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Last week was quite the week for me — you don’t even want to hear all of it. But at one point I was bit by a wild animal. There was a chance that I would need the rabies series. Thankfully, the animal decided to reside in my parents’ yard and we were able to observe it for signs of illness.
Ok — perhaps not the best way to determine if an animal has rabies, right. So today (day 10 and D-day) we decided to capture the animal to ensure that it is healthy. Capturing the creature was no small project and also involved the capture of 2 of its siblings and mother. But now they are living in cages at my folks’ house awaiting their visit to the vet.
Yeah — they’re kittens (and mama cat) but they can be nasty little critters! We used nets and leather gloves to capture them.
And the likelihood of a kitten (about 6-8 weeks or so) having rabies is very slim (vets did confirm this). But as you all know my need to save wildlife (which I inherited from my folks, obviously) so we had to get them inside. They were not very loved by the neighbors and this is a city — so life expectancy was probably not going to be very good.
Anyway, there is a local group that helps with the sterilizing of feral cats (you catch them and take them to a certain vet and you get a discount.) We’ll be spending some time seeing how tame these animals can be (they can all be handled — mama too) and then they’ll be ready for permanent homes (I’m very optimistic about the taming process, I guess). I think one may be coming to stay with me, and Mom seems a bit attached to one too.
Again — the moral of the story is DO AS I SAY AND NOT AS I DO! JUST LEAVE WILD ANIMALS ALONE! GOT IT??
Bec
OOooo… Glad everything is OK. I knew someone that had to go through the series of shots. I don’t think it’s as bad as it was way back then, but I guess it’s still petty unpleasant.
They can all be handled?!? Our cat’s barely tolerate being picked up. I think they’re broken.
You are right about how long they would last outdoors. We always had “indoor/outdoor” cats when I was growing up. I don’t think we ever had one for more than 4 or 5 years. Both of our current cats are well past that.
Let us know how the taming goes.I’ve never personally handled mama cat, but she can be petted. She and I had a falling out when I tried to pick up one of her kittens 10 days ago (in the incident where I was bitten by the kitten). Mama doesn’t trust me much now, and so I just leave her be. But we do chat and I have petted her some.
I have petted and held all the babies. They would rather that I just leave them be, but they don’t struggle when I am holding them. I even made an attempt to figure out their gender (my very unprofessional opinion is 2 males and 1 female).
I’m not sure how well mama (Mom calls her Shasta) will do as an indoor cat — but I guess Mom is committed to giving them all homes. I think the little ones will do just fine (they are currently named, Figaro 2, Tiny and Brat (that’s the one that bit me, and most likely the one I’ll keep).
I don’t think your cats are broken — they’re just cats. I have one now that’s almost 9 years old. He hates to be held.
@greyhounder wrote:
Again — the moral of the story is DO AS I SAY AND NOT AS I DO! JUST LEAVE WILD ANIMALS ALONE! GOT IT??
Bec
Not possible. We taught our son early on, just how precious life is. This stuck with him more than we ever thought it would. So, in our house, even the spiders get a lift outside instead of getting the swat. Skeeters on the other hand…
Hope your ok and not infected Bec.
Just kidding about the broken cats (sort of). They will sit on your lap, or on the arm of the chair and love being pet. They just really don’t like being picked up. No scratching or biting, just a lot of complaining.
The problem with changing an outdoor cat to and indoor cat is that they will be out the door the first chance they get. Hope things work out for that one.
LOL! Brat. I bet that name came pretty easily…got any pictures of the bites?
Glad to hear that you are ok.
We usually have a lot of feral cats around our house. I haven’t seen any in some time now. I don’t mind having them around though. I haven’t found any dead birds around from them, but I sure notice a lower mouse popuulation. In late fall when it really starts getting colder outside, the mice start coming in. Last winter all we had was one mouse and he didn’t last too long. If the kittens are around, they will keep an eye on you, but one step towards them and they are gone. Except for one little cutie last fall. It was all by itself, and probably the youngest one I have ever seen out there. I was stretching a tarp over some firewood when I felt something on my ankle. I looked down and this furball is rubbing up against me crying. I think it was hungry, but I wasn’t about to feed the thing or pick it up. I don’t need cats showing up on my porch every day looking for a hand out. Besides, I want them to keep catching mice.
Good to hear you are rabies free. I guess from now On when I see you foaming at the mouth it is because you just got done chuggin’ a cold one.
Hey Bec. Glad that you are OK, but I told you that already!! Glad that you know now for sure.
Now I won’t have to be concerned if you coming running foaming at the mouth!!! Just kidding.
@energysaver wrote:
got any pictures of the bites?
No — no pictures. They weren’t very impressive bites (although that first one really hurt!) The first one was on my middle finger (left hand). I got the best laugh when the nurse came in (when I was the ER getting my tetanus shot) and asked which finger was bitten. I showed her! But actually it was the side of the finger near the nail (like where you’d get a hang nail) and then right under the fingernail. Ouch!
The bite I got yesterday wasn’t very impressive at all. Just a little nip through my glove on the side of my hand.
Not a bite from any of them today. They can be snuggled some. Still thinking Brat might be the one I’m taking home. Needs a better name though — any suggestions?
Bec
How about Nipper?
Here is a picture of the kitten: 😈
Here are the others: 😈 😈
Here is Bec: 😯
@greyhounder wrote:
Needs a better name though — any suggestions?
BecIt doesn’t matter. It won’t come when you call it. 🙂
I like the name you gave it.
@Team Black-Cat wrote:
@greyhounder wrote:
Needs a better name though — any suggestions?
BecIt doesn’t matter. It won’t come when you call it. 🙂
I like the name you gave it.
😆
Just name it “Pfsssshhhhht”, the sound of the tuna can opening…
@Ry and Ny wrote:
Just name it “Pfsssshhhhht”, the sound of the tuna can opening…
😆
I swear that that’s the only word one of our cats knows. She hears “blah blah blah TUNA blah blah”. We call it the “T” word.Glad everything worked out for you. rabies series shots are no fun. A neighbor got bit by a bat and she had that fun time.
Yesterday when I was at the vet’s with my son and his dog, a family came in with a tiny wild kitten they’d found on the road, apparently hit by a car. I have “issues” with feral cats, and that’s just one of them. Glad your neighborhood ferals didn’t share disease with you, too!
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