The Feral Cat Family
by Jessie
(California)
Leah, Tiggly, Jasmine and Felix
I wanted to share with you all a picture of the feral cat family I had taken care of. The kittens here, born in May, 2003, are a little over a year and would now be 6 years old. Oh, and Calico is the wrong breed name! I think they are American Shorthair, along with Felix, the Tuxedo boy.
And thank you for all the nice comments to my last entry. It was hard work taming Tiggly, but the rewards have been wonderful. I do think that the larger the number of wild/feral cats, the harder it is to tame them, since they feed off of each other when it comes to how to react to a human.
I had surgery in 05, and it helped me recover when I cuddled with her a few times a day. Her love has been a comfort. She has never lashed out or been aggressive. Yet, one time when I took too long giving her attention, she nibbled at my hand to get me to respond.
I still wouldn't count that as aggressiveness, just a bit of friskiness, really. A few weeks ago as I was going to feed her butter, I held it over her as I was getting ready to record her on a video.
She jumped up trying to grab it with her paws, yet ended up landing on my legs instead. Ouch! My reaction startled her, so she huddled down and waited for the spoon. So sweet!
I love this picture, as it reminds me of the many days they would watch and wait to be fed. Leah, the Mamma actually became comfortable enough to eat a piece of food from our fingers. She would approach and shut her eyes, like she couldn't bear to see us too close. haha.
But we messed it up a bit by touching her on the top of her head a few times, and that ended the close-up nibbles from the fingers. She then would only get it by using her paws.
I really miss Felix... "The BOY!" as I would often call out to him, since he was the only boy. He would drool when he was about to get fed, which would often make me laugh. He got so tame, he was beginning to allow us to pick him up, but for only a few seconds. When he got hurt, he would still allow the same amount of physical contact. What a loving cat!
Here is my first posting about...Caring for a Feral Cat Family
Jessie
