The Grey Badger

Undocumented cats and the Animal Cops

2008-07-06T13:58:48Z

Buster is not yet my cat. He's a boarder - he comes in for meals and to sleep, comes and goes when he feels like it, and still will not let me get close to him. I accept this cheerfully. I'd still dearly love to make him legal, but accept that it's not gonna happen, probably.

I watch Animal Planet, especially "Animal Cops (Whatever City)" and there's one thing I find disturbing about it. If they rescue a cat or a dog that does not respond to human beings like a good pet, they decide he's unadoptable and "regretfully, had him humanely euthanized."

I'm not going to speak for dogs; they're another species. But when it comes to cats, it clarifies things for me to insert the concrete example of Buster into the abstract principle and realize -

If Buster were picked up, I couldn't claim him; he has no tags or collar. If I then said I would adopt him, I would probably be told that I couldn't - and that because of his wildness around people, he is 'unadoptable' - and was --- all together now, "Humanely euthanized."

Bad phrase, Bad, bad phrase. From Buster's standpoint, there'd be nothing humane about it. He wouldn't have been put out of his misery because he isn't miserable; he's happy living like this. I'm happy having him living here like this.

One alternative is to do what some of the feral cat advocacy groups do. Have him neutered (except I think he already has been), give him his cat shots, and release him. But that's not in keeping with their policy that every cat should be a pet cat; it's adding to the 'feral cat problem.' In Buster's case - WHAT problem? He has food, shelter, and a home. I repeat: he's happy. I'm happy.

I know other people who have 'boarder cats' and all we can do is hope they stay out of the hands of the Animal Cops - Albuquerque.

I'd send this to the local media as an advocacy piece, but all it would do is call the Animal Cops; attention to the fact that Buster is here, not legal, and therefore in sore need of being treated as described above. No stinking way.

Four fur fellows and the Fourth

2008-07-06T13:47:27Z

The Fourth of July may have bothered the fur fellows and it may not have. I noticed when I came home from watching the fireworks display, Buster and Shadow were lying under the coffee table, apparently comfortable and at ease, but still under the table. Spot was asleep in the cat carrier by the front door, a favorite den of his. Dufus Claudius either was inside or came in. All four of them ate their second supper with a hearty appetite.

That was then, this was now (political)

2008-06-24T22:42:54Z

"Give me your powerful your rich
The carefully selected of some allied shore
The highly skilled, if spotlessly respectable
I lift my pat-down wand beside the guarded door."

Four free felines feeding

2008-06-24T22:41:32Z

The kitty population is more or less back to normal ever since Spot was allowed to go out. I must still cope with the stink in the laundry room, where he hung around the back door hoping for a quick exit, and expressed his displeasure after the manner of boy cats.

Dufus Claudius has ceased to sleep in the recliner. Whether that's due to Spot;s captivity (I don't see how), the weather, or changed kitty politics, I know not. However, their supper and dinner are extremely welcome.

Final kitty update - Spot

2008-06-21T13:35:59Z

Spot is eating and drinking as if to make up for a week, not two days, of lost appetite. He's taking his liquid medications in his wet food eagerly, and he is being a very bad patient. He wants to go out. He meows to go out.

I let him out the other night to runaround with his brothers, then put him in his room. When I let him out the next morning, I found Buster had been locked in there with him, apparently peacefully. I can just hear the conversation now. "So, kid, whatcha in for?"

I let him out last night when I had the science fiction gang over for filking -we sang out hearts out. Spot's song was "let us spray." Duke caught him decorating the windows with his "I was here" graffiti. But when he sprayed the book shelves, back in his room he went.

It's not a problem in the daytime because he sleeps all day. And I think this is good for him, because among his many other troubles, the heat does get him, badly.

What's interesting is that his brother Dufus has become almost as skittish as the adoptees, Buster and Shadow. And neither Shadow nor Spot have returned to their cat houses, those safe and cozy dens which Mommy can zip up and use to take them bad places! Pity - I was so hoping they all would by now.

Spotty update

2008-06-18T14:02:06Z

Spot is scarfing down the medicated wet food as if he loved it. His horribly swollen infected toe is back to normal size now. He's using the open cat box regularly and eating the kibbles and water I'm giving him separately in his room.

And he wants to go outside very, very badly is is annoyed that I won't let him.

