The Official HTF Cat Thread (2 Viewers)

[Alex...]

 

[Doug Wallen]

Our two are now 9 months old.

Tater on the upper level and Tot on the lower level.

 

[Malcolm R]

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

 

[Todd Erwin]

It has been a rough few weeks at the Erwin household.

Two weeks ago, we found one of our feral cats, Little Mama, dead in her kennel. She appeared severely underweight, but no obvious signs of poison or injury.

Last week, another feral, Cookie, seemed to be having respiratory issues, but she is naturally very skittish yet gentle, and were unable to approach her. This week, she continued going downhill, so much so that we were able to approach her and examine her more closely. She was skin and bones, very underweight like Little Mama. We called Animal Control, who in the past has helped us with getting the ferals TNR'd and making sure our indoor rescues from our feral colony who turned out to be strays were not microchipped to verify they were not someone else's pets. He also has helped friends of ours with euthanizing their pets who were suffering and too far gone for veterinary intervention (closest vet is now 70+ miles).

He was unable to help us due to a political situation in town that recently erupted and put Dan (the chief Animal Control officer) in the crosshairs (we had asked him if he could help us humanely put Cookie down). Last election, we got a new sheriff who allegedly gave the order that cats surrendered to Animal Control as feral were to be euthanized if not claimed before the end of business the same day, while dogs were allowed to remain alive for up to two weeks before being euthanized or placed up for adoption. County ordinance clearly states that both dogs and cats are to be held at the shelter for up to seven days before being placed up for adoption or euthanized. Granted, the shelter is NOT built for cats, who require peace and quiet when being caged.

Here is where Animal Control got in trouble - a few residents took it upon themselves to trap cats that were on their property or an adjacent abandoned property and surrender them to Animal Control as feral. Those cats were then euthanized at the end of the day. No posts on the shelter's Facebook page trying to find the owners (yet there are always posts of found dogs). The cats were simply assumed to be feral and were put down. At least one of those cats was a young boy's pet who had wandered off their property and in the process lost his collar and was then trapped by one of these evil residents. The mother of the child chewed out the sheriff when she discovered that the cat had been put down the same day he had been trapped and turned in. This was discovered after there had been a long string of missing cat posts on the many community Facebook pages and Lost Cat posters at the post office, library, county office, and supermarket bulletin boards, and many of those cats were never found, assumed to have been taken by coyotes. Many in the town are upset about this, naturally, and now assume that their missing cat may have been a victim of the trappers. The knee-jerk reaction was to cease any and all euthanasia for the time being, regardless if it was a compassionate humane request.

So, Thursday morning, we had to place Cookie in a cat carrier (her health had deteriorated that much) and take her to the closest vet who examined her and gave us the option of putting her through multiple test and X-rays or put her down, with the vet leaning towards putting her down due to the fact that she was obviously suffering and even if she could diagnose what was ailing her, administering treatment would be a challenge and could put our indoor cats at risk, not to mention the additional stress those tests would cause. We agreed with the vet that the best thing to do for Cookie was to end her suffering.

The next day, fearing that both Little Mama and Cookie may have died from complications associated with FIP (which is very common in feral colonies, often wiping them out), I completely sanitized their food and water bowls, washed their bedding on the Allergen setting on our washing machine, sanitized their kennels, and swept and hosed down their "mobile home park" with kennel wash. Currently, all of the remaining cats in the colony appear healthy, and I am trying to get them accustomed to the traps so I can get them in for vaccinations. Our indoor cats (Buddy, Bella and Morsel) along with outdoor stray Big Mamma (she is friendly and enjoys being petted and even picked up, yet refuses to live indoors) will be going to the vet clinic this Wednesday for vaccinations and microchipping. The rest of the ferals will only be vaccinated and if possible collared. I cannot afford $50+ each to microchip everyone.

 

[Todd Erwin]

To add to my last post, the police have supposedly taken action against the trappers, but it is unknown what action was actually taken. There have also been other cat owners who have posted stories of neighbors who have shot at both cats and dogs (mostly cats) with pellet guns and the police not taking much action against them. I guess that is part of rural life...

 

[Todd Erwin]

For those wondering what a feral “mobile home park” looks like….

 

[Malcolm R]

 

[Kevin Hewell]

View attachment 215868


View attachment 215869

That picture is incredible!

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Time for Aliens 7: The Cats Take Charge.

 

[Malcolm R]

I always said if Ripley had stopped getting in Jonesey's way, everything would have been resolved.

 

[Alex...]

 

[Sam Posten]

Fetchez la vache!

https://x.com/cat_cosplay/status/1769758531346145323?s=42

 

[andrew]

I had no idea this existed until today, I'll be camped out here. For anyone who didn't see my first post(s) when I was hired; I travel full time - part of that being housesitting people's pets and the rest doing my own thing. My own thing is most definitely walking around and petting cats and also feeding them in the places where they're not as well taken care of.

Here in Budva, Montenegro all plants get a cat for protection. Or maybe it's the other way around?

 

[Malcolm R]

Love that it's the orange cat that instigates all the destruction.

 

[Alex...]

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

 

[Alex...]

 

[Alex...]

 

[Dennis Nicholls]