I must be a cat magnet or something.

[CosmosMomma]

I Was shaking my cat's treat bag to lure him out of my bedroom, and i heard a meow outside. Went out to get the cat thinking it was the upstairs neighbors kitten. Nope, it's a DIFFERENT cat. This time an obviously well taken care of tabby cat. ;-; I wanna keep all the kitties.

I put a fleece blanket in my cat's carrier and sat it on the balcony for the kitty. He's obviously someone's pet, because he's plump and friendly. I'd keep him if it wasn't for 1) He doesn't like my cat (two male cats, even though they're both fixed, not happening), and 2) He's someone's baby like Dizzeh is mine.

Why must they tease me? D:

 

[Imbrium]

shake the bag more quietly?

I've had two strays move into my garage (the door is broken and won't close all the way, leaving just enough space for a cat to wriggle under)/back yard in the last few months... at first, I thought they were neighbors' cats that were just wandering (because I only saw them in the back yard at that point), but then I noticed that the orange and white one was looking scary thin. I felt so bad for him that I went out and bought a big bag of cat food and started feeding them - he's looking SO much better now and is actually starting to let me get within 10 feet of him. (the other one is still super scared of me, but I see him lurking just the other side of the garage door when I go out to put food in the driveway)

we have a feral cat coalition here - http://www.sanantonioferalcats.org/ - that has a TNR program (trap/neuter/release) that I'm looking into. looks like it would only cost me $20 per cat to get them fixed and vaccinated and if I take a class, they'll loan me humane traps to catch them with. I figure $40 to make sure the cats that adopted me don't make more cats is a pretty sweet deal.

 

[CosmosMomma]

Awe you're so nice Jenn(ifer). Those kitties are lucky they wandered into your backyard.

I'm not sure this fella is owned by someone really as much as taken care of. His coat is shiny, he's a cuddle bug, and he's not very thin. I want to say "plump" but I'll say he has a good amount of body fat on him. He's a big boy though probably about 10lbs. Unfortunately I went to pick him up while he was in my cat's carrier, and did something to my back lol

 

[Imbrium]

I'll feed pretty much anything that shows up at my door looking hungry, lol. kitties, a tiny little white possum, some raccoons (that I found out were on the back patio because they terrified the crap out of my cat for some reason and she was throwing an absolute FIT... which was also how I knew it was dinner time for them each day ). it's not the animal's fault if they've been dumped or if we've turned their home into suburban sprawl, after all. just 'cause I didn't *choose* to have them doesn't mean they should starve, so I'll put out some kibble for 'em.

 

[LakeCondo]

Maybe it's the catnip in your pockets that attract them.:dunno

 

[MiniLopHop]

I have the same tendency to feed anything that wanders in looking hungry. We have bird feeders too. Two years ago we had a couple really big snow storms back to back so there was almost 4 feet of snow on the ground. We had a big bag of bird food that we just got and it was on our back porch, which is covered. Four deer wandered in and ate the bag. They were so thin we just took pictures and let them eat it all.

 

[CosmosMomma]

Yeah, Brandy, I'd do the same. I'm such a sap when it comes to animals. They just look at me with those big eyes and I melt. Boy cat was in our apartment building hallway yesterday, cause It was cold outside and I couldn't bear to leave him, but then he was meowing all night so I had to put him back outside (with a blanket and a box). He's gone now so I'm hoping he went back home.

I'm just like "dammit why do you all have to be so cute?" I CAN'T SAY NO TO CUTE

 

[Imbrium]

the one thing I won't feed is birds. my yard is full of them and they make SO much noise, especially in the spring and summer with all the darn babies... some days, it's enough to actually give me a headache. I'd give anything to make them go away (short of hurting/killing them).

 

[CosmosMomma]

Yeah I don't like birds much, but the only birds I HATE are Gulls. They scare the living sh*t out of me with their dive bombing to get even a single crumb.

 

[whitelop]

We have 5 deer that live on our land and I feed them corn. The deer bed down right on the other side of our fence, so earlier this summer when I bought a bushel of corn and only ate half of it, I fed it to them. I also feed them any corn cobs/husks we have left over. If the hay I have for Foo starts to yellow, I feed it to my chickens and to the deer. Next year I'm going to grow some kind of hay, so I'll let them have some of the hay when I harvest it. That should keep them happy through winter next year.

We have a pond in our back yard that ALL the birds come to. Mostly its the crows and vultures. I have a one footed vulture friend that comes by all the time. There is a blue heron that lands in the pond during the summer and fishes.
I don't tolerate racoons or opossoms because of my chickens, so they get chased off by my dingo dog.

I got two cats because they were strays. Most of our cats have been strays. But my barn cat was a stray and he's one of the best cats I've ever had.

 

[dungeonbunnies]

I laughed at Imbrium's solution to shake the bag more quietly!

At least it's not like the cats here where you risk personal injury by having food or shaking the treat bag! I've been bitten and clawed just trying to train my cats when the rest of the bunch is bootin around. One of my nephews' cats got put out yesterday for clawing my toddler up his back over his bowl of spaghetti-o's!!! You would think we never feed the dang things! We grew up on a farm where people always dumped cats, I've only ever picked up a cat from someone else 3 times in my entire life, and that was because the dump offs had stopped. But we had dogs show up, cats, and a raccooon that lived in the barn and my mom fed it mint oreos when I was a munchkin.

The worst was when someone dropped off a FIV pos cat and it killed off our entire barn cat population of about 35 cats! We were heartbroken!

 

[CosmosMomma]

The boy came back last night, and tonight. I'm officially rehoming him because he's going to keep coming back and I can't keep him. I don't think he's owned by anybody, as I fed him tonight and he eats like he's starved.

 

[CosmosMomma]

The boy came back last night, and tonight. I'm officially rehoming him because he's going to keep coming back and I can't keep him. I don't think he's owned by anybody, as I fed him tonight and he eats like he's starved.

 

[CosmosMomma]

Ugh, I had to put him back outside in the rain. I had him in my apartment hallway, and I went downstairs in shorts to check on him and he attacked my leg, and drew blood. I put him back outside and closed the downstairs door. If he belongs to someone, they can take him back in, if not, idk. -.- I hate when Animals are mean to me.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I'm sorry, he was probably scared and felt trapped. It sounds like he has been on his own for a while and had to learn how to survive. Please be careful with the punctures, cat bites and scrates can get infected horribly. If you don't have a tetnus shot it would be a good idea.

It sounds like he will need a bit of rehabilitation to get comfortable being a house cat. Perhaps a barn would be a better fit?

 

[CosmosMomma]

Yeah I'm not sure what happened. He was really sweet, all cuddly and rubbing against me, then when I stepped down the stairs he went for my leg. Afterward he wasn't even aggressive, it was like it didn't even happen. I hope someone takes him in and loves him properly, to get that out of his system, but unfortunately I refuse to put him with my cat.

I cleaned the wounds, washed them with soap and water and alcohol, and put neosporin and bandaids on for the night.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I wonder if someone has punted him (in a mean way, not just tripping) so he freaked?

I don't blame you, I don't think I would deal very well with an aggressive cat. I hope he finds a safe place.

 

[CosmosMomma]

I wonder that too. I hope not, but I also think he's been fighting cause he had scratches all over his neck where another cat would grab on.

I put a plastic tote outside on the side for him on our porch, with a blanket. If he wants to come back he can cuddle in that to get out of the cold.