the cat

[Leslie]

there is a very pretty cat - grey and white not-quite-shorthair, not-quite-longhair, female, to my untrained eye she looks less than a year - that i have been feeding for the last few evenings.

she knows how to tell time. the first time we met it was about 11pm. since that first evening, promptly @ 11pm she has whisked in to have her fill.

i don't know if she is entirely feral; she allows me to sit and watch, but if i move she will back away. so, i don't think i will be able to capture her. she does seem content to sit, apre meal, and watch back. i don't stare at her, but i do talk to her; she only blinks. she will run if someone else comes by, which at that hour brings a lot of dogs and their walkers. but she will run to a spot where i can still see her, but i assume she assumes the dogs can't.

so. i'd like to help this pretty kitty out. i can keep feeding her, but i can't spring for a trap or take her on myself - as much as i'd like to.

any volunteers?

or suggestions?

[PetShopBoy]

I have a trap I'll loan you (on the promise of death if I don't get it back...I still use it).

And there are a few free spay/neuter programs if you look online. The caveats: 1) You'd have to commute to the location, and, 2) they are usually by appointment, which can get really tricky when trapping.

The ASPCA has such a program; their mobile spay/neuter services are all over, but at certain times. The next time they will be really local is 6/22.

[Leslie]

many thanks.

will pm.

[Leslie]

sent a pm.

is 8pm or after ok?

also, i think ACC is doing free spay and testing the 27th? will check.

[Leslie]

a very big thank you to jason and tara for very generously and kindly lending me (on-pain-of-death, oh i kid!) their trap.

i had no luck tonight, not even a sighting.

11pm as usual except no cat, or none that i could see.

i sorta feel bereft, like she left me for another feeder.

will try again tomorrow night.

and thanks you two, you're terriff!!!

[White Haired Woman]

a very big thank you to jason and tara for very generously and kindly lending me (on-pain-of-death, oh i kid!) their trap.

i had no luck tonight, not even a sighting.

11pm as usual except no cat, or none that i could see.

i sorta feel bereft, like she left me for another feeder.

will try again tomorrow night.

and thanks you two, you're terriff!!!

She smelled trouble!

[Leslie]

yeah, you may be entirely correct. the trap might have scared her off.

my one hope being that usually i at least see her, but she was no where to be seen, not even a rustle in the bushes.

i may just simply see if i can just feed her tonight with the trap standing to one side. maybe if i introduce it slowly, i don't know, but i'll be there at 11pm tonight.

part of the prollem is that this is going on out front of the building, where there are lots of lights, so it's not like i can disguise what the trap is (no, i know the cat doesn't know) i mean it's right out there big and bright as day.

more to come.

[chopper]

Did you try sardines?

[Leslie]

huh, no.

i've been feeding her the same top-shelf catfood for about 4-5 nights before i got the trap. i just figured the less i changed about what was up the better.

are you saying the sardines are a slam dunk? or a better lure?

[Leslie]

so, chops, do i go for the sardines?

dumb question, yes, leslie, i'd try the sardines.

sardines it is.

[chopper]

so, chops, do i go for the sardines?

Sorry, just got here. Sardines are what the trappers use.

[Leslie]

so, chops, do i go for the sardines?

Sorry, just got here. Sardines are what the trappers use.

np. thanks.

makes sense.

i think i remember that from the big TNR of last summer.

will post results.

[Leslie]

11pm: i didn't put the trap back out, but it did put out a can's worth of sardines.

no cat, no sighting.

i just took the almost-most untouched plate of sardines back in - almost, because when i got them up to my apartment i noticed two giant slugs clinging to the plate.

yech.

down the bowl.

prolly the wrong thing to do with slugs, but.

i wonder what's up with miss kat?

[White Haired Woman]

Hope she found herself a home.

[Leslie]

Hope she found herself a home.

yep, of all the things i worry that may have happened that's my best hope.

she didn't seem that feral to me, but you never know. i mean how many feral cats do you know take a long stretch out for a nap on your front grass patch, which is how i first came across her.

maybe i've been feeding a free-range house cat?

