a little kindness...

 

 I didn't have a subject that I wanted to write about today, but I was recently looking at some of our backyard feral pics and decided that perhaps I'd share them with you (some you may have seen before).

These are the ones who frequent our back yard. Most come in from the creek through what we call the 'rabbit hole'... 

Then there are those who jump the back fence (coyotes and bobcats)....  these although less welcome due to their aggressive nature, still show up on occasion.

This one was pictured and video taped this past week. 

He's a pretty handsome specimen.

And then of course I couldn't close without a picture of our Ghost:

... and miracle of miracles, in this one she doesn't have that really mad expression (like below).

Hope all of you have a wonderful rest of the week! 

Hugs,

Rian

Oh, I forgot... here's a pic of the banana nut bread I made Sunday:

great recipe from King Arthur cookbook!

venting today... just a little

Here's what happened Thursday:

When DH was leaving the house to meet a friend for lunch, he came back inside and asked me to come outside. I did and there sitting on the driveway across the street at 11 am in the morning was a big fat (handsome) raccoon.  DH says "Isn't that a bit strange... him being out there laying in the sun in the front of the house with cars and people passing?" I agreed it was odd... and that he was probably sick or had been hit by a car (although he didn't look injured).

You might have to enlarge this

So I watched him for a while after DH left. He didn't leave, just lay there and occasionally sat up. Finally I called Animal Control and told them what was going on. They said that there was a lot of distemper going around... and most probably he was sick. But they would send someone around to check.

After about 20 minutes, AC showed up and I pointed to where he was still laying.  The man took out his pole and rope and went over.  But his approach startled the raccoon, and he immediately got up and started away. The man chased him around for a bit, and finally gave up - telling me he ran up a tree - which he probably did. I had gone inside (admittedly after laughing a bit watching him running around and thinking, he's never going to catch him. Apparently the animal wasn't that sick.)

OK... now the venting part: While the AC man was a few houses down chasing the raccoon, I saw an SUV stop and call him over. He walked over and apparently he and the woman driver talked... for a bit. Later when he returned to his truck, I went outside again and said that I guess the animal wasn't that sick as he seemed to give him a run for his money. We both laughed. 

Then he told me that the woman who stopped to talk was complaining to him about my cat. I looked at him and said, "I have a cat?" (meaning an outside cat - Ghost has never gone outside) . But before I could say anything more, he said, "You must feed the feral cats...?" And I said, "Oh yes, we do feed the ferals..." and he said that's what she was complaining about. He told her that AC had been working with us for years. Not sure how he meant that to sound... but truth be told, we do bring them feral kittens when we find them, have had ferals neutered and spayed, belong to Feral Friends, etc. 

Anyway, after he left, I told DH that our 'poodle friend' from down the block was complaining about us. She lives about 4 houses down and owns a big standard black poodle which she walks on one of those adjustable leashes and allows him to run all the way up to our front porch (even walks around our car in the driveway on the side) to let him chase the ferals who sometimes sleep under the car or on the porch.

Both DH and I have asked her not to do this on our property. We would like our area to be considered a safe place for all critters. Her response was that her dog wouldn't hurt them... and I said that maybe not, but scaring them was mean and we'd appreciate it if she wouldn't allow it. Guess she didn't like that. 

Anyway, I'm venting because it irks me that someone wants to tell me that I can't feed or protect the wildlife. I know the pros and cons and have lived here in this house for 35 years. Our kids and grandkids have watched generations of wildlife come and go. We have done the 'catch and release' programs and what it boils down to is that if something is hungry, we're going to feed it. And if you like for your dog to chase ferals, then do it on your own property.  That's my philosophy - take it or leave it.

What do you think? 

Here's a picture of one of the feral cats sleeping up on the fence. He's a sweet one, only about a year old, but a big cat. He's one that would make someone a good pet. However, he's wary enough not to get too close... 

Well, that's my story. Thanks for visiting. Comment if you'd like. I acknowledge and appreciate different opinions... as long as no one gets ugly.

Hugs,
Rian

This post should stop here. I think it's going to pull up a lot of white space and I don't know why... if you do, please tell me how to eliminate it. The white space shows up when I do a preview, but not on my actual posting ???

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no cats in the house? I can't imagine...

