White Manx Cat Found

We found a rare white Manx cat in our yard and at first, we thought it was a neighborhood stray, but when we found that it was living in our yard we thought it was abandoned. (Sleeping in the grass garden, or under the side deck) 

We ruled out feral quickly due to it not hissing at people, and not running away from humans. That is not to say that the cat does not walk away when we come close to it but unlike feral cats. When I approach the cat it walks to a safe distance and sits down.

Whenever we find a stray cat living in our yard we do feed it and give it water while searching for its people. Normally I take photographs of the cat and post a flyer around the neighborhood and on local bulletin boards. I also put a flyer in the mailboxes with the cat's information along with how to contact me.

A woman five houses away called and told me that the cat looks a lot like the kittens from a house two doors down from me. They had a Manx cat but instead of putting the kittens up for adoption they just opened the garage. I learned this occurred ten years ago and that this woman said she had trapped a white Manx cat and had it spayed and vaccinated before releasing.

So if this is the same cat then it was part of the TNR program and I guess found its way to a neighbor who cared for it / adopted the cat I do not know. I do know that a neighbor recently moved and this white cat recently found its way to my yard.

Our thinking is that the people that moved may have left the cat behind, or maybe they were the cats caretaker and now the cat has found its way to my yard. So many unanswered questions.

My husband and I have decided to get the cat dependent upon us for food and water then trap it and take it into the veterinarian to check for a microchip.

In the meantime I call this cat Honey…

Here is a photo I captured of her

Manx cat at feeding station

Rare White Manx Cat

Today while working in my garden I discovered a white cat hiding in the liriope ornamental grass garden. The cat just assumed I could not see it but it was white and that color does stand out.

 Whenever cats come to our yard it is customary to put out a bowl of food and water. We have no idea if they are a stray, feral, or visiting neighborhood or an abandoned cat. But like all guests that visit we offer them a bite to eat and a beverage.

White cat hiding in the grass garden

The cat watched me put down the food but instead of going to the feeding station, it was hesitant. The Manx did not move toward the food bowl until I was a good 40 feet away

When the cat stood up I realized that it had no tail, it also looked like its back legs were longer than the front. The cat was rare white Manx. On closer inspection, I found that it had light calico colors of tan and light gray, but these colors were close to its ears and the rest of the body was a solid white. 

I wondered what this Manx cat was doing in my yard, wondered if it had gotten out of the house, and had wandered too far. Perhaps it was visiting and would go home. It was too early to know why this white Manx cat was sleeping in my garden but I planned to watch it for signs of being a feral stray, abandoned, or a neighborhood cat.

Here is a photo of the rare white Manx Cat

About Special Needs Kitty Oliver

Oliver is a kitty that came to me because he needed help due to his “special needs’ In the past I had taken care of rescued cats that were partially blind, deaf and many cats that had behavior or anxiety issue but I never took care of special needs kitty like Oliver.

Oliver age 5

When Oliver was rescued he was a baby kitten that had been left with his siblings on a grassy section of the road. There was no water or food and the only way to get to homes or people was to cross a busy road. When my friend found Oliver she noted that all of the other kittens had ventured into the road and had been killed. Oliver remained in the grass but he was skin and bones and his eyes had clouded over which meant that death was near.

My friend who rescued Oliver took him home and did not sleep for the next 10 days. She nursed Oliver back to health and loved him dearly but said her husband would not let her keep him. So that is how I met Oliver. I was to foster, socialize, and help him to be a normal cat.  We had hoped that we could find him a forever home, but when we discovered his special needs we knew that was not an option. 

From the start I knew something was not right about Oliver. He was a rambunctious kitten that always bites on my hands. At first, I thought it was due to him being a kitten but when he started biting on cats paws I thought maybe he was trying to communicate that he wanted something.

I watched Oliver closely and discovered that he was not eating or drinking. He was very nervous and was constantly biting on my hands. I made up a food and water bowl for Oliver. Picked him up and put him in front of his own bowls and that cat ate and drank.

I soon learned that when Oliver wanted something he would bite on my hands.

Oliver is our special needs kitty because he is “slow” Presently he is five years old and still does not know to go and eat at the food bowl unless I pick him up and put him in front of his own bowl. He also bites my hands to use the litter box and bites my hands when he is scared. He still plays like a kitten and has no fear of any person or animal. He thinks everyone is his friend and that all the cats, dogs, and people love him.

Oliver in the center with his kitty friends

He is incapable of detecting negative energy and does not understand that he needs to climb a tree or seek safety to get away from the neighbors growling dog. 

