Feral #53 & #54: Lil' Fuzzy & Cork

Cooler weather has made several of the unfixed cats we know about a bit more regular to the yard. So we set off to try and catch whoever we could.

"Lil' Fuzzy"

Long hair seems to be gaining ground in the gene pool of feral cats in our area. We believe this little guy is from a litter that Wine Bottle Face had this spring.

"Cork"

We gave this cat the name Cork because we believe he is a sibling to Wine Bottle Face. He is easy to identify at a distance because his markings (on his right side) look like the continent of Africa.

 

Feral #52 Mr. Clean

We are always hoping to trap females over males, and regular colony members over roaming cats, so this TNR is everything we didn't hope for, but we'll take it over a completely failed trapping attempt.

"Mr. Clean"

We have had several unfixed cats show up recently. We've recorded them and have been working on getting them used to eating out of our traps to make things easier on trapping night.  This just didn't work for us on our most recent evening fishing, only one of our new regulars showed up and then he/she wasn't interested in going into the trap for the bait food. We almost gave up for the night, but then this random stranger sauntered in. We have never seen him before, but he seemed comfortable around the other cats. He figured out the trap faster than most of the other male cats we've fixed, and actually went right in. 

As for his name, we have discovered over the years that the feral cats in the colony have a distinct odor. Every morning after a successful trapping when we go to the garage to get the cat to take to the vet there is a very unique stink in the air. It happens every time, but it didn't this time. We noticed it when we opened the door this morning and we noticed it on the drive home in the afternoon after picking him up. This was the first vet-to-home transfer that didn't require driving with all the windows down (regardless of weather).  So Mr. Clean has somehow avoided The Feral Smell.

Feral #51 Wine Bottle Face

Feral #51 is a young female we call Wine Bottle Face. Her distinct face markings make her easy to spot at a distance.

"Wine Bottle Face"

When this little lady first showed up, we thought she was already fixed. Her white-tip ears really got us. We joke that perhaps the cats are evolving to have ears that look tipped to begin with, making it harder for us! Unfortunately, we were unable to trap her before she had a litter of kittens. We are actively trying to trap all of them. Some nearby construction has attracted a plethora of new cats to the area. The vacant lot and freshly dug up dirt makes for the neighborhood's largest litter box.

Ferals #49 & 50: Mr. Cheekers

Feral #50: The Cat, The Myth, The Legend....Mr. Cheekers! 

Here's a fella that has been hanging around for awhile and finally became consistent (and helpfully friendly) enough to trap.

"Mr. Cheekers"

Mr. Cheekers showed up very early in 2021. He was so skinny that his ribs and spine were visible. This made his jowls especially pronounced, hence his name. Over the spring and summer, we'd see him from time to time and he started to look healthier. We assume he was taking his share of the bait food we use to attract new cats to the yard. As the months got chillier, he became very regular in the early mornings, but never in the evenings, when we typically trap. 

He was never very skittish, but like most of the cats, he wasn't exactly friendly either.  One day he decided he wanted to be pet though, and after that he kept coming back for a good jowl scratching. This was the key to trapping him. We were hoping to catch one of the new unfixed females one evening, but were having no luck attracting any unfixed cats and it was getting dark when he stopped by, so it was his turn.  He did not want to go into the trap for food, but some petting and slow movement of the food bowl into the trap while he was eating convinced him to go in.  With a tiny pat on the butt, he was all of the way in, and we closed the door.  He hasn't trusted us since.  

And with that, we reach a milestone.  Mr. Cheekers is the 50th cat from this colony we've had spayed or neutered.  Unfortunately, he's probably not the last.  🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈

Feral #49:  Unnamed and not pictured.  

We're discussing feral #49 second in this post, because this feral has not joined the list of fixed colony members.  Feral #49 was a solid grey/blue cat that we trapped shortly before Mr. Cheekers.  Unfortunately, like feral #31, this cat had an exceptionally bad case of FORL and would have had to have all of its teeth pulled.  As this is a feral cat, the vet recommended euthanasia instead, and we agreed. 

