Marti, I wish to you everything good in life.....

Marti, I cannot resist a cat with it's tongue sticking out.

I have found during the last few yrs that you can tell if Shorty is really relaxed by his tongue sticking out. That tells me he is happy and relaxed. With Ginger it is to find her lying on her back. Troubles tells me with his sleepy eye look that he is relaxed and happy. Chilia will be found lying on her favorite log in the garden in the sun and asleep. They each have their own way of letting me know when they are happy and relaxed.
Mary Jane would be found curled up or lying on her back on the bed with a grin on her face.

LOL, speaking of cat grins, or laughing?

Yes! hehehehehe, that one is smirking....

I agree with the smirk!!

LOL, I told her (Lulu) she had to laugh at my jokes if she wants to continue to have tuna breath and all the other fine things in her 9 lives.

You're an awesome person! Cheers!

GrannyMarie said:So sorry to hear of your horrible vet experience, Keith.

We have six outside cats. When we first moved to Ohio (from NJ) 3 yrs ago we rented a house for one year and inherited the cat who lived under our porch....



.....who ended up being pregnant and so (the short version....) we now have six







Since we started feeding the Momma when we found out she was pregnant (I know, we're a soft touch) we felt responsible for her and her brood when we purchased a house the following year. So we got them all 'fixed' and they made the moved with us. We're up on a big hill with forest around us so they are living the good life. The first winter my DIL (she's the talented one in the family) made them a winter house out of a big insulated cardboard box (even had a little awning for the food bowls) on the back deck. It worked great but as expected when winter thawed and the snows melted the house collapsed from the melt. But it served it's purpose that first winter.



The following year she built them an insulated cat house with a roof to match the roof of our house. She made it two stories and it has an entrance/exit hole in the front and back. At first we added hay inside but it got too hot for them so we took it out and it was perfect. In the Spring and Summer we keep the lid open. They love it and are very comfortable.

I've got one feral friend, he's pretty important to me. The 4 indoors stand in line behind him come breakfast. I can't afford the whole neighborhood so I pull his bowls when he's finished. He comes back and hangs out on the porch when he's due for a refill. The really bad days of Winter scared me but he's street-smart and knows where the love is. He's enjoyed the indoors and foot of the bed goodness, hope to snag him before the good months go bad...

He's one content looking fella, Wes!

Have you given him a name, Wes? He looks like a Gulliver to me! Really cute.

cliftoncat said:Have you given him a name, Wes? He looks like a Gulliver to me! Really cute.

"Gulliver" would be quite fitting! He has his "travels" for sure.

He's funny. Sleeps on the porch, sleeps in the mulch, sleeps under two hedgerows. Depends on the day and the weather...and his mood! He hears fresh food hit the bowl and sleeps another few hours. My indoor cats alert me when a "rogue" visits the porch. It's funny!

I call him "Buddy" or "Buddy cat" for now. He doesn't just come for food, he seems to enjoy acceptance and my two (edited) indoor Tomcats that spend their days watching Cat TV from the front window/front door windows. There's some odd comradery between them, no violence or acting up. Seems to be a calming effect. They hang out. I sincerely believe he enjoys the non-threatening company of curious similar souls, my cats anxiously await his arrivals. The guys get upset when he doesn't show. They man the post digilent. Funny but I dig it.

This past winter there were 3 and 4 day intervals when he didn't show and the indoor cats paced and meowed for me to open the front door. I'd had him indoors but his vet costs cut into blood work I needed done and he was spraying. Had to let him go but I hate it. I felt so guilty every day I thought he'd perished. My rural ferals didn't travel far, city cats are different.

Jackson Galaxy might disagree but I think he'd get along with his window pals after a vet visit and a little recovery with my assist? I'm going to try! 30+ years of cats, 3 that lived close to or reached 20. Yeah. Buddy's small and we've got 20lb. males roaming the feral playground. Not much future for him in Catland at 10-12lbs. Gotta catch this guy!

Violence is a large part of his existence. It's essential to survival. He likes the love, he loves the brush. I'll get the kid yet.

Wes, I had a similar situation many years ago - several house cats and a feral who would sit outside the cat flap clearly yearning to get in. He eventually screwed up his courage and charged the cat flap. The house cats screamed in protest, but he wasn't hurting any of them and they soon got used to him. It was three months before he let me stroke him! I called him Geronimo, got him neutered, and he stopped spraying (thankfully!) and lived with us for the next 12 years until he died. Quite good going since the vet said he was at least 8 when I took him to be neutered.
So yes, I think your Buddy should be fine - and once he's neutered he'll be much less inclined to fight. If he already enjoys the foot of the bed, that might suggest he once had a home - and that he really likes you!

I wish I could save them all..................

I wish I could save them all too, they all deserve a loving home. When the stray came around in the beginning my youngest cat yowled at the top
of her lungs. Now as all this time has passed since she just paces and goes window to window looking for it, she knows about the time it is coming, between 8-8:30
it is so comical to watch her pacing and darting around, sometimes one of my other cats does when she sees Lulu doing it. Anyway now they just watch the cat
out the window as it eats and never a hiss or growl.

We flew out to our place in France yesterday to find that one of the ferals has produced three kittens - they're really cute but it's so sad that they won't have proper homes. I put some food out (stocks are really low so I'll have to get some more today) and they were so hungry they came really close, spitting at me bravely as they approached... I'll see if I can persuade them that people are OK; usually if they tame up a bit someone locally will start feeding them.

Oh dear, two more kittens... so it's up to five!

cliftoncat said:We flew out to our place in France yesterday to find that one of the ferals has produced three kittens - they're really cute but it's so sad that they won't have proper homes. I put some food out (stocks are really low so I'll have to get some more today) and they were so hungry they came really close, spitting at me bravely as they approached... I'll see if I can persuade them that people are OK; usually if they tame up a bit someone locally will start feeding them.

The problem is, people are not ok. I always worry about them being too trusting to the wrong person

Kitten number 6 has now joined the club - so I really hope that at least some of them find sympathetic people! Extraordinary, since the mother cat is really small...

We bought a ton of cat food at the hypermarket today and they all ate their fill. Tomorrow my campaign to tame the little ones will begin in earnest. Wish me luck! Unfortunately they are about 10 weeks old already, so it will be an uphill battle...

I found I wasn't the only one enjoying the cool fog this morning.