Homeless Cat -- Now Spotacus' Legacy

[Wanderlost]

On 18 Dec, a very large cat showed up at our house. It was late and cold, and he looked in the door and made it clear he wanted inside. Well, since we have two cats already and he was a stranger, we could not let him in the house. WLToo walked out and the cat ran to him, so he walked the cat into the garage and into the climate controlled room out there.

He was extremely hungry and thirsty, but in otherwise good condition and very clean. We fixed up a bed for him, set up the feeding and elimination stations, and went to bed.

Next day, we worked in the garage all day, while the big guy slept or supervised. We found him to be an intact male, no sign he's ever worn a collar, and he has a strong need to be in the general vicinity of humans. For an intact male, he's remarkably mellow - I don't think he was the alpha cat in his previous home.

Have had zero responses to the "found cat" notices around the area and online, so we'll be working with the local rescues to get him neutered and all his shots, then find him a home. We can't keep him because he's just too big for our two cats to share our small house. Alex would have another emotional meltdown, and I don't want to go through that mess again (long, ugly story).

For now, we're calling him Spot, not that he answers to it (does answer to "Kitty, Kitty"). No idea how he travels; we'll find out when we take him to the vet on Tuesday.

If anyone knows of someone who would like a large (about 15-18 pounds) cat who needs to be with people, please let me know. No cat novices, please; this cat needs someone who knows exactly how to handle an adult cat of this size, especially when he's feeling frisky.





We're at Canyon Lake, TX, so if there are any Winter Texans nearby who would like to meet him and maybe give him a home, that would be great.

[Wanderlost]

Neither did I, Gary.

[Dashonthedash]

I never knew deer were that smart :B

[Wanderlost]

Two baby barn swallows have flown from the nest to the top of a wind chime. The third is still in the nest. That's early, but the pair did arrive fairly early.

Our yellow cone flowers and Mexican hat are blooming, along with some thistles. The butterflies and hummingbirds are happy about that. The usual proliferation of yellow wildflowers that I can't identify are filling the meadow. It's beautiful.

Put the big hummingbird feeder out, with the perches, now that the orioles have stopped bothering it. A really tiny black chin is resting there right now -- today's very windy and the perch is the only way for it to stay at the feeder.

We went from early spring temperatures to summer literally overnight. Air conditioner has been on almost all week, and the pool is in the 80s - absolutely perfect swimming temperature.

I had to modify swim strokes, though. Tendonitis in the left elbow. I have the strap and prednizone, and have to take it easy with that arm. So no weight lifting (unfortunately, that includes Spot) for a while.

Not that it stops Spot, when he feels the need for some love. He spent a good part of this morning piled up on my chest and stomach. He's super affectionate when we're outside, less so inside. Good thing there's room on the new porch sofa for both of us.

Something truly weird happened this morning. Mama Doe Lassie had her fawn yesterday. She kept coming up to the house and looking in the door. We thought she wanted more food, but we only feed her once a day, if that, so we didn't respond. This morning, she got her food, and when she finished, she walked back to the door and looked in. So I went outside, and she turned to walk away. My little voice said she wants me to follow her, so I did.

Every few yards, she'd stop, look back, and when she saw me following, she continued. We finally got to a stand of junipers, where I could not follow, and she stopped inside them. By then, WLToo had joined us, so we looked around as best we could for her fawn. When we didn't see it, I went around the stand to the other side, where she stared at me for a bit, then went back into the stand.

WLToo walked away, and just as I started back around the stand, a very large fawn broke out of the stand and ran. Its larger mother followed, then MDL strolled behind them, making that deer buzzing sound that she uses when she's "talking" to me.

I think she was using me to run the other doe and fawn out of her territory... She's too little to make the bigger doe leave, but a human stomping around could do that. Still haven't seen her own fawn, but it's out there.

I feel so used.....

[Wanderlost]

A second storm passed through, but this time we had no damage. Filled the pool to a couple inches below the top, and beat the heck out of the garden. I harvested one cubanelle pepper, a whole bunch of cilantro and basil, and cleared off the damage. Dried the cilantro, ate the pepper and basil with roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, onion and balsamic vinegar. The leeks, yellow onions, and carrots look fine. WLToo planted cantelope seeds this morning.

