Well, cat #11 showed up on my deck tonight...

[Contrary1]

Looks to be about 10 weeks old. Won't let me near her, so I don't know if she's feral or just scared. A bit young to be prowling about. And since she's flying solo, my guess is that someone dropped her over my fence.

Right now, there are three adult ferals I feed. Two un-neutered males that look a bit sickly. I've tried to catch them, no luck. And there's one female I managed to trap a few years back and have spayed.

I have six kitties indoors, and one who prefers the garage...all strays or former ferals.

I just spent $50 at Petsmart earlier today for food. I have to chuckle when asked if I would care to make a donation for homeless animals. Hell, I must have a neon "Vacancy" sign in my yard, only visible to wacky cats.
Hubby gave me permission to "feed this new one and nothing else". :rofl:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Cats are painting hobo signs on your house.

Interestingly, the old hobo sign for "kindhearted woman lives here" was a smiling cat. http://www.kindheartedwomen.com/

[BrklynLiberal]

4. That was my very first thought as well.....

[elleng]

2. 'And nothing else,' so no, 'Sweet kittie!!!'

:rofl:

[Contrary1]

5. He cracks me up with his "demands".

The last one that showed up was a pretty little female callico kitten. He gave me two days to find her a new home.

And so three days later, he named her...Twody. That's short for "Two Days".

I think I'll keep him. :)

[david13]

3. No, they follow the nose, they can smell the others in there, and

the food.
Don't forget your city ordinances, and all that.
Someone here said that if you feed them for two weeks, they are yours.
Anyway, you like them, they like you. That's the idea.
dc

[Behind the Aegis]

6. I have about 30.

Not all are feral, there are 10 who are neighbors' cats. The rest are feral. After Katrina, the feral cat population exploded. The shelters in my parish are not "no kill" except for one and it is full; besides, most of mine are adult cats, which are often, sadly, un-adoptable. It wasn't until last year I discovered that two women who live two blocks from me capture, spay/neuter, and re-release. We managed to catch about half, and got all but two males. There is a huge variety of types and colors, so I love seeing them come to eat. A few have become friendly. Last summer, I added two families of raccoons and in January of 2010, Waldo showed up; he's a rooster! I had never heard of feral roosters but there are three in our neighborhood, only Waldo comes to our house.

When I feed the cats at night, there are usually about 15 to 25 on the porch. Anyone going by has to think it a "crazy cat lady" lives here. :)

[Contrary1]

7. "Crazy cat lady"...I love it!

Several months ago, a little girl knocked on my door, looking for her lost kitty.

She explained that they had looked everywhere with no luck, and that her aunt had sent her to my house as a last resort.

Her exact words were to "check with the crazy cat lady". Cracked me up that the little cutie told me that.

Evidently, there are two of us that meet the description within about a quarter mile of one another, because some years back the other "crazy cat lady" was on my front porch; looking for one of her kitties.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. I am sure it is a shock to them when they see me.

I am not a "lady" but a dude. Once, I overheard some people commenting on all the cats on my porch and guessed I was a "crazy cat lady." I thought they had left, so I went out to put out more food for the "late crowd" and to their astonishment, there stood a young(ish) guy in his undies (boxer-briefs...the undies of choice for many a gay man :)) They asked about the cats and I told them they needed a good home and until then, they gots their eats on at my house.

This year, at a New Year's party, a new neighbor to the 'hood, was commenting how she told one of her friends, that there was a sweet gay couple who had a really nice "cathouse" and she should go check it out. I explained that saying I had a "cathouse", especially in New Orleans, could lead to a 'misunderstanding.' LOL!

A few of mine are demanding. If they see me sitting in my office (a direct line to the front door), they "knock" on the door til I come and feed them! Yours ever get bossy?

[kas125]

20. Wanna see who knocks on my door for food? Well, actually

she doesn't knock, she just climbs and looks in until I go out with a bag of walnuts or something -

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1056681532184&set=a.1034363614250.6112.1080221869&theater

[ceile]

9. Sounds like my hubby.

We feed between 8-11 on any given night (plus 3 inside and a dog). He gets frustrated with me sometimes, but if I'm late getting home I usually get a phone call- "Honey, where's the food for the outside cats? They're hungry." Sucker....
We're going to take 2 of them with us when we move this summer since they've become tame and solely dependent on us. They sleep on the porch and get flea treatment each month.

