(April 27, 2021 at 5:10 am)Belacqua Wrote:(April 26, 2021 at 8:28 pm)Brian37 Wrote: I am a sucker for a cute face.
It is why I have my 13 year old feline best friend so far. But he is strictly an indoor cat. But just today, just about the same size pattern furr color/species waltzed it's way into my yard today, meowing for attention. I knew I could not bring it in, but it looked in good health and was happy. I had a good ten minutes petting it, having fun with it. I felt like I was cheeting on my own house cat.
We get lots of feral cats around here. I think it really enriches the neighborhood.
I'm on the side of a mountain, with a lot of green area uphill from me. We have raccoon dogs (tanuki) and badgers regularly. Once I saw a fox. There's at least one wild boar that comes down sometimes -- if I don't close the gate on my garden he'll come in and dig things up.
We noticed that one of the regular cats in the garden was pregnant, so I talked to the neighborhood association about the city's neuter and release program. They said that if I trapped it then we'd wait for her to have her babies and do the surgery after. So I built a humane trap and got her right away, and took her to the head of the neighborhood association -- I said, OK, she's all yours. But the lady said, no, it's MY job to keep her until the babies were born. Which they were, in my house, behind a bookshelf. We got the mom's surgery, found homes for three of the babies, and now we have three in the house which we never intended to have. But of course we love them too much to send them out, now.
I dont think this one was feral. I think well kept outdoor cats get aclimated to humans, and I am pretty sure that is what I was dealing with. It was well groomed, and feral cats are far more skiddish than indoor cats.
I think all cats should be raised indoors for that matter. I think outdoor cats risk far more injury with other wild animals such as squirrels and racoons, than humans.
