We had a "save our cats"(in case of fire) sign in the window and put the real
number (3 at that time) of cats we had. At that time,"volunteers" were sent
around from Animal Control to see if people were complying with the licensing
requirement. If we hadn't licensed the 3rd one they hadn't known
about,unlicensed,we could have been penalized. So now none of the ex-ferals are
licensed,and the sign still says "Save our 3 cats." I don't even think the city
allows anyone to have 5 cats.


Sharon........A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

That's probably true for some cats, but I've known ferals who never wanted
to go outdoors again. One in particular wouldn't even look out the window
- she knew that out there was danger, cold and hunger; and in here was
safety, warmth, and food.

I don't think Sharon was considering declawing, just wondering how much
scratching she would have to put up with. Up with which she would have to put. Whatever.


You could be right, and it's probably a good way to think of ferals. I
have a disinclination to anthropomorphize, though.

Chakolate

--

On sadness:
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or to frowst with a book by the fire,
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And to dig till you gently perspire.
--Rudyard Kipling

This is a good way of thinking about it. My vet said since the boys are
both indoor and there's a hallway between the apt door and the main front
door, she saw no reason they should have a collar.

Now I can tell them that they've actually been getting a perk. :-)

Chakolate

--

On sadness:
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or to frowst with a book by the fire,
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And to dig till you gently perspire.
--Rudyard Kipling

No declawing,for sure. No furniture is worth it.


Sharon........A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

On 17 Oct 2003 00:31:34 GMT, Chakolate

A sentence worthy of Winston Churchill.

Cathering

-- "Everything I've ever let go of has claw marks on it." - Anne Lamott

.......You may reply to email in header but be sure to delete the word SPAMFREE from the address.

This really surprised me about Herrie, when I first adopted him. He was
maybe 9 - 11 months old when I took him in - he'd been outside 100%,
previously. Anyway, I found that he looked out of the windows less than my
other 2 cats did. That was a surprise. I adopted him, thinking that I
might have to gradually adapt him to being an indoor cat - like letting him
out in the daytime, but bringing him in for the nighttime for a while.
However, he adapted to being inside *very* easily, w/ absolutely no probs.

Demelza used to want to go out - but that stopped several years ago (she's
11), & is now happy w/ the screened porch. I took her outside on a leash
for a while, but that sort of backfired - on me, that is; she'd go to the
side door & loudly wail & wail, begging to go out, on a constant basis.
(Demelza had been picked up by the Humane Society, after a neighbor of her
former owner repeatedly called them reporting neglect - apparently she was
always outside in a not-so-good part of town, yet was front-declawed. So
she definitely was not feral.)

Debbie, whom my sister'd rescued Feb. '86, & who was a starving - & as it
turned out, pregnant - stray (feral?? we have no idea what her history was)
appeared to have no interest in going outside after she was taken in. She
loved my screened porch - in the summer, that is (the other cats like to go
out on it for short periods of time even in the winter), & the windowsills,
but never even began to attempt to sneak out of doors. The comforts of the
house seemed to appeal to her just fine.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

catharemeunuch@aol.comfyChair (Eu. Harry Andruschak) writes:


No. Over the many decades that I've lived with cats I've known a
couple of ferals ferals who have "come in" and become house cats, a
few ferals who refused to do so, and one house cat who insisted on
becoming a feral and wouldn't come back in. As a child I was
fascinated by the lives of cats, made friends with many of the local
cats, and used to spend days following them around at a distance, to
find out how they lived, which entailed a lot of climbing over roofs
and garden walls. I managed to establish with some of the neighbours
that I was a harmless foolish child who was "looking for his cat", and
they didn't mind me being in their gardens. With others I just did as
the cats did, kept a low profile, and when necessary hid or ran.


As far as the hunting goes you're quite right, and most domestic cats
who are free to hunt don't do much of it, and many do almost none. But
there's also the problems of dealing with foxes, dogs, the odd fierce
rat, weasel, polecat (depending on where you live), and aggressive
cats (usually males) who try to invade their territory. Although my
current cat tribe consists of an old female with no teeth left, a
middle aged female, both neutered, and a young female who hasn't yet
come on heat, I still get called outside about in the middle of the
night about once every two months to deal with some local feline thug
who is terrorising one of my "tribe".
--
Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

frankenmel@aol.comDONT (Frankenmel) writes:


Most cats who don't need to hunt for food but still have the
opportunity to hunt seem to either reduce their hunting a lot, or do
none at all. But the position of a cat in the local feline "society"
depends is established by whom they can cause to flee, and whom they
flee from, in the noisy kind of bluff & threat "fights" they use for
this purpose, and bluff is sometimes called and a real fight
happens. Also they need to be able to defend themselves from dogs
etc.. Mostly they can flee, but sometimes they get cornered.
--
Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

frankenmel@aol.comDONT (Frankenmel) writes:

So do nuns. I know there are some places too dangerous for cats to be
allowed outside, or because there's no cat-friendly safe way in and
out of the house.

--
Chris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

:-) Glad to hear it....... now, how do we persuade hubby to
stop worrying about my black velvet sofa and the three
ton of white cat hair it collects daily?


--
Jette Goldie
jette@blueyonder.co.uk
Apache and Dakota
http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/kitties.html