My grandcat is sick. Poor Tuxie has come down with a common male cat ailment. He has a blockage that is keeping his bladder from draining. It is called FUS which rhymes with you know what and requires that a big FUSS be made to get him well. Enough poetic wandering...
Tux and his little sister Skittles came to live with us in 2007. As they often say about cats, you don't adopt them, they adopt you. It had been a sad, hectic summer. Erin had moved out, my cat Sam had died at Christmas and I was getting ready to start a new job. I was really depressed that summer and I really wanted another cat. Ken was adamant, "NO CATS"! and I really planned to respect that wish. But secretly I kept praying that God would send me a cat.
One evening in July or so Ken told me to look out the back window. There on our garden bench were two little black furballs and a mama cat, just hangin' out in the evening sun. I was thrilled! I went out to our deck and as soon as the little family saw me, the shot back into the soy bean field behind our house. That was the beginning of our being adopted. Every night from then on, I would go out into our backyard and sit in a lawn chair. The first night three sets of little eyes peeked out at me from the protection of the soybean jungle. I talked to them, mewed at them (no neighbors at the time to think I was crazy) and did my best to convince them that I was friendly. Using my deductive reasoning, I assumed that they must be hungry since they lived in the field. I wasn't thinking that they were hunters and predators. I began to take hot dogs and other scraps of meat out to them and would toss the food to them to entice them to come out of the jungle. Each evening they came closer and closer. I began buying dog food to feed them because it was cheaper than cat food and more filling I reasoned. Erin came home in August and by September or October, Tux, the little boy, would come close enough to pet. I would put the food by my chair and he would come to eat. As he ate, I would slowly reach down and pet him while he ate. Skittles, the tiny girl, wouldn't come close to eat and mama wouldn't come out of the jungle. By and by, Tux began to trust us and one night he let me pick him up!
Meanwhile, I began to learn about feral cats. Ferals are cats that are generally born in the wild or are abandoned and become wild. Most of the time they live in colonies and scavenge for food. In cities they live near dumpsters most of the time. In rural areas they find safe areas to congregate. Left unchecked a feral colony in-breeds and quickly multiply and can become a nuisance. Illness, predators and injury often take these kitties over time. There is a movement called T-N-R or Trap-Neuter-Release. The process involves trapping the kitty, having him neutered or spayed and then releasing it back into the colony. Neutered feral cats are very territorial and will not let new cats into the colony. Usually someone or a group of someones adopts the colony and provides food, water and shelter. Most feral cats cannot be socialized because they are too wild If you get them as kittens sometimes you can tame them. The national group is called Alley Cat Allies (http://www.alleycat.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=191). Our local group is Friends of Felines (http://www.felinefriendsks.com/).
As I have digressed anyway, let me tell you a little story about FOF. Ray, the founder, went out to Syracuse to rescue some kitties on May 4, 2007. He filled his trailer with 27 cats to be neutered and relocated. As he drove home to Wichita it began to storm. Pulling into Greensburg he ran into hail so pulled in under an awning to wait out the storm. He didn't know that he was in the direct path of the massive tornado that leveled Greensburg that night. Ray, his truck, his trailer and the 27 ferals took a tumble. The truck and trailer were destroyed, Ray was injured and the 27 kitties died. Ray and friends were able to go back to Syracuse later that year to TNR the rest of the colony and brought them back to Wichita for relocation.
In the fall of 07 I attended two feral cat workshops and learned how to trap feral cats. My intent was to TNR both of our kittens and release them. By this time, Mama had disappeared and I haven't seen her since. In early December we borrowed a trap from the Humane Society and set out to see who we could catch. The first night we caught an opossum. That was fun. The next night we caught an opossum. You'd think he would've learned! The third night we caught Tux. I took him down to the Humane Society and had him neutered. Erin had moved into her own apartment by this time and she fell in love with Tux and decided to take him home with her. They are now inseparable. I have never seen a cat so intently loyal to its human. He looks at her with adoration and I really believe he understands everything she says to him.
That was the year of the big ice storm in Manhattan. Ken got called up to Manhattan to help put things back together. I was totally alone for a week or more. It was cold outside. It snowed. My little Skittles, named so because she skittled away from me when I came near, was outside, cold and alone. By now I was feeding her at the back door and she knew my voice. Whenever I set food out, she'd come running. Well, I reasoned, she's cold and Ken's gone. In she came. And she never went out again. Ken now says that he should've never gone away because look what I drug in. He isn't happy, but hey, he loves me.
Erin came home and Tux came with her and we are now a 2 cat family. Tux is a lover boy and Skittles is sweet only to me. They are both terrified of sudden movement or sudden noise. When company comes, they hide. Tux is still the braver of the two and at 17 lbs he is the larger of the two. Skittles is my prissy little girl. She weighs less than 10 lbs and her favorite past time is sleeping. I love my cat and I know that God answered my prayer and sent my little angel to me.
Just got a call from the cat doc. Tux is doing well but will have to stay one or two more nights. I hear cash register bells ringing. Erin will pay us back when she's able. Meanwhile, the VISA bill and Ken's impatience are going up.
Oh well, they adopted us!
UPDATE!!!!!!!
Tux came home Wednesday night and is doing great. We need to feed him a special diet but he should be just fine.
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