just a cat

One of our strictly indoor, never been outside cats managed to get out and vanished into the forest next to our house after freaking out. Was last seen deep in the underbrush where we couldn't get him. 
 

I'm trying the old "put their litter box and some food outside" and my wife's currently trying to see if she can borrow a live trap from the local shelter.

Any recommendations as this turned what started out as a nice day into a really E36 M3ty one?

Local shelter suggested not to put the litter box out as it'll attract the wrong animals, and we are now the proud owners of a trap. Let's see if I manage to trap anything but possums. 

When our indoor cats get out, they hide in the bushes and want to come back in fairly soon. Having the door left open whenever possible allows them to run back in when they see the opportunity. Along with the trap, a suitable sized cardboard box left near the brush where he was last seen. Cats love boxes and other (wild) animals don't care so much. At night you can often find twice as many animals as in daylight by shining a light and seeing the glow of the eyes. With calm words you can likely approach your cat in the glow of a flashlight where most other animals will run.

Hopefully morning hunger and the presence of the trap will make quick work of it.

In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks for the additional recommendations. Hopefully I won't have to deploy them next time.

He was in the trap this morning at first light (and had a lot to say about the trap and the horse it rode in on). Right now he's sleeping off his adventure. Seems to be Ok.

Fortunately our vet is dropping by tomorrow for a checkup on another cat so we'll have him checked over, too.

This lttle dude manages to feed pretty well outside. Just wish he didn't bring his prey inside. 
 

We have a local outdoor cat who has discovered there is a Cat Person living in our house. He drops by occasionally in the late evening to get invited inside, have some food and take a short nap. Then he wanders off. We have named him Nigel Mansell as he is a very unmodified male.

Nigel has accepted us and dropped off a dead mouse the other day to thank us for the hospitality. Janel had mixed feelings about this.

This is our friendly neighbourhood cat. Not ours, but he comes by and chats with our 3 through the windows, and sleeps on top of our Excursion on sunny days.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

The mouse probably had some strong feelings about this, too.

One of our past cats liked to stash a fresh snack or three in a specific pair of boots on a regular basis. My wife was less than impressed with his housekeeping skills as she somehow thought they were her boots. 

One of my favorite feral cats, Fluffy,  has a wound by his left eye that is starting abscess. I tried trapping him this morning,  but he left the area. I left the trap there for later.

Later when I checked there was a gray male there that has been fathering some of the recent litters. He usually stays well north of my cat colony and I've never seen him eat with 'my' cats. Trapped now and having his visit with Dr Bill.

Also, I watched Bobbie when she left last night's feeding. Her kittens are now in an old tree house across the street. If they stay there long enough,  I'm going to catch as many as I can. Three observed.

Duke said:

Well, we made the trip to Tennessee over the long weekend, but returned catless.  My BIL sucks at gendering kittens, apparently.

Their semi-feral cat had 3 kittens.  She has since been caught and spayed.  They knew one kitten was a boy, they weren't 100% sure about another (black one), and they were confident this one was a girl.  It was immediately obvious that the black one was a boy, so I figured I should double check the one we were intending to adopt.  Sure enough, also a boy, unfortunately.

They were all pretty nice and we almost considered taking one of them anyway.  But we have 3 females already and we've had bad luck mixing in a single male before.  So, we'll keep our eye out for a female.

In reply to Duke :

We had a house with three girls and a boy for a long time. As always, it comes down to the boy in question. Generally, I've found that the older ladies don't have the patience for a rambunctious boy kitten but when he settles down it's okay.

We're now at two boys and a girl, all adults, and the house is peaceful. Our senior girl is happy that she found a zoom partner in the youngest boy, so the "fast cats" have a lot of fun chasing each other around. Janel wants moar cats! but we are hesitant to upset the balance.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

We've never had luck with a single male, particularly if he is not the oldest / "alpha".  More evenly-mixed groups haven't been a real issue, but we don't have space for 5 cats.

