Fluffy hates me

[spinbaby]

Fluffy is a shaggy black cat. She’s living in a cage in my back bathroom with nothing but food, water, a litter box, and a bed made of a towel in an Amazon box. When I tend to her, she hisses and threatens to rip my face off.

Fluffy hates me because she is a feral cat. She’s one of two cats remaining from a cat colony where everyone was spayed or neutered years ago. She’s about 14 years old now and a couple of weeks ago, she was seen to be not doing well. She was eventually trapped and taken to a veterinarian who treats feral cats. There she was pinned to the end of the trap with a large metal fork, sedated, and examined. Bad teeth.

Now she’s pumped full of antibiotics and waiting in a cage in my bathroom for her surgery date Friday. She’s not happy with this situation and I’m not happy with this situation, but it is what it is. Hopefully on Saturday we’ll be able to release her back to her neighborhood where a nice human is providing food and shelter.

As unhappy as Fluffy is at the moment, she’s an example of successful feral cat colony management. When feral cats are spayed or neutered and given support, they can live long lives without producing more feral cats. Please donate to or volunteer for your local TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) program.

[lapfog_1]

1. yeah, I have seen my share of "fluffies"

A few acclimated enough to hang with other feral cats in an outdoor enclosure with plenty of places where they can den up... and the other volunteers check on them and feed them (after they are seen by a vet and spayed or neutered)... most are returned to a feral colony IF the colony is safe from predators and humans (you'd be surprised how many humans think that they can just poison the ferals if they feel like it).

Anyway, fluffy will never be a house pet... the most they will do is tolerate your presence. Hope you get your fluffy the care she needs and she is happy back in a colony someplace safe.

[dawn5651]

2. my sister, mom and i rescue...all the ones we thought were feral and were told were feral aren't

otherwise we wouldn't be able to have them in here...all are spayed/neutered. 2 weeks ago friday a lady on facebook was complaining she was overwhelmed her female had 6 babies.....the obvious solution to the issue before she had 6 little dolls was to get her spayed, that solution didn't seem to occur to her because our local shelter didn't help her.....this woman drives a car that is less than a year old, she also claims to work for a company in this area that has always paid above the minimum wage. so long story short there are 6 little dolls here learning how to be felines and driving their mama nuts....anyone who works with the feral communities on tnr are my heroes...congratulations to you for having fluffy in your home. may fluffy heal fast and get back to her home.

[Scarsdale]

3. Poor baby is probably

terrified. Who knows what she has seen humans do while out living free? Good luck, and thanks for doing this for cats.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. I had a feral cat that I was able to have neutered and

vaccinated. He then lived for 13 years in a huge dog crate on my back porch. Dubya became semi-feral and allowed 3 other stray kitties to come share the place. He was killed by a dog running loose in July of 2015. He was attacked while on one porch and almost made it back to the safety of his crate. The only time I held him in my arms was when I carried him to his grave. Dubs was a sweet cat who never roamed nor hurt anything.

[japple]

5. Bless you for taking care of Fluffy. All animals should be so lucky. People, like you, who

work with ferals, TNR, and spay-neuter are my heroes. Thank you, thank you.

[Collimator]

6. "Fluffy hates me"

That's okay. I just made the mistake of reading my college's alumnae bulletin and now I hate myself.

[Trueblue Texan]

7. I had a similar situation in my garage that recently turned around.

Mable belonged to my neighbor who had her own colony of feral cats. When my neighbor died, the city was going to put Mable to sleep--she was the only one they could catch--probably because she was about as old as my neighbor--94. I couldn't let them do that--I told the animal control officer to let the cat go in my garage and he did. We put food, water, litter box out there and like Fluffy, Mable, who was nameless at the time, had nothing for us but hisses and raised hackles. We tried to make friends with her numerous times, but she wasn't having it.

Early in February my daughter came down from Seattle. She's the cat whisperer in our family. She spent about 20 minutes out in the garage communing with Mable--my daughter gave her the name--and the cat turned into a regular love muffin. OMG she was like Pepe LePew just loving, ruvving, sloppy with kisses, rolling, lapping up the love, maniac for affection, needy kitty! Now she talks to us all the time, rubs on our legs when we go out into the garage, and makes me very happy I invited her into my home. She still has that old lady cat smell to her, but at least she let me wipe her down with a kitty cloth. She's still open to anything involving rubbing on her.

When spring gets here, I'm eager to see how she'll do out in the backyard. I'm sure she'll be happy to see the outdoors again. When we open the garage door she stays in and doesn't bother to venture out, but I think lying in some grass would make her supremely happy.

[CurtEastPoint]

10. Great love story...thank you.

[japple]

14. Thank you for sharing this story. I wish there was a way to "bottle" your daughter's

cat whispering talents. At any rate, I am so happy for Mable's success in becoming a happy family member.

[safeinOhio]

8. Saw something like this on Nature last week.

The critical period for kitten socialization usually occurs during the early weeks of a cat's life starting between 2 to 7 weeks of age (early socialization occurs between 3-8 weeks, late socialization between 9 and 16 weeks).

[CurtEastPoint]

9. I love you for this. I run a TNR org in S Metro Atlanta. We now manage 12 colonies

and in our 3 years we have TNRd approaching 350 cats. Some were 'feral-ish' and could be adopted but most were returned to their homes. Good neighbors and businesses are caring for most but we care for many ourselves. We have 25 folks who feed these cats on a schedule that would shame any logistical mastermind!

This is such important work and it takes KIND AND CARING PEOPLE LIKE SPINBABY!

Thank you so much.

Not tooting our horn but... [link:http://www.tricitiesfriendsofkitties.org|.

[spinbaby]

11. Wow, that's a lot of cats

Our volunteers care for, I think, only four colonies. Our main mission isn’t feral cat care, it’s fixing cats—we did 1800 spays and neuters last year and hope to do more this year. Not all the cats we fix are feral ear tips, many just belong to people who can’t afford $300 at the regular vet. Fluffy is from a colony 30 miles away where the original caretaker died and a neighbor took over the care of the two remaining elderly cats. Fluffy is staying with me temporarily because I’m near a veterinarian who will treat feral cats—most don’t want to do it.

https://fixurcat.org/

[CurtEastPoint]

12. Yep, fixing is key! We are lucky here in Atlanta to have LifeLine.

They run the 2 largest counties' animal control and are nearing no-kill.
They do feral s/n for $25/cat. Even if not eartipped they are $40/$60.
Many folks in rural areas have no good recourse.

I see where you are located! My 'ancestral' home in in PGH. My dad was born and raised there and his parents (whom I never met) are in the N'side Cath. Cemetery in PGH and one day I plan to go visit the city. I should come see you!

[spinbaby]

13. Drop on by if you're in the area

I have eight cats here, four of which will accept attention from strangers.