[booksenkatz]

10. You all need to get this shirt, which I love to wear myself:

P.S. My favorite thing is when my hubby gets suckered in first!:)



http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=OP-CATLADY-SHIRT-PINK&Category_Code=001

[emilyg]

15. Love it.

[Contrary1]

11. Update: I've brought this little one in.

The hubby who said, "feed this new one and nothing else" is crazy about this little girl. We have named her "Bunny", because her coloring is similar to that of a a rabbit.

I am so glad I was able to get her away from the ferals (scratches and bite mark to prove it), before she became too wild. It took a couple days, but what a sweetie she is.

I will get her to the vet next week for shots. I have been keeping her away from my other cats, since I have both FIV+ and FELK+ kitties here. I want to make sure she isn't exposed to that.

Hopefully, I will find her a good home. If not, well; it will be inside cat #7 here.

[Curmudgeoness]

12. Why am I not surprised?

Glad you did, it sounds like it was the right move. Good luck and hope she gets a clean bill of health.

[japple]

13. You're a regular cat magnet! Good on you for rescuing this little

kitty. The gods are smiling on you.

[Contrary1]

14. Update on the update:

Well, "Bunny" took a trip to the Vet. Turns out she is a he. Usually I can tell, and this one has such a pretty face...I just assumed it was female.

Been inside going on 3 weeks now. What a cutie. I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I have one kitty who is FELK+, and another that is FIV+. The vet advises me that Bunny is very susceptible to both of these diseases right now (about 4 months old). He has been kept separate from the other kitties in a bathroom, but is getting a bit restless.

I've had no luck finding him a forever home, and none of the no-kill shelters are accepting cats right now.

Hubby, who gave me permission to "feed this new one and nothing else", says it's time to let him loose and have the run of the house with the rest of the reigning kitty lords.

What to do? The two I have that are sick cost us a small fortune, and I really don't want to expose him.

I just wish people would be responsible for their pets.

And, I have put my name on the No More Kitties Call List, but I doubt that will be very successful.

Crazy Cat Lady signing off.

[roody]

16. Is there a vaccine?

[Contrary1]

18. It is my understanding that there is no proven vaccine for FIV...

I can get Bunny vaccinated for Feline Leukemia. He tested negative for it, but will need to be tested again in a few weeks before the shot can be given.

Four of my kitties came from the same litter, the smallest and only female in the group is the one with the feline leukemia. Since I brought them in at around 6 weeks, the Vet figures it was passed on to her at birth. She is about 11 years old now, and very small...less than 5 pounds, not much bigger than this new kitten. Unfortunately, being the smallest, she is also picked on the most.

And, she is very contagious, more so than the FIV+ kitty, because of the way the disease is transmitted. Every bout of sniffles, sneezes, eye watering...whatever, requires a visit to the vet and antibiotics. Same goes for the other.

Stumpy; my FIV+ kitty, showed up at my back door as an adult with a broken femur. I know nothing of his history. Most likely, a stray who had been feasting at my door for some time.

The best outcome would be to find this little one a forever home. He has already found his way to my heart. But, even the vet told me that it is probably time for me to give up the idea of saving them all.

[ceile]

17. That is a dilema...

can you let them have the run of the house at different times? Or for a few hours at a time?

[Contrary1]

19. I'm working on that one...

With so many other cats, isolating the others so that he can have the run of the house isn't really an option. I am trying to clear out one of the extra bedrooms of junk, so that he can, at least have a bigger room to explore.

I gave up having decent carpet around closed doors a long time ago. :)

[Lisa0825]

21. Are there any no-kill shelters in the area that could help with boarding temporarily?

The shelter I volunteer with has occasionally put someone up for a few months when the family was between homes or having other issues.

[Le Taz Hot]

22. #11???

Dayem! And I thought I was pushing it at 7. Of course, if you're a City official we only have 4, the other 3 are just hangin' out. :evilgrin: Yes, I am one of 3 "crazy cat ladies" on my block. We take in the strays, get them spayed/neutered, shots and feed them. We probably easily have 25-30 cats between us. The neighbors may bitch but between the 3 of us, we've saved literally thousands from being born.