 We never let Oliver out of the house, not even into the garden. We are fearful that if he gets out that he may get into trouble due to his kitten-like behavior. But one day he got out of the house and all he wanted to do was rub on our neighbor's dog and show the dog that Oliver loved him. We were lucky that we got to Oliver before the dog was aggressive.

Yes Oliver is our special needs kitty, and I need to be with him daily to take care of him. He is five years old rambunctious cat that thinks he's a kitten. He still bites my hands when he wants to eat and drink or if he wants my hand to rest on his back until he falls to sleep. 

**Oliver eventually learned that it’s okay to eat with the other cats, but if the other cats are not eating and Oliver is hungry or thirsty he will tell me with a love bite on my hand.

Other

I was told that when Oliver’s eyes clouded over that the oxygen to his brain was not normal. When he was rescued he was dying and that is why he is slow.

Read about my other special needs kitty here

PRESCRIPTION PET FOOD SCAM

PRESCRIPTION PET FOOD IS not any better than the food you buy off the shelf and without a prescription from your local pet store. There is no medication, or herbs for natural healing in the food that would make it warrant a prescription and I learned that prescription pet food is a scam or in other words consumer fraud.

Rescued cat "Shadie" 

My story; Know that male cats in multiple cat homes or strays that are rescued are susceptible to getting a painful bladder condition that causes the cat to strain to pee and have crystals, bladder infection with blood in their urine.

This cat health condition affected 6 male cats that I had rescued, brought indoors to socialize before finding them forever homes. Each cat developed this condition and my veterinarian recommended that I feed them HILLS prescription C/D cat for the rest of their lives.

Rescued cat Frankie

I was told that this veterinarian prescription food would heal them and prevent them from having a re-occurrence. It was a long-term food treatment that I had to feed the cats for the rest of their life. I was told that veterinarians had developed the food and it was formulated to heal my cat, but I could not feed them any other cat food because if I did the cats would get sick.

From my experience the HILLS prescription C/D pet food did not heal my cats. The cats got worse, and we had made many trips to the veterinarian. The cats suffered, and my husband and I suffered the stress you feel when you see that your cats are not getting better and that they are still in pain and suffering. The food was not curing or healing the cats, 

Rescued cat Leo

There is so much sadness, that you feel inside like you are going to cry..when nothing you are doing is helping your cat. The cats were nervous, straining to pee, blood in their urine, in pain and the medicated / healing prescription food “was not curing them”

My husband and I were doing everything right but the cats were not getting better. At one point a normal cat (no health concerns ate the prescription medicated food) and I was distraught because or the medicine...that is when the veterinarian said 

"no worries" the food will prevent your cat from getting cystitis or other urinary conditions followed by all of my cats could eat the prescription food and it would help them by preventing any urinary or bladder conditions".

From that day forward and for the next year we were buying cases of canned food along with dry kibble weekly because the food was now a preventative a healing prescription diet to help all of my cats be healthy.

Note the food never helped the cats and three of the cat's health got worse and we had to put them down. The other three. I could not adopt them into forever homes because nobody wanted a “sick cat” who had to eat very expensive prescription food for the rest of their lives. So we kept the 3 cats because if we surrounded a sick cat to a shelter they would be euthanized. 

Rescued cat Louie

 We continued to feed them the prescription food, we added more litter boxes and kept them very clean we added the Feliway plug-in diffusers to calm the cats and to eliminate any stress. We also allow the remaining 3 cats to go out in the garden daily and this activity has been beneficial to their health. They seem happier but still seem to have periodic urinary problems where the urine is cloudy with a pink cast. Which means the prescription pet food never cured them.

Rescued cat Buddy

Know I was led to believe that the prescription cat food would heal my cats. I was a victim of consumer fraud. Scammed just like so many other pet owners who followed the recommendation by their veterinarians to feed their pets prescription diet food.

Rescued cat Sam

The problem with the Hills Prescription C/D multi-care food is there is no medication in it. In fact, the ingredients are poor quality in comparison to foods found off the shelf at your local pet store.  For one thing, the prescription C/D food has corn and soy, both are GMO foods because there is no mention of an organic source on the label. I did a food ingredient comparison and the food that does not require a prescription had better ingredients and costs less and you could buy it off the shelf at your local pet supply store.

Learn more at perscriptionpet food article How lab tests show pet food ingredients are no better or cleaner than off-shelf brands with interview of Dr. Karen Becker and see prescription pet food analysis here

Read another article by author “Prescription Pet Food Product Review”