And he comes up to the computer desk and wants to cuddle. I'm glad to oblige.

Spot Improvement

2008-06-17T14:47:48Z

Spot is much better this morning. I saw him eating his kibbles, though not the wet food I was hoping to put the antibiotics in. He's asking to go outdoors. Not a chance! And there was evidence in the cat box this morning that he has been eating and drinking, and processing the same.

Thanks for everyone's good wishes.

One good sign -

2008-06-16T22:41:11Z

Spot was just staring at the food and water I set out for him this morning, so I picked him up and put him on the futon, at his favorite spot, where he didn't move or anything. Until about an hour ago, he staggered over to the cat box - the open one the fellows don't really use because they like the domed one better - and let a little of this morning's hydration pass through him. But despite something in his IV that was supposed to perk up his appetite, he hasn't eaten a bite and I don't think he's even sipped his water.

So glad I took Spot to the vet!

2008-06-16T22:37:34Z

Poor Spotty!

The worst first: he has a bite wound on his left rear paw that goes clear through from the top to the pad. And it's an abscess. He has antibiotics that go in his wet food starting tomorrow, and I'm to put Neosporin ointment on the wound. And not worry if he licks it.

Second he has a nasty case of ear mites in both ears, one of which was caked with dried blood, apparently from him scratching it. I have ear drops for that, twice a week starting Thursday.

Third, he had a fever of 103.5. No wonder he was passive and dazed!

He was quite dehydrated. They had to rehydrate him.

He left blood on the thermometer, so they took Xrays. No sign of injury or definite sign of having eaten a foreign object. A lump of something in his gut that may come out in the cat box. He sneezed blood all over the Xrays and there was some clouding in his lung. The vet thinks the heat got him and his blood vessels spasmed and left a little blood in his lungs. He is quite heat-sensitive and we're looking at High 90s here. On a thin-skinned white-furred cat. But they added Vitamin K to the hydration IV. He also got an antibiotic.

Of course they cleaned the wound and cleaned out his ears.

I'm to keep him in for a week. Thank heavens the cat box is in the back room where the carrier is; plus, I can now shut the door to my room where the cat door is, and keep it shut. He's in here as we speak, staring at the fresh wet food and water I set out for him. Deciding, I think, whether he feels up to eating it or not.

Oh - the total bill was well over $600. However - to make the repairs on a well-beloved cat - yeah, No question about it.

Poor Spot!

2008-06-16T22:36:05Z

Yesterday he was lying in a corner of the driveway looking dazed and heatstruck. I picked him up and brought him inside. His fur was filthy. He was off his feed but I left him alone. This morning he's still looking dazed and confused, and growls and cries when I pick him up. His fur is still filthy and he didn't come into the kitchen for breakfast. He's shedding fiercely and there is a place in the xeriscape where there's nothing but bark where there are tufts of white fur, as if he tried to scrape something off or something.

I tried checking him over for injuries, and the minute I handled his flanks, especially on one side, he growled and cried and yowled. I think he's been injured, unless he has a cactus spine in him or something. Sigh. There goes this morning. Also, there goes an entry in the "debt" column, but that's inevitable.

Shadow's legal. And - surprise!

2008-06-12T14:35:04Z

Shadow the scaredy cat has been showing up regularly for meals and has been sleeping in the cat house on the bookcase in the study, where the litter box is. So I decided it was time to make the kitty legal, get cat shots, etc. I zipped up the cat house and called the vet and took Shadow in.

I began by knowing several things about Shadow. That she was a girl, had had a very traumatic kittenhood and was imperfectly socialized (if at all), was a passive cat who would let the others walk all over her, was an indoor cat, and had probably been spayed at the Animal Humane of NM. That she was afraid of her own shadow and had once been called "Poophead" by both her first owner and her subsequent fosterer. That she would not tolerate a collar. I'd been told she had blue eyes, but all I could see was the translucent red surrounded but what seemed like white. And her markings seemed unique, especially that very dark mask.

The vet took her into the back room where the techs could help with a panicky scaredy cat who had bad memories of medical procedures. Quite some time later, she came out and I learned:

Shadow is a boy, a neutered male.
He's young, "no more than 2 or 3 years old." [Contradicted later by hard evidence]
He's been microchipped. They gave me the number and the company to call and the phone number of Animal Humane of NM.
He went on their records as Seal Point after one glance.
And he'd been a very good boy for them.

