Friday night I came home and put a scoop of food into Augie's bowl on the patio. As usual he came and ate a few kibbles, then left again. It wasn't until later I noticed he wasn't looking good: thin, slow, mottled fur. Then I noticed several blood stains on the Thermo Kitty Pad inside his house. I let him into my house, and he walked slowly to the living room and sat under the coffee table, and looked at me. He didn't have enough energy to start clawing. So I said to myself, as long as he's good, he can stay inside. He seemed to get the message. He was good…no more clawing or jumping on sofa or running to the hallway. Of course he didn't have the energy. That was another good reason to adopt him as an indoor cat now--while he was showing good behavior.
Late last year Augie got eye scratched, now in April he had bloody wound. This doesn't seem to be working out. And Augie is thin precisely because he seems to save his outdoor food for other cats. I saw this in action earlier this week. The white cat came over from the side bamboo plant (apparently a convenient ladder to the next door yard) and started eating from Augie's bowl. Augie sat in his house merely watching, not raising his voice or anything. I had a few run-ins with this white cat before. I usually just raised my voice a little and she'd run off. One time he wasn't leaving so I turned on the sprinklers. That maybe a bit cruel, but it seemed to keep her away for about a month.
Well this time I just tapped the window and she left. But 5 minutes later she was back eating Augie's food. I took a good look at her and felt sorry. She was chunky looking, muscular. Possibly pregnant (not from Augie). And she had a half-bitten off ear. So this time I watched as she ate and said nothing. She polished off the entire bowl quickly, leaning into it (and putting some ants in the normally ant proof Fool a Bug bowl). Then she left. That was Tuesday. Then Friday a bad scene of some kind must have happened.
In the meantime I had been thinking it was OK for Augie to save food for his friend. I'm OK with him having friends. I couldn't really stop it anyway. I told my friend and immediately we were talking about having to capture the lady cat and take her to the vet for shots and sterilization. It would be good to abort cat fetuses if she had any. Then again, maybe they'd be the children of Alexander, the male cat who was pestering (or being friend?) Augie a few months ago, until he disappeared after a two day freeze. I might actually feel bad about having all of Alexander's kids aborted. He was an especially pretty cat, I thought. Unlike this white cat, who beyond the bitten ear looks like tramp all over. Chunky muscular tramp.
But after this blood stain, I decided maybe the relationship wasn't actually that good. Augie let her eat his food because he had little choice: eat or get beaten up. This lady was collecting her protection money daily (that's why Augie wouldn't eat much) and if it came a little short, as it had done on Friday when I didn't put out a second scoop at 3pm (bowl was still over half full at the bottom (about 2/3 scoop) because Augie himself wasn't eating much) she gave no forgiveness. I forgot to add more and was also expecting my friend to add more (but she missed Friday night, in fact she had missed the entire week because of her husband's hospitalization).
So now we see how my cat neighborhood works. Alexander had been doing likewise, eating Augie's food and Augie wasn't putting up much if any resistance (after the first month or so, when there had been some apparently bloodless fights).
And it doesn't look good for a young backyard patio cat. My 6 foot walls don't keep cats out, so Augie was vulnerable, and apparently not up to the task. He's still just a young cat…no more than teenager according to the charts, and other cats, even feral cats, may be bigger, stronger, tougher, and meaner.
So now I've adopted Augie as an indoor cat. He's a nice and very smart cat in many ways. I've been afraid of him clawing apart my electrostatic speakers mainly. But I play classical music through them, and he loves classical music and seems to understand what the speakers do, and he seems to respect them. I'd noticed that before, which made me warm to the idea of having another indoor cat roaming freely, something I had not though possible until this weekend.
I hadn't strongly wanted another cat, though interestingly this week I had come across photos of my previous indoor cat, Kitty, 1991-2007. I had loved kitty dearly…she slept with me through some of the most important transitions in my life. I missed her, but also remembered the hassles, grief, and primarily the endless worry. So I was not planning to have another cat despite missing her. And the biggest fear would be that another cat just wouldn't work out, especially now that I have electrostatic speakers and work all day.
It's been pretty good so far. Augie seems to be gradually losing bad habits, becoming less likely to swipe at you with his paw. Last night she sat under me at the table and, as if to show me it was safe, rested her back paw on my foot. There was no claw, it was perfectly soft.
On both Sunday and Monday nights I sat on the back patio as Augie played in the yard. He had previously seemed unwilling to venture far into my small back yard, but after it was mowed on Sunday he was happy to follow the laser toy to the far ends. And on Monday he just liked to sit in the grass for awhile.
