Wishe Cat in the Woods

The legacy of Willem DeKooning ...the maine coon cat, not the painter; Willie is gone, rest his soul, but the maine coon genes live on. Wishe is a rescue kitty, very fluffy and cute. I wish she could find a home.

She's got some of that feral cat jumpiness but she also loves laps.  So there is still hope for Wishe.

WiShe The Tuxedo Kitten Today

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Rescued from the feral life only recently, here is WiShe today. Wishe needs a home.

Wishe is about 9 weeks old now ...She's a BIG girl (much bigger than her brother Spot) ...I'm guessing that she's probably part Maine Coon. Although she was a feral kitten, she loves people now.

You can see her first captures here and here. I don't know why momma cat abandoned these babies. Perhaps she was just too stressed out by the feral life. Thankfully, they seem pretty healthy now.

Fuzzy WiShe Kitten

The name comes from a mix of two cats we lost this year: Willem DeKooning, the beautiful Maine Coon, and Shemp the black and white Tuxedo cat. You can see that she has a certain amount of Maine Coon fluff, and her size also made me think of Willie. Her color, though, says Shemp.

How can anyone resist this face?

I hope she finds a loving forever home. I'm not going to whine but my own recent health problems make me question how long I will be here to take care of the many feral cats of Sandlake. I'm very particular about kitties getting safe homes, you know, but if I'm not here then how safe is this place? Anyway....

Wishe would love to have home with brother Spot. If you have room, drop me a line... Let's hope for the best for them.....

Adopt Me .... Wishe, Updated

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Room for one more? ...From a litter of three abandoned feral kittens. Two were successfully captured, one was not.

This kitty has now been to the vet. She's a BIG (for her age) girl. We're estimating her birth date at around June 30 (according to the vet) so she's only 6 weeks old in this picture.

 I'm calling this adorable little feral kitten Wishe for now ...for my usual weird reasons: It has the characteristics of two cats we recently lost. It has the fuzzy body of Willem DeKooning and the Tuxedo color of the late great Shemp. Thus, WiShe ...which I pronounce Wishee. 

Wishe is very people friendly already and seems pretty healthy... just a natural pet! It will be a real bummer if Wishe doesn't get a home of her own.

How can you resist a cute, fuzzy face like this?

ADOPT THIS FORMER FERAL KITTEN!

Name: Wishe (for reference purposes) - you, the owner, should name her. Birthday: June 30, 2010 (approximate) A long-haired possibly part Maine Coon feral kitten, now tamed. Her name comes from two late ferals; Willem DeKooning (a Maine Coon) and Shemp (based on her color). Wi-She. She might be a great-grandaughter of Willie. This kitten is box trained, has had flea and worm treatments. Is scheduled for shots. Will tolerate car rides and carriers, this kitten is very friendly and relatively outgoing. She may be shy around strangers until she gets to know you. She needs more attention than she's getting. And she needs a safe environment. Remember, I can only rescue more feral kittens as others are adopted out to make room. Location is Oregon coast but will deliver to right within a reasonable distance. Contact: E-mail form

The Face of Pesky

Little Pesky cat, a rescued feral from the June a year ago....


Technically she's still up for adoption but it gets a lot harder once they are past kittenhood. She's perfectly happy here but living around feral cats is more precarious than her life should be.

Still busy around the farm...

Cat Photo of the Day, 3/4-Tailed Gort

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First of all, Gort is a girl. I didn't know that when I named her. When she was a feral kitten she had a weird way of lumbering about that - for some strange reason - made me think of the giant robot The Day The Earth Stood Still (the original Gort, not the modern one, which I've never seen). Later, after she was rescued from the feral life because she starving, I found out she was a girl.

Baby Gort, after Rescue

Gort was up for adoption but nobody took her, so she's still here. She's actually very sweet and loves to be petted. Gort has an unusual 3/4 length tail with a twist near the end. This is not an injury; she was born that way. There are maybe half a dozen feral cats in the area that have this particular anomaly, with another half-dozen or so with full bobtails.

She also likes to spend a lot of time outdoors, playing.

Playful Gort

Mort Out and About - Feral Cat Photo of the Day

Feeling much better now, rescued feral kitten Mort steps out to see the world...

