Sunday, October 16, 2011

NATIONAL FERAL CAT DAY

We would wish you a happy National Feral Cat Day, but there is nothing happy about animals who have no place to live.  No regular meals or health care, no warm, safe place to sleep, no love or scratches.  What they do have are parasites, danger, shortened life spans, uncontrolled breeding, and diseases they pick up as kittens which can affect them their entire lives, even if they are lucky enough to find a loving home.  Of course, these lists are much longer, but its too depressing to dwell on.  Our hope is, one day, there will be only Formerly Ferals, because all animals deserve loving homes.

We have had several feral cats and would like to share some of the joy they brought into our lives.  Our most recent Formerly Feral is Mica Minnie Moo.  She still has trust issues, and because she was a couple years old when rescued, these behaviors may be too ingrained to change, but of course, we hope.

 Mica's first day as a Formerly Feral

 She weighed a measly 7 pounds

Our beautiful blue eyed girl, at 12 pounds, is no light weight any more

Prior to Mica Minnie Moo, we had Toby (the orinch tabby), born in a barn, and Minnie Pumpkin (the tortie) who started life under a porch. They were bosom buddies.  Toby passed away almost a year ago at 17 1/2 years and Minnie Pumpkin died at 10 years from acute kidney failure.  Were her kidney problems so relatively early in life from her life as a feral?  Of course, we'll never know.








Toby was an affectionate boy who loved to hear his voice.  He constantly talked to himself (a bit like WC Fields), sang loudly frequently and carried around various lovies at night while crooning to them.  He had massive man paws cause on each he had 2 extra toes in front, and 1 extra one in the back.  He was also a "wet kitty" - one who drools cause scratches feel so good!

Minnie Pumpkin was a sweet little girl who loved putting her (punky) feet all over your face while being scratched.  Keeping the water dish clean was a problem because she daily dropped items in the water - hair ties, bag twists, cat toys, whatever she found went in.  She would grab a hunk of hair (near the roots of course!) in her mouth and pull for night scratches, or if it was time for breakfast.

A couple other cats may have been feral, but weren't included since we're not positive.  We hope one day feral cats will be a distant memory!  We loved our ferals, and are grateful we were able to share our lives with them.

12 comments:

Angel MoMo and Charlotte said...

Thankyou for sharing tales of your formerly ferals. We feel bad about these street kitties. I was a stray/abanadoned kitty rather than feral. Once adopted I kept to the boundaries of my garden and hadn't ventured out to the dangerous streets again.

Hannah and Lucy said...

Thank you for having love for these former feral cats - we can see how they love and trust you.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

The Island Cats said...

Thanks for sharing your stories about these formerly ferals...good for you to take them in. Our Zoey was caught when she was about 9 months old after spending 6 months outside on her own. Where she came from we'll never know. Like your Mica Minnie, she still has trust issues (after being inside for 3 years now). But she has come a long way from when she was first brought inside.

Angel Simba said...

Thanks for visiting my blog! It is great to read of your success with ferals as pets. They all look like very sweet kitties!

Annie Bear said...

Minnie Pumpkin and Toby are such good stories of how ferals can make good pets. Mica Minnie too. These are such sweet stories and make the plight of feral kitties (abandoned and homeless kitties too) all the more sad.

Brian's Home Blog said...

Great post! Helping the sweet ferals is one of the most impawtant things we can do!

Katnip Lounge said...

We are all formerly feral here at The Lounge. Humans need to get us spayed and neutered.
Our feral guy Henry really likes his new Hut, and of course his dinner!
We are glad you opened your hearts to your formerly ferals, bless you.

Marg said...

Thanks so much for posting about feral cats. The more we get the word out about them, the safer they will become.It is possible to tame them but maybe not into a lap cat but a very nice companion. The kittens if gotten young enough can become great cats. Sounds like you have done your part for sure with the feral cats. Thanks so much from the bottom of our hearts.

Anonymous said...

Hi there - GREAT post! So glad so many people are supporting this great cause and it's nice to hear a first hand account of what it's like to own a 'feral' cat.
Hope you can stop by my blog some time: www.thepurrdiaries.blogspot.com
Sarah =^..^=

Angel MoMo and Charlotte said...

Thanks for stopping by and keeping me company. SS is coming home in two days. Yay!

meowmeowmans said...

Thank you for sharing your tales, and for posting about National Feral Cat Day. It's so important to raise awareness for these kitties.

Cat Wisdom 101 said...

Formerly feral is music to our ears.