The Three Mousecateers

Recently, I counted 16 stray/feral cats that regularly come to be fed at our home. Some come every day without fail. Some miss days here and there. Panther, Samantha and Scrufty decided they like to come into our Arizona room, which is like a sun room on the back of our home. First, we invited them to come in out of the cold. Obviously, these cats dislike cold weather. [In our Prescott region, temperatures can go down to the teens at night in the winter, though the normal lows in winter are between 30’s and 40’s Fahrenheit.]Now that it’s summer, they like to come in out of the heat in the daytime.

Panther is the all-black one, Samantha is the tortoise shell with only one eye, and Scrufty is the grey tabby with the scrufty coat. All three of these female kitties were abandoned. I tell my friends that these three are “just visiting” since I already have adopted 2 indoor cats. Of course they all say I am in denial of reality by saying “just visiting”. But the fact remains that Panther, Samantha and Scrufty need to have some routine vet care which I cannot manage to pay for right now. I don’t like fully adopting pets that I cannot properly take care of. Panther sometimes vomits her food, though not acting sick in any other way. Samantha’s socket that has no eye sometimes seeps a sort of pus. And Scrufty does not eat much and is rather thin.

In some ways I feel closer to Panther and Samantha than I do to our two adopted indoor cats Tabby and Tiger. Panther and Samantha are always craving being stroked and brushed. They never get enough. Both of them squirm with delight whenever I pet or brush them. Panther purrs so loudly that she reminds me of a Geiger counter. I imagine that they may enjoy the physical attention as a sort of reassurance that we won’t abandon them like their previous owners.

Scrufty is a truly odd kitty. She tries to avoid being touched despite the fact that she is definitely not feral. If I manage to touch her, she flinches as if her head is sensitive in some way. Someone suggested she may be flinching like that because of ear mites. Once I get her to settle into a brief petting session, she reluctantly surrenders to my attention. I never see her fighting or having hissing sessions with other cats. But if other cats are in our Arizona room when Scrufty enters, she will go hide under the sofa. In general, her actions and mannerisms give the impression that she could be mentally deranged. Unfortunately, some routine vet care would not help that. But I love her just as much as all the others.

I would be extremely grateful if you feel inclined to donate to the management of this feral/abandoned colony, using the PayPal button on the sidebar.
Thanks for reading my post - leave a comment if you like. I plan to share more about my experiences and what I have learned from managing this homeless colony.
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Debby Taylor DTConsult@cableone.net