Mama Cat – July 28, 2017

Look who came over to greet me when I was getting ready to feed the ferals!

  

Such a funny picture–almost looks like she’s saying, “Okay, if it’s so important to you, yes, you may rub me….”

  

This morning–for the first time–she talked to me, and there was a bit of “biscuit making” going on with her paws when I was rubbing her. <3

Sweet girl–really makes me wonder if she was someone’s pet at some point in her life, or if she just finally trusts me after 7+ months….

(Many thanks to Wayne for taking these pictures!)

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Funny Ferals – July 24, 2017

This morning I heard the orange kitty before I saw her.  She was meowing as she came up the hill, and she kept meowing responses as I talked to her.  She clearly wanted her breakfast, but she wasn’t willing to come any closer to me.

  

Just then Mama Cat came walking up the hill….

She paused for a second (to check out some activity in the maintenance area), then she walked past Orange Girl, walked right in front of me, hopped into the feeding station and started eating.

 

Sorry, Orange Girl. “She who hesitates” loses first dibs for breakfast. 😉

 

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More Progress with the Ferals – July 23, 2017

When we took food over today, the first cat I saw was Orange Girl, and she was very vocal!  I’ve heard it’s unusual for ferals to meow at a human, but this was the second or third time she’s “talked” to me.   This morning she responded by meowing each time I spoke to her.  Sweet.

Very quickly, however, I saw the Mama Cat, and I’m so glad that Wayne was with me to get these pictures!

“Oh, my goodness, pretty girl!  You’re right here!”

“Aren’t you the brave kitty!  Do you want to sniff?”

I didn’t try to touch her–and she didn’t touch me–but I had no idea that she’d ever get this close to me.

I backed up a few feet, and she went in to eat.  If you look closely, you can see the orange kitty between us near the small tree.  She moved next to the feeding station when I backed up a few more feet.

 

These girls have come such a long way from the terrified kitties I trapped last December!

  

 

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Mama Cat – July 21, 2017

Yesterday, I didn’t see any kitties, but when I turned around after putting a bowl of food in the feeding station, Mama Cat was right behind me, less than 10 feet away.  I was surprised that she was so close!

I spoke to her, then moved away from the food, and she walked past me into the feeding station.

When she finished eating, she again walked past me, just a few feet away.

This morning, I saw her as soon as I got there.  She watched (patiently?) as I set up the trail cam (which I’ve forgotten the past few days) before I set out the food.

I didn’t see anyone other than this “bold and beautiful” kitty, but she is really surprising me by how trusting she’s become.

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Update on the Ferals – Summer 2017

Some mornings when I go over to feed the feral kitties, I’ll see one or two of them waiting for me.  Today I didn’t see anyone when I first got there, but since I had some extra time, I decided to go get my camera out of the car and stay for a few minutes to see if anyone showed up–and they did!

“Mama Cat” was the first one to appear.  I trapped her last December, along with her four kittens.  She was spayed and returned to her “home” (TNR), and her kittens were all fostered, socialized, and then adopted through the SPCA.

  

I wondered why she was wasn’t eating, but when I moved over a few feet to be able to see into the feeding station, I could see that “Orange Girl” already had her face in the food bowl!

After a few minutes, the orange kitty left, and Mama Cat took her place:

Orange Girl didn’t move too far away, however.  She seemed very, very curious as to why I was still there, and I guess she wanted to keep an eye on me.

Even when they’re eating, these cats are completely alert, and they react to any sound.  I startled Mama Cat just by changing my position.  She looked up, then continued to eat when she realized I wasn’t moving any closer.

In the meantime, Orange Girl just sort of settled in, and kept watching me.

I saw something moving to the left of the feeding station, and soon I saw the sweet little face of “Cali-1.”

Mama Cat finished eating and walked into some weeds to the right of the feeding station.  Instead of getting on with her day (doing whatever it is that feral cats do all day), she continued to watch me, too.  I love this picture of her peeking out at me. 🙂

A couple of the maintenance workers drove by, but I’m hoping they couldn’t hear me talking to the kitties as I stood there, taking pictures.   I was asking them about the other kitties (Black Girl, Cali-2, and the big male cat I trapped last spring), asked how “Floofy Tail” was doing (haven’t been able to trap her, and I’ve only seen her on the trail cam when she occasionally shows up late at night), and I asked if they knew of any kittens on campus…. I just kept up a quiet, gentle, conversational tone, no doubt confirming my “crazy cat lady” status to anyone who might have heard me. 😉

Soon Mama Cat ventured out again, and she came within 8-10 feet of me.

Then Orange Girl–exceptionally bold, thanks to her “camouflage”–sat down just 4-5 feet away.

Cali-1, the more cautious of the trio, stayed near the feeding station.

I’m so glad I had the chance to see them this morning because I’m always trying to monitor their condition.  These three continue to look extremely healthy; their weight is good, their eyes are bright, and there are no signs of cuts or other injuries.

In a perfect world, I’d love to be able to bring these beautiful girls home with me, but as I’ve said all along since I started feeding them last winter, you do the best you can….

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