[White Haired Woman]

Hope she found herself a home.

yep, of all the things i worry that may have happened that's my best hope.

she didn't seem that feral to me, but you never know. i mean how many feral cats do you know take a long stretch out for a nap on your front grass patch, which is how i first came across her.

maybe i've been feeding a free-range house cat?

Could be she was just visiting. Some cats won't let strangers near them or touch them, even if they are totally indoor. Perhaps she was just a shy house cat making her rounds on a trip outside. ANd her person wondered why she wasn't hungry when she came home!

[Leslie]

this would be the best outcome, of course.

(but i would like to ask them not to let their kitty out of the house!)

[White Haired Woman]

this would be the best outcome, of course.

(but i would like to ask them not to let their kitty out of the house!)

Or at least put tags on her!
Though it could be she escaped.

[Leslie]

so.

last night, 11pm, no trap, big plate of sardines, no cat.

no slugs either, thank goodness.

hmmmpff.

really hoping she's: 1. back inside her original home (to stay); 2. found better feeding grounds; 3. can't tell time like i originally thought.

don't wanna think of the other alternatives.

i'm gonna try one more 11pm visit.

[Leslie]

another missed date!

hope this only means good things kitty-kat!!

[White Haired Woman]

I hope so,too; specifically that she's gone back home.

[Leslie]

I hope so,too; specifically that she's gone back home.

yeah. i'm holding on to your "why isn't myrtle hungry?" theory for her owners and for them to have a lightbulb experience AND KEEP HER INSIDE!

although, you're right, she could have escaped (i don't really think so, but maybe. mumbles wouldn't dare!)

[White Haired Woman]

Probably a lot of kitties disappear this way - "Oh, the poor kitty is lost!" but she's really just misplaced.

[Leslie]

well.

last night, 11pm: no trap, plate of sardines, and i was stood up again, my last stand.

love you, pretty kitty, hope all is well.

will clean and return trap to T&J.

[Laura]

She sounds like she might have been a house cat. Hopefully she went home. When I was in college we moved from an apartment across the street into the 1st floor of my Grandma's 2 family home and during the move, my beloved cat (and 10th birthday present) China, escaped. She'd always had a bit of wanderlust and we were used to being very careful about not letting her out (once my dad even threw out his shoulder catching her as she tried to run out) but there were so many people about and she could be quite sneaky..

She was gone for 4 nights. I was beside myself and searched every shelter/rescue/neighbor's yard in the area. Just as I had given up hope, my grandma said there was a cat in our backyard that looked like China! There she was, meowing to be let back in. How she knew to go to my grandma's house and not the house across the street I'll never know. She was filthy, hungry and contrite, her wanderlust cured.

Fuzzlebutt likes to watch the outside from the windows and enjoys protecting my mom's backyard. If any other cats or a raccoon comes by he meows and hisses at them to chase them away. He's awesome! He sleeps cuddled next to my legs on the bed but then will spring to the window at the first sound of an "intruder". That's as close to the outside as he wants to get. He'll actually run away from open doors (to the outside world) or meow at me to come back inside. I think he had enough of it from his time before Marilyn found him.

[jenjen]

Hi,
our local feral/stray cat had kittens (I think 5) they seem fine and are really young. The only way I can get them all picked up by AC is by trapping the mom and then getting the kittens.
or wait till they are old enough and try to capture all of them and finding them homes....
Does any one have a cat trap? OR can any on suggest some one who can help me out.
thanks

[chopper]

Hi,
our local feral/stray cat had kittens (I think 5) they seem fine and are really young. The only way I can get them all picked up by AC is by trapping the mom and then getting the kittens.
or wait till they are old enough and try to capture all of them and finding them homes....
Does any one have a cat trap? OR can any on suggest some one who can help me out.
thanks

ACC is a kill shelter. Contact Mayor's Alliance for alternatives.

http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/new/index.php

There are many licensed wildlife trappers working in Brooklyn. PM me if you want and I'll send you a contact number for one.

[jenjen]

IMG_2950 close up.JPG (75.66 KiB) Viewed 924 times

he is a picture of one of them thru the fence