The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Cats => Topic started by: Buffy the eggs layer on September 14, 2011, 07:41:17 pm
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Having recently been adopted by a stray cat and her feral kitten I am now being initiated into the world of cats.
The mum is clearly a house cat and must have been dumped, the kitten was possibly born in the wild or dumped hen he was very young. I am wining his confidence and can get him in the house but cant touch him yet.
I have read that life is tough for feral cats and that people treat them as vermin sometimes traping and shooting them. As a result I was thinking of putting a collar on mum at least as a way of showing that she is a pet.
In the info that I have read so fat their seems to be mixed oppinion on the pros and cons of a cat wearing a collar.
What do you guys think about it?
Buffy
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Tinker wore a collar when we first got him. It was a collar that's meant to unclip if it gets caught. I was concerned that he might get lost at first which is why I put it on him. However after a few weeks one night he was out ages, then when he came back his collar was missing. I assume he might have got stuck somewhere and since then he's never had one.
He is microchipped but of course you wouldn't notice that. Anyway, my personal opinion is not to use a collar.
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Difficult one this isn't it. Catch 22
If they wear a collar they can get caught up in it & at worst get hung.
But with a collar they can have a bell & warn the birds that they're coming.
I get really annoyed with cat owners who have a bird table & feed the birds - I'm afraid it's one of my things >:(
I don't know much about these quick release collars & if they work etc. but obviously Cinderhills one barely did.
I don't keep a cat at the moment, but plan to get a feral kitten, when the next one becomes available, as a mouse catcher - so I'm really interested in this debate.
I probably wouldn't use a collar either.
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If there's a reason for your cat to wear a collar, then make sure it's one that has an elasticated bit so that if they do get caught up they can just pull out of it. In my experience it is best to have a proper buckle (with a post that goes through a hole in the strap, ie, one that won't slip) or they get pulled off about once a week!
Reasons for your cat to wear a collar include:
- to demonstrate that this cat has an owner
- to hang a tag on with your phone number so you will be contacted if anything happens
- a fluorescent silver one if you live somewhere where there is traffic and your cat could be on the road - especially if your cat is black or tabby or other dark colour (your black & white girl will be safer than an all-black cat)
- to hang a note on to explain to the kind people who are (over)feeding your greedy boy that he has a home and is well-fed, just greedy, but has a dodgy hip and gets quite lame and sore when fat so please could they stop feeding him however cutely he asks ... ::)
- some people hang a bell on the collar in the belief that it warns birds and mice of the approach of a predator - in my experience the cat very quickly learns how to stalk without letting the bell ring but will also learn how to ring the bell to attract your attention (mine used to sit on the windowsill and ring his bell like a doorbell to let us know he was there and wanted to come in!) and/or to annoy you in the middle of the night
Buffy, welcome to a new world. You know the saying, "Dogs have owners, cats have staff."? 100% accurate. I do miss having a cat - but life does seem to be simpler now, somehow...
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Personally I would say no collar, thats after having had a bad experience.
My cat went missing, nothing too unusual in the nice weather. However when it got to 4 days I was definitely worried. Day 5 and the cat made it home on 3 legs.
Somehow she had got one of her front legs through the elasticated collar and it had 'eaten' into her underarm area and looked very nasty indeed. I cut the collar off and took her to the vets where she had to have an operation. It took some weeks to heal and cost me nearly £600. No more collars for my cat.
Sally
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Thanks everyone,
informative as ever. I think that I will skip the collar. I wouldnt manage to get one on the kitten anyway. Its taken me over a week to get his confidence back to where it was before he was traumatised by the RSPCA inspector. Hes still not sure about my OH ( mind you, neither am I some times :D)
They tend to stay around the house at present and my nearest neighbour knows that they are mine. I think the risks of a colar would be greater than the risk of them being persecuted.
Here is a pic of mum demonstrating just how hard life can be for a persicuted stray and her feral kittens.
Buffy
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Lovely picture Buffy and she definitely looks to be having a hard time ;D ;D ;D
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She really is a beauty. Have you decided on names yet?
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I really liked the name Polka that you suggested but she didnt respond so I have been trying polly. She has responded to Puss cat and Come on puss for so many weeks that I suppose its taking a while for her and me to get used to some thing else. She responds to "come on then" in the sort of high pitchesd singing voice that I used to use to call the horses along with a pat on my leg. Actually the hens respond to this too which makes feeding time a bit tricky. What a good job that OH is trained to the comand of "your tea's ready or it would be chaos!