If we ever get any tomato blossoms, I'll hang red Christmas ornaments on the bushes to keep the mockingbirds away. They try to taste the ornaments, and when they realize they're inedible, stay away for good.

I was not the first to try walking through the new screen doors. WLToo did it. Luckily, his hat brim hit the screen first, so he stopped before causing damage. A couple hours later, Alex ran into another screen, bounced back, and cried piteously until I let him in. He immediately turned around and sniffed the screen thoroughly, but whether or not he'll remember is questionable at his age.

We got our new porch furniture, and Mama Doe Lassie is still a bit leery -- we keep changing things. She's not terribly interested in the corn right now, so we cut back on the portion. All the new green shoots taste so much better, I expect. Her belly is sagging, so we should see her fawn soon -- she's given birth Memorial Day weekend the last three years.

Two hummingbirds just shared the feeder, without fussing at each other. Amazing.

Another barn swallow nest is now occupied. We were getting a bit concerned that we'd not have enough birds to eat all the bugs. Nest one has three babies already covered in feathers and with the grumpy bird look. Nest two doesn't appear to have hatched any. Nest three has just been occupied. Nest four is still empty, darn it.

Sore arm, typing hurts. Later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

We had a very serious storm last night. The wind moved the chairs on the porch, knocked the grill over completely, opened the pool storage unit, knocked over the flag pole, and blew water into the house under the wooden north door. Luckily, the baseball sized hail that hit other areas missed us completely; we did get 1.8 inches of much needed rain.

The thunder, lightning, and wind were so intense for a while that Spot got a little stressed. He ran from window to window, looking out and making an odd noise, before finally climbing up on WLToo. Alex slept through the whole thing.

Damage wasn't terrible: the solar powered light on top of the flagpole and one pole section were destroyed, a few dents on the grill (already beaten out with a rubber mallet) and the rotisserie electrical connection was broken off.

WLToo is researching how-to videos on fixing the RV water heater. I hope he can fix it; a replacement costs over $600. That reminds me: we haven't checked the RV for any storm damage. Later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

No sign of the fox since that night. Considering how we've seen zero signs of rabbits, rodents, etc. since we got here, the pickings are probably too slim for the fox to take up residence. If we do see it in our meadow again, though, WLToo plans to shoot it.

Today's a bad day for both cats. All our doors are being replaced, and no matter which room they go into, it's noisy. Meanwhile, the power cooperative is adding support trusses to the power poles from the road to the house, and that's more noise. Spot inspected the door installers' trailer, and now is hiding in the garage, where Alex took refuge a while ago.

On the up side, Spot's behavior has vastly improved. No attempts to pee in the wrong places for two days now. We do have to keep a close watch on him when work vehicles show up, because he just has to look inside each vehicle. After all, they usually smell like guys, and he does like guys... It's a guy thing.

I'm so glad his behavior is better. Now we can look forward to taking him along next time we take the RV out. 'Course, that has to wait until the water heater is fixed or replaced, and we get the new tires. Sigh. We love that RV, but it's as big a money pit as was the sailboat all those years ago.

Back to editing WLToo's fourth book. Later, y'all.

[CA_POPPY]

A relative of ours in N Fla had a cat killed by a fox. They saw it carried off, so there was no doubt. He called Fish & Game or whatever they call it down there and they came out and trapped the fox and took it away. A few months later, BIL was regretting that solution. The neighborhood (backed by thick woods) was soon overrun with rabbits and his garden was far from safe. :S

[M_GO_BLUE1]

Wanderlost wrote:
The rest of the day and this morning until our guests departed, Alex and Spot were on guard at the windows, calling Meg names every time they saw her. I fear for Alex' life now; he's too stubborn to understand that any other critter he may decide to attack just might not be as submissive -- like that gray fox -- and one day/evening may be his last, like I fear happened to Bobbi Socks, who was also way too brave for her own good.

First I really enjoy reading your posts about your two cats...

But the above can really get one wondering what you are thinking some times...if you believe Bobbi was taken away by a fox and now you see Spot in a similar situation whay aren't you trying to solve the situation?

I would rather have a pissed off cat from being kept inside then to have another "Bobbi" incident...

But to each their own...

[Wanderlost]

Spot never stopped using his litter box. When we yelled at him, he immediately went to the box.

