Critter Patrol - Part II

Our "repurposed" cats, Skittles and Snickers, were delivered to us spring and summer of 2014 at four and seven months of age, respectively, and not quite ready for vole duty. They had been living outside as part of two large cat colonies with homeowners who could no longer feed them. Skittles was a city girl and Snickers a country girl. Female kittens, because typically they are better hunters than males. Courtesy of the local Human Society, both were spayed, left ears clipped to prove it, chipped in case they got lost, and given their first round of shots and Revolution application before they even arrived. The 4-week re-homing and taming process would begin immediately.

Skittles

Keep in mind, feral and stray cats are not one in the same. A feral cat has never lived inside or been handled by humans. A stray, on the other hand, has lived indoors for part of its life and is use to human contact. Skittles and Snickers were feral (wild), but now I like to think of them as just outdoor cats. The word feral seems evil and they are far from it, having never bitten or scratched me, although Snickers got me once when applying Revolution. She was scared, and I wasn't holding her correctly. Initially, she batted me with her paws and then, when I wouldn't give up, a claw or two came out... my fault on all counts.

Today, they both love to be pet. Snickers can be picked up for a quick 5-second snuggle, Skittles slightly longer at 6 seconds, and both will stay on my lap if I insist. When I work in the yard or take "bench breaks" from my home office, they are never far away, chasing each other in the garden, which must be a jungle at that size, running up and down trees, no longer kittens but cats with lots of energy for hunting.

As I mentioned, my husband is allergic, so Skittles and Snickers do not come into the main part of our house. However, they do have access to the attached garage via a small cat door, which we installed ourselves and they have been trained to use. The garage is where they seek refuge from inclement weather and where we feed them only high quality, high protein dry food twice a day. And, of course, water is always available. Our yard (and garage) is their home, territory, and hunting grounds, and they seem very content. There is still an innate wildness about them, which makes me believe they could never be indoor pets.

Something else worth mentioning... I could have simply re-homed Skittles and Snickers, having never tamed them enough for petting and handling. But then I would be faced with trapping them for vet visits and monthly Revolution applications. This was clearly not an option for me. Besides I enjoy petting my pets, and I think they benefit from human contact as well.

Snickers

And, so we begin...