This is an ongoing tale of one of our *neighborhood cats*. I won't say feral for him as we believe at one time he was an inside cat that strayed years ago... so maybe semi-feral is the correct term. Sam (we called him Sam - he probably has numerous names) has been around our area for years. You see him laying on the front lawn or porch of houses all over the neighborhood. He is a handsome fellow with very striking blue eyes . He is not aggressive, but won't come closer than about 2 feet. He is calm and gets along well with the other cats (especially the young ones who tend to follow him around in the yard)... unless the females are in season... then he is a fighter. Since he is getting older, he still fights, but shows evidence of being badly beaten on occasion (notice his ears in this pic).
The reason I'm writing this is because lately he has become the subject of our neighborhood news-feed. A few months ago, someone posted his picture and asked if anyone knew this cat. Of course many of us did. We replied that he has been a fixture in the neighborhood for years, but weren't aware whether he had a permanent home. But IMO he did no harm, so basically my thought was to just let him be.
Not much came of this for a while, then yesterday it all came to a head. Before I left for pottery class, DH had me come into the garage to see something. It was a black feral who was hiding under the workbench and doing this low howl. We thought possibly she was in labor and let her be. I had to go to class, so he checked her ever so often. A few hours later I got a text from DH saying to call him. When I did, he said the cat was dead. I thought, "What?" He didn't know anything else except that she didn't seem to have any wounds, but when he checked on her after lunch, she was dead.
When I got home from class we again checked her out. She was definitely dead and showed no tell-tale signs of a problem. So we called our Animal Control and had them come out to pick her up and possibly let us know the cause of death if they could. The AC guy was very nice and after examining her, he said that he couldn't see any evidence of illness or trauma. She looked healthy, a good weight, and possibly about 5 years old. But that he would call us and tell us more if there was more to tell. We really would like to know why she died and felt awful that we hadn't done something sooner. I'm not sure what - as she was feral and probably would have run off and died somewhere else had we tried to get too close.
But the story only begins (or continues) here for our neighborhood Siamese. While talking to the Animal Control guy, we mentioned that the neighborhood had quite a lot of feral cats... mostly black. The exception was this one old male Siamese that had striking blue eyes. He asked us if we'd seen him lately and we said no... not in a week or so. Why? And then he explained that they had picked up a cat that fit that description about 2 weeks ago. He asked if he had a big head? We said yes, he has a really big head. In fact, our next door neighbor calls him "Fat-head". Well, it turns out that we're pretty sure that the Animal Shelter has him and we were told that they may not be keeping him around too much longer. He said that he was a good looking cat, but he'd seen better days and if anyone wants him, they need to do something quickly.
So we promised to get on the band wagon and use the news-feed to let the area know that we "think" the Animal Shelter has our neighborhood Siamese. The response was immediate and several people mentioned that they would go over and check this out... possibly give him a permanent home. Haven't heard any more this morning, but will follow up as soon as I know. If nothing else, possibly the neighbors could get together and follow the "catch and release" program... (the catch part is done, only left to neuter, vaccinate, and release). Please wish the best for Sam/Fat-head...
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| pic of neighborhood Siamese in his younger days |
Yes, I do. My daughter was the last caregiver to a cat they called Neighborhood. When he died, in another city in another county, he was kept refrigerated until his band of previous owners could come and bury him in our woods, as they were all young and mobile and they wanted Neighborhood in a place they knew. It was amusing, and sincere.
ReplyDeleteoh I wish him well, I hope your neighborhood can get him back, he deserves to stay where he knows the neighborhood, near the gallery i work in a guy volunteers to catch and neuter feral cats, he puts food in a cage with a trap door takes them to be neutered and then brings them back and releases them. Nowadays I think folks can't afford to take care of their animals and just let them go, possibly even family members of parents passed away, so sad for the animals that are really domestic, as you know our Barney is a neighborhood cat and everyone takes care of him and feeds him, we took him to get his shots, he is more than feral cause he follows folks around and likes to be pet, just doesn't want to be picked up.
ReplyDeleteThe last comment so far on our news-feed was that Sam/Fat-head had had a good run for a feral... and that if someone wanted to do something, they could adopt a cat from the shelter in his name. DH and I offered to go in with anyone who might be interested in having him neutered, vaccinated, and released - if there was no opposition. If neutered, he wouldn't add to the cat population and if they notch his ear, perhaps animal control would let him be. As far as we know, he's never been a nuisance... but everyone might not feel this way.
ReplyDeleteOh, fingers crossed for Sam, I hope for a good outcome for him. I"m so sorry about the female feral, poor thing.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a shame when people toss out their cats, because they get too big or too expensive. Sam/Fat-Head was obviously a gorgeous cat so I suspect he belonged to someone at some point in time. Hopefully he gets a few more years.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the black cat. I hope you find out what happened to her.
Poor darling...both the female who died without cause, and Sam. He looks so well fed, someone must have been putting food out for him, or he had some source of nutrition. Let us know whatever happens.
ReplyDeleteSam is a better name than Fat head. Good luck with rescue efforts.
ReplyDeleteI hope it all works out for Sam. He certainly is a handsome guy, even in his later years.
ReplyDeleteCatch and release is what I'd like to see done with our young feral cat as well. She is quite pretty now she has fattened up a bit. I hope you're able to save Sam/Fathead, he's a looker.
ReplyDeleteDiana
Update on Sam/Fathead: Someone is checking into possible options. Animal Shelter says he's very aggressive. We never noticed this when around him (although we never tried to approach or cage him)... so he most likely wouldn't make an inside cat. Only option I can see is neuter and release... and don't know if everyone is OK with that. But for the time being, he has food and shelter and they are letting us play out the options.
ReplyDeleteHe's a handsome boy and it's unusual to see a stray or semi-feral Siamese as they are expensive cats. I do hope he gets the chance to love out his days in the neighbourhood he knows.
ReplyDelete