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02-11-2020 09:12 AM
@ Gardenman, several months ago you mentioned a "phantom meower" who lived in your crawlspace for awhile. Is he still around or has he moved on? Also, how are the other outdoor cats doing? Hopefully, the weather hasn't been too bad.
02-11-2020 10:28 AM
The 'phantom meower' eventually came out and he closed off access to the crawlspace.
The last time I remember him posting about it, the 'phathom' had joined the other feral cats that he feeds.
02-23-2020 10:02 AM
The Phantom Meower is still doing well and visits the feeding station on a regular basis. Most of the outside cats are doing well. Claire and Whitey are getting tamer, still not tame enough to pet, but they stay within about six feet now when I'm putting out food. As soon as I turn my back and head back inside Whitey's running for the food. Tanner got hit and killed by a car, so he's gone, but the rest are doing well.
My two indoor cats now like the cheaper food I feed the outside guys more than the more expensive food they get so they have to get a handful of the cheap stuff when I come back in from feeding the outside cats.
A few weeks ago the back door blew open and I didn't know it for a bit. I was in the living room and feeling chilly and I'd just checked the thermostat to be sure the heater was working when my oldest cat ran into the room with her tail fluffed out a lot, followed by my youngest in a similar state. I was about to tell my youngest not to pick on her older sister when a third cat came running into the room with an equally fluffed out tail. A quick count showed three cats instead of two and the third cat (a white and orange cat who shows up at the feeding station from time to time) was not one of my inside cats. He/she saw me, turned and headed back towards the back of the house. I guided him/her out the back door and closed it tight. I then had to spend a fair amount of time calming down my two inside cats who were more than a bit freaked out by the intruder. (I double and triple check the back door now to be sure it's closed tight.)
It's been a very mild winter here so far and that's good for the outside cats. I've put a styrofoam box with a door cut in it outside for them as a storm shelter if they want it and I use another one to hold their food to keep it dry. I get those with my clotting factor orders and styrofoam is a pain to get rid of. We have no local recyclers of it and one box pretty much fills a trash bag and we have to pay $1.50 for each trash bag, so reusing some for the outside cats makes sense. It gives them a safe, dry shelter and solves the problem of what to do with the styrofoam boxes.
I feed the outside guys first thing in the morning and then again around four. That gives them time to eat up before night. If there's any food leftover (there typically isn't) then the local raccoons or opossums clean it up and there are empty food dishes come morning. Everyone seems happy, healthy and alive and well, except for Tanner who got hit by the car.
02-23-2020 06:46 PM
You'll be saving money on catfood since your cats seem to like the cheaper food better. Cats are so umpredictable, one never knows how they'll react to things.
That's funny about the intruder entering your house, although the other cats probably weren't amused.
My husband and I were feeding an outdoor cat which seemed to be abandoned,. One day we saw that there was something wrong with her eyes, so we called Animal Care and Control. They came and took the cat, later informed us that she had a microchip and was reunited with her owner. I was happy to hear that, as she was a sweet cat.
We have since adopted an orange tabby, Simone, who is 20 months. I decided to keep her shelter name. She llooks like Morris, the 9 Lives cat, except maybe a bit smaller.
02-26-2020 08:43 AM
Here's a photo I took of the cat who dropped in for an uninvited visit a while back when the back door blew open. He/she showed up at the feeding station yesterday and I got a photo of him/her.
The white box in the foreground is the feeding station. The flower pot on top helps hold the lid down as styrofoam tends to blow around in the wind. Keeping the food in there keeps it nice and dry when the weather is bad. To fill the dishes I simply move the flower pot, remove the lid, fill the dishes and replace everything.
02-26-2020 01:59 PM
Gardenman, that is almost certainly a "she", the coat colors are "calico", consisting of both orange and grey/black tabby markings on a white ground. If you can live-trap and spay her, you would be doing your neighborhood and that cat a big favor! Or you may see she has an ear notched short, meaning a TNR program has already trapped her and spayed her, that would be the ideal. If her ears are both intact, odds are so is she, and she will be producing kittens soon.
02-26-2020 02:31 PM
I made a styrofoamshelter (from Q's potstickers) too, @gardenman . Don't put food in there 'cause it's meant for wildlife - no feral cats around here. Put an old towel in it for added warmth, but appears it was all in vain - I don't think anyone's used it.
You mentioned your cats like the cheaper food given to the ferals. Imho, it's like little kids - what one has the other has to have. I say this 'cause Eddy (my dog) used to get jealous when I fed the turkeys. They're wild, but always fed them when we had a wicked winter (now they just come over) and they couldn't get at their normal food due to the snow/ice. Anyways, whenever I throw out some cereal (they seem to really like plain cheerios, rice crispies, corn flakes), I hand-feed Eddy a little bit of cereal - now everything's fine.
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