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kimberlysteeleThis little guy came into my life about ten days ago. His name is Shadow, or more specifically Shadow Shadilay Sniffles Spazzimodo Steele. He is a formerly feral cat from my backyard. We feed and water a small colony of ferals outside my house every day. My husband built a rather elaborate heated shelter for them to get through our Illinois winters.
As you guys know, I recently had to have my beloved kitty Kiki of fifteen years put down because she had kidney and liver failure. I am still devastated and in mourning, and that's why I wasn't ready for this little dude.
I had taken a day off for my birthday and poor little Shadow was sniffling and sneezing worse than ever. He was part of a feral litter of three born to one of the kitties I have yet to Trap/Spay/Return, a girl we've named Ms. Piggy but who is known also as Blondie. Ms. Piggy had a litter of three boys this spring, one of whom was killed by the tom who sired him and left as a corpse on my porch. I named him Tiger and buried him beneath some tiger lilies in my center garden. Shadow and his brother Silhouette were the two survivors. They are both black cats.
Several of the feral cats allow me to touch/handle them. Shadow is one of them. At 2.3 pounds, he couldn't put up much of a fight when I grabbed him and put him into a cat carrier a week and a half ago. So I did and took him to the vet. Shadow was immediately sweet and friendly -- purring as he was held in my arms. He has not acted feral since Day One.
The vet prescribed a ten day course of antibiotics, a de-wormer, and eye drops. My generous friend Jackie, a fellow cat lover and rescuer, paid for his veterinary expenses and gave me some litter, a litter box, and food. I have never seen a cat take so quickly or enthusiastically to using a litter box.
Within a couple of days, he found his favorite thing: TOYS. Kiki had a big box of them, and she had gradually lost interest in 90 percent of them over the years. Shadow went absolutely crazy over the wand toys, the cat tube, the catnip fish, etc.
Another difference between Shadow and Kiki is their size. Kiki was a big cat, 21 pounds at times. She was more like a small panther. Shadow is the runt of the litter. It remains to be seen whether or not he will grow to be a normal sized cat.
I'm doing my best to make him feel welcome and happy.
He recently went to the vet again for routine vaccinations. He has gained weight: he's now 3.5 pounds. He is much healthier; the vet says he is doing well with no respiratory or other issues. I'll always miss Kiki -- there isn't a day that goes by when I don't miss her terribly. Nevertheless, I'm going to try to do my best by this little guy from my yard and give him all the love and care he deserves. I think Kiki would have wanted it that way.
As you guys know, I recently had to have my beloved kitty Kiki of fifteen years put down because she had kidney and liver failure. I am still devastated and in mourning, and that's why I wasn't ready for this little dude.
I had taken a day off for my birthday and poor little Shadow was sniffling and sneezing worse than ever. He was part of a feral litter of three born to one of the kitties I have yet to Trap/Spay/Return, a girl we've named Ms. Piggy but who is known also as Blondie. Ms. Piggy had a litter of three boys this spring, one of whom was killed by the tom who sired him and left as a corpse on my porch. I named him Tiger and buried him beneath some tiger lilies in my center garden. Shadow and his brother Silhouette were the two survivors. They are both black cats.
Several of the feral cats allow me to touch/handle them. Shadow is one of them. At 2.3 pounds, he couldn't put up much of a fight when I grabbed him and put him into a cat carrier a week and a half ago. So I did and took him to the vet. Shadow was immediately sweet and friendly -- purring as he was held in my arms. He has not acted feral since Day One.
The vet prescribed a ten day course of antibiotics, a de-wormer, and eye drops. My generous friend Jackie, a fellow cat lover and rescuer, paid for his veterinary expenses and gave me some litter, a litter box, and food. I have never seen a cat take so quickly or enthusiastically to using a litter box.
Within a couple of days, he found his favorite thing: TOYS. Kiki had a big box of them, and she had gradually lost interest in 90 percent of them over the years. Shadow went absolutely crazy over the wand toys, the cat tube, the catnip fish, etc.
Shadow is a much more high energy cat than Kiki, even when she was a kitten. He's a handful. He jumped into the refrigerator on his fourth or fifth night with us and spent 7 hours in the cold! He pooped all over the shelf and the few things that were in there (we had to throw out some stuff) but was otherwise unscathed. Moral of the story: ALWAYS CHECK THE FRIDGE WHEN YOU HAVE A KITTEN. He is like the cat version of Indiana Jones with ADHD. That said, Kiki did take down her fair share of window blinds as a baby...
Another difference between Shadow and Kiki is their size. Kiki was a big cat, 21 pounds at times. She was more like a small panther. Shadow is the runt of the litter. It remains to be seen whether or not he will grow to be a normal sized cat.
I'm doing my best to make him feel welcome and happy.
He recently went to the vet again for routine vaccinations. He has gained weight: he's now 3.5 pounds. He is much healthier; the vet says he is doing well with no respiratory or other issues. I'll always miss Kiki -- there isn't a day that goes by when I don't miss her terribly. Nevertheless, I'm going to try to do my best by this little guy from my yard and give him all the love and care he deserves. I think Kiki would have wanted it that way.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-07 06:25 pm (UTC)