His conduct has been steadily improving, even with the dog being here. Today, I stopped him from getting into the bathroom sinks, and he did just fine.

I've tended to cats my whole life, and Spot is not all that unusual. He is stubborn, but learns fairly quickly, once he decides to learn. Alex is the king of passive-aggressive, and has been a far greater behavioral challenge over all these years.

We did notice a few months ago that Spot does not like the scent of catnip. Whenever he gets near Alex' catnip pads, he tries to pee on something near them, and each time we bought Alex a scratcher and put catnip on it, Spot peed on it. So all the catnip pads are on Alex' safe spot, a chair side table that Spot never gets up on, and the scratcher doesn't get catnip on it. Spot's safe spot is a table near the TV, that Alex never gets up on.

The two of them have been quite chummy today. Perhaps the double team effort against Meg helped them bond a bit more. Certainly Spot has been very gentle when trying to get Alex to play, but the difference between an 8 pound and a 15 pound cat means a lot, especially to old Alex.

WLToo just fixed salad. Later, y'all.

[WandaLust2]

If he's forced to live outside, you'll not know if his urethra blocks. He can die a painful death.

[Code2High]

When going in the box becomes associated with pain... as it did... this kind of behavior will often result. He doesn't have the same understanding that you would, that "well, that was from the infection and it's gone now, so it won't hurt if I go in the box." All he knows is that when he went into that box and peed it HURT and so it is associated with pain. Then he tried peeing other places, and everywhere he went hurt! Imagine how stressful that would be for him, lacking the ability to understand what was going on.

You are looking at it from a human perspective. Stubborn is a human term and it really doesn't apply to cats nearly as often as people think it does. Cats form associations and they will cling to them it's true. But that's not because they intend to be difficult. It's just because they operate a lot more on association and instinct than people understand.

So do people, actually. But it's a little different as we do have the ability to use other types of information and logic when something isn't working for us, that Spot can't access.

Changing the appearance and smell of the box can help if you can't change the location. Putting a diffuser close to the box can help him feel more relaxed as he approaches. Cat attract herbs (google that, you can get them on Amazon) can help a lot, and there is a flower essence blend that I know of just for litter box avoidance.

Another option is to get a large wire dog crate and put a bed and a litter box in, and keep him in there for a few days to a couple of weeks, until he becomes re-oriented to the box.

You can get treats designed for urinary issues and also for calming, which might help a lot. He's clearly not in a happy place and anything that will help him feel calmer is a good thing. I can look up the links if you'd like.

[Wanderlost]

It's been right lively around here lately. Hoo boy...

Started when Dr. Suzie called and said while Spot doesn't have an infection, he might have an odd little syndrome whose name I forget, but makes him want to go a lot. She recommended cranberry concentrate supplements. Hmmm. I can't get a Batril pill down his throat, but supposed to do cranberry supplements twice a day? I'll be chatting with her tomorrow to get more details and then decide.

Personally, I think it's pure behavior. I've already been modifying some of it, and he only acts out now when he wants something (usually to go outside). Why he changed his "go outside?" request from sitting at the door to this peeing everywhere behavior is a puzzle, considering that we almost always let him out when he sat at the door.

The last three days probably were a setback, since my cousin arrived with her dog, Meg, for a visit. Meg, you may recall, was the unfortunately victim of Alex' psycho kitty attacks at her first visit. Well, we brought Meg inside temporarily so she wouldn't try to follow her husband's truck when he and WLToo went to town. Alex went up on his high safe place and glared, but otherwise didn't bother her.

Spot, as usual, ignored her, until he was outside on the pool deck, and she invited him to play. Well, a doggie play invitation was basically Greek to Spot, so she strolled over to where he was still ignoring her. Startled, he jumped off the pool deck and vanished, so she went swimming again and came back to play with the humans. Spot turned up in the crotch of the live oak tree next to the pool and stayed there, until the guys returned and distracted Meg. Then he dashed back into the house, where we spent the evening reminding him that the only appropriate pee place was his Litter Robot.