She is a really great little cat. She is an effective hunter and regularly brings me a mouse to show me how she caught it. Though my lack of interest in having a go with it myself usually makes here tire of this idea and she eats the poor creature.
She likes to come in the house and sits quietly watching me potter about and chat to her. She dosent jump up on things and was very good after her op when she had to spend a night inside. She used her litter tray and went to sleep in a bed that I had made for her from a cardboard box as if she had always done so. She is great with the chickens and likes to come on adventures with me across our fields.
Her baby is responding to "Hello Baby" and "Tiny kitten" which is an avancement as he used to only respond to me if I mewed at him. I havent managed to think of a name that sounds similar yet.
Although I havent had Polka \ Polly for very long I think she is great. I can see how you must miss your cat Jasper very much. We make a much stronger connection with some animals than others and for those who have never known that special bond it can be hard to understand the feeling of loss .I hope that you can find that relationship again when you feel ready. Life certainly is easier without them but emptier too.
Thomas Hardy sums it up so much better than me.
Thomas Hardy – Last words to a dumb friend
Pet was never mourned as you,
Purrer of the spotless hue,
Plumy tail, and wistful gaze
While you humoured our queer ways,
Or outshrilled your morning call
Up the stairs and through the hall--
Foot suspended in its fall--
While, expectant, you would stand
Arched, to meet the stroking hand;
Till your way you chose to wend
Yonder, to your tragic end.
Never another pet for me!
Let your place all vacant be;
Better blankness day by day
Than companion torn away.
Better bid his memory fade,
Better blot each mark he made,
Selfishly escape distress
By contrived forgetfulness,
Than preserve his prints to make
Every morn and eve an ache.
From the chair whereon he sat
Sweep his fur, nor wince thereat;
Rake his little pathways out
Mid the bushes roundabout;
Smooth away his talons' mark
From the claw-worn pine-tree bark,
Where he climbed as dusk embrowned,
Waiting us who loitered round.
Strange it is this speechless thing,
Subject to our mastering,
Subject for his life and food
To our gift, and time, and mood;
Timid pensioner of us Powers,
His existence ruled by ours,
Should - by crossing at a breath
Into safe and shielded death,
By the merely taking hence
Of his insignificance--
Loom as largened to the sense,
Shape as part, above man's will,
Of the Imperturbable.
As a prisoner, flight debarred,
Exercising in a yard,
Still retain I, troubled, shaken,
Mean estate, by him forsaken;
And this home, which scarcely took
Impress from his little look,
By his faring to the Dim
Grows all eloquent of him.
Housemate, I can think you still
Bounding to the window-sill,
Over which I vaguely see
Your small mound beneath the tree,
Showing in the autumn shade
That you moulder where you played.
Buffy
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I like Thomas Hardy. When I read some modern poets I think, "Yeah, I can do that," and think myself a bit of a poet. When I read Thomas Hardy and Dylan Thomas I am awed and reminded just what poetry is. (And no, I can't do that. Nowhere near.)
That's a beautiful expression of the life and loss of a loved pet. Thank you for posting it. :bouquet:
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What a lovely photo. She looks so relaxed and content.
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Thanks Cinderhills,
she seems much more relaxed since her op and the burden of caring for her kittens has been lifted. She has gained weight and stopped eating quite so much now shes not feeding kittens. She dosent care for the complete food that I give her and prefers the tins. She eats what she kills and kills just about daily. Shes very playful and enjoys a game of chase on an evening.
Her cough had disapeared but she was doing alot of throat clearing today. I hope its just a fur ball.
I'm trying the name Toby for the kitten as it sounds a bit like baby which hes got used to. I think the kitten may have ear lice like his mum had but as I have been advised to only trap him once, he will have to wait for a couple of months till he goes for the snip. A wormer would be a good idea for both of them if I can get it past their super suspicious sence of smell.
Buffy
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Some cats like Marmite. If Toby does, he may not notice his wormer powdered in Marmite. ;)
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Yep, you're hooked :) Lovely cat, though. I thnk you can now say your cat owns you :cat: :cat:
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Buffy I think I have just noticed that Polly has black pads?
I haven't mentioned this before but she has an amazing resemblence to my first cat, Mixture. I rescued him and his brother Matchless (together they were Mix & Match) as young kittens, not properly weaned, had been taken in to the vet to be destroyed.