Tabitha Noble and Proud - Feral Cat Photo of the Day

Tabitha is Tabitha because I wasn't feeling very creative when I rescued her. She was a little kitten - one of six rescued at the time. Here she is today:

At one time she was up for adoption, but she wasn't one of the lucky ones. She's very bright and affectionate (with people she knows). Lacking a home of her own, she has a home with me until something better comes along. She spends almost as much time visiting the feral cats as I do.

We've seen Tabitha in a previous post: at five months old.

Fran The Former Feral Emerges - Feral Kitten Photo of the Day

A rescued feral kitten, Fran has been living in my work van while recuperating. I left the back window part open for some air... Fran crawled out onto the spare tire to survey the world and enjoy the view.
You should read Fran's story to see how far she has come.

Rescued Kitten 3 - Feral Kitten Rescue Photo of the Day

You know I've mentioned that there was yet another kitten that had to be rescued due to severe illness. It's been a long road to recovery, but here he is  ...

Formerly feral kitten is happy to be alive!

For now, I'm calling him Mort - for his near death experience, but he really should be named by a person who calls him their own. You've seen this kitten before... He was part of a larger litter appearing in several photos here.

Siamese-type Rescued Feral Kitten - Photo and Story of the Day

This kitten needs a home and a name. For reference purposes, we'll call her Fran for now. This is a kitten who almost wasn't here - through a combination of respiratory infection, anemia and worms. It was almost a sad story....

You see, feral kittens are naturally afraid of people. If you approach, they run away. They only stop running when they get too sick and weak. They stop running when they give up.

It's partly a matter of luck, though, when they give up; whether I will find them weak and sick and try to save them - or whether I find their lifeless little bodies. Such was the case with Fran's little tabby sister. I found her dead one cold morning...

Lucy The Cat - FORMER Feral Cat Photo Of The Day

This is Lucy The Cat today - a former feral rescued as a kitten. Lucy has the bobtail that is so common in one local feral cat community. As you see her today, Lucy is beautiful, smart, curious - and very people friendly. Once she was feral kitten, abandoned by her mom - she had a rough start to her life and it almost ended much too soon....

One day in June of 2006 while out on a morning feeding session, I heard a kitten crying. At first I couldn't find it and had to give up. I came back about an hour later, though, because I was worried. I finally found this little gooey eyed little kitten under the corner of a barn. There were no other kittens or mother cats around so I cleaned her up and moved her closer to where the other cats were - hoping some mom would take her in. I guess I just didn't want to face bottle feeding yet another kitten; I already had one I had rescued the week before and the idea of taking in another kitten so young felt like too much.

Baby Lucy, right after rescue - June, 2006

She cried and cried. No mommy ever showed up so I took her in and bottle-fed her.

Feral Cat Photo of the Day - Gort's Portrait Head Shot

This is Gort today. Once a starving, sick feral kitten, today she is a beloved pet. Lucky kitty! I just wish there were more homes so other cats could be lucky, too.

As much as this photo might look posed, it is NOT a studio shot. I promised you all natural, all the time - and I meant it. Gort is on top my work van (my mobile studio). She has just spotted me and is running toward the edge of the roof to greet me. I snapped her photo from several feet away; the white surrounding her is just a cloud-filled sky as I shoot upward toward the roof.

Feral Cat Photo of the Day - Calico-Tabby-Something

It's always interesting to see what odd genetic combinations pop up in the feral cat colonies. This one seems to be part tabby, calico and maybe tuxedo cat. She's young and seems to be healthy. Perhaps all these interesting variations offer a survival advantage.

Feral Kitten Rescue Project - Success Story

From this....

A 7 week old feral kitten, sick and near death

............ to this:

A healthy 5 month old rescue kitten, "Pesky"

It began with a kitten that was too weak to move. Sick and starving... We first wrote about her here. And then gave you an update at this blog post.

Now here she is today - from sick little feral scared of the world to healthy kitten who loves people.

The only problem I have now is that I'm one over my limit on cats. Pesky needs a home. Her life was saved, now it needs to be complete.

ADOPT THIS FORMER FERAL KITTEN!

Name: Pesky (you can change it) Birthday: May 1, 2009 (approximate) This kitty was found limp and barely living at about 7 weeks old. She received 24 hour care, flea treatment, antibiotics, worm medicine and removal of ear mites. Forgetting her feral past, she is now a loving pet. She loves to climb and sit on your shoulder. Will tolerate car rides and carriers. This kitty is box trained and lives indoors. Pesky was spayed at 6 months. Purrs a lot. I can only rescue more feral kittens as others are adopted out to make room. Location is Oregon coast but will deliver to right within a reasonable distance. Contact: E-mail form

Sick Feral Tabby Kitten Update 2

Remember how sickly that feral kitten looked? Reminder of the ill feral from a couple of months ago....