Then he scared the snot out of us on Friday night. He was still outside after dark, so WLToo took the flashlight to see if Spot was out in the meadow. He was, but so was someone else. WLToo asked me to look through my binoculars, and I saw Spot and a small gray fox sitting about six feet apart, calmly looking at each other. WLToo called, and Spot strolled back to us, while the fox stayed put. They were about the same size, so it may be that they mutually agreed to leave each other alone. Apparently, it's not uncommon around here for the cats and foxes to have come to this kind of accommodation. We'll be watching closely, though, and bringing him in at sundown, which will probably mean a longer re-training period before he stops peeing in the wrong place.

Yesterday, Meg strolled into the open door, saw Spot in the bedroom door, and sat down near him. The next ten minutes saw Spot edge toward her, then away, then toward, then away, all in ultra slow motion. She sat quietly, interested in making his acquaintance, but he finally decided to stroll elsewhere. He went out the south door, since she was sitting near the north door. Alex had gone to his high safe place the moment he saw Meg.

A while later, Spot turned up at the north door and wanted back in, but Meg was right there. So he began to slowly ooze his way into the house. All was fine, until Meg shifted suddenly and startled him. Spot immediately smacked her on the nose, without claws, but didn't do anything else. Meg jumped back and yelped softly, out of surprise, and then all heck broke loose.

Alex appeared out of nowhere, in full psycho kitty mode, and launched a full out attack. As soon as he did, Spot turned into "Me, Too," and joined him in a double team attack. My cousin is disabled, so it was up to me to sort it out. I got Meg away and outside, but the cats broke past me and continued the attack outside. I chased the cats away from her, and she went down the hill and sat under the juniper tree below the pool, while Alex stood at the top of the slope and made "And Stay Out!" noises.

By the time I got both cats back inside, they were unbelievably cocky. Two cats on one labrador, and the dog lost... Poor Meg. She honestly does like cats, and if Alex hadn't started the fight, I do believe she and Spot would have come to an arrangement.

Meg stayed under the juniper about a half hour, until the guys came back from wherever they'd gone, then got some sympathy from them. She was unhurt physically, thanks to her thick coat.

The rest of the day and this morning until our guests departed, Alex and Spot were on guard at the windows, calling Meg names every time they saw her. I fear for Alex' life now; he's too stubborn to understand that any other critter he may decide to attack just might not be as submissive -- like that gray fox -- and one day/evening may be his last, like I fear happened to Bobbi Socks, who was also way too brave for her own good.

Add to all this excitement a bad case of costochondritis, and I'm beat. Could barely help WLToo take down the vinyl shades off the sliding doors, and could not even make it to the gate to admire his work when he painted the Texas star gold in our now dark green gate.

In fact, I need a nap. Later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

The culture came back clear. Spot does not have a medical reason for peeing all over the place. So now we work on behavior -- either he modifies his behavior, or he lives outside. He's not stupid, just pigheaded, but he does eventually learn, or in this case, relearn -- or else. The next few weeks/months will be interesting...

Our regular cabbage bolted, thanks to the two cold fronts that blew through the last few weeks, so it went into the compost. The Napa cabbage did fine, and we harvested all three heads on Saturday. Lesson learned: plant the napa cabbage at least a week apart.

Then we realized we didn't have all the ingredients to make kimchee, so we made an 80 mile round trip to the nearest Asian grocery. But we now have six quarts of kimchee fermenting. Unless we can figure out a way to preserve it via freezing or canning, we'll be eating a lot of kimchee the next few weeks. We'll start by freezing some, since that's really the only way I know of to stop the fermentation.

Four heads of broccoli have been blanched and frozen, and we'll see if the weather allows for more harvests. Everything else is still growing.

WLToo finally did the second coat of paint on the gate, so we'll be ready to tape off the area around the Texas star and paint it gold as soon as the weather clears up -- afternoon thunderstorm chance.

Mama Doe Lassie decided to closely sniff what I was holding -- her corn dish. Bleah - deer snot on my hand. I think my neighbor pets her, because she does not have a problem with direct human contact. This human has a problem, though -- not interested in sharing deer fleas or ticks.

I see the hummingbird feeder needs a refill. Later, y'all.

[Code2High]

Hopefully when the culture comes back they can prescribe the correct stuff.
I wondered when he kept peeing inappropriately...

[RTompkins3]

I hope it is nothing major - I've been following this from the beginning. Prayers and hopes go with you.