The Old Feral Tom Cat
by Jan Plant
(Marion,Texas U.S.)
The Battle Scarred Warrior
I'm not sure where this old warrior came from. He looks fairly good here. When he first showed up he was very thin and would only come to feed in the dark. The last couple of weeks he's been coming at breakfast and allowing me to actually get a bit closer.
He's actually responsible for Splitter and his litter mates coming here. He stood out by the underside of our deck and called. I heard it but at the time didn't understand it until the kittens jumped up on the deck.
He's a wily ol' gent. Been trying to trap him for months. As you can probably see he could really use some vet care. But so far he's managed to escape all of our ideas. But I won't give up. This pitiful looking ol'guy is the only one of the "wild Bunch" that isn't neutered.
Which causes problems as other intact toms come around from time to time and the fur flies. I generally use a pot and wooden spoon to bang 'em off! LOL! I'm sure that's a sight to the other cats.
If anyone could give me a guess-ta-ment on his age that would be great. I'm pretty sure if I ever do get him in a trap I'll need two pairs of welders gloves! LOL!
Jan
More from Jan about the "wild bunch"...
Feral Cat Friend and Protector Jan Plant
Hi Jan.... I changed to title as inverted commas don't work to well for file names and the title becomes the file name. Hope that is OK. I actually liked your title.....Michael
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My old cat was a former feral cat who decided one day he had taken a shine to me. Because he was neutered so late, he still had feral traits – big head, 20 lbs, he would spray to mark territory, and he was a quick and stealthy hunter. He was unafraid of other cats and people, serene & placid even as he refused to be picked up or moved or made to do something he didn’t prefer, but because he had been hunted by urban feral dogs, he was terrified of dogs. He was the single smartest cat I have known in my life, and he wasn’t a cuddler but he would jump up on my shoulder and allow me to walk around with him so long as his head was the equal of mine. After he chose, for whatever reason, that one day to give up the feral life and follow me into the warehouse where I worked, and jump up onto my desk, he lived with me for 17 years. It is curious how they sometimes pick people, why? I don’t know. Miss that dear old boy, forever.
Wow, that is a nice story. They are special friends when they choose you like that. I guess he knew life was better with you. I like the whole cat, the unneutered cat. They are different and harder to live with and no one should not neuter their cat but despite that I like unneutered male cats. They behave more like wild cats.
Thanks for sharing.
One of my first cats, Scrapper, was a late-neutered ex-feral tom. He was the most intelligent cat I’ve known and he bonded so closely with me that he’d walk to heel. The, of course, there was Mr Minns, who decided to come in from the cold … in some ways the natural successor to Scrap-cat.