Saturday, April 30, 2011

Cat Update

Back in early April, 2011, I mentioned that a Little Cat was visiting the farm.  Well, that Little Cat never left, and now he is a member of the farm family.  We took a few weeks to name him, as we wanted a name that fit his personality.  And so, I'd like to introduce Bobby.  Bobby actually chose his own name.  I called him an array of names, but Bobby was the one that he seemed to answer to.  And it fits his sweet personality.  Bobby. Bob.  Bob Cat.  He has a bobbed ear.  He loves his name. 

Bobby and Randy

We still need to take Bob to the vet.  We've been working on getting him friendly.  He's already more friendly than Shadow, and we've had Shadow for 2 years now!  We put worm pills in Bob's food and he scarfed them down.  He's not picky about food, even if it tastes funny like medicine.  I attempted to put flea and tick drops on Bob's neck.  As soon as a dropped touched his neck fur, he started bucking and bouncing all over the back yard, looking back at me in horror.  It was as if it was acid or something!  It took 2 days for him to trust me again after that episode.  Now he sees the little bottle of drops and he bolts.  I put some flea and tick drops on me and confirmed it's not really acid.  I think Bobby is sensitive to smells, although it doesn't really smell bad.  And on a good note, I am flea and tick free!  Bobby loves his home, despite the weird things we do to him.  He'll probably really hate us after his first vet visit.

Jerry on left, Bobby on right, eating breakfast
Shadow and Jack

The week before Easter I mentioned how we had to rush Shadow to the vet for an emergency visit because she couldn't walk on her right back leg.  She had a slight fracture to her leg, which eventually healed up without a cast or anything, and she is doing fine.

Almost a week after the vet visit, Shadow seemed to have "gone feral" again, and became very scared of humans.  She hid from us continually, wouldn't let us even see her.  And she's an indoor-only cat.  She was just as feral as she was two years ago when we took her in, only then we locked her in a small room for a few weeks.  She couldn't hide, and she got used to us.  It took a long time to really get her used to humans.  We had gotten it so that she loved to be pet and we were working on holding her.  She greeted us at the door every day, she was very friendly.  She learned how to shake hands, she brought her toys to us to play with her, she was a sweetie. 

And then she's feral again!  So we locked her into the kitchen with us whenever we were in the kitchen to force her to be around us, trying to make her remember that we aren't monsters.  We have no idea why she suddenly became so afraid of us.  Her leg appeared to be fine during this time.  After two days of terrible fear she just as suddenly became friendly to us again.  Now we can pet her again, and she's back to being her snuggly, loving, playful self.  Strange.  Hopefully she will not have nightmares about being feral or setbacks like this for the rest of her life!

Shadow with the black leather nose

8 comments:

Kessie said...

I had a cat who would have crazy episodes. She would be fine, then suddenly her eyes and face would get crazy. She'd look crazier and crazier for a week or so, then she'd run away and be gone for a week or so. Then she'd show up again, and the crazy look would be gone. I could never figure her out. She wasn't a feral--we got her as a kitten from some friends. She was fixed, so she wasn't in heat, either.

Carla said...

Have the vet give you Capstar for Bobby. It's a pill for fleas and ticks. If he's a champ at eating food with pills, then it should work.

I'm sorry Shadow had such a negative reaction to her vet visit. Glad her heart won the battle of love for her humans. :)

Country Girl said...

Shadow is a beautiful Cat! Jack and Bobby and that tabby cat too!! Interesting about that feral episode! Glad the friendliness returned.

LindaG said...

We have 2 house cats and they are the same way with the flea medicine. They don't even have to see the little tube. They just seem to know when we're going to put it on and off they go.

Good luck with your cats and good luck with Bobby's first vet visit when it comes. :)

Lisa said...

We had two indoor only cats several years ago. One had a kidney infection so we brought her to the vet. When we brought her back on the same day, she became feral. This was a cat we'd had since she was a kitten and she was now 6 years old!

Nothing we could do would get her tame again. She would hold the other cat hostage in the bathroom for days on end, when they used to be best buds. After a few months and trying many different things she became feral towards us and we had to get her put down. It just broke my heart.

Karen Anne said...

What a lovely cat family you have. Are there others in addition to those those four?

I have had cats get very upset by vet visits, although less as they got older and it became more routine. They all eventually calmed down again although it could take awhile. They had a wonderful vet, too.

Razzberry Corner said...

Kessie - That is strange!!! Sometimes, I guess, strange things happen!

CeeCee - Thanks for the info on Capstar. He needs it. He still has ticks, guess I didn't get enough medicine on him the first time. I made another attempt yesterday, and now he hates me again. I think I got more on him this time, but I still didn't get alot on his neck, he bolts as soon as he smells it.

Barb - I'm glad, too. I can't deal with a wild cat living in the house!

LindaG - I put more medicine on Bobby's neck yesterday. He knew something was up before I even opened the bottle. I wouldn't let him see the bottle, but as soon as I opened it, he ran!

Lisa - That is a strange and awful story! Wow! I'm so sorry you cat had to be put down. It's strange how a pet can turn wild like that. I hope it doesn't happen again to Shadow!

Karen Anne - We just have the 2 indoor cats and now he 2 outdoor cats. And Jerry doesn't come around every day, he's a wanderer.

~Lynn

robin said...

What a cute name for him. I LOVE it.