Woke up this morning thinking about cats and art... not necessarily together.... just how much I enjoy both. Both things add joy to my life that's hard to explain. Both also bring tears on occasion, but that's life, right? Looking back, the good outweighs the bad. 

I always had a love for animals - pretty much all animals. As a child I had dogs, birds, a rabbit, a snake, a few turtles, and an alligator (this was back in the 50's when one could buy baby turtles and alligators all along the coast of Mississippi). But we never had cats. Mama told me I was allergic. Don't think I was... but I do sneeze a lot (so maybe).

When DH and I got married and were living in the married student apartments at LSUBR, we were 22 and had 2 Siamese kittens (Emily and Jai). From that time on (from Louisiana to Florida to Texas), we have always had cats. Cats and kids have kept our lives full... of laughter (and tears)... but mostly joy. 

At one time, we had 8 inside cats (a bit much) but they needed help, so what can you do?  And they all got along... I have pictures of all 8 lined up in a row on our bed. Over the years we decided 3 inside was about right - when it came to caring for them (vaccinations, food, litter, attention, etc.) 

So now in our twilight (?) years, we have 3 inside and quite a few feral ones that frequent our backyard. These are given food, water, and what shelter our yard provides. Would we like to take more in, sure. But it's not practical at our age. We have done the catch, vaccinate, and release program over the years, but now simply provide what care we can.

But I truly can't imagine not having a cat. They each have their own personalities and watching them emerge as kittens to adult cats is fascinating. We took them all in at only a few weeks old. Tux (one of our black and whites) is so bonded with me that he is by my side when I'm home 24/7. He is also extremely sensitive and easily hurt - if I lean down to pet one of the others when he is on my lap, he will go off in a huff. That's Tux. Julie, his sibling is half his size and full of beans. She loves to play, run around, and knock things down. If you throw her a mouse, she will jump up and catch it in her paws. Unlike Tux, she (and Ghost) are not lap cats... although Julie has her moments. Ghost now is a strange cat. She has genetic kidney problems and was not supposed to live past her first year. She is 12 now and although generally a very sweet cat, is also a bit psycho. There are times when she will hiss and growl for apparently no reason... it doesn't last long, but we've never been able to figure out why it happens. She also doesn't jump on things, watches TV, watches iPhone videos, and loves me to do a shadow show on the wall.  

As I said... can't imagine not having them around.

Tux

Julie

Ghost

Tux

                                                                   

Julie

Ghost

This post is longer than I planned... so I won't go into my thoughts about art today. I'll post that another day. Thanks for listening to my early morning ramblings. 


Hugs, 
Rian

Our Cats!

Tux 

Ghost

Julie

Our inside cats!  These 3 are the ones remaining from the picture at the top of my blog. All were feral kittens. The black and whites are both 14 now, siblings (of a litter of 5 we took in when the mama cat brought them to our back porch and promptly left. They were about 4 weeks old at the time - barely walking and had to be bottle fed for a short time).  

The grey we took in when she was possibly a few weeks older. Her mama and siblings came by one day when the kittens were about 6 weeks old (they could move quite fast).  However, when they all darted off - the little grey kitten just sat there looking around. The others never came back... and we finally decided that we'd better take her in... as she seemed a bit lost and confused.

She did have some genetic problems -  neurological and physical.  The Vet didn't think she would make it past a year as she was seemingly a bit retarded and has genetic kidney probs (she hears OK, but I don't believe she sees well).

However, she is now 12 and although she does have some flare-ups (both neurologically and physically) from time to time, she has done exceptionally well. We call her our little psycho kitty as she is a bit unpredictable. But we accept her as she is... as do Tux and Julie. 

But they are all getting up there in age (as are we) so we don't allow ourselves to take any more inside.  Since most of our cats live to be 19-23, we feel that fits into the 10 years we have left to give them. Not to say that we might live longer than that... but it just seems practical. And besides, since retirement... keeping up with vaccinations and occasional Veterinary bills for 3 is about all we can handle.

However, we do provide food, water, and a safe environment for the feral cat families that do show up in our back yard. Truth be known, we would probably still vaccinate them (like the catch and release programs advocate) if we could. We used to do this when we were younger, but don't anymore...  can't catch them. 

