Missing MK

MK, so handsome!

Please take a moment and visit fourwhitepaws; MK (photo above) is missing, and The Cat Guy is very concerned about his friend.  Send some warm purrs and hugs, and we will all hope that MK makes it home soon.

P.S. Nancy (in the comments at fourwhitepaws) is also missing Midnight, so let's pray that all ferals with homes...get back home!

Beggar

Hey, what the...?

Are you looking at me?

Begging hard, using cute as bait

One last tail flick...

A begging squirrel jumped on the car hood, while I was enjoying my lunch today.  The park is less than a mile from my office, and the sun was bright and inviting, but I stayed inside.  When this cheeky squirrel realized his cuteness wasn't scoring any yummies from me, he scampered away with a final tail flick.  I think he flipped me off with that tail!

Am sending purrs and warm thoughts to the folks on the East Coast whose lives are disrupted by the snow storm.  Stay safe, y'all!

Thief

I rarely eat popcorn, but when I do, it's air-popped and low-sodium. Angel apparently enjoys the same thing!  She only had a few kernels, just so you know.  But she stole 'em, and here's the evidence.

Love That Purr!

Patty O'Malley's purr has a chirpy quality to it.  I love to hear it!  

Let's just face it...I love this cat!

Feral Vet Visit

Saturday morning, the hubby and I managed to trap both Patty and Sweetie, using the drop trap.  My ruse of placing the trap, covered in landscape fabric, over the feeding station worked again!  Fortunately, the veterinarian could fit both cat exams into her schedule.

Sweetie, wrapped in a sheet

Under the cover

Patty, after his turn

Back home again!

Patty was quiet, and acquiesced to his exam without using a tooth or claw.  His lump turned out to be a bite wound as I thought, but it has pretty much healed.  No abscess, thankfully.  He received an antibiotic shot for good measure, as well as a rabies shot, a dewormer and flea treatment.  He's about three years old.

Sweetie was true to her feral instincts, and was too fractious for taking her weight or a good listen to her heart and lungs.  She...um...expressed her anal glands instead of being Patty-like...that'll teach us humans to mess with her!  She was given a rabies shot, the dewormer and flea stuff too.  The vet said her teeth were terrible, and placed her age closer to seven years.

Both were ear-mite-less and flea-less, which was a pleasant surprise.  We discussed Patty's scratching and the vet figured he's allergic to flea bites.  She figures that Sweetie could have either asthma or some lung complaint, but there isn't much one can do for either issue in an outside cat.  Both cats sang the song of their people...one at a time...on the way home.  I placed the traps-turned-carriers onto the back deck, and opened them.  Sweetie ran off quickly, but Patty just walked around meowing.  I placed a bowl of cat tuna and another of kibble on the feeding station, and left them alone to recover.  Within 20 minutes, both were eating.  Last night and again today, they are behaving normally.  

YAY!!

Pretty much good news, for ferals living outside.  Am considering another trapping expedition this summer, to get Sweetie's teeth worked on.   I would never have tried trapping in the winter due to the cold temperatures, if it hadn't been for that lump on Patty's chest.  Seriously, the best $149.49 I've spent, although I was pretty much knackered for the rest of the day, from the stress and the physical intensity of crawling on the deck while coaxing each cat from the drop trap into the metal carrier-traps.  The hubby was the perfect wing man, and he cleaned up the deck while I was at the vet's.  I treated him to lunch at our favorite place for his help, and I fell asleep in the car as he drove home. 

Oh noes...

Oh noes!

 My book got a boo-boo on it's cover...

Eek!

Yikes!

 

...because my car got a boo-boo!  Guy ran a red light, then he drove away.  I was spun out in the middle of the road.  I am FINE, but my car and my book that went flying off the seat did not do as well...

 

I get to drive the hubby's car to the office, while he works on getting my car in some semblance of repair.  No grill, one headlight is mushed, hood dented, side door dented, front quarter-panel all out of shape, and that front bumper is a goner.

 

The boss is gonna make me park 'round back, just so our new office building looks fantastic...with no beat up hoopties out front...



"Stop cussin' at the Weather Channel!"

Temps for this week

That's what the hubby tells me almost every day!  It's too darn cold out there, and I get mad at the TV that continues to spew unwanted data.

Ice from the 'o' cats water bucket

However...Houston, we have a problem!  Today was the first time in weeks that I've been able to get my hands on Patty O'Malley, since it's been so cold and I have to keep my gloves or mittens on.  And while putting my meat hooks all over Patty, I found a lump on one shoulder and an injury scabbed over on the other.  That lump is an abscess, my friends, and it's not going to go away on it's own.

I called the vet's office, and they said they had time if I brought him in RIGHT NOW. So, I gamely grabbed a cat carrier, and went outside to try to stuff Patty into it.

Hahaha!  Yeah, right.  I barely made it out of that fracas with all of my fingers, and Patty ran away to hide under the car.  I called the vet back to cancel, then dragged the drop trap out of hiding, covered it with landscape fabric, and set it up on the feeding station.

Drop trap now in action!

Patty is already halfway there

In the next few days, I'll move the food bowls deeper underneath and remove one stick, so I can get Patty 'way inside when I pull the string and the trap drops around him.  He'll be mad, but I'll be able to get him to the veterinarian to check him out.  The temps are going to dip down so low...with that four-letter word that starts with S_ _ _...that I would rather he stay in The Cat Hotel with Sweetie to keep warm and dry, until it gets above freezing next weekend.  Plus, it gives me a few days to work on trapping him.  

This procedure worked when I trapped Sammy in May 2014.  Sammy was wise to all of my other trapping tricks, so camouflaging the drop trap as the food station awning was my last idea, and it worked.  Don't think that what happened to Sammy (Rest in Peace, baby) isn't weighing heavily on my mind, but I will not make Patty suffer because I'm being a weenie.  I love these cats!  And, it's my responsibility to keep them healthy and as safe as possible.  

Wish me luck on my new trapping expedition, and I will continue to cuss at the Weather Channel!

Chair Fur

My new office

My new office chair

Cat furrs on my new office chair!

Happy New Hawk?

From the window

A close-up

Yep, that's what I saw!

On New Year's Eve morning, I spied a hawk sitting on the wires in front of the house. One usually sees Red-tailed Hawks in the country, while perched on a tree branch or snag.  So what was this one doing in the suburbs?  Was it a symbol of the old year 'flying' away, or the New Year poised and ready for action?  Hmmm...

Hawks will attack cats, so I've read; glad Patty and Sweetie were in the backyard! Those talons and fierce beak look dangerous. The bird flew off after ten minutes, but I'll keep watch from now on...just in case.