I love him and the feeling is not mutual. Feral as F**k. My favorite kind of cat, and why my TNR obsession started. Sometimes they still need our help, but we’ve failed them so much. They still deserve dignity, but we don’t deserve their gratitude in return.

He cleaned up his face and started grooming, which is also a good sign. His face was banged up and he was sniffling last week. He was getting bored in the crate as I found it trashed every morning. He would use the litterbox, but then shred the puppy pads and pull in any towels covering the trap and crate.  It was time for him to go back out.

George from Chicago TNR picked him up. She had five other cats in her Feral Mobile to return back to various sites.

These two cats were going back with Maxfield to their site in West Englewood. They are most likely siblings or offspring of Maxfield. Same glower. Same long hair. Same feral stare.

At least these guys weren’t wounded. We have no idea how Maxfield was injured, but I’m so thankful that George trapped him in time to treat it.

This handsome brown tabby boy from another site is pretty friendly, and George was bringing him back to a south side feeder who is willing to work with him for socialization, and possible placement into a no-kill shelter in the future.  This orange guy is very friendly and George is trying to get him into a foster home.

He’s friends with this other orange guy, who’s a bit more feral.

If anyone is interested in fostering these cats or other friendly cats from our TNR projects, please contact me at [email protected]

Godspeed, Maxfield, and all of you beautiful feral creatures!

Maxfield discovered the upper “bedroom” level of his feral recovery lounge a day after I set him up in the crate.

He is recovering from a deep neck wound treated since last week. He’s supposed to be kept confined at least 7-10 days to make sure infection doesn’t set in. So far he’s doing great in the lounge, but still acting very feral. So, I can’t get a better photo of him than this. He’s a really beautiful long-haired grey and white cat.

All cats in the recovery lounge end up sleeping on the upper level, thank goodness. The litter box is on the lower level, and the attached trap has all of the food and water he needs.

Maxfield is still acting absolutely feral towards both me and Jim. He tries to bolt, strikes out aggressively, and growls and hisses at us the entire time. It’s pretty awesome. I absolutely adore feral cats like that as they are letting us know with certainty that they want to be free outdoors. They are why I started TNR in the first place – to stop the feline overpopulation crisis, and to let feral cats live their lives outside with dignity, caring for them when they want it, on their terms. I’m out of town for work this weekend and Jim is caring for Maxfield, making sure his crate is kept clean with fresh puppy pads and newspapers, the litter box is cleaned out, the dry cat food and water dishes are refreshed, and he gets all of the wet cat food with Lysine that he needs.

Maxfield has some diarrhea which seems induced by stress only so far, and a very good appetite. Hopefully he will be ready to be returned back to his colony site in West Englewood this week.

Maxfield was trapped in Englewood this week and brought into PAWS Chicago’s clinic for their TNR package. They found a horrific wound on his neck.

Georgie from Chicago TNR and Cynthia trapped about a dozen cats in this particular alley so far. Maxfield was one of them, and the clinic discovered his injury while under anesthesia for his TNR surgery.

This was most likely caused by an abscess from a bite wound. Per his paperwork, there was crusted hair over the wound, so they cleaned it up.

Then he was given a shot of Convenia antibiotics to offset infection, and they recommended recovery for 7-10 days. PAWS Chicago performed this medical service free of charge. They are the only vet clinic in the Chicago area who offers this to colony cat caregivers and we are all so thankful to have this resource in the city.

I offered to recover Maxfield for George as soon as I saw his injury. Her foster room is currently occupied with a friendly cat from the same alley that she is trying to place into a rescue.

A few years ago my friend, Dave H., gave me a dog crate that attaches to a trap to safely recover feral cats that need to be confined for an extended period of time. Dave invented this set-up and we call it the feral cat recovery lounge. It’s become to be an invaluable resource for several cats I’ve recovered.

Once you attach the trap to the crate, you cover the whole set-up and allow the cat to freely move from one end to another. The food is kept in the trap so that it is easy to get the cat to re-enter the trap for transport later.

Maxfield settled right in. As soon as I attached the trap to the crate, he bolted into the crate. He decided to wedge himself next to the litter box, and hasn’t moved much since.

He hisses, growls, and bolts so far, all signs of feral behavior. He seems a bit congested, so I’ve been adding Lysine to his wet food. His appetite is good – he’s been eating the wet and dry food as soon as I leave. Because the outside temperature is pretty mild, I am keeping him in the garage with plenty of blankets and a heater to keep warm. The crate and trap are elevated off the floor with blocks of wood for circulation and so they are not just sitting on the cold croncrete floor. Nonetheless, we don’t want him too warm because we want him to keep his winter coat.

He’s doing well and I am hoping tonight he will explore the crate more. There is a second level just above his head where there’s a soft bed for him to sleep and recover.

I will keep all of you posted on his road to recovery within the next week. I’d like to thank George and Cynthia for saving his life, for PAWS’ providing his medical care, and for Jim’s help caring for him while I’m out of town for work.