Capture Mode - Not

All the cats were waiting for breakfast this morning. Two dishes went out again and Yellow Ears was again one of those waiting. All at once all the cats went on alert and began to run erratically back across the yard and down the hill. Not one came back. I went out on the deck and could hear the pilings being driven in for a sea wall a short distance away. That noise was of great concern to the cats.

The capture cage sat alone on the porch. We took the time to do some measuring. It's a much smaller cage than the one we usually borrow. We figure this is a kitten capture cage. Our measurements showed us that if one of our cats (who are pretty well full grown) went inside, they would trip the cage door before their tail was inside. Ouch! We don't want to hurt our cats, so the cage went back to the vet and we will wait to return to capture mode when the larger cage is available.

Capture Mode

We borrowed a capture cage from our vet and set about coaxing Yellow Ears into it. She's the only female in the colony that has not been spayed. Yellow Ears is our least aggressive cat, so we set out only two bowls of cat food. Yellow Ears is always last to eat because she will not challenge one of the other cats, even those younger than she is. When the rest of the cats had eaten their fill, we took the bowls of food away and set out the capture cage with food inside. Yellow Ears kept coming back every couple hours, but would not go near the capture cage. We'll try again tomorrow. She'll be very hungry by then.

Back from the Vet

Pepper was released by the vet earlier today, and she is now back home. Unlike her sister and mother who went off to be by themselves for a couple days upon their return home from surgery, Pepper has stayed near the condo and was scratching and looking into our windows that same night.

Off to the Vet

Pepper had been spending a lot of time with Blackie over the weekend so we were motivated to get her to the vet. We didn't deem it a difficult catch because Pepper is pretty tame and usually lets me pet her and even pick her up. I did that this morning and all was fine until Erv came out with the cat carrier. She fought valiently and bit me several times in the finger. Ouch. I let her get away. By then, however, she was in the house; and off she went. Alex chased her and (we're proud to say) herded her into the guest bathroom where we finally got her. We wrapped her in a towel which helped to calm her down and put her in the carrier. Unfortunately by then my finger had leaked blood in quite a few places. We're glad bathrooms are easier to clean up than most other rooms. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow.

New Face in the Yard

Late this afternoon I noticed a large yellow cat in the back yard. It is about the same size as the yellow longhair that fathered Mama Cat's first litter. This cat, however, is shorthair and a much lighter shade of yellow. It seemed to be headed for the porch and I ran for my camera, but it was gone when I got back. Scarface and Harley were watching the cat from the roof of the condo, but they did not seem overly concerned to see it.

What a View !

There's always a window nearby, so Alex our housebound Maine Coon seldom gets bored. And there's usually one or more cats in the view outside the window (in this case, Pepper and Blackie).

Missed Kodak Moment

I opened the door this morning to take breakfast out to the cat colony. Harley stepped into the house while most were milling impatiently around my feet and spied Alex who usually sits close by to observe. Harley approached Alex nose to nose. I forgot my camera while I waited for a cat fight. But no - just a kiss and she was back outside for breakfast.