Mix was an amazing individual and taught me a lot - not just about cats! Unusually for a black-and-white cat with a white mask and white legs, he had black eye-rims, a black nose and black pads on his feet. It made him very striking and beautiful - most people thought he must be a female as he was so pretty.
I read once that european cats have pink pads (whatever their coat colour) and that black pads are a sign of eastern blood. So I always thought of Mix as half Burmese, and ever since, apart from one rescue and another cat that was a present, I have sought out half-oriental cats. They are very very good hunters (although actually Mix was an exception to this - he had too much energy and too little patience for all the sitting still!), extremely sociable with people and in fact any other family members including dogs, highly intelligent, affectionate and loyal. But as kittens, until you know how to handle them, they can be absolute MONSTERS! :D (In fact I ever so nearly gave Mix away before he was full-grown - oh, I was so glad I persevered!)
From your stories Polly is clearly a lovely cat who has found her forever home in your heart. I wonder if Toby will be a little monster... ;) :D
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I have always loved animals but being alergic to cats is what has always made them out of bounds for me. Living on a small holding means the cats have a safe warm place to sleep and dont need to live in the house. Having said that they do come in and sit in the kitchen with me every day. I'm a bit chesty as a result but not as bad as I can be.
Sallyintnorth, She is very much as you describe and toby is indeed a troublesome little chap. Yesterday afternoon I discovered him in the garage which means that he had be shut in there since the previous evening! He was dusty and cobweby but perfectly fine. He did of course need to come into the house for a treat or two to help with the shock ::)
I'm not looking forward to discovering what he used as a toilet!
Lets just hope I see it before I step in it :-\
Buffy
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Oh, Buffy - please keep this thread going. It's so lovely to hear your stories about Polly & Toby!
Funnily enough, one of the reasons I never had a cat until I was in my twenties was that I was allergic to them. What I found when I did get a couple was that I fairly soon got more-or-less desensitized to them.
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Oh Sallyint,
you need another cat! Or possibly two. Someone who loves animals so much and inspires great trust and loyalty from them shouldnt be without them.
But just for you, here is todays update.
Polly has devoted as much time as she could spare to helping OH to read through a Health and Safety report in the sun room. She needed to have her head scratched a few times in order to help her concentrate but eventually had to leave him to it as she had a few mouse related issues to address.
Having dispatched some poor unfortunate creature in record time she returned to the doormat with her prize and mewed for Toby to attend his mouse catching lesson. Toby however, who had spent the morning practicing to be a chicken (just in case being a Kitten dosent work out) was busy rolling around in the dust bath and adorning himself with disgarded feathers
After Polly and I had spent some effort on mewing ( that was Polly) shouting and waving ( that was me) and pointing at the mouse ( that was both of us) we finally caught his attention and as Polly comenced her re enactment of the kill, I encouraged his trot down the drive.
Unfortunatly by the time he got to us Polly had got so carried away with her reconstruction that she had swallowed the mouse :o. Much to Tobys disapointment.
After her snack, Polly set about tiding herself up and Toby cherily followed her demonstration as if to show no hard feelings. Though the look in his eye seemed to suggest that he was regretting the detour that he made to examine a leaf on his way down the drive. It would seem that being a kitten is harder than it looks. Perhaps being a chicken might be easier after all :D
Buffy
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Sorry it has taken me a while to thank you for that, Buffy. I was laughing and smiling so much I couldn't see to type. ;D ;D
You've missed your vocation, lady. Keep writing, and when you've got a hundred pages, publish!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading that installment and will be checking in regularly for my next dose of vicarious cat-watching.
Bless you :-*
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I have always loved animals but being alergic to cats is what has always made them out of bounds for me. Living on a small holding means the cats have a safe warm place to sleep and dont need to live in the house. Having said that they do come in and sit in the kitchen with me every day. I'm a bit chesty as a result but not as bad as I can be.
Buffy
I have perennial rhinitis - started when we moved temporarily into a rented house where the previous incumbent had four! My son in law says he thinks I am allergic to both dogs and cats - I take an anti histamine tablet every morning and now have no symptoms. I have to take them the rest of my life - if I miss one I am sneezing and choked up by midday the following day. Might be worth trying for a few days. I use citirezene
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Thanks Doganjo,
I have got some anti hysamine but I'm trying to see how much exposure I can cope with without it. I'm hoping that I can desensatise myself. So far I'm not doing bad.
Buffy
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I agree with Sally, you must document these antics and write a book. It was brilliant! :D If you haven't already you should read Deric Longden's novels on his cats. They are so funny and written just how you wrote your little story.
