A Stranger Amongst Us

Its true. I got this info from our former vet. She said the intact males have the larger jowls. Mike, I totally agree with you, I love the way these cats look, as you said natural. My neighbor has a house full of cats (and people) and he does the best he can, but dry cat food and shelter (in and out, in and out) is all he can pull off. I have been feeding his cats for over a year now, and have administered flea medicine to a few of them. My favorite is an giant Tom, fully intact. He is the stereotypical Full Tom, what with his ginormous jowls, bulky body and large frame. He is also fierce when protecting his territory, what with his large fangs and claws. He is highly socialized but he does have his preferences. He is very tender and loving towards me (hey, I feed him well) and lets me rub his belly. In addition, other than his battle wounds and lack luster grooming, which is typical for the intact male, he is just about perfect.

He looks like my sister's cat Sunny. Sunny is a scrapper of about ten years . He defends the farm. He is recovering from a slashed throat.Sunny hates the in-doors.kim put a cat door on the garage and he go's in at night. we have had low temps.-7 with a windchill of -23. My Freya and BB are safe and warm.Ferya put her paw in the first snow of her life.She jumped back and then slowly patted it. I hate to think of all the poor little souls that don't have warm homes or shelter.

Yes I'm afraid it looks as if we've attracted another poor lonely boy.Sure doesn't look underfed!LOL! I fed the "bunch" so hopefully they won't get in the traps themselves!Heck,the way things go around here,I'll go out and my boys'll be caught and he'll be on his merry way!
I doubt even neutered if he'll loose those lovely jowls.But we'll see. I've asked around and no one is claiming him,(naturally),so as soon as I can get him in a trap ,he's off to the vet!
And I spent all day looking for that dang sign!LOL!
Always something around here,but I guess I wouldn't want it any other way.

He's a handsome chap that one, they seem to know where to come to find Auntie Jan.

Oh no, you just got your numbers down Jan and now the Stranger has arived.Yes, he is a big cat !
I hope you manage to trap him for neutering.
Never a dull moment for you lol

Wow Jan, that stranger looks huge. Our late Rudolf had the same fur, but in a smaller size even though he was a big cat too. I've had a soft spot for red cats ever since, so I hope you can post a portrait of his face too. He is just great. 😉

As to the discussion about early neutering and a possibly smaller face, I'm not entirely convinced it actually has that effect. I have seen some cases to the contrary, but that of course doesn't prove anything. I wonder if there has been any systematic studies on the subject?

This site is great for learning stuff about cats 🙂

Thanks Merrily for that info about jowls. This aspect of neutering is rarely mentioned it seems to me.

I know neutering is the only way to manage cat populations but I like the masculine jowly look of a total male cat who runs his territory. There is something very natural about that. Sadly it is not practical in the modern world.

Timmy our stray who comes in has the look and he is intact.

I think too that the unneutered cat is more muscular generally. Not sure if that is true but if feels that way (when you pick up an intact cat they feel chunkier).

Jan, thanks for the info about cold weather and feral cats. You're the expert. That would make a nice little post! I'll have a go today....

Hey Joyce!LOL! Actually I believe you may be right.None of the "bunch" can come in if they would,due to John's health.But Caps is very friendly,and since the others have gone on to their new farm,the rest are becoming quite friendly as well.I was thinking(yeah, there I go again) that I was narrowing the masses.DUH! And here's this HUGE tom strolling in.He's been fighting,I can see chunks missing out of his fur.My main concern is his health.Don't need the "bunch" to get ill! Damn people take care of these poor cats,we wouldn't have to.I get so angry talking about it I actually spit like one of them!Sorry for the rant! Yes it does feel like a zoo.Or maybe more of a madhouse and the inmates have taken over!LOL! But we wouldn't turn any of them away.Would we?

He Jan, it's Joyce. Do you ever feel you're living in a zoo and the animals are in charge? Now with what people are saying about the shape of un-neutered males to neutered ones I don't know how old Furby needs to be for his snip snip. I'll be looking around for him and he's already in my lap. He's a very strange kitty. I love finding the ferals. They appreciate everything so much more.

Once while looking at a British Shorthair kitten I noticed that the Father of this kitten had what we think of as a typical British Shorthair head, very large jowls. I asked the breeder who was world renown for her show cats why the kitten didn't have the large jowls like his father.

She told me that in order to develop the large jowls a male cat must be left unaltered, and that an altered male will never have that type of head.

The kitten was one year old and had been neutered, and there was a dramatic difference in his head shape. So much that he hardly looked like a British Shorthair male at all.

Well my "bunch" have all gotten a long very well as they mostly arrived about the same time.I have a large old table on my deck,put on old futon mattress under it, and wrapped in with water proof tarps.Tossed in some old towels and blankets so as they aren't just piled up on each other.The heat from our trailer goes in there somewhat and keeps the icy chill off.There are also some old rabbit hunches the last tenant left,with no doors,and we've put straw and bedding in there as well.They will burrow in straw if it's available.As this is my first time dealing with ferals I'm just going on instinct.They will curl up in boxes with bedding if the boxes are placed on their side and turned out of the wind.But they'll avoid real closed in spots.Merlin seems to just like curling up on a rug most times,in Mauve's old spot. Please do use caution this time of year if installing Anti-freeze.It tastes good to them and just a tiny bit can kill. Also,if you do have outside cats in the area ,before starting your car,give the hood a good bang or two,they love car engines,up out of the wind I suppose.It doesn't generally get that cold here,although the last few nights we have had a hard freeze,and the water bowls are frozen in the morning.Do feed extra food and lots of fresh water,They need the extra calories to keep warm.Keep their little engines running, if you will.I've had rather exceptional luck with my bedraggled "bunch", and can only advise what has worked for myself.If anyone else has any ideas or information to better what I'm already doing,feel free to let me know! I'm always open to suggestions!

Jan what do you advise for cold weather protection for feral cats?

I find that the unneutered male strays etc. have this jowly fatter face with the cheeks sticking out more. And they feel more chunky than the neutered cats. Do you find that?

Neutering has to be done but does it affect the general shape of the cat more than we appreciate?