The microchip people gave me an implant date of December, 2004. So he's older than the vet thought. Maybe because he's undersized? Called Animal Humane and gave the number.

He was brought in to them in December, 2004 at the age of 8 months by a loving family who was moving and could not take him with them. So he had been socialized.

He was a sick kitty: urinary infection, upper respiratory infection, and heavy mucus in the lungs (aka Really Bad Kennel Cough.)

His trauma - being locked in the bathroom, having meds stuffed down him, and that being his only human contact, went on for 6 months - from age 8 months to 14 months. After which he had free run of the house until his owner's stroke in June, 2006.

I went on an 11 day road trip in May and had Shadow's former fosterer cat sit. When I came back, I saw Shadow go out the cat window and come back in and go out again as if he'd been doing it for a long time. And he's started to test the other cats for dominance, even trying to nudge my senior-and-king cat Dufus Claudius away from the food bowl.

So - almost everything I knew about Shadow is wrong, including my fear that he'd revert to hiding under the bed and never coming out again after the vet visit. He's back, eating breakfast, playing with the other cats - but even though I washed the pad in the cat house and switched it for the front room cat house, he has not trusted it enough to sleep in it again. To bad.

What is Live Journal doing?

2008-05-31T20:28:01Z

I tried posting a comment to a community I belong to and was asked for my username and password and to type in the funny letters. I tried to access my own journal and was asked to provide my username. Luckily the password was in there.

I wrote the moderator of the community and I'm asking on my own lj - WHAT is happening here? Nothing's changed on my computer except an Adobe Reader update, which has nothing to do with lj!

Road Trip!

2008-05-28T14:29:26Z

Well over a month ago or more I told the list I was thinking of touring the Willamette Valley, which I'd read about in various novels. A lot of the Stirling Fans list had some very helpful suggestions and ideas, so in mid-May I set out west over I-40 like the bear going over the mountain to see what I could see. I promised my cat sitter I'd be back before Memorial Day weekend.

Well, the best laid plans and a' that ... I did get quite a bit of touring in, though. Let me see -

The minute I mentioned my plans to my family, my daughter in Pacifica, CA, said "Of course you're coming out here, aren't you?" Well, yes. Of course. It's a 2-day drive, so I should have been there by suppertime Wednesday except -
somehow I got it into my head that the road west from Kingman, AZ was a steep, twisty mountain road that would take me up over Hoover Dam, and I did not want to tackle that after 5pm. Of course, I was thinking of the road to Las Vegas, not I-40. Next time, I'll stop in Needles, or if I leave earlier*, even Ludlow.

Oh, and the obsolete Triptik I was using as part reference made it seem that between Ludlow and Barstow, I'd need to bring survival supplies by camelback. Who wrote that sucker? Not one of us desert people, for sure. It was as easy a road as I-40 out of Albuquerque and with just about the same spacing of stops. So I arrived in Pacifica late in the evening. Without supper, since I wanted to make miles far more than I wanted to eat. Carol and Chris fed me and I got to see the grandkids.

*The hardest, most time-consuming part of any road trip, however long or short, is getting out of the Albuquerque city limits. I've never known that to fail.

More later.

Quick questions:

2008-04-27T22:44:48Z

Which jacket shows you have the sounder grasp of ecological principles? The one made from recycled organic cotton in the rain forest? Or the wool business blazer you got at the local thrift store?

Which coat: the clever one made from recycled soda bottles? Or your great-grandmother's fur?

Over to you ....

Be green. Buy something.

2008-04-27T22:07:15Z

I've been reading some of the How To Be Green suggestions and a few of them are mind-boggling. My favorites are the ones suggesting that we get rid of our old ecologically incorrect things and replace them with new! Green-Created! Ultra-ecologically fashionable! products which certainly will give you green cred in certain circles. But --- ---

Now, I'm not talking about swapping out an old energy-hog appliance or car for a new energy-miser one. That's an investment in long-term savings. And I'm not talking about putting out a dollar or two for one of those permanent shopping bags that seem to be made out of recycled plastic doo-dads. That's not only sensible, but cheaper than your cup of coffee. I'm talking about -

"Be green! Get a bamboo shower curtain, sustainably made and grown." Fine if you don't already have one; if you have any sort of shower curtain, think about the cost in energy of sustainably growing and making and shipping your new one, and disposing of your old one. Oops! Into the landfill. Or someone on Freecycle picks it up, using gasoline to do so.

