Cats!

[owl]

Smudge, the cat in the icon, spent half an hour today in a tree, meeping piteously, before he worked out how to get down again. He has the funniest little miaow, and sometimes he opens his mouth and no sound comes out.

There is a house 1/2 a mile down the road with 2 cats, and the lady had to go into a nursing home. I think the neighbour feeds them, but the little female has got very thin, so we brought it up to the house and fed it until we were afraid it would burst. We thought our cats would beat it up, but when Muffin came in the lady cat yowled and howled and hissed. He wasn't too bothered by her, but we didn't let them get within clawing distance. It's a shame she's so annoyed by him, because before that my ma was wanting to keep her. But she doesn't have the time to separate three fighting howling furballs all the time.

We took Pretty back to her own house in our boys' cat transport-cage thing, with a pile of dried food to keep her happy. She ate all the way (in the car), and when my mam tried to release her, she stuck her claws into the side of the box and wouldn't get out. Poor kitty, I wish we could keep her. She's very loving and lets us all stroke her even though we're practically strangers.

Comments

[frankie-ecap.livejournal.com]

That's a very cute cat in the icon.

[owl]

Yes, isn't he? He has an all-black face and white whispers, and when he's in dim light you can't distinguish his eyes cos they're black too.

[lyansidde.livejournal.com]

The kitty in the picture is adorable.

As a person who in the course of the last 18 years has introduced 12 different stray cats to each other, I can tell you that it is probable that the fussing and fighting would only last 1-2 days. The resident cat or cats express their displeasure, the newcomer asserts that he is not afraid of them, and so it goes. Then, when the residents see that you are fond of the new kitty, one by one they will make peace and/or tolerate each other, as long as the food and the pats are divided fairly. I have never had a cat who did not acclimate in a few days (this does not mean feral cats, those are a whole different story). 9 of the 12 are still with me, ranging in age from 3-12 years old. The other 3 have gone on to their reward, but lived in the clowder till the last.

Cats are actually amazingly tolerant, if sufficient food is available. They are not pack animals like wolves and dogs, so they each stake their claim to a portion of the territory and share the rest. Instead of pack dominance, cats are situationally dominant, one will be first to the food bowl, another will have the prime spot on the best couch, another the first choice of laps, and so on and so forth - they work it out among themselves, and you live with their decisions.

Anyway, you are good to feed and care for the abandoned cats. One of mine was abandoned in a similar way, as the result of an owner's illness, and another by the death of the owner.

[owl]

Yah, I'd noticed that Smudge (the one in the icon) gets first go at the food, while Muffin, the tabby, owns everyone's laps. Smudge will only jump up on us if we're wrapped in a particular blanket that he lies on.

[elerrina-amanya.livejournal.com]

What do you mean, "we"? I think you'll find, if you think back carefully, that it was Mummy and I who walked down twice to feed her, Mummy and I who carried her home, me who fed her, Mummy who drove the car back, me who had hands stinking from cat food for hours after dropping bits into the box... =)

[owl]

It was a corporate we.

[elerrina-amanya.livejournal.com]

Yeah...but you weren't part of that particular corporation ;)