Maya & Tabby

For all your feline miscellany - any interesting stories, news or subjects that do not fit in the other sections.
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ThorpeDave
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Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Who needs a fancy cat bed when Amazon seem to have an endless supply of boxes and brown packing paper
20170816_115937.jpg
Maya is a 3 year old semi feral cat that appeared in our garden 5 short weeks ago hiding under a bush and looking somewhat distressed.

She has in fact, been living in our next door neighbor's outside toilet for well over a year after leaving home. she was born to a feral cat and was the last to be "rescued" but Mum kept taking her back.

For the next year or so, Maya lived with her siblings and numerous other cats and never settled, isolating herself from the rest. After another cat moved into the home, Maya finally walked out and crossed the road to our neighbor's garden.

Our neighbor's are cat lovers but have 2 house cats of their own and would not adopt her but have fed her on a regular basis.

Why she turned up in our garden is a mystery but we have been feeding her ever since and would welcome her into our home - if she wants.

Over the five weeks, Maya has got closer and closer to the house and finally came into our kitchen to eat 3 weeks ago. She often explores the house and plays with catnip stuffed toys.

Most evening she spends between 1 & 2 hours with us and can now be hand fed treats but wont let us stroke or tickle her. However the process of adoption is progressing and we live in hope that she will settle down in our house before winter sets in.

"Tabby" is an enigma.

A couple of weeks after Maya started to come into the house to be fed, we became aware that "Tabby" a feral male was sneaking in and stealing food. He was however polite and stuck his head round to door and licked his lips - as to say "thank you" before strolling off again!

For some unexplained reason, there seems to be a very strong bond between Maya and Tabby and Tabby often turns up at breakfast time and Maya will not eat unless we feed Tabby as well. They also "kiss" and rub cheeks and Maya screams when Tabby atolls off looking for available females.

Lots of enquirers have been made around the area and nothing is known of Tabby and we suspect that he is sleeping in a large chapel a couple of doors away.

After witnessing how Tabby and May are together - and the way Maya reacts to her immediate siblings - we strongly believe that they are related and possibly brother and sister - but we will probably never know.

As we have now got permission from Maya's original adopters to take her in we will be doing what we can to encourage her. We are even prepared to take Tabby in - but first he will need to pay a visit to the vets to be neutered.

I will provide updates as progress is hopefully made.

Regards

Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Judy Barnett »

We adopted a 'blow in' a few years ago and named him Yowlee. He was the best cat we ever had and he lived with us for seven years until he became old and frail and at about 17 we finally had to say goodbye to him. We found out not long after he moved in that he was someone else's cat. When he was brave enough for us to start handling him we took him to the vet where it was found he was microchipped. The owners had moved miles away and he had wandered off in search, presumably, of his old home. He'd been missing for six month and they had given up all hope of finding him. I said that of course they must come and pick him up as he was their cat but that I thought they should know I had completely fallen in love with him. Then they did something so generous. They decided that they couldn't take him away from someone who had taken him in and loved him. They thought he was gone and had come to terms with it. So they said I could keep him. I sent a Christmas card each year from him to let them know what he'd been doing and a final card to tell them about his passing.
We found our three year old in the garden when she was ten weeks old. We spent two weeks trying to find out where she'd come from but no one seemed to know. She's the cat in my avatar picture and her name is Georgia. I always think the animals you end up with are destined for you with sometimes no apparent reason. All you need say to providence is,'thank you very much', and enjoy. :D
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Lilith »

All I can say is - that cat is a poser - naturally photogenic! :D

My first 3 ferals used to do that, stretch out a paw in welcome. As they were all tuxes, it was a bit of a shock, to go into the bedroom after dark and find them sleeping on the bed in a heap - and seeing 3 white paws shoot out at me in greeting :o :lol:
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Although Maya was happy to pose for photographs earlier today she is very off colour and uncooperative tonight.

She has refused to come into the house for first time in about 3 weeks and has also refused food.

Because she won't let us touch her there is little I can do other than keep an eye on her for the next few hours :(

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Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Mayday21 »

Hi Dave how's Maya today? Btw love the name - reminds me of the Incas from South America. Vivian
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

As a child of the 60s I remember Maya as an alien in the TV series Space 1999 - and we did not give her her name

Actually she is poorly this evening and has been eating loads of grass with the inevitable result!

She snook in the other day and we found loads of cat hairs on the bed so I assume she is molting at the moment ready for her winter coat. There is so much grass in what she has chucked up it is difficult to tell what else was in it -not that I fancy having a good look!

Here is another picture from earlier
20170816_115920.jpg
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Good news

At 10:30 Maya is feeling much better and strolled in asking for food - happy to oblige young lady ;)
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Kay
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Kay »

If she's moulting the grass eating was probably to help bring up a hairball

All completely natural - for cats anyway
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Kay wrote:If she's moulting the grass eating was probably to help bring up a hairball

All completely natural - for cats anyway
That is what we had guessed

As we have yet to really get to know her, identifying the signs are a steep learning curve. I knew there was something wrong as she was very quiet all day and frequently eating grass - and quite a few blueberries from a bush!

