Author Topic: Backyard critters  (Read 104605 times)

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Offline 1995hoo

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1925: November 03, 2021, 08:34:47 PM »
It’s been ten days and still no sign of her. Doesn’t bode well.  :(

Offline imref

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1926: November 03, 2021, 08:51:32 PM »
Sorry hoo :(

Offline English Natsie

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1927: November 04, 2021, 04:19:33 AM »
Don't give up just yet - by definition feral, or semi-feral cats do wander. It could be that she is on 'her-other-sofa', maybe not too far away - a near neighbour has a ginger visitor who sometimes disappears - to another house two blocks away. There is also the possibility that there is a new cat in the neighbourhood, so she is monitoring a specific part of her range to repel intruders. Cats are incredibly territorial - a while back Meowser had a young rival who was crossing his patch. Meows being Meows he soon sorted him out - we still see 'The Rival', but he now walks along the perimiter of Meowser's patch, not daring to cross it. If Fraidy is as her name, and if the new rival is an agressive / amourous male, she may be choosing to keep a (hopefully temporary) low profile.

Offline English Natsie

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Offline 1995hoo

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1929: November 04, 2021, 07:42:03 AM »
Don't give up just yet - by definition feral, or semi-feral cats do wander. It could be that she is on 'her-other-sofa', maybe not too far away - a near neighbour has a ginger visitor who sometimes disappears - to another house two blocks away. There is also the possibility that there is a new cat in the neighbourhood, so she is monitoring a specific part of her range to repel intruders. Cats are incredibly territorial - a while back Meowser had a young rival who was crossing his patch. Meows being Meows he soon sorted him out - we still see 'The Rival', but he now walks along the perimiter of Meowser's patch, not daring to cross it. If Fraidy is as her name, and if the new rival is an agressive / amourous male, she may be choosing to keep a (hopefully temporary) low profile.

Thanks. If the part about a new cat in the area is true, that’d be a positive. Since Fraidy started showing up in July 2014, the only time she’s gone this long without showing up has been after large snowstorms (which obviously hasn’t happened for a while now). Hence why we tend to assume the worst.

Offline English Natsie

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1930: November 04, 2021, 08:13:55 AM »
No problem. I suppose the other issue to consider is whether or not Fraidy is actually feral, or just a wandering owned cat. I raise this as we had a situation similar to yours at our previous house - we used to have a visiting cat (called 'Socks') who Meowser used to tolerate (just...).One day, Socks stopped calling - as we knew where she was coming from, we made some enquiries. Her owner (a sweet old lady) had, sadly, become frail and housebound - as a result, Socks now found herself to be a house-cat. It was quite sad all round - both age catching up with her owner, and Socks meowing through the window if she saw us going by, as if to say 'help - I'm being kept prisoner!...'

Offline 1995hoo

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1931: November 04, 2021, 09:54:58 AM »
No problem. I suppose the other issue to consider is whether or not Fraidy is actually feral, or just a wandering owned cat. I raise this as we had a situation similar to yours at our previous house - we used to have a visiting cat (called 'Socks') who Meowser used to tolerate (just...).One day, Socks stopped calling - as we knew where she was coming from, we made some enquiries. Her owner (a sweet old lady) had, sadly, become frail and housebound - as a result, Socks now found herself to be a house-cat. It was quite sad all round - both age catching up with her owner, and Socks meowing through the window if she saw us going by, as if to say 'help - I'm being kept prisoner!...'

Valid points. Fraidy's left ear is clipped, which is normally a sign of a feral cat that's been trapped, neutered, and released, and her seeming utter terror of direct contact with any human being (or even squirrels, for that matter; we've seen her back away from squirrels) suggests a complete lack of socialization. We've seen her outside at night when the temperature has been in the low single digits; I guess that's not dispositive because some people will let their animals out in any weather, but I'd like to believe people in our neighborhood wouldn't be quite that cruel.

Who knows, though.

Offline skippy1999

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1932: November 04, 2021, 04:42:13 PM »
It’s been ten days and still no sign of her. Doesn’t bode well.  :(
Oh I remember when you first posted about this kitty, I do hope she's ok and comes back soon.

Offline English Natsie

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1933: November 04, 2021, 07:22:02 PM »

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1934: November 04, 2021, 07:47:49 PM »
Brian the Cricket Cat  :D

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1935: November 04, 2021, 08:07:04 PM »
hup hup Sprong

Offline 1995hoo

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1936: November 21, 2021, 03:07:33 PM »
I was outside raking leaves when Animal Control arrived. The officer asked if I had seen an injured cat. I said no but asked her to tell me if she found one and I told her about Fraidy.

Long story short, she found a cat behind the house down the end of the block across the street and I’m positive the cat is Fraidy—looked just like her and had the clipped ear. I couldn’t see all of her because the officer had her under a blanket—she was NOT happy to be under that blanket or to be touched—and put her in a box with the blanket to take to the animal shelter, but the officer said she’s clearly hurt in some way. The vets will look at her to see what they can do. If she can be treated, she’d likely be released back here; otherwise, she’d likely have to be put down (which is at least better than dying of starvation or something). They have my name and number and a case tracking number.

