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Aug. 11th, 2014
Progress with the ferals!
Aug. 11th, 2014 10:12 pmWhen I went out to feed them today, Harry (aka "neighbor's cat" aka "Harry the pig") was sitting on the gate. And he came up to me all eager for the chow. I sort of get annoyed by this, because he has a home and he presumably gets fed there. I'm feeding the ones who can't er... meow the same.
Anyhow, I do my usual 'warning', shaking the bag and calling "puss puss puss puss" before I push the gate open. I don't want to surprise them. Let them know I'm on my way in.
Longhaired tortie is lying down on the grass and... she doesn't run. She stays put. I greet her and then do my usual: spill out what's left of yesterday's water, carry the food-water-combo-dish to the tap, rinse it out, put fresh water in and set it back down on the patio. Tortie isn't there anymore. I measure out the kibble and add a few dental treats. Then, instead of going back into the house, I sit down on the plastic chair I set up yesterday. It's against the back fence, about as far from the patio as I can put it. I take out my e-reader.
Harry the pig saunters over to the food.
I get up and scold him. Along the lines of "Harry... I keep telling you, it's for the others." He does run off and jump to the top of the gate. I go back to the chair and turn on the e-reader I brought out with me. I figure I'll give it a couple of chapters.
I glance up for an instant.
Tortie is entering from other neighbor's yard, right and making a bee-line for the food.
I remind myself that staring at cats makes them feel threatened and force myself to read. Every so often, I look up. Mostly, she's hoovering the food, but occasionally our eyes meet. When they do, I give the slow blink, open my eyes, and go back to my book. I think she even returned it once. Finally, I look up and she's gone. She left about a quarter of the food behind. Harry stalks up to it. At this point, I let him. What am I supposed to do? Run him off in case the other feral shows up? No clue if/when that'll be.
So. In about six weeks, we've gone from 'eek!Ruuuunnnn!' if I so much as open the window looking out on the back yard to being comfortable enough to eat with me in the yard, so long as I sit a fair distance away.
Progress indeed.
Anyhow, I do my usual 'warning', shaking the bag and calling "puss puss puss puss" before I push the gate open. I don't want to surprise them. Let them know I'm on my way in.
Longhaired tortie is lying down on the grass and... she doesn't run. She stays put. I greet her and then do my usual: spill out what's left of yesterday's water, carry the food-water-combo-dish to the tap, rinse it out, put fresh water in and set it back down on the patio. Tortie isn't there anymore. I measure out the kibble and add a few dental treats. Then, instead of going back into the house, I sit down on the plastic chair I set up yesterday. It's against the back fence, about as far from the patio as I can put it. I take out my e-reader.
Harry the pig saunters over to the food.
I get up and scold him. Along the lines of "Harry... I keep telling you, it's for the others." He does run off and jump to the top of the gate. I go back to the chair and turn on the e-reader I brought out with me. I figure I'll give it a couple of chapters.
I glance up for an instant.
Tortie is entering from other neighbor's yard, right and making a bee-line for the food.
I remind myself that staring at cats makes them feel threatened and force myself to read. Every so often, I look up. Mostly, she's hoovering the food, but occasionally our eyes meet. When they do, I give the slow blink, open my eyes, and go back to my book. I think she even returned it once. Finally, I look up and she's gone. She left about a quarter of the food behind. Harry stalks up to it. At this point, I let him. What am I supposed to do? Run him off in case the other feral shows up? No clue if/when that'll be.
So. In about six weeks, we've gone from 'eek!Ruuuunnnn!' if I so much as open the window looking out on the back yard to being comfortable enough to eat with me in the yard, so long as I sit a fair distance away.
Progress indeed.