And besides, it got a bit expensive as we used to keep them upstairs in a closed off room for weeks to get them friendly enough to go to the adoption room at the nearby Animal Shelter. They knew us there and our feral kittens came in clean, flea-free, vaccinated, and friendly. But despite our best efforts to keep our own cats separate, the ferals always brought in fleas and we had to de-flea the house and our cats after each litter.

But all in all, we do love cats. And it's difficult sometimes not to want to take them all in. But like with everything else in life, you  simply do what you can... and hope its helpful... even in some small way. 

Other outside ferals:

Have a great week!

some of the outside menagerie... and an update on Jack

Cold, damp, and raining again. I was taken by surprise by the temperature when I went outside this morning to go to class.  It was COLD!  And yesterday had been in the high 70's.  I knew it was suppose to rain and the temp would drop, but I didn't expect this. Had to return inside for a scarf, coat, and umbrella.

Our 'outside cats' which are mostly ferals and neighborhood strays stay close to our back porch on cold rainy days. The porch is covered and provides protection from the rain, and there are baskets with hay and chairs with blankets...  as well as food and water. On really cold days we have hanging heat lamps. And on hot summer days, there is a ceiling fan and child's plastic swimming pool.  Several generations of strays have grown up here. One of these is Bootsie.  She's a little black and white DSH that we've tried to catch and spay for a few years now. She is sweet, but smart and although she spends a lot of time around us, will not let us too close. Here's a picture of her up in a tree over the bird feeder. And the other picture is one of her with her daughter, Socks. Now Socks is a lot friendlier than Bootsie.  She may eventually let us close enough. We're trying. She will play with a toy through the kitchen door and runs to it when she sees us. but so far... no touching. However,  time will tell.

This bottom pic is of a SiameseTom that comes around a lot. We call him 'Sam'.  He doesn't stay... eats, causes havoc, then leaves until it's time to eat again. He has beautiful blue eyes (had to red-eye out them). We believe he actually lives somewhere close by... and just comes visiting because although we don't pet him, he doesn't seem to be afraid of people.

And here's a photo of our inside black and white siblings, Jack and Tux as they squeeze their fat selves into a Christmas basket.  (Tux has white face, Jack has black nose)

And news is that Jack is still not his ol' self.  He hasn't eaten in the last 2 days and is laying quietly in his box. When we pet him and bring him water, he drinks and purrs, but his gums and ears are very pale. We will probably bring him to the Vet's tomorrow if he continues this way. But... they have told us before that there is nothing they can do. His body is destroying his red blood cells and it's only a matter of time. However, he has always 'sprung back'... and hopefully, he will be able to do so again. There is another black and white sibling,  little Julie.  She is half the size of her brothers... but she is very independent.  Tux and Jack have been extremely close their whole lives and I worry how Tux will do when Jack passes.

Julie

I probably should have put all this cat info on my 'Cat, Chocolate, and Coffee' blog.  Oh well, too late. 

No spring chicken...

Just came back from the doctor's.  Have been a bit dizzy and light headed the last few days and BP was low (100/50), so hubby (and others) thought I should make our family physician aware.  So I did. They didn't find anything. Took bloodwork (again! that's 3 weeks in a row now... but different doctors) and did an EKG. Actually they took 2 EKG's, one messed up (might show an enlarged atrium?), but the second was normal. So we're going to just wait and see...  (which is what I would have done anyway).

My BP isn't so low today... and I'm no longer feeling dizzy.  So, maybe I'm on the mend.  Or as I actually believe - it's just old age reminding me that I'm no spring chicken.  Whatever....

This site is basically about life after retirement, but I find it necessary to mention our cats to any readers that didn't follow my "Cats, Coffee, and Chocolate" website.  Their stories and pictures can be found there. They too play a big part in our retirement since taking care of 6 inside cats and a host of neighborhood ferals (and their offspring), use up a lot of our time.  I should say here that I was once a part of the Veterinary Medical field and hubby and I consider it our contribution to belong to the "catch and release" program.  Thus any animal that wonders into our yard (which is fenced and runs down to a creek) can find sanctuary, food, and water there. And if we can catch them, we will vaccinate, spay or neuter, and release.  However, some are not going to be caught.  That's OK.  We do what we can.