It would help if we could get give her a good brush but we are not there yet

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Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Lilith »

Aww bless her, does sound like a furball - but as Kay says, that's what cats do in the wild - no handy zoomgrooms there.

Will she eat those furball treats? Not all cats like them but my Mouse does and they work a treat. I started off with posh ones, 'Healthy Bites' I think they were called, then switched to bog-standard Whiskas ones as they were quicker to order with the groceries but they work just as well as the pricey ones and she likes them equally. (She gets brushed but being an old lady she moults all the time.)

Maya is also the name of the Indian goddess of illusion - when I bred Siamese I once named a kitten 'Maya Moonshadow' - it suited her.

All the best to your beautiful Maya and Tabby too :)
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Lilith wrote:Aww bless her, does sound like a furball - but as Kay says, that's what cats do in the wild - no handy zoomgrooms there.

Will she eat those furball treats?


Things have moved on since I last had cats as pets! Will get some anti-fur ball treats for her to see if that will help. I would love to brush her but can't get close enough yet.
Lilith wrote:Maya is also the name of the Indian goddess of illusion - when I bred Siamese I once named a kitten 'Maya Moonshadow' - it suited her.
that is a lovely name :)
Lilith wrote:All the best to your beautiful Maya and Tabby too :)
Tabby - well he is in bad books. Mr snugs arrived on Tuesday so I put it outside. Our next door neighbor - who has been feeding Maya for the past 12 months - knocked on the door last night and gave us one of Maya's mats she sleeps on in their outside toilet to see if that would make Mr snugs more attractive.

Well we had a visitor - Tabby went straight in a sprayed - and I mean sprayed - all over the inside of Mr snugs and her mat. dirty boy

Still have not managed to get a photo of him as he is a "stealth cat" !

Take care

Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Kay »

oh dear - I suppose it's the cat equivalent of putting your towel on a sunbed to reserve it :lol:
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Lilith »

Urrgggh the bad lad! :o :shock:

Bit trigger happy with his little water pistol was he?

One of my feral toms was like that - well, he was middleaged when he was neutered - and he watered EVERYTHING at first. Bookcases, doors, you name it! He was a walking water-feature! I don't know how I trained him out of it - I think by praising him wildly when he used his tray and hissing at him when I caught him hosing down a wall. The worst was when his hormones were diminishing and he was doing proper neutered boy Niagaras but forgetting that the place for those was in the tray ... he did get there though and was clean as clean afterwards ... only thing he couldn't resist was hubcaps. Anyone who parked outside my house did so at their peril :shock: :lol:
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Kay wrote:oh dear - I suppose it's the cat equivalent of putting your towel on a sunbed to reserve it :lol:
Probably but I would put a clean towel down rather than a very smelly one :(
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Lilith wrote:Urrgggh the bad lad! :o :shock:

Bit trigger happy with his little water pistol was he?
A bit? It was dripping down the sidewalls!

Well Maya came in for food - and was waiting at the door - this morning and ate about half of it then spent the rest of the morning roasting in the greenhouse.

She came back about 1 then disappeared up stairs for half an hour before strolling out.

Had a terrible job getting her in for tea and she turned her nose up at the food we put down and ran off. About an hour later she was back and cleared the bowl out completely in one sitting - first time she has done that!

Again a trip upstairs and we now have clear evidence that she is molting - vacuums quilt cover :o

Desperate to use the bathroom, my wife (Lynne) went upstairs and Maya bolted down the stairs and out of the house.

The fact that she has found somewhere warm and safe is encouraging but clearly she does still not feel totally safe with us.

One and a bit steps forward, one step back

Tabby - he has not shown his face today - probably heard me mentioning the vet's :twisted:

Regards

Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Lilith »

Round here it's all little backyards and the old outside loos and the cats use the sheds as a runway - or catwalk.

Apparently there used to be a feral tom known as 'Donkey-B*llocks' who'd literally 'go on the tiles' - he'd show off and wee right up there ... piddler on the roof ? :shock: :lol:
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Lilith wrote:Round here it's all little backyards and the old outside loos and the cats use the sheds as a runway - or catwalk.
Same round here although the back yard is actually quite big and we back on to an area of open land
Lilith wrote:Apparently there used to be a feral tom known as 'Donkey-B*llocks' who'd literally 'go on the tiles' - he'd show off and wee right up there ... piddler on the roof ? :shock: :lol:
Haha!

Bit of a disappointing evening here

We totally understand and appreciate that our next door neighbor has been feeding Maya for over a year but they would not adopt her as they already had house cats of their own. Maya has obviously got to know them and is used to them.

Before we started to attempt to adopt Maya, we talked to them and they would be happy to see her safely homed and do not wish her to spend another winter sleeping in their outside loo. So they they said yes, go ahead. and we will stop feeding her.