I thought you'd want to know where we're at today: The story that goes with that photo is here. At the time, she couldn't even lift her head. Later, I updated you here. The life of a feral kitten is very hard and chances of survival are slim. Despite my already overburdened household I just had to save this one.

It is in this way that a sickly feral kitten's near death experience was a blessing - this time... for this kitten. Usually, it doesn't work that way. Because I found her lying in damp crass, too ill to move - too sick to run away - I "caught" her. A limp, semi-conscious little animal who, had she found an ounce of strength remaining in her body, would have used that last bit of strength to run away from me in terror. But she was done for. She was at the end of her very short and miserable life. So she couldn't run. She could do nothing but await the end.

I picked her up. Her journey to a whole new life had begun. Here she is today:

Sick Kitten Update

The original posting on the sick feral kitten was just over a month ago: I found a sick little feral kitten lying around, too ill to run away. I took it back to my car, warmed it up, gave it flea treatment and some kitten milk. Then I had to return it to the feral colony. The story of the kitten with photos is here.

UPDATE

I tried to keep an eye out for this kitten. It showed up at most feedings but was still moving slow and looking sickly.

A couple of weeks after this, my sister informed me that she saw a kitten in the same area that wasn't moving at all. I knew it must be the same sick kitty....

Poor thing. I found it and retrieved it once again. I warmed it up and gave it another flea treatment and some milk.

This time, against my better judgment (and against self-interest). I took it home.

The kitten got a bath and more milk, and a vet appointment. At her appointment we discovered that she had roundworms (very common with feral kittens) and an infection. She got treatments for both.

Here she is today...



Not a very good picture, but I can tell you that she's feeling much better now. Go back to the original post to see how bad she once looked. She's alive!

For the first time - just yesterday - she ran! Running, more like scampering really, is a big accomplishment considering how ill she was. In between my final rescue and now, she mostly just slept; too sick to do anything else.

And for the first time today, she tried to play a wrestling-bitey game with my hand. She purred and she played.

Formerly terrified of humans, she's now in love with people. She's sweet and full of personality. Now I have to give her a name and just hope I can find a good home for her.

Feral Kitten Of The Day - Ms Thang

Here is a cute picture of a kitten who was the last survivor of her litter and she almost didn't make it even with 24 hour care.



What probably killed her siblings was the same thing that nearly killed her: fleas.

Fleas can and do kill kittens, especially feral kittens because of the environment they live in. Ms Thang got expert veterinary care and many days of syringe feeding and hot water bottles before she was strong enough to even hold up her head. That's how close she was to not being here.

In fact, the vet tried to insist on euthanizing her. I didn't cooperate with that.

Ms Thing, after recovery, still in rehab

September 5, 2009 UPDATE: I found Ms Thing dead this morning. She hadn't been acting sick. She had eaten rather eagerly yesterday, as usual. Her life had a very hard beginning and was all too short. I hope she found some enjoyment with us in between. Poor kitty.

Feral Cat Of The Day: Tabby Ms Thing

A tabby cat who nearly died as a kitten. It took some intensive care to save her. Now she is a happy and grateful adult.

I call her Ms Thing. She would be a pet to someone if she had the opportunity.

Frank The Rescued Feral Kitten

Frank was rescued at the same time as Tabitha but he's so active that I've had a hard time getting a picture of him!

I named him Frank after Frank Sinatra ...because of his blue eyes (although that isn't obvious here). Get it? Ol' Blue Eyes. At this point he is around 11 or 12 weeks old.


Above, Frank is creeping around one of my paintings in progress. Perhaps he has a critique?

Take care of your kitties!

Rescue Kitten 'Tabby' Goes For A Ride

Last week, it was Gort. He's about a week younger than Tabby who is about 11 weeks at this point. Initially, she was a skeptical kitty when it came to getting in the car...


She's very bright so she's more curious about what is going on outside the windows of the car...

Tabby inspects the car's interior

She was very good. After a while, she started to get sleepy.


Kitten Gets Sleepy in Car

This feral kitten will be a good traveling companion, I think.