A few months back I kept spotting a small orange cat around our house. Dustin was never with me when I saw him and always joked around that since he never saw him then he must not exist at all. But then one day he saw him too and texted me a photo.
I TOLD YOU!
I started putting food outside. Each time I'd check on it it was gone. I didn't know who or what was actually eating it because there are two cats (that have homes in the neighborhood) that prance around on the streets, we also have dogs off leashes, and a pack of squirrels that live in our front yard tree amongst other critters of the Florida variety.
Then we finally caught him eating the food. Yes! The seemingly homeless cat was eating the food we specifically were leaving out for him. So that started my ritual of putting food out in the morning and evening until some pesky ants tried to take over. Before we knew THIS existed Dustin came up with a solution. He used the lid off an old Chinese food container and filled it with water and put the food in another container in the middle of the water. Problem solved!
We caught glimpses of him more often since he never missed a meal now that he knew where to come for food. This went on for a month or so before I made the decision to try and trap him. First of all he didn't seem to be anyone's pet. Secondly, he was small and probably still a kitten so had a chance at being adopted out and even if not I could at least get him fixed and vaccinated. Third, I couldn't not try and help him out especially since we ended up with our two the exact same way. This neighborhood is full of stray cats and no one doing anything about it.
I rented a trap from Spay-N-Save (which is an incredible low cost organization and I cannot recommend them enough) and waited until the weekend. The lady gave me a quick tutorial on how to set it which was simple enough but also a little tricky. I got up early Saturday morning and put tuna in the back of the trap and even wiped the juice on the front for optimal smell. I set it out where we normally put his food and went about my morning. I even left to go to the gym and when I got back I spotted him in the bushes eyeing it which is when I caught it all on camera and you can watch below.
The minute the door slammed shut I jumped out of my car and ran into Dustin (who was asleep in bed still) and whisper yelled (yes this is an actual thing that makes sense) I CAUGHT HIM. He sleepily said "Cool, now what?". Now what indeed.
I had planned on taking him to Spay-N-Save but it was a Saturday and they weren't open so I went to our vets office with kitty in tow hoping they could fit us in. They were wonderful as usual and immediately brought us into a private room where I got to see him up close and personal for really the first time. He had a foot soaked from tuna and a pitiful little meow but seemed surprisingly friendly. I wasn't sure what we were going to get since it seemed pretty clear he was living on the streets.
The vet checkedhim her out. That's right SHE is a girl. An orange female cat is rare and this is why, which is why I assumed she was a HE. They confirmed she had already been fixed and ear tipped (which I hadn't noticed before until I got close to her that morning) and didn't have a microchip. She weighed 7 lbs, just 6 months old, and completely healthy. She got some vaccinations, nail trim, a bath, and preventative flea treatment. We were going to call her Dorito when we thought she was a boy so we ended up changing her name to Peach. Not Peachy or Peaches but Peach.
I ran to PetsMart to grab some kitten essentials and soon I brought her home and set up shop for her in our bathroom. Unfortunately we have a really small home and the bathroom was the only place that would work. And it totally worked. We settled her in and she was immediately extremely loving. She couldn't stop walking on my lap asking for pets. I don't know her story so I don't know if she had ever had a lot of human interaction at all but I do know that once she was out of that scary trap she was a completely different cat. She let me pick her up, pet her while she ate, and play with her (although she played a little rough with nails out - ha!). She did not like when we would push her back in order to close the door and would get a little feisty with a swipe. I learned to distract her when closing the door and eventually it wasn't as much of an issue.
She was great. She had no issue using the litter box even if sometimes she did make a mess, she ate eagerly, and once she figured out where treats come from she stole the bag and filled it with teeth and claw marks.
The next day we tried to introduce her to Cheeto and Olive. The plan was to keep her and add her to our family pending our kittiots approval of her. We had watched several videos from Kitten Lady and Jackson Galaxy about introducing cats. We read even more articles and followed them all to a T. We fed them on either side of the door. We fed them all within a few feet of one another (kind of - Cheeto wanted no part and hid). We let them sniff her while she was in a carrier. We rubbed their scents on towels and switched them. I bought calming collars and feliway. We tried it all and although we made some progress with Peach and Cheeto (she was surprisingly more aggressive towards him then he ever was to her). Although the first ever time I heard Cheeto hiss was when he was laying on me and she happened to walk toward us on the couch. Dustin said it reminded him of this scene from Little Giants. That was the only time Cheeto hissed. He was curious about her but mostly stayed away because he's an actual big scaredy cat. Olive was a whole other story. She hissed and growled and hissed some more. She never took a swing at her but she made it very clear that she was unwelcome. We never let Peach out around them alone so during the time we were gone or at work she was in the bathroom or our bedroom. Thankfully Dustin has a flexible job and is able to swing by the house in the middle of the day so he'd come home and play with her. She hated being cooped up in there and we did too but I didn't trust them all being together. The articles and the fellow cat parents all said this was normal, to give it time, so we did. After a month things were not improving and we noticed our cats were extremely stressed. We made the decision to start looking for another home for her. She was cool as hell and super sweet with a dash of kitten sass and we were not about to just give her up to anyone. I first ran the decision by Pat because he had recently fostered and was pretty bummed when he had to say goodbye but he didn't seem too interested. Then after Rachelle asked how things were going and I honestly told her she offered to take Peach as long as Matt was cool with it. It turns out Matt was not cool with it. As I was telling Erin about everything she said "What if she came to Texas?" and I was like "WHAT?!". I knew Erin was in love with her more than anyone else by just the things she'd text and the interest she had shown in her. I would have of course asked Erin if she was local but she is in Texas so I assumed that was off the table. She sent me a ton of back to back texts about how serious she was and a link to airline approved carriers and another link to Southwest's pet policy. So then I said "Are we really doing this?!".
