Under my chiminea (ella ella, ay ay ay)
Now that it’s raining more than ever,
Know that we’ll still have each other,
You can stand under my chiminea.
Funny Face and Bouncy Bear share.
Feral Cat Myth #1: Cats Live Short, Miserable Lives Outdoors
Out of all the myths about cats, the myth that feral cats live short, miserable lives outdoors is the one that drives me crazy the most. It is pretty much why I started this blog. This blog chronicles the lives of the feral cat colonies that I TNR, trap-neuter-return, and continue to care for with the help of feeders and caretakers in my community. You can see the stories of the individual colonies by clicking on the links under “Categories” on the right. All of these cats and their colonies have names.
The reason why this myth is wrong is because it is based only on human emotion, and is propagated by humans who know nothing about these cats. They are the people who walk into a room, shout, “You’re doing it wrong!,” and walk out without offering help or an alternate solution. They never tried TNR. They never tried to do anything at all.
Who are we to determine what constitutes a short, miserable life? What is short? What is miserable? Do these people think these cats would rather die than be outdoors?
So enough about these myths, and let’s show the cats that dispel these myths.
I’ve written about Dash before, since he has been in the colony in my yard, the James’ Gang Colony, since being TNR’d in November of 2007. He’s been coming back ever since sporadically, on his terms, for almost six years now. He never lets me get close, but he will stay in my yard now when I open the back door, instead of dashing away like he used to. He doesn’t even feed all the time in my yard, so obviously he finds alternate food sources because he is clearly not starving. He is healthy and free and feral.
This morning I opened the door and found him hanging out under my deck. He was hard to see at first as he was in the shade. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing, and then realized he was enjoying the catmint. Sometimes I worry (another pesky human emotion that is a waste of time) that the cats are not visiting my yard in the summer, but then I can tell when there must have been a cat party overnight by the freshly trampled catmint plants.
I ran back inside to get Dash a plate of food, put it outside for him, and went back into the house to watch him eat it. But he didn’t eat it, he just turned and walked out of my yard. He is living his life outdoors, as he wants to, as he knows how, doing exactly what he wants to. We should all be so lucky to live our own lives like that.
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Update on Babalu, the Friendly Cat from the Rockstar Colony
Babalu is now fully vetted and available for adoption. His paw is now bandage-free and almost healed thanks to all of you who shared his story, and the amazing donations from rescue friends Trudy, Mary, Eliya, Doug, Bonnie, Erica, Rob, Ella, Rhodri, Mari, Dorota, Colin and Dawn! Your generosity helped cover more than half of Babalu’s $900 vet bills.
Whenever I bring in a friendly cat from a colony to foster, I get them fixed, vaccinated, tested, and whatever else they need. Babalu was clearly comfortable as soon as I bought him inside. He just wanted me to stay and pet him.
He was also clearly hungry.
Normally the cost is around $80-200 per cat after a couple of visits at Tree House’s vet clinic. In Babalu’s case, though, I also brought him in because back paw looked injured. This photo is as close to his back paw as I could get. He did not want to touch it either. It looked infected and filthy.
At Tree House, Babalu tested FIV+, but other than his paw, he is a healthy cat. They referred him to Dr. Castillo over at North Center Animal Hospital. Dr. Castillo also volunteers his vet services over at Tree House.
Dr. Castillo determined that Babalu would need surgery for the paw. Since Babalu was going to be sedated, he also recommended getting his dental work done. Sedation can be difficult and complicated, so I really wanted to get it done for Babalu all at once to avoid putting him through that again. Your donations made this possible!
Babalu ended up losing just a claw, rather than a toe, thanks to Dr. Castillo’s expertise. His dental work also included getting a few teeth pulled. Regardless, he seemed just fine when I brought him home. He obviously was not pleased with the bandage, but at least he left it on.
In the meantime, Beth and Zac, my amazing, animal-loving, animal-rescuing friends, offered to foster Babalu until he can be adopted or admitted into a no-kill shelter!
