It's that transition of "taking her with me" that I am so concerned about. I want her to be happy and I don't want her to be overly aggressive towards my wimpy kitties. Izzee with no claws (I didn't do it!) is such a concern b/c she thinks she has claws- so she will swipe instinctively when she doesn't know what to do and another cat will not know she is clawless! Brace yourself for this physical description b/c it's unique: Lil Girl is like nothing I have ever seen before and she should not be an outdoor cat. She is calico, but also tortie? I don't know what she would be considered?...she's mainly a predominately light brown tortie b/c she has the tortie splotches, but with, I kid you not, white feet- all four. It gets even better...she is tabby stripped too-- I swear- on the side of her cheeks, she has black tabby stripes. She also has clear black tabby stripes winding up her back legs. It still gets better...she is also Orange Tabby Striped! She has the orange tabby tiger forehead markings- she has the orange tabby "M" on her head- and they are also kind of intertwined on her cheeks, side of her head with her black tabby stripes. She has a deep tan nose pad and a tan and white center of her face-- with a mini white blaze on her nose. She is so randomly painted, it almost seems not random at all...like it was an evil genuis's joke creation! Her face is also kind of blunted in her mouth area, like she's been hit with a frying pan in the mouth, but the result is beautiful- she has very strong facial features and prominent cheek bones, very angular...she's just gorgeous! Here's the best part (does it get better than that?), she has true green, green, cat eyes! I can't believe she's living on the street with that distinctive look. She represents the ultimate in "cat mutt" to me and the end result is amazing. And she's really beefed up her small frame since I got rid of the tapeworms and keep her fed high quality food (she's an Eagle Pack nut!). I just wish she wasn't such a TomCat trapped in a pretty little spayed female body!! But that is the best way to describe her...very tomcat acting and that is why I worry about her integrating with cats who are anything but.... -Caroline
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Re: Question about outdoor catDate: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 16:00:10 -0400From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]'d have to agree with the "take her" camp on this one. I have this adorable girl that wandered to my house after I moved in. I call her Whitey. :) She's a gorgeous domestic longhair, with one blue eye and one brown. She's adorable, and sort of just moved in when I did and hasn't left. All the neighborhood cats wander through my yard from time to time, and generally eat there once or twice a week, but Whitey has adopted us. She was horribly skinny and dirty when she came to the house...her long hair was matted all over her little body. I've been slowly but surely brushing and loving her, and feeding her decent food. Her coat is just about slicked up. Almost all the mats are out of her fur, except her tail, and that has been tough! But anyway, I've gotten quite attached to her. I keep her treated with frontline, and fed. She greets me every morning when I leave for work and every night when I get home, so I can definately relate to your situation, Caroline. I think this winter I am going to buy her one of those electric heating pads for outdoor pets, and put it in a nice secure tent/box for her to keep warm. I know for sure if I ever move, Whitey is going with me. -----Original Message-----From: Christiane Biagi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 3:31 pmSubject: RE: Question about outdoor cat TAKE HER! I was feeding my Romeo for 2 years before I brought him inside. I did so only because the temperature was going to below zero and the creeps whose house he lived under boarded up his access so he had no shelter. It took a few weeks of him in a large kennel in my bedroom propped up on some boxes. Initially, I put his box and his food dish in there & covered all but two sides with a sheet. Then I started leaving the door to the kennel open and putting his food on the floor just below. Then I brought him to the bathroom around the corner in the kennel to show him where I was moving the litter box to. He started eating/going to the box only when nobody was in the room or at night when he thought I was asleep. But sure enough, one day he went out while I was in the room on my computer and jumped on the bed he’d been eying! Sure enough, that did it. Once he found the creature comforts there was no turning back! He rarely sits at the window or tries to go out—sort of looks at the other guys like they’re nuts for wanting to go out! He is the absolutely most affectionate cat I’ve ever had. BUT, the one thing I still can’t do is actually pick him up. He’ll sit on my lap (or on my chest when I try to sleep!) but squirms out real fast if I try to pick him up. Vet visits & crating are real