Feral Cat Released to Colony

Feral cat Lucy in Woods

On August 9th the feral cat named Lucy was released from medical care. Her attending veterinarian said she was healed and could be returned to the feral cat colony.  

The cat was released where I trapped her, inside the shelter. I assumed Lucy would bolt out the door and run into the woods but  Lucy was not ready to go outside and she hid in the back of the shelter.

During her stay in the shelter I treated her with a homeopathic healing.  My friend in Atlanta who is a gifted healer helped me with the treatments.  I also fed her a raw diet of lean meat, vegetables, sweet potatoes, and liquid vitamins.  Lucy grew healthy and strong and within two weeks Lucy the feral cat was ready to return to the woods.  

Released feral cat

Today Lucy walked outdoors and laid by my pond and then she slowly walked into the woods. I did not see her for several days and then one day I saw her go into the shelter.  I brought her some evolve maintenance formula natural cat food and fresh water. 

Lucy looks great, her fur has grown in and her coat is healthy and shinny.  She limps on the front paw that was injured and I suppose she always will.  She visited with me for an hour.

Feral cat Lucy resting on deck

I spoke softly to Lucy and told her of her kittens. Charlie the yellow kitten who was wounded was socialized and he was adopted.

Her other kittens Boris and Natasha were still under medical care, but would be coming home soon.  They would be socialized too and would be adopted.  

Lucy the feral cat need not worry because her kittens would have a better life than she.  Lucy was a good listener as she did not turn her head nor did she walk away. 

Lucy was reunited with the feral cats at the Oak Ridge colony on August 26th, 2010.  She will live the rest of her life in a wooded tract of land that is privately owned. My husband and I will watch over her with the help of the civic minded volunteers..

Feral Cat Needs Medical Care

Feral cats are smart and once they have been inside a trap they are not going to enter the trap again.  Normally after I release a feral cat they will live their life in a control colony and will only be re-trapped if medically needed.

 The feral cat I call Lucy was released three weeks ago after being treated for an injury that she suffered while nursing her kittens.  Since being set free Lucy has stayed close to the shelter, she goes inside the shelter and sleeps there throughout the day. 

In the evening around 6:00PM she will leave the shelter and venture out into my yard, sometimes she lays by the pond, other times she hides in the ornamental grass garden, and sometimes she sits on the back wall, rarely does she enter the woods to go to the cat colony by the caves.

I have been watching the feral cat named Lucy through the lens of my camera. She was wounded several weeks ago and I trapped her for medical care.  The wound on her paw is not healing. The 1/2 inch scab grow larger daily. 

Lucy has been chewing on her paw, as if she needs to drain it daily. I suspect that she has another infection. On Friday September 3rd, I spoke to the veterinarian and I told him my concerns for Lucy’s wound, he told me that she is chewing on her paw because it must have another infection.  I was told to re-trap Lucy the feral cat and to bring her in for a medical examination. 

I set up the trap inside the the shelter as that is where her feeding station is located. 

Both my husband and I have been watching the shelter, waiting for Lucy to go inside. Lucy did not spend the night in the shelter. She did come to my yard at 3:00 this afternoon and I noticed blood on Lucy's head and I thought that she had been in a fight. Then I noticed her paw, it was covered with blood. 

I quickly made up a bowl of Blue Buffalo chicken canned cat food and brought food and fresh water out to her.   I set the food in the back of the trap. I left the kitty door open and I waited for her to go inside. She did not enter the shelter; instead she hunted a salamander and ate it before walking out of my yard.

 I will continue to watch the shelter and have placed a baby monitor inside, that way I will be informed of any movement. I pray that she enters the shelter tonight and I also pray that God will watch over her and guide her to the shelter and inside the trap.

Saying Goodbye to a Feral Kitten

Saying goodby to a kitten that is only weeks old is the hardest thing that a colony caregiver can do.  There is always a reason why a kitten needs to be put down and even if you know it is the right decision it does not make it any easier.

I came to know this feral kitten whne the queen cat  brought her three young kittens to my garage shelter and that is where I trapped the mother cat  and all of the kittens for veterinarian care.  One kitten had a bite wound on his paw, another had a puncture wound on her head and one kitten had an infection in his eye.


the little Feral Norwegian Forest cat that was the last kitten to be trapped was rushed to the veternarians office and diagnosied with a serious eye infection. They administered antibiotics and he was kept at the animal clinic for ten days. Boris was released to go home for crate rest.

I put the feral kitten in the crate in new cat room and he was lyiing comfortably in the hamack, but he looked sad and lonely. His brother was in the other room and so brought the sibling cat crate into the cat room. 

The feral kittens; Charlie and Boris were so happy. They both talked to each other and then played paws between the slate of the crate before falling asleep. 

I left the room to make supper and whe I returned the little feral kitten with eye infection (Boris) was limping and his crate cracker brother Charlie had escaped from his crate and had climbed to the top of his brothers crate. 
   
I have no idea as to what occurred but I suspect that both brotheres were trying to get closer to each other, and the little kitten twisted his paw. 

We took Boris to the veterinarians and they took an X-ray to see if the leg was broken. They informed me that they did not think it was broken but it was close. the joint was twisted. Boris stayed at the animal clinic for 21 days and then they released him to me for home care.

The attending veterinarian was waiting for Boris leg to heal. Boris was to be confined to a crate and he needed peace and quite. I was the only one who entered his room and I spent 4-6 hours with him per day. 

Boris was so afraid of everything. I could not socialize him because of his leg however, in spite of his ailment he learned to trust me.

Today we took Boris for the check-up on his leg. The veterinarian took an X-ray and told us there was no change.  Boris had a very bad infection and the veterinarian said his immune system was weak.

I spoke to my husband as I did not know what to do, I needed to make a decision that was best for this little kitten that we called Boris. My husband suggested that we do what was best for the kitten. 

I contacted his pending adopter and she told me to do what was best for Boris. She did not want to see him suffer. What saddens me is this little kitten had an adopter who would give him a forever home.  He would have had a good life with his adopter.

Boris was 8 weeks old when he passed from this life to the next.  I have never had to say goodbye to a kitten and it broken my heart.

Here are few photographs of Boris.  They were taken in our garage cat shelter..
  

Wounded Lucy and her 3 feral kittens at my shed/shelter

Boris and Charlie checking out the litter box:  New territory for feral kittens

 

Boris on the bottom and Notti on the top:  Kittens playing

Notti on top and sweet Boris looking up

Boris comes out to visit Mom in the garden