# A feral cat story.



## DrPickles (Nov 15, 2008)

Hi all,
I'm new to the site and I wanted to tell somebody about my wonderful cat.

8 months ago (give or take), I returned home from work and as I exited my car I heard a cat meowing. I thought nothing of it and retrieved my belongings from the car. When I turned around there was a very vocal cat slowly walking my way. I squatted down and called for it to come to me and, to my surprise, it did (albeit cautiously). 

I left the cat sitting by the car and went into the house. I told my girlfriend there was a strange, friendly cat outside and she immediately went to the refrigerator and got a piece of cheese to feed our visitor. We approached the cat again and it accepted our cheese offering.

At the time, I knew absolutely nothing about feral cats and assumed that this one was merely a stray. I found out later that this one was a TNR. I thought the missing piece of his ear was just something that happened to him on the streets, due to fighting or the elements, and we assumed that it was a female, as we couldn't see any testes. 
Needless to say, this cat kept coming around and we kept feeding him. Eventually, we started letting him inside the house for short visits, which got longer and longer.

Now, Sandy (the name my girlfriend picked) is a permanent fixture in our home. After doing some research we came to realize how rare and special this cat really is. From what I've read, socializing a feral is not easy, but for us it was a realtively simple procedure. We just showed him some love, and that's what we got back. 
Sandy absolutely loves to roll over and get his belly scratched, which is amazing considering that he was doing this just days after we started spending time with him. He has never once scratched, bit or hissed at me or my girlfriend and he is not at all skiddish around strangers. ****, he even gets along with our rabbit. He's now a fat and happy housecat and purrs like a lawnmower 24/7. I don't know if he had previous positive contact with humans or just generally has a good, easy going disposition or something of each, but every time he jumps up in my lap I'm glad he picked us. He's truly the best cat I have ever had.

If I could just get him to drink water from his dish instead of the toilet....


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## furbabylover (Nov 7, 2008)

That is so great!  !I tend to a fera;l cat colony and I agree  all MOST of these cats want ( well the ones that aren't completly scared to death of humans) is love! and a good meal doesn't hurt!!!I would love to see a picof your kitty


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

What a wonderful story about Sandy!

Most of our cats are former ferals or rescues in one fashion or another... Malibu took me 5mo from trapping/spay to be able to touch and my toughest feral to date has been Pretty, who took 14mo from TNR to be able to touch her. It has taken 4 years, but Pretty has become an indoor/outdoor kitty and Malibu sleeps with me every night.

Currently fostering/taming two feral kittens, about 12-13wks old.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I'm so glad this sweet little cat found the right person! I think she has probably been lost for a long time, and when she saw you, she knew she was home. Thank you for caring.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Cats are intuitive! They know a great human when they meet them. Thank you for taking this cat into your heart and home. Sandy sounds like a wonderful kitty. I love happy endings!

I sure would love to see a picture too!


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## DrPickles (Nov 15, 2008)

Thanks for the comments!

I'll post pics here shortly.

Maybe one of you can help me with a small issue Sandy is having.

Sandy has had bumps on his neck since the time we found him. At first I thought they were ticks, but upon closer inspection I saw that they were scabs. At the time, there was a stray that would fight Sandy when he would come to our door and I thought maybe this cat had injured him. That hasnt happened in a while, and Sandy has let me remove many of the scars, but sometimes they come back in the same spots.

Could he be scratching himself too hard? He's pretty much flea free and he won't wear a collar. What should I do?


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

No flea collars! Those are bad. Bad, bad, bad! They are oftentimes toxic to our kitties. Of course not all cats are affected, but many cats do have severe problems with them. I also do not think they are very effective, except around the neck, and the poor cat needs all-over protection from fleas.

You say "pretty much flea free" which means he probably has some. Your best bet would be to use a spot on treatment for fleas. This type of product is absorbed into the cat's skin and as the fleas bite or smell the cat's treated skin, they die/leave. I prefer Revolution as it also treats ear mites, but Advantage is another very good product.

If it isn't fleas, perhaps Sandy is still getting into some fights? Most cats won't scratch themselves hard enough to cut/scab their skin... _unless_ ...there is an underlying problem like fleas or earmites.
Best of luck!
Heidi


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## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

Sandy is a lucky man, and it sounds like you and your GF are pretty lucky too :luv .


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## Auntie Crazy (Dec 10, 2006)

What a wonderful story! I'm so happy for Sandy and for you and your girlfriend. You guys are awesome for taking him in and showing him love.

A truly heartwarming story. 

But, wait, stories aren't complete without pics! Where's a pic?! I wanna see a pic of Sandy! :mrgreen: 

A.C.


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