tough so I have to keep that to an absolute miminum Sooo, this little one has already staked you out as hers! I say take her; keep her in a big wire cage with some increasing freedoms and watch her become a big mush! From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Caroline KaufmannSent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 3:17 PMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: OT: Question about outdoor cat This is my final question I promise. But it's been looming over my head for a long time now and it's really distressing me. I know I have told you all that my street has neighborhood 24/7 outdoor cats that technically belong to a lady a few houses up from me. But all the neighbors kind of look after them and some feed/keep water out. The lady who brought them to the street "rescued" them from her sister- whom she said wasn't taking care of them- the sister had not spayed/neutered. She got connected with one of the local agencies and had them all fixed for a discount (she is low income). She already has five indoor cats so these cats became outdoor cats. Almost all of them have clipped ears (except one) that show they have been fixed. Some of them started out as indoor/outdoor and then I guess found they liked being like colony cats better so they pretty much stay out year round. She has a front porch where she has boxes set up for them in the winter, etc. They are all male, except for one. I started feeding them too myself when I moved to the street over a year ago because I didn't know the situation- were they homeless, etc.? I finally got the whole story. There is one, a little girl who I call, "Lil Girl" who pretty much has re-transplanted herself to my property. I treated her for tapeworms and I have been giving her Advantage thru the summer. I was worried about her being so small, even tho she's about 5 yo, so I kept feeding her quality food to beef her up, even after determining her sort-of home situation. But now she is a permanent resident pretty much at my front door. She is there every morning waiting for me and in the evening. It so sad because I do not own my house and my landlord needs his house back and I am moving the weekend after next. I don't know what to do? The other outdoor cats who I feed are just occasional visitors-- they will be fine without me and I will have a talk with all the neighbors about calling me if something happens and I was going to leave a couple bags of expensive, quality food with the lady up the street to feed them, etc. I know I will stop by a lot to check on them because I am very tied to the neighborhood by exercise classes I attend, etc. But I am really upset about the Lil Girl. I can't tell if she just hangs out with me and at my house JUST BECAUSE I feed her and she likes my food better or because she likes me? I worry about the effect of my leaving on her? She'll be waiting for me the next morning and I won't show? My landlord is allergic to cats and I doubt he will be feeding them (I have to have a talk with him about at least being nice to them tho and letting him know they will be at the door for a while until they "figure it out." He's young and a hippy/nature person, so he will be cool about it, he just won't be the cat-person that I was). But everytime I think about Lil Girl, I just want to cry. She's beautiful, but she's a top banana- she's runs roughshod over the much larger outdoor boy cats- three and 4 times her size! It's already going to be crazy enough at my mom's house trying to integrate my declawed Izzee with my mom's hissing, scratching Tally, my mom's new Humane Society dog who doesn't like Tally/cats and is still trying to kill Tally (they are working on it) and then my three crated foster kitties! Ironically, I think the foster kitties will have the smoothest transition! They don't ask for much! My mom and I have gone round and round about what to do about Lil Girl b/c my mom likes her too and worries about her. Before I got the foster kittens, I thought about taking her with me. I'm pretty sure the lady up the street would let me have her b/c that would be one less mouth....but I don't know if Lil Girl could become a house cat? Would she be happy, or is there some colony-cat psychology that I would be interfering with? I fear she would kill Izzee and Tally given the chance-- or at least beat them up. Lil Girl is not feral tho- I can pick her up and hold her- tho it's not her fave thing. She seems to just "perfer" to be outside, so it's like she's somewhere in between, so she presents such a problem for me!? I just don't know what to do? I need advice! Reassurance? -Caroline Help yourself to FREE treats served up daily at the Messenger Café. Stop by today! Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! _________________________________________________________________ Help yourself to FREE treats served up daily at the Messenger Café. Stop by today. http://www.cafemessenger.com/info/info_sweetstuff2.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_OctWLtagline