It was a busy cat day. Smokey was trapped, neutered, vaccinated, and released. Our two adopted feral cats Miso and Scout went to the vet for their annual visit. I trapped Fluffy. I set the trap for Bobbie's kittens and was able to approach near the black one while it ate the bait.

Fluffy is comfortably sleeping in a dog crate in my house. He remained pretty calm when I first trapped him. After the initial reaction to the trap dropping he went back to eating the food. He got a little worried when I approached to transfer him to the small trap, but overall he was easy and cooperative.

I just went to talk with him about what's happening tomorrow morning and he fell asleep.

I could have easily trapped the black kitten while it was eating. I decided to wait for a better opportunity to catch two at once or hopefully three, leaving the trap in place for a day or two. We'll call tonight's feeding, building a rapport. Also sequencing the events rather than dealing with too much at once.

I also checked in on Nike. My neighbors are away for a couple weeks and she spends a lot of time on their porch. She's gaining weight still and looks good. I told her about her brother Fluffy, left some Fancy Feast for her, and said goodnight.

I don't want to over-post, but I want to say that Fluffy is back from the vet. He's going to be fine, but his eye is stitched shut. I'm planning to release him in the morning and trap him again in 10 days to have the stitches out.

Doc says he should be safe back in his natural setting after the anesthesia wears off. Trapping him again could be difficult, but I know his routine and he knows me. I think we can do this.

The Kittens? The white one and striped one were at the trap this morning. They seem bigger than the black one. I'm still hoping for three at once.

You're not over-posting: you're doing a kind, complex, labour-intensive thing for a bunch of wild creatures just because you can. Lots of us check this thread daily to see what's up. I mean, the fact that the little things are cute as dammit doesn't hurt, but this is basically just a good-karma-filled place. Thank you.

In reply to Stealthtercel :

Thanks for the kind words. I'll keep updating how things go with the cat colony as anything significant happens. I started a blog a few weeks ago mostly for myself to have an online journal of the cats. There's not much there that isn't already here. https://jonwithcats.blogspot.com

I transferred Fluffy to a soft crate and set it outside this morning. He stayed in it relaxed for about five minutes, then casually walked out.

No luck with kitten trapping today. I didn't see them at all and expect that they moved to another spot. I probably should have taken the shot when I had two in the trap. It's not over. They are still in the area and I'm still watching for them.

Haven't posted about her, but about three.months ago I was given this little three-legged tortoiseshell cat. The son of a friend of my oldest sister's owned her and was moving in with his partner, who is deathly allergic to cats, and somehow my sister's friend thought of me and had my sister asked if I wanted her. She's the most sweet, well-behaved cat I've ever met and everyone falls in love with her 

She looks like a peach!  Very nice girl.

We visited the shelter today and came home with a 3-month old dilute calico girl.  They advertised an orange tabby female, with no picture. Marmalade tabbies are sex linked so females are rare; that's where we always start the search but have never managed to find one.

The orange cat was not actually orange, but while we were looking at who was ready to come home, this little girl was very affectionate and nice. So we took the plunge and brought her home to meet her new family.  So far she seems very happy.

Hellcat and Foxes:

Friday night I had one of the kittens in the drop trap, the striped one. It put up quite a fight and managed to escape as I was getting the transfer carrier set up. That one is now named "Hellcat".

A pair of foxes ran into the neighbor's yard at night while I was trapping there. I chased them away. I suppose they eat helpless kittens, but the adult cats usually keep them away.

Technically, all three 'trapped':

I trapped the other two kittens this morning and am working on socializing them to be with people then finding them homes in the weeks ahead. The two that I have seem like they'll adapt well. I'll still try to catch Hellcat, but she'll be a handful to tame. She may do best as a feral.

The two kittens adapted to life with humans quickly. Cuddly and curious little fluffballs. I'm posting them at a couple local vets, our groomer, Facebook and Petsense to find a home.