Here is Babalu showing off his funny ears and enjoying the ride to Zac and Beth’s house. I’ve never seen a cat enjoy car rides so much, even though all of them so far have only been to the vet.
Again, I couldn’t have helped him without all of you!
His feeder said there are a few non-eartipped cats still in his colony, so I’m hoping to continue on with TNR over there soon.
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Babalululu Greets Me On My Morning Runs
Babalululu is a big black and white stray cat from the Rockstar Colony that comes out from a bush to greet everyone and see if they have food for him. What do you think happened next?
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Dude, Last Night Was AWESOME
The boys are sleeping off their hangovers from Caturday.
Look who’s back! It’s been awhile, but today I saw Moby Dick the stray cat napping again at the La Vida Lydia Colony. He’s named that because so far he has eluded every trap I have set for him. In the meantime, Big Boy the orange feral cat was TNR’d two years ago, and I’ve trapped him again with a humane Tru-Catch Trap a few times since while I was trying to get Moby Dick! This community cat colony is on my block, so they visit my yard as well. The people in the house next door came out while I was taking photos and we talked about putting a trap in their yard. They have two little boys that really seem to like cats and asking questions about them. “Why are the cats sleeping?” Because they are exhausted from running around all night. “Do they have bunk beds?” No, but they totally should. They have all kinds of fancy places to sleep in my neighborhood, like cat condos, catios, and Feralvillas, why not bunk beds?
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Pepe le Pew is Easy to Spot Because of His Distinctive White Spots and Swirls
Pepe le Pew suns himself.
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What’s black and white and fed all over?
One of the cats from the Jose and the Pussycats Colony looking to be fed.
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TNR One-Take Video
TommyCat Lee shows up to teach Frostie Mac Creamsicle about Trap-Neuter-Return, TNR, the humane method of managing and reducing the number of feral and stray cats outside.
Frostie Mac is the eighth cat to be TNR’d from the Jose and the Pussycats Colony. TommyCat Lee was already TNR’d in 2012 from the Rockstar Colony.
Frostie Mac Creamsicle (white cat): Tuna? Tuna!
TommyCat Lee (black cat): Tuna! Are you sure it’s not a trap?
Frostie Mac Creamsicle: What’s a trap? Hmm, I don’t think so. Crap!
TommyCat Lee: It’s a trap!
Frostie Mac: What’s a trap?
TommyCat Lee: You’re trapped and next you’ll be neutered.
Frostie Mac: What’s a neuter?
TommyCat Lee: You will be fixed, vaccinated, recovered and then returned.
Frostie Mac: Returned where?
TommyCat Lee: See you here in a few days, buddy.
Frostie Mac: Wait!
TommyCat Lee: Trap-Neuter-Return!
Frostie Mac: Hmm, tuna!
Stay tuned for more tuna!
Linda Riha says: I need TNR, I have several cats that need to be fixed. I will make a donation.
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The TNR of Puffy the Feral Cat
Remember Puffy McWonder Tail? Well, I trapped him Saturday night, and took him to PAWS Chicago for his TNR Treatment on Sunday.
I named him well, because he was pissy, hissy, huffy and puffy the entire time. He would not stop lunging or growling every time he heard me or saw me peek under the cover of his trap. PAWS’ Lurie Spay/Neuter Clinic was filled with rambunctious dogs, and Puffy was not fazed. You could hear him growling the entire time.
Here he is after being recovered from his neuter surgery, and he clearly wants out.
He even managed to get an extra lunge at me when I released him back into my yard.
I love it when the cats act like that because there’s no question to return them back outside. That being said, I have seen aggressive male cats turn into lap cats once the testosterone has completely left their body after the surgery. But in the meantime, Puffy clearly wants to be left alone outside.
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Hmm, Guess Who’s Going to Try to Get Another Layover in Omaha Again Next Month?
I saw this poster at the Holland Center in Omaha last week. I was walking around looking for a Subway that still had a veggie patty in stock. This turned out to be pretty difficult.
Anyways, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the Popovitch Comedy Pet Theater perform before on Letterman. This would be a fun layover again if I can get it next month. All of the animals in this show are from rescues.