So I’m glad I saw the animal control officer. Even if it ends sadly, it gives us closure if this is the end.

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1937: November 21, 2021, 05:33:34 PM »
Best of luck for you and Fraidy

Offline 1995hoo

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1938: November 21, 2021, 06:03:18 PM »
Best of luck for you and Fraidy

If they can release her back here (I’m not optimistic), we’ll offer to let them release her on our deck or in our backyard because it’s a place she knows. I’m not sure they’d do it, but we can offer. My gut tells me she’ll most likely be put down, though, because I believe that is Fairfax County’s normal policy for injured or sick feral or “community” cats.

Offline imref

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1939: November 21, 2021, 06:17:54 PM »
Sorry hoo.

Offline 1995hoo

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1940: November 21, 2021, 06:42:40 PM »
Sorry hoo.

At least we’ll have closure one way or the other.

There’s a lady on our neighborhood’s Nextdoor whose mother had to be put into assisted living and who needs someone to adopt her cat, so we’ve inquired. We’ll see what happens. The cat’s name is Precious, which gives me the urge to get a second cat and name it Gollum.

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1941: November 21, 2021, 08:02:06 PM »
I will point you to the Pretenders song Precious. I don't think Chrissie Hynde makes cat noises in that song, but I haven't listened in a while

Offline English Natsie

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1942: November 22, 2021, 04:36:08 AM »
Unfortunate news about Fraidy.  Just the obvious (which I'm sure you've considered) about 'Precious' - will she accept re-homing, and is how is she age / health wise? Older cats can run up some alarming vet costs, and can be difficult to insure. However, some-one nearby is saying that any cat ownership should be 'full-meows-ahead'...

Oh - the 'Precious' name reminded me of this... ;)

https://images.esellerpro.com/3274/I/256/14/lrgscale411489.jpg

Offline 1995hoo

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1943: November 22, 2021, 07:38:57 AM »
Unfortunate news about Fraidy.  Just the obvious (which I'm sure you've considered) about 'Precious' - will she accept re-homing, and is how is she age / health wise? Older cats can run up some alarming vet costs, and can be difficult to insure. However, some-one nearby is saying that any cat ownership should be 'full-meows-ahead'...

Oh - the 'Precious' name reminded me of this... ;)

https://images.esellerpro.com/3274/I/256/14/lrgscale411489.jpg

That is all due diligence we will have to investigate if the owner follows up with us. Certainly I think at a minimum finding out which vet they use and giving that vet a call would be a relevant consideration. We'll see. Either way we won’t do anything until after Thanksgiving if the lady does follow up.

Offline Natsinpwc

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1944: November 22, 2021, 08:36:30 AM »
That is all due diligence we will have to investigate if the owner follows up with us. Certainly I think at a minimum finding out which vet they use and giving that vet a call would be a relevant consideration. We'll see. Either way we won’t do anything until after Thanksgiving if the lady does follow up.
Hope things work out.  We had a cat when I was younger that basically we got by her adopting us. Think she was someone’s on the next street and I guess they didn’t care.  The cat and I did not get along but so be it. We have one that roams near our house in NOvA. We never feed it but seems well fed so not sure if one of the neighbors does. I believe it was the result of a cat across the street breeding with a free range cat. Other than it killing one of our rose bushes I have no quarrel with it. Keeps the mice away.

Offline 1995hoo

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1945: November 22, 2021, 02:08:48 PM »
The Fairfax animal shelter just called. Fraidy was put down last night. She had neurological damage and was unable to stand.

I suppose under the circumstances being put down at the shelter is more humane than starving to death or something due to being unable to stand, but Ms1995hoo is still devastated.

Offline Natsinpwc

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1946: November 22, 2021, 02:16:47 PM »
The Fairfax animal shelter just called. Fraidy was put down last night. She had neurological damage and was unable to stand.

I suppose under the circumstances being put down at the shelter is more humane than starving to death or something due to being unable to stand, but Ms1995hoo is still devastated.
That’s a shame. Very sorry.

Offline imref

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1947: November 22, 2021, 03:03:20 PM »
The Fairfax animal shelter just called. Fraidy was put down last night. She had neurological damage and was unable to stand.

I suppose under the circumstances being put down at the shelter is more humane than starving to death or something due to being unable to stand, but Ms1995hoo is still devastated.

yeah, better that then being the victim of a fox or starvation. Sorry hoo.

FWIW, there are lots of cats out there in need of homes, especially older cats, if you are so inclined.

Offline HondoKillebrew

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1948: November 22, 2021, 05:56:45 PM »
The Fairfax animal shelter just called. Fraidy was put down last night. She had neurological damage and was unable to stand.

I suppose under the circumstances being put down at the shelter is more humane than starving to death or something due to being unable to stand, but Ms1995hoo is still devastated.

Sad to hear.  Being kind to animals is a great thing to do and good on you to have shown concern for and helped Fraidy. 

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Backyard critters
« Reply #1949: November 22, 2021, 07:39:53 PM »
Sorry to hear, hoo. Your kindness gave Fraidy more years than most ferals get. Doesn't do much for the sadness you and your wife are going through, buy you did right by the cat.