Monthly Archive

It’s late February and, here in Northern California, the weather is starting to break.  We’re still dealing with the rains but the temperatures are getting better with overnight lows dropping to the mid-40s.  For the feral cats that live in the factory behind us things are looking up.

This blog was started to relate the stories of the cats that call this house their home.  In the past few years, however, I’ve also written about some of the strays that come by to visit with the Court cats and share a bowl of kitty crunchies.  I won’t get up on my soap box today and preach the importance of having kitties ‘fixed’ at an early age.  Just keep in mind that serious cat-people have this taken care of quickly when the kitten is old enough for the procedure.

Currently there are 8 regulars in the neighborhood:

Junior, a 21-month-old tiger male.  We were able to catch his mother and 4 siblings.  Mom was neutered and released; the siblings were adopted.  Junior watched the family get trapped and avoids cages.

Roger, maybe 5 years old, a tiger with a white chest.  We’re not sure if he is really a stray. mHe is clean, well fed and wears a collar.  We haven’t been able to track him back to his people.  Roger’s territory covers the north side of the street and extends back behind the houses to include the apartments and the funeral home on the next block.  Mr. Big will occasionally cross the street to visit with some of the ‘house cats’ but doesn’t go behind the houses.

Princess, a female, white fur and maybe 3 years old. Our neighbor takes care of the Princess who has been neutered and sees a vet regularly.  She is an outside cat, not quite a feral then again not a house-dwelling cat.

The Trio, 3 siblings, maybe 8 months old and true ferals.  We have not been able to trap them (set out traps every night for a week and a half, managed to catch the same possum every night).  Mr. Big goes out when we put food out and spends an hour back there with them most mornings.   Last week they managed to catch a finch and left half of the ‘meal’ next to the bowl, sharing the kill.

Blue.  Maybe a year old, lives in the warehouse behind the house.  He is not afraid to approach people as he knows that’s where the food comes from.

Calico Kitty, maybe 6 months and new to this end of the factory yard.  She seems to have figured out the schedules and rules.

We put out food every evening close to sunset (bowls of dry and wet food) and again around 6:30 the next morning.  Most feedings are cleaned up within a half hour; the cats are used to the schedule and know that if they aren’t there, another cat will finish the food.  Our cats don’t seem to mind, as long as the ferals stay out toward the other end of the yard and not approach the back door.  Seems our cats have laid out their territory and marked it well.

The winter hasn’t been too bad; there was a stretch where the overnight lows settled down to 29 degrees for a few weeks.  We assume the strays were able to find a warm dry shelter in one of the old warehouses.  For the first time in years we did not lose anyone.

Come April we’ll attempt to capture a few more of the strays for T-N-R; we want to keep the population down but not extinct.  We don’t have a problem with moles, mice or rats as the cats keep their numbers in check.

As for the Court Cats, with the cold and rain the Blue and the Old Lady stay in the house most of the time, venturing out on those occasional warm afternoons to sprawl on the back steps.  Long about April they’ll be spending more time outside, pursuing lizards and insects. At their age, they no longer go after birds; too much work.  The Old Lady is 13 now and not as agile.  The Blue – well, he never bothers to hunt for fresh food as there was always kitty-crunchies in the bowl.

Till next time –