I'm just off from a quiet night shift and before my nap trapped Sally and brought her to the vet. I dropped the trap on both her and her sister Sasha, but let Sasha go - her kittens are young and too vulnerable to have her away for long.

Kittens had free run of the house during the day yesterday after a few supervised sessions on Wednesday.  They disappeared in the afternoon and I had to search the whole house to track them down. Una was under a bed. I don't know where 'Patches' was hiding, but found her when she came running out of the bathroom where the litter box is. No progress on finding a home for them.

It's time for Fluffy to have the stitches removed from his left eyelid. Trapping him was easy initially. He went to the bait and ate. I pulled the cord. Trap came down and after a startled jump, Fluffy sat calmly. The problem was that he remained calm and did not try to escape when I had the transfer trap in place. Normally cats run right into it when they see the opening. Finally I reached under the drop trap and grabbed a pinch on his neck. Good for a moment, but as I moved him he twisted away. He trotted away and remained visible - not panicking into hiding. I'll try again tonight. ...and tomorrow.

I had a long talk with Fluffy at this evening's feeding. He's not mad at me. We'll try the trap again in the morning.

Kittens: I joined a couple local Facebook groups for lost & found and adopting pets. There are so many cats and kittens needing a home right now that I don't expect that we will find a family to take Una and Patches.  We are okay with that. They can stay with us, but it means that I am not taking any more into our home unless there is someone already committed to adopt them.

Next up for Spaying is Minnie. She came to feeding last night and this morning. If her kittens are still alive,  they are old enough to be without her for 12 hours.

I'm still trying to trap Fluffy so he can have stitches removed from his eyelid. He will walk around the trap, looking at the food, but not go in ...yet.

Bobbie was trapped and spayed over a month ago. Although I have adopted two of her kittens we can't take any more. She has settled at an old tree house/tree across the street from us. She comes out when I call her and I usually see her remaining kitten, 'Hellcat', nearby. Bobbie has always been an outsider with the other feral cats. They move away and give her space when she's present with them. I've started feeding her and Hellcat at the tree house, separately from the others.

Thomas has been one of my 'every day' cats since I stated feeding the ferals. He's been absent for three days. Not really a long time, but I hope to see him back soon.

A Typical Evening Feeding:

 I walk through the gate. Boot watches me from the edge of the pond. Down the hill Sasha, Ranger, and Minnie retreat from the spring as I approach. Thomas walks towards me and utters two muted meows of greeting. Allie emerges from the bushes, trots to the food bowls at the pole and paces. She is joined by Calico. Others emerge and watch, waiting for the food to be placed and me to back away. Two bowls filled with kibble and topped with a can of paté split between them. Convergence. These are the west-side cats.

Betty, the grand matriarch, observes from her stone perch on the steps. When the initial frenzy has lulled, she walks to the bowls and eats her fill. 

I walk to the spring 20 yards away. I fill two more bowls. Thomas leaves his meal by the pole and settles on the grass at the mid-point, observing me and the other cats. Minnie, always looking a little anxious, walks past Tom with a glance and carefully surveys the food bowls at the spring.

Meanwhile the east-side cats approach to eat at the spring. Tanya walks across the middle of the field, tail held high. Fluffy stays along the edge of the pond, sniffing a plant or two as he passes. Boot has stopped at the holly, ready to hide if I approach or continue towards the food if I allow him space.

Bobbie rushes past all of them, careless of how close she comes to me, and goes to the food at the spring. Although her kitten is old enough for independence, she is still nursing and likes to keep it nearby. She will hurry back after she eats her fill. Only Tom will eat at a bowl with her. The others respect her space.

I walk back home. As I close the gate I look back. Tanya is sitting pretty, asking me if I have forgotten something.

"Of course Tanya, I haven't forgotten." I pull a couple special treats out of my pocket and toss them to her. She watches where each one lands. She waits until I step away before she retrieves and eats each one. I go home and walk in the door to be greeted by Tanya's domesticated sister. "Yes Scout, you can have a treat too."