YEP.
So that was that. Erin amazon'd the cat carrier to our house. I took Peach to get her boosters and a health certificate for the flight (although no one ever asked for it). We were doing this. It was such a bittersweet moment because of course Dustin and I fell in love with her but Cheeto and Olive come first. But what better outcome than one of my best friends taking her in where I can be a part of her life to some extent still and watch her grow? Pretty fucking rad. I didn't know what to expect when I first trapped Peach but ultimately I wanted to help her have a better life if it was possible and that's what I did. Foster moms will know you can't keep them all or at least most of us can't but you can still help out. Learn about TNR programs, adopt don't shop, foster if you can, and spay and neuter your own pets.
I rented a trap from Spay-N-Save (which is an incredible low cost organization and I cannot recommend them enough) and waited until the weekend. The lady gave me a quick tutorial on how to set it which was simple enough but also a little tricky. I got up early Saturday morning and put tuna in the back of the trap and even wiped the juice on the front for optimal smell. I set it out where we normally put his food and went about my morning. I even left to go to the gym and when I got back I spotted him in the bushes eyeing it which is when I caught it all on camera and you can watch below.
The minute the door slammed shut I jumped out of my car and ran into Dustin (who was asleep in bed still) and whisper yelled (yes this is an actual thing that makes sense) I CAUGHT HIM. He sleepily said "Cool, now what?". Now what indeed.
I had planned on taking him to Spay-N-Save but it was a Saturday and they weren't open so I went to our vets office with kitty in tow hoping they could fit us in. They were wonderful as usual and immediately brought us into a private room where I got to see him up close and personal for really the first time. He had a foot soaked from tuna and a pitiful little meow but seemed surprisingly friendly. I wasn't sure what we were going to get since it seemed pretty clear he was living on the streets.
The vet checked
I ran to PetsMart to grab some kitten essentials and soon I brought her home and set up shop for her in our bathroom. Unfortunately we have a really small home and the bathroom was the only place that would work. And it totally worked. We settled her in and she was immediately extremely loving. She couldn't stop walking on my lap asking for pets. I don't know her story so I don't know if she had ever had a lot of human interaction at all but I do know that once she was out of that scary trap she was a completely different cat. She let me pick her up, pet her while she ate, and play with her (although she played a little rough with nails out - ha!). She did not like when we would push her back in order to close the door and would get a little feisty with a swipe. I learned to distract her when closing the door and eventually it wasn't as much of an issue.
She was great. She had no issue using the litter box even if sometimes she did make a mess, she ate eagerly, and once she figured out where treats come from she stole the bag and filled it with teeth and claw marks.
The next day we tried to introduce her to Cheeto and Olive. The plan was to keep her and add her to our family pending our kittiots approval of her. We had watched several videos from Kitten Lady and Jackson Galaxy about introducing cats. We read even more articles and followed them all to a T. We fed them on either side of the door. We fed them all within a few feet of one another (kind of - Cheeto wanted no part and hid). We let them sniff her while she was in a carrier. We rubbed their scents on towels and switched them. I bought calming collars and feliway. We tried it all and although we made some progress with Peach and Cheeto (she was surprisingly more aggressive towards him then he ever was to her). Although the first ever time I heard Cheeto hiss was when he was laying on me and she happened to walk toward us on the couch. Dustin said it reminded him of this scene from Little Giants. That was the only time Cheeto hissed. He was curious about her but mostly stayed away because he's an actual big scaredy cat. Olive was a whole other story. She hissed and growled and hissed some more. She never took a swing at her but she made it very clear that she was unwelcome. We never let Peach out around them alone so during the time we were gone or at work she was in the bathroom or our bedroom. Thankfully Dustin has a flexible job and is able to swing by the house in the middle of the day so he'd come home and play with her. She hated being cooped up in there and we did too but I didn't trust them all being together. The articles and the fellow cat parents all said this was normal, to give it time, so we did. After a month things were not improving and we noticed our cats were extremely stressed. We made the decision to start looking for another home for her. She was cool as hell and super sweet with a dash of kitten sass and we were not about to just give her up to anyone. I first ran the decision by Pat because he had recently fostered and was pretty bummed when he had to say goodbye but he didn't seem too interested. Then after Rachelle asked how things were going and I honestly told her she offered to take Peach as long as Matt was cool with it. It turns out Matt was not cool with it. As I was telling Erin about everything she said "What if she came to Texas?" and I was like "WHAT?!". I knew Erin was in love with her more than anyone else by just the things she'd text and the interest she had shown in her. I would have of course asked Erin if she was local but she is in Texas so I assumed that was off the table. She sent me a ton of back to back texts about how serious she was and a link to airline approved carriers and another link to Southwest's pet policy. So then I said "Are we really doing this?!".
YEP.
So that was that. Erin amazon'd the cat carrier to our house. I took Peach to get her boosters and a health certificate for the flight (although no one ever asked for it). We were doing this. It was such a bittersweet moment because of course Dustin and I fell in love with her but Cheeto and Olive come first. But what better outcome than one of my best friends taking her in where I can be a part of her life to some extent still and watch her grow? Pretty fucking rad. I didn't know what to expect when I first trapped Peach but ultimately I wanted to help her have a better life if it was possible and that's what I did. Foster moms will know you can't keep them all or at least most of us can't but you can still help out. Learn about TNR programs, adopt don't shop, foster if you can, and spay and neuter your own pets.
'
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.