"Be green! Tear out your old floors and put in sustainable new ...."

I'm going to leave it to you to do the energy math on that one. Green? As green as a case of seasickness.

OFFER: (not for Freecycle, but....)

2008-04-19T19:23:10Z

OFFER: One 2007 release Companion Animal Toy, model B, black and white, extremely attractive. Also acts as an alarm clock. Currently programmed to wake you up at 6am; have been unable to reprogram. The soothing noises module has not yet been activated and the promised hours and hours of fun activating and developing the Socialization module has proven to be hours and hours of fumbling with the instructions manual. This CAT model 2007B has not been registered yet since I have been unable to meet the requirements to get it registered. Whenever I try, the hide-under-furniture subroutine is activated instead.

Warning: retractable claws deploying regularly when the alarm system is activated, and unpredictably at other times, make this toy unsuitable for children.

Other information: this Companion Animal Toy comes in two basic models, B and G, and in five basic colors: black, orange, white, brown, and gray. A number of multicolored models are available in various combinations. Please note that combinations including orange and black or orange and gray are only available for the Model G. Personality characteristics are the result of random programming within the limitations of the basic parameters. To obtain one of these delightful additions to your household, visit the website at www.ahanm.org or outside of the Albuquerque area, www.aspca.org.

From the wrong decision, a good result

2008-04-19T19:13:00Z

I have belonged to Weight Watchers for some time, but occasionally get a huge urge to backslide, usually in a very specific way. Today it was around lunch time and I wanted to visit a local fast food restaurant that specializes in seafood and was offering a $3 lunch in a basket. A smaller basket than most, which is good for my size appetite.

Most of it tasted like the sort of food which is merely fuel for the body, and it required as much sauce as I could use, but the sauces available were ketchup, cocktail sauce, and tartar sauce. Aka mayo with some relish mixed in. The fish, now, that didn't taste like the flavorless stuff above.

It tasted strongly like fish. In a coating of salt and grease.

I think unless I am in the middle of nowhere and this is the only place to eat between, say, Las Vegas and Reno, I will not try this again.

And that's the good result.

Updates

2008-04-17T13:51:46Z

I haven't been posting much. Things have felt very busy even though objectively, I'm living at a very slow pace indeed.

Kitty update: Buster will let me pet him when we're in bed together. Lately, even when the light is on.

Shadow has come onto the bed. I held out my hand for her to sniff and she let me pet her then, until Dufus hissed at her. Then she left, almost as if with a shrug. Becca tells me she'll get to the point where she doesn't want to let me go.

School update: I seem to have rounded some sort of corner in Spanish. We had a homework assignment in which we were given a map and some directions in Spanish and asked to say which destination we ended up at. My notepad was covered, not with translations, but with crude sketches full of directional arrows. We were also asked to summarize articles from Spanish-language newspapers. No problem except I could not resist the temptation to editorialize a bit about Hugo Chavez' call for an all-Latin-American energy union. That is, I wrote "He did not say who would lead this union." My private reading of el Presidente is that he'd expect it to be him. He also wrapped himself in the mantle of Simon Bolivar and Emiliano Zapata, the latter for a Mexican audience. Como se dice "typical politician?"

Weather update - off again, on again. Typical spring in the high desert.

More on the same subject

2008-04-01T17:24:14Z

WHY SHOULD I EVEN CARE?

This place is not clean.
I will not endure it.
I am going outside.
Why? Why do you even ask?

Why do I wash myself so much?
Because it feels good.
Why do you ask?
What has it to do with you?

I will not eat this food.
It is not the flavor I am used to.
It is not the texture I am used to.
Why does that bother you?

I walk by myself. How else?
Why do you want me to come when I'm called?
What do you want of me, and -
Why should I care?

I speak: two stories

2008-04-01T17:09:30Z

CANTO ONE

Hand that brings the food.
It is time to eat. Where is the food?
You are breaking my routine. This is not right.
I will let you know
It is time for food.

