It's a girl!
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: It's a girl!
  • From: &* <d*@comcast.net>
  • Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:30:53 -0500
We were quite sure this was so, after we finally were able to touch stray cat
Blackie a little, but the vet confirmed it yesterday. Brief backstory: She
arrived here in May of 2009 and we couldn't get anywhere near her. We had to
put food in the shed and then back away at least 25 feet. A slight scratch of
foot on gravel sent her scrambling into the woods or under a chicken coop. I
was first able to touch her this spring - a year later, and then only briefly
until recently.

The morning started with a tranquilizer for her, and then a drive to the vets
after much howling on her part.  I could have used a tranquilizer by then!
The howling was ok for me, but I was so afraid she'd hurt herself in panic, or
secrete herself behind the washer or something where we couldn't get to her
while waiting for her to be calm enough to get into the crate.

The best news is that she's FIV, FeLeuk and heartworm negative. She's also
been spayed. They had to shave a bit of her belly to get past the thick fur to
find the spay scar, but the tattoo is there. That gives us hope that she also
has had at least a rabies vaccination. Now let the introductions begin!

Question for you cat people. We had her indoors (in a crate, sedated for a
while after I brought her home from the vet) and the other cats mostly were
curious, not hostile. What do you think the odds are that we can integrate her
into the household without hostilities? The other 4 cats are all neutered
males. She's been spending the night in the utility room, and the other cats
have been aware of her, as she has been of them.

We had a terrible time when we adopted E.T. He tore most of the screens on the
porch trying to get to two of the other cats, and we finally had to put
harnesses on all of them, and keep spray bottles at the ready when we brought
him into the house.  Of course, the two cats in the family then were male, and
he was a street smart Tom (neutered first thing, but still trying to fight
through the screens after 4 months) with the scars to show it. The kitten was
no problem, once he was big enough not to be chipmunk (prey sized).

Any suggestions?

d
www.theanimalrescuesite.com
www.freekibble.com
www.freekibblekat.com

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