Hi Susan!
Nice to see you back. Yes, now I have moved into your area of the animal kingdom, or at least I am trying.
Heidi Chronicles - Just Hanging Out Until Spring
Hi Sharran,
Thanks!
As for the Fancy Feast Medleys. Kitty loves it. Last night for the 1st time ever, she growled at one of the kittens over it. She is still helping them and taking care of them and is more than willing to share her food, just not the Medleys or at least not last night.
I just wanted to clarify about the difference because I've been saying it's like tuna, and anyone out there who uses regular Fancy Feast will say, "no it's not." Just getting to the facts.
Nice to see you.
Ruth (do you prefer we not call you Ruth now?),
I don't mind at all if you (plural) call me Cheryl. It was the username that caused me concern. I figure finding 'a' Cheryl in the city of Charleston is like the needle in the haystack issue. So, no worries with the 1st name.
Well, things are going less than smoothly already. I checked on phone numbers for animal control only to find that there are a 1/2 dozen or more animal controls related to charleston. For starters there's one for Charleston, one for the City of Charleston, and one for Charleston County. I fit in all of those catagories, so I guess it's a matter of who she called. I called the Charleston office. Voice mail. Left a message. Guess I will call the others and leave messages all over town. I also called the SPCA to cancel.
Kitty wasn't at the front door when I took Widget out this morning. Even though she is only here in the mornings occasionally, still I was disappointed.
We had a heavy frost covering the ground at 7:30 when Widget and I went out. It almost looked like that thin dusting of snow we get every decade or so. Widget has never seen snow and I doubt he has seen frost. He didn't want any of that. He barely got his feet off the walkway to water the ground. Then he was ready to go back inside.
As we were walking back through the house and right when I was about to turn the corner to go in my room, I saw through a window a lower limb of the camellia by the backdoor move just a little. I stopped dead in my tracks. Could that be Kitty by the back door? After all, I usually let Widget out the back door in the mornings. Could she be waiting for us there? It seemed like a long shot, but then there was no sign of a breeze in the backyard, nothing to move the camellia branch.
I went to the back door, opened it, and called Kitty. She didn't materialize. I looked over by the camellia but didn't see her. I let Widget out just in case he needed to run around out back. When he took off after something in that bouncy way, I knew it was Kitty. I gave her some more cat food and a can of regular Fancy Feast (on top to flavor it). She was a little skittish but she came to me and let me pet her. She mostly ate the good stuff and left the cat food. I didn't see the kittens.
To have only eaten that tiny 3oz or so, she must not have been all that hungry. Or is that the normal size breakfast for a cat that is well fed?
I was just happy to see her still here at 'home' despite our run in yesterday with the crate.
Ok, BAD news!
I just spoke with an animal control officer. 1st of all it seems like no one knows what is going on. No one can seem to confirm for me that they are or are not trapping cats here today. But the news gets worse, much worse. Amazingly, if animal control traps Kitty under the new trap and release program, then it's all over. I can't adopt her. They will spay her and release her 'probably' back where the picked her up, but apparently there isn't even a guarantee on that. Argh!
If I want to adopt her, I have to catch her myself and catch her before they do. Is that crazy or what? I tried to tell the guy that I can feed her and pet her and she sits beside me on the bench and I can hold her, etc but that I'm having difficulty getting her in the crate because she is scared. Then he told me to try to trick her so she doesn't know she's going in the crate or coax her into a large box and tape her up inside or wrap her in a towel and then shove her in the crate. Why do I have the impression that this guy hasn't done this before, at least not with a semi-feral, adult cat?
She doesn't 'trick' easily. She is pretty smart and street savvy. Seeing how fast she got out of that crate last night, I sincerely doubt I could get all 4 flaps of a box closed before she gets out. And the towel thing? I've got a couple of Egyptian cotton towels that are almost an inch thick, but I doubt even they would stop Kitty's claws from getting through, and that's not to mention the fact that a cat wrapped in a huge, thick towel like that will never fit through the door of the crate!
Looks like I will need to run out to Lowe's and get a trap big enough for her and try to trap her myself and hope for the best. It's either that or let her in the house, but I'm afraid to do that considering I can't catch her right now to put her back out again if necessary.
I wish we were neighbors, I'd lend you my trap! Put sardines in it--they're nice and stinky, moreso than tuna. They can't resist it. Good luck....saying a prayer...
Cheryl... when you get a minute of free time... i know some days it's hard to come by. *wink*
new thread please... we dont want to lose anyone.
So sad you were not able to get/trap Ms Kitty.
I certainly hope and pray that if she is captured and 'fixed' they will return her to your neighborhood.... unless Gladys had requested otherwise... I certainly would not put that passed her, especially with you stating you wanted to adopt her.
Our animal shelter rents traps cheaper than you can buy them--might want to check with yours.
Ok, Folks, we are moving to a new thread here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1073171/
Sorry. With all that was going on, I honestly forgot all about my promise to change threads earlier. Many thanks to Terese for reminding me as it's hard to say how long this thread might otherwise have grown.
So, THE END!!!
Please go to http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1073171/
for the continuation of our story and discussion. Don't forget to mark the new thread. Hope to see everyone there!