Random Drift: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Whisker Hump Wednesday - Mr. Mean (Part 2)

In the beginning of May I lost my patience with the tomcat smell on my front door and I decided to trap Mr. Mean and have him neutered at the local low-cost Spay and Neuter clinic. It turned out to be very easy to trap him and I got him on my first try. He was not a happy Mancat.

He got neutered and also got his ear tipped. I let him out the evening after his neutering and he was fine. Surprisingly he came around the house again the very next night. I carefully opened the door on a crack and put some food out for him. Since that day he came around every night at 9pm sharp and cried in front of the door for food. I was very careful not to touch him in case he decided to attack me again. I now basically had a feral cat that I was feeding, but at least the spraying on the front door stopped. I guess it was a fair trade - his manhood for regular food.
TBC.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Whisker Hump Wednesday - Mr. Mean

Last Wednesday I said that I will tell you about the cat in that picture. So for the next few Whisker Hump Wednesdays in memory of our big mancat friend Kismet, I will tell you the Epic Story of Mr. Mean...
When I moved to Georgia in 2008 there were a number of stray/semi-stray/semi-feral cats in the neighborhood. Two of the local strays, Trouble and Squish (and here) eventually became part of our family.

Trouble & Squish

However, there was one particular big tomcat, who was the meanest cat I've ever met! He terrorized my cats, chasing them and mauling them any chance he got. He seemed to be feral, or semi-feral at best. He had that typical scruffy tom-cat look. I sprayed him with water several times, and he eventually learned to stay away during the daytime (when my cats get to go outside). He did however come by every night and sprayed the scrubs in front of the porch. So in the morning when I opened the front door, I got a lovely "whiff of tomcat". This semi-truce went on for a couple of years - he peed on everything at night, but stayed away during the day. Then one winter night he decided that the scrubs were not enough. He simply HAD to start spaying my front door!
You all know the smell of tomcat - I could clearly smell it inside. One evening earlier this year, I saw him sitting on the porch again and I grabbed the spray bottle to chase him away. He did not run away like usual and just kept looking at me. On closer inspection, he looked even more scruffy than usual. His ear seemed to be tattered and the hair on the one side of his body seem to be just growing back from a large wound.
That was when I made a very, very, VERY big mistake. I felt sorry for him, and decided to give him some food. I went inside, got some kibble in a bowl and took it outside. He let me get close to him and I put down the food and turned around to leave. The next thing, he was attacking my leg! And I mean attacked - he took a small chunk out of my calf! This was the first time ever that I got attacked by a cat unprovoked. He was not cornered or anything - he was just mean!
And of course, despite my best first aid efforts, the wound got infected and I had to get antibiotics, but at least it wasn't more serious (e.g. rabies). For the next three months he kept peeing on my front door, and I kept ignoring him . I did not give him food again, but I did name him - Mr. Mean.
TBC.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Whisker Hump Wednesday

In memory of our friend Kismet, we submit these Whisker Humps for your approval.

I know our regular readers now have questions... We will share the epic story every week on Whisker Hump Wednesdays in memory of the original Big Mancat.

Random Drift