Feral #47 & #48 + COVID

These two siblings have been on our radar since the end of 2019, however, just as we were ready to start trapping for the season in 2020, COVID-19 became widespread and everything came to a sudden halt. 

"My Buddy"

 

"Kid Sister"

Needless to say, our plans were a bit derailed, but eventually things started to open back up.  At that point though, the unfixed cats had stopped wandering into our yard due to some intense, summertime landscaping nearby.   It took awhile for them to remember that we existed as a food source once that obstacle cleared up, but we did managed to trap and fix one cat in 2020.  "My Buddy" was neutered on November 6th.  

He's the first cat in the colony to have fused toes (a form of Syndactyly), which makes him unique.  He's also the most relaxed feral we've ever met, which makes him extra unique.  The vet had the same opinion of his odd demeanor.  Nearly all the cats in the colony are unapproachable.  Occasionally though, one warms up and decides we are OK.  "My Buddy" likes hanging out, and really appreciates a good chin scratch!

None of this uniqueness applies to his sister.  Although, she is one of few cats to come running over at feeding time with no hesitation the day after their big adventure to the vet.  The days are getting longer, and it finally warmed up enough for us to trap her.  She was spayed on February 22nd.  Good thing too.  It is definitely mating season, and the roaming males (the jowly, unfixed ones we often only ever see once), have been performing evening operas the last couple of weeks.  We know there's at least one more female we need to fix at the moment (that at least sometimes comes through our yard), so wish us luck on our next fishing expedition! 

Feral #46

This is the latest in the year we have ever tried to trap. It is harder to trap in the cold months with less light and less cat activity, but we felt like we had to try trapping this girl.

"Injured One"

This poor cat suffered from some sort of severe skin irritation. We can't be sure if her condition was some sort of severe dermatitis from an allergic reaction to something or if it was a type of autoimmune disease. Originally we thought she had been attacked by an animal, car, or human.  One entire side, and only one side, looked like she had been shot at by a pellet gun. However, we've tracked her and tried to trap her for almost a year since that first sighting, and the condition only worsened during that time. So, we knew something else was wrong. We knew it was unlikely to be contagious too, as no disease matches this skin condition (we did do a photo consult at one point to get a second opinion), and all of the other cats are healthy. She always had seeping, open wounds all over, and always moved as if in extreme pain. Somehow she made it through a pregnancy in late summer this year, and we're not really sure how. A little over a week ago she finally started coming to our yard for food and hanging out there (after never being in the yard previously) and she would desperately eat. So we were finally able to trap her. Seeing her up close for the first time was even more heart-breaking. The picture above was of the "good" side, and the other side was like something out of a horror movie. When we got her to the vet, we immediately asked their professional opinion to see if it matched with what we thought should be done. It was almost instant: she should be put down. There would be no way to treat her for whatever condition she may have, and it would be cruel to release her to continue to live in this state.

Finally, we'd like to emphasis that no other cats in the colony display signs of this affliction or any other chronic disease (at most, they occasionally pass around a mild head cold).

Feral #45

We've been trying to catch this girl for what feels like a very, very long time. She only comes into the utility easement, and if we are there to watch, she just stares at us. Stone-cold stare-down.

 "Starey"

Starey is another trapping that was only successful thanks to our Blink camera. Whenever we set up the trap and she comes around, she never goes in. She just sits outside of it and stares at us. And she knows if we are watching through the fence slats.  With the camera in place, she didn't think we were watching. She went right into the trap with no hesitation.

Of all of the mature cats we have trapped, Starey is the first one to poop in the trap over night. Some of the very young cats have, but they drop it on one end of the cage and then spend the rest of the time on the other end. Starey ended up covered in hers. It was disgusting. We transferred her to a clean cage and the vet bathed her after she went under anesthesia.

She has had at least one litter that we know of in the past, but we assume there have been more (we've seen her pregnant more than once, but could only verify kittens once). Thankfully there will be no more from her in the future!