He's insisted on sleeping with me, and we've found ways to make that work, but he also made himself a small bed where my weights are as backup. I made that bed a bit nicer with a foam piece, and he's happy there about half of the night, and then the other half finding spaces in my bed. On Saturday I put him on the left side, which would be good. Of course he didn't go back there again until he had rediscovered the left side himself, as he did on Monday night.
Late last year Augie got eye scratched, now in April he had bloody wound. This doesn't seem to be working out. And Augie is thin precisely because he seems to save his outdoor food for other cats. I saw this in action earlier this week. The white cat came over from the side bamboo plant (apparently a convenient ladder to the next door yard) and started eating from Augie's bowl. Augie sat in his house merely watching, not raising his voice or anything. I had a few run-ins with this white cat before. I usually just raised my voice a little and she'd run off. One time he wasn't leaving so I turned on the sprinklers. That maybe a bit cruel, but it seemed to keep her away for about a month.
Well this time I just tapped the window and she left. But 5 minutes later she was back eating Augie's food. I took a good look at her and felt sorry. She was chunky looking, muscular. Possibly pregnant (not from Augie). And she had a half-bitten off ear. So this time I watched as she ate and said nothing. She polished off the entire bowl quickly, leaning into it (and putting some ants in the normally ant proof Fool a Bug bowl). Then she left. That was Tuesday. Then Friday a bad scene of some kind must have happened.
In the meantime I had been thinking it was OK for Augie to save food for his friend. I'm OK with him having friends. I couldn't really stop it anyway. I told my friend and immediately we were talking about having to capture the lady cat and take her to the vet for shots and sterilization. It would be good to abort cat fetuses if she had any. Then again, maybe they'd be the children of Alexander, the male cat who was pestering (or being friend?) Augie a few months ago, until he disappeared after a two day freeze. I might actually feel bad about having all of Alexander's kids aborted. He was an especially pretty cat, I thought. Unlike this white cat, who beyond the bitten ear looks like tramp all over. Chunky muscular tramp.
But after this blood stain, I decided maybe the relationship wasn't actually that good. Augie let her eat his food because he had little choice: eat or get beaten up. This lady was collecting her protection money daily (that's why Augie wouldn't eat much) and if it came a little short, as it had done on Friday when I didn't put out a second scoop at 3pm (bowl was still over half full at the bottom (about 2/3 scoop) because Augie himself wasn't eating much) she gave no forgiveness. I forgot to add more and was also expecting my friend to add more (but she missed Friday night, in fact she had missed the entire week because of her husband's hospitalization).
So now we see how my cat neighborhood works. Alexander had been doing likewise, eating Augie's food and Augie wasn't putting up much if any resistance (after the first month or so, when there had been some apparently bloodless fights).
And it doesn't look good for a young backyard patio cat. My 6 foot walls don't keep cats out, so Augie was vulnerable, and apparently not up to the task. He's still just a young cat…no more than teenager according to the charts, and other cats, even feral cats, may be bigger, stronger, tougher, and meaner.
So now I've adopted Augie as an indoor cat. He's a nice and very smart cat in many ways. I've been afraid of him clawing apart my electrostatic speakers mainly. But I play classical music through them, and he loves classical music and seems to understand what the speakers do, and he seems to respect them. I'd noticed that before, which made me warm to the idea of having another indoor cat roaming freely, something I had not though possible until this weekend.
I hadn't strongly wanted another cat, though interestingly this week I had come across photos of my previous indoor cat, Kitty, 1991-2007. I had loved kitty dearly…she slept with me through some of the most important transitions in my life. I missed her, but also remembered the hassles, grief, and primarily the endless worry. So I was not planning to have another cat despite missing her. And the biggest fear would be that another cat just wouldn't work out, especially now that I have electrostatic speakers and work all day.
It's been pretty good so far. Augie seems to be gradually losing bad habits, becoming less likely to swipe at you with his paw. Last night she sat under me at the table and, as if to show me it was safe, rested her back paw on my foot. There was no claw, it was perfectly soft.
On both Sunday and Monday nights I sat on the back patio as Augie played in the yard. He had previously seemed unwilling to venture far into my small back yard, but after it was mowed on Sunday he was happy to follow the laser toy to the far ends. And on Monday he just liked to sit in the grass for awhile.
He's insisted on sleeping with me, and we've found ways to make that work, but he also made himself a small bed where my weights are as backup. I made that bed a bit nicer with a foam piece, and he's happy there about half of the night, and then the other half finding spaces in my bed. On Saturday I put him on the left side, which would be good. Of course he didn't go back there again until he had rediscovered the left side himself, as he did on Monday night.
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