Presence in the house.
Sitting in my chair. That’s my chair.
This is where I sit. That is not right.
I will sit here even if it means
I get on top of you.

Warm thing in the night.
I can lie next to you and have no fear.
You do not move. You do not bother me.
And you are warm. Familiar.
I can sleep in peace.

What are you doing?
You know I hate the car. How dare you?
Where are you taking me? Nasty place.
Strangers, sticking me with needles.
You won’t see me soon.

People everywhere.
What are all these strangers doing here?
Making noise and sitting in my chair. Touching me.
I’m hiding in the closet.
Till they leave.

CANTO 2

This is not my house.
This is nobody I know. This is not right.
This is not my chair or bed.
And there are others like me here.
I hate you all.

I cannot learn a new place.
I cannot eat at the wrong time.
I cannot learn to get along with others.
I do not know this person in charge
And do not trust her.

I have found a place to hide.
I will live where nobody can find me.
I will eat when I don’t have to deal with others.
I will sleep throughout the day.
Oh, you have done me wrong.

I think I know where things are now.
I think I recognize you, somewhat.
I think I know these others.
Even if you make me share with them.
If I’m here, I’m here.

Well, DUH!

2008-03-27T03:52:56Z

A while back, thinking that Shadow was living in the utility room (utilikitty room?) I moved the free feeder back there. Lately I've been worrying about never seeing her. Uh, what did I expect?

Free feeder is back in the dining area where I can see her if she comes to feed there.

I was musing last night on the virtues of my two senior cats as Faithful Feline Companions, probably because it will take a long time for the junior ones to even come close (if they ever do.) But Buster/Babs has given a kitty cold to Dufus. At least I hope it's only a kitty cold. Oh, if only I could catch him and get him in the carrier to take him to the vet!

I don't care if she'll even make a pet

2008-03-22T01:22:00Z

I watch Animal Planet. I know that if any rescued animal is as terribly, terribly afraid of people as Shadow is, they reluctantly conclude that she's not adoptable and "humanely euthanize" her. [Which is at least better terminology than 'put her to sleep'.] Because if she can't relate to people, she will never be a good pet. Pets have to relate to people.

I am content to know that she is safe under my roof and has access to food, water, and the cat box. I don't think the other cats have really ganged up on her, at least not while I'm here to hear them, or there'd be a lot more yowling than there is now. I'd *like* her to at long last come up on my lap and cuddle and purr, but it probably won't happen for a long time, if ever. Heavens - I'm still waiting for Babs to do that!

Shadow sighting

2008-03-21T02:22:19Z

While I was out of town, my cat sitter spotted Shadow behind the washing machine. Meanwhile, Babs slept with me at nap time and put out a paw to hook me with. He still won't let me reach out a paw to pet him or (no, never) put a collar on him.

Meanwhile I fed the three non-Shadow cats some of the leftover canned tuna. I can't do that for Shadow unless I know she's in the back room and lock the dor with the food inside.

A tale of 4 kitties

2008-03-13T22:08:59Z

Dufus Claudius was living in the mountains and kept trying to get out and roam. Not a good idea because of owls, coyotes, and feral dogs. His owners wanted to know if anyone on the city would give him a good home. I had just lost Marmalade to kidney failure. That was 10 years ago.

Five years ago the old girls died in the same month, one of cancer and one of kidney failure, and a science fiction club member said one of her neighbors had abandoned their cat when they moved and he was wandering around the complex helpless. Did anyone want to adopt him? Well, all right - Dufus could use some younger company. That was Spot.

My friend Ruth had a massive stroke two and a half years ago and had to go into a nursing home. Her Care Committee/housesitters/arrangers of estate sales mentioned her pair of yap dogs and her pair of established house cats. And then the traumatized rescue kitten who (insert tale of mishandling that would give any kitten PTSD) she called "Poophead". In outrage I rose up and said "Her name is Shadow! Poor kitty! I'll adopt her." All the while thinking, Omigawd, THREE cats again?

This past winter, while they were still trying to lure Shadow out of hiding enough to catch her and bring her to me, well, you know the story of Babs-now-Buster.

Last Saturday it was time to take Shadow home. I think she's still in the house, but only by indirect evidence. Her house & cat sitter, Becca. says this is normal for her. Poor kitty. One can only hope I really do own a little brown scaredy cat.