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Doreen Tovey's books are also great fun. There's a donkey too. :donk:
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Thanks girls,
I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I have always dreamed of being published and have a few chapters with a publisher at the moment. Though that one is a book on understanding chicken behaviour. The feedback has been positive so far. Not sure what happens next though. I think they want me to pay for it to be published which is unfortunatly out of the question.
I'm not sure what the audience would be for the story above as its really written for adults in the style of a childrens book and not all adults would enjoy that.
I thought it might work in a diary format and then I could write about the chickens too. Like the day that Bertie found a magic stone (it turned out to be a snail ::) or the time that Dotty got a new hat and couldnt see where she was going, or the day that Edward lost his crow and everyone had to look for it. (turned out to be in his pocket)
If I ever do get round to it, you two can have a signed copy!
Buffy
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Oooh yes please! I'll watch this space...
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Yup, I'll book mine! Any time you want a proof-reader, Buffy... count me in!
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Negatives aside, one advantage of having a collar is that it sends the message that this cat is probably not a stray, especially if the collar is relatively new and clean.
We have a 'mad cat woman' near us who tends to assume any cat without a collar is a stray and entices them into her house. We're still missing one of ours and I know that's where she is.
First opportunity I get (i.e. next time she pays us a visit) I'm going to put a shiny new collar on her (the cat, that is, not the woman).
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Oh how have I missed these cat stories ;D Buffy, you have such a winning style. The point is they'll appeal to children but also to the adults who have to read them to the kids - who'll get extra out of them - very important.
If you know the Shrek films, that's why they're so successful - they're straightforwardly funny to the kids whilst the adults are being amused by all the clever allusions and puns :D
Definitely publish :)
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A word of warning about collars. :o Rio has a bad habit of losing his (I think he has had about 20 in his 12 years ;D)and rather than have him get lost or unable to break free, I buy the supposedly quick release ones, not the buckle type. I'd rather lose collars than my cat. However, this latest lovely red velvet job (on a ginger cat, nice! :-[) seemed to have a nice strong clip, even though it was a quick release type. It obviously was a bit too strong as the other day I went to the door to let the dogs out and a half strangled cat was sitting there - I had to run to get the scissors to cut it off as he was choking badly. Don't know how long he'd been there but thank goodness he came home. It had twisted round and was all roughened up so he must have been up a tree and got caught, or tangled in some bushes. Needless to say he will have to take the chance of being classed a stray now. ::)
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Oh Dear Doganjo,
I do hope that he recovers. In not even sure how my cats would feel about collars but after your experiences I'm not even going to try.
Buffy
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I wouldn't put a collar on our cats for that reason.
Buffy, have you thought about self publishing an e-book?
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Hi Rosemary,
no I havent. Just found out that I'm to be made redundant so I wouldnt have cash to invest in being published. Is it expensive?
Buffy
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A good rule of thumb is that if you can get more than two fingers down between the collar and cat then the collar is too loose. This is when the cat can get either a paw or even their lower jaw under the collar. Not nice.
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A good rule of thumb is that if you can get more than two fingers down between the collar and cat then the collar is too loose. This is when the cat can get either a paw or even their lower jaw under the collar. Not nice.
If you can get even ONE finger between the cat and the collar a twig can get in there too - I think that's what happened to Rio. No more collars for him! :'( :'( :'(
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We've had collar horror stories too, my old cat Molly disappeared for quite some time and in that period of her being missing lost a lot of weight. Subsequently she managed to get her front leg right through her collar which then rubbed and actually formed scar tissue OVER the collar :o She limped back to us several weeks after going missing and we took her to the vet where the collar was surgically removed, it was awful. She did recover and went to live to a great age.
I have resorted to a collar on snowball because of the mad cat woman who steals her periodically. I got a collar from pets at home that says "I have a home, do not feed!!" - and guess what? mad cat lady appears to have taken it off!!!
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Have you spoken to said 'mad cat lady'? I'm afraid I would be having more than a nice friendly 'don't feed my cat' word with her. I'd be warning her I'd be after her blood if Rio was found in her house!
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We have spoken to her, as have other neighbours as it turned out she's feeding several local pet cats that are not hers! she's a bit of a case, quite sad really, but the fact that 2 of my cats were killed crossing the road apparantely on their way back from her house (over the field opposite) prompted us to give her a stern reminder. Snowball's mainly been staying home now for quite a while, thank goodness, but there was a time when she used to come home smelling of log burner and strong perfume - neither of which she picked up here!!