Just Call me Cat Whisperer

[kriadydragon]

I've officially befriended yet another feral cat. During the summer we had three kittens join up with Sita and her momma, and me being the sucker that I am for all things cats and animals, we now have ourselves a little clowder.

Gah! I do not want to be the crazy cat lady! But... but... but... *can't even begin to think about taking them to the animal shelter just so they can be put down for being feral. Just... can't* We are trying to minimize the potential crazy cat ladiness by getting them each fixed. It's cheaper to do so at the Humane Society but not cheap enough to get them all fixed at once. We only have two cats left to go... aaaaaand we're pretty sure they're both pregnant.

But, in an attempt to get the cats to have the kittens in our garage so we can get them used to people and take them to the HS, we've been locking all of them in the garage at night. And close quarters plus food equals cats within easy reach to pet. The result? One of the pregnant cats is now my buddy. Seriously, she went from "human, run!" to "human, love me!" I open the door to the garage and she comes trotting in - dogs be darned - and rubbing up against my legs. Not even Sita gets that cuddly. Now if we could just ensure that they have the kittens in our garage, and if I could just make friends with the second, even more skittish, pregnant cat, then life will be... well, not better, but easier. I really wish we had a feral cat sanctuary around here, or knew someone in desperate need of feral cats to keep mice out their barn. As much as I love cats, I don't want us to end up the cat ladies of the neighborhood (which could easily happen. Well, it is happening, because we have a hard time saying no to animals in need. If it's not me and cats, it's my sister and dogs, only the dogs are friendly enough to take to the shelter and get adopted. The cats... not so much).

Comments

[aim2misbhave.livejournal.com]

Haha, somehow my roommates and I ended up with 3 cats and a dog between us already.

Anyways, if the one pregnant cat is friendly enough with you, there's a good chance that the kittens will end up friendly enough to be able to be pets. In fact, two of my roommates' cats were feral kittens that ended up to be surprisingly human-friendly.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

That's what I'm hoping, which is why we're also hoping they have the kittens in our garage to put them within easy socializing reach.

[nefhiriel.livejournal.com]

There's just no resisting, most of the time sometimes. :D

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

All cats are secretly able to hypnotize us, that's what it is :/

[ga-unicorn.livejournal.com]

I've given up on trying to dodge the crazy cat lady appellation. My cats would prefer I never bring another stray in here (which, I tell them, makes them very ungrateful buggers, since they were rescued from the bushes themselves), but my dog actually attracts the feral kittens. I've had them follow her home from our walks. And just last week when we were having a cold snap I answered a knock at the door and discovered a kitten, wrapped in an old sweater, had been left on my doorstep.

I'm doomed.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I want someone to leave a kitten on my doorstep! I mean... thank goodness no one leaves kittens on my doorstep. Yeah. *whistles innocently*

[linziday.livejournal.com]

Good for you! I wish more people did what you did.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

But it's making me a cat lady! *whines* Oh, well, somebody's got to do it ;)

[linziday.livejournal.com]

Bah, cat ladies have a bad rap. :) It means you care for another living creature. To me that makes you better than all the other humans who only care about money, power, and getting more of both.

[ladyniko.livejournal.com]

I wish I had the space to care for feral cats - there's like 1 or 2 strays that have been lurking around my building - however, my landlord has said 2 cats and that's all I want/can afford.

Jack & Daniel (hah! I couldn't resist them for their names to start and also - because they're black ninja kitties. :-p) probably wouldn't like it if I brought in another critter or two. For good reason, Jack had NO liking for ex-neighbor's crazy dog. (Stupid humans not being effective pack leaders was the problem there.)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I can't bring in anymore cats for the same reason. My own cats can barely tolerate each other, and Bug gets a little stressed out whenever we bring in any new comers (as in, she pees and poops on the floor).

Which is ironic because the ferals keep trying to come in and have no problem with my cats, but my cats get all huffy when the ferals try to come in.