Nearly six weeks into our quest, Maya is being fed here twice a day plus treats, spends time in our house and has complete freedom to come and go. She has even started have cat naps on our bed but remains very timid and has yet to settle down.

At 10 this evening I went outside as this is the normal time for Tabby (Or Stealth as I now call him) to show up and Maya was sitting on the wall.

we then heard our next door neighbor call her and let her in to the kitchen for some food and Maya went straight there. 10 minutes later she is back out of their house heading for her bed in the outside loo :(

We now seem to be competing for her except that our door is open for her to stay - next door is only open to make that quest more difficult.

Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Mayday21 »

Hi Dave sorry to read that neighbour is encouraging Maya maybe you could have a little talk saying you realise Maya's been seeing them longer than you and asking to give you some slack as you're trying to give Maya & Stealth a forever home. Keep us posted. And glad Maya's feeling better. Vivian
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Hi Vivian
Mayday21 wrote:Hi Dave sorry to read that neighbour is encouraging Maya maybe you could have a little talk saying you realise Maya's been seeing them longer than you and asking to give you some slack as you're trying to give Maya & Stealth a forever home. Keep us posted.
It has been a frustration for sometime and those conversations have been had.

We have kept them informed about progress, shown them photographs etc and we thought that they finally let go a few days ago when they gave us one of the mats she sleeps on.

Rather than openly feeding her in the back yard Maya was invited into the kitchen this time but she did not stay for long.

I do however totally understand that it must be difficult for them to let go after caring for her for so long. I would probably be the same. If they had adopted her from the outset instead of just feeding her, we would probably not know of her existence.

Maya came straight for breakfast this morning then off to the greenhouse and in her box waiting for the sun! That is another encouraging sign. She spend a lot more time in the our garden and now has another bed to sleep in during the day. I often go down to talk to her

the major step forward this week is that Maya has found 2 warm spots in our house which she cannot find elsewhere. When it turns cold, she will know where to come ;)

Stealth (AKA Tabby) appeared from nowhere again last night and feasted before disappearing into the night with re-newed energy!

Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Kay »

cats can be very stubborn about changing their routine - Tonka's Mr Snugs faces the exit from my enclosed patio, and also south, where a fair amount of rain comes from, so his sleeping mat can get soaked, but if I turn the kennel round to face away from the rain he won't use it

I think with these half feral/half stray cats feeling safe is more important to them than comfort

the longer Maya goes without anything or anyone frightening her in and around your house, the quicker she will come round - the most important thing, I think, you are already doing very well, and that is to let her come and go as she chooses

as for food, I suppose you could win the battle by giving her all the stuff she likes the best, but as that will probably also be the stuff that costs the most, it would be a rod for your own back down the line, no doubt - roast chicken is cheap though and most cats love it
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Re: Maya & Tabby

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Hi Kay
Kay wrote:cats can be very stubborn about changing their routine - Tonka's Mr Snugs faces the exit from my enclosed patio, and also south, where a fair amount of rain comes from, so his sleeping mat can get soaked, but if I turn the kennel round to face away from the rain he won't use it
Maya has had a look at Mr Snugs but has not yet ventured inside. Stealth (AKA Tabby) has been in at least twice and soaked it! Possibly why Maya is not prepared to venture in.

This is not really a problem at the moment as I am still hopeful that Maya will bypass Mr snugs and settle inside the house instead - and there are signs that that may happen as she is having cat naps already ;)

As Stealth has been inside and marked his territory the hope is he already knows where there is somewhere warm and cosey when he wants it. Maya remains our first priority as Stealth can quite easily look after himself - he is currently scrapping outside and not losing
Kay wrote:the longer Maya goes without anything or anyone frightening her in and around your house, the quicker she will come round - the most important thing, I think, you are already doing very well, and that is to let her come and go as she chooses
That is definitely going to take some time. We are not creeping around her - no point - but she is easily spooked and gives us a wide birth except when she REALLY wants something. We have fed her treats by hand and I can confirm she has a full set of very sharp teeth!
Kay wrote:as for food, I suppose you could win the battle by giving her all the stuff she likes the best, but as that will probably also be the stuff that costs the most, it would be a rod for your own back down the line, no doubt - roast chicken is cheap though and most cats love it
We have probably been making a big mistake here by trying too many different things. We were lucky in that we chose the right treat for her straight off - Webbox Cats Delight - which her original rescuers confirmed that these were a firm favourite. These can be fed by hand.

Felix pouches are now being consumed readily although she is only eating about 150-200g per day - somewhat below the 300-400 recommended for a cat of her age. It is probable however that our next door neighbour is also feeding her despite telling us otherwise.

My wife has a semi feral cat at work - although he is very friendly and likes being fussed - and all the engineers bring food in for for him. He refused some Gourmet the other days so a pouch was brought home last night and it was demolished! the first time we have had a clean bowl in one sitting

Roast Chicken! oh yes! she will do ANYTHING for roast chicken or duck! I have even had her paws on my knee screaming at me for more! but I am trying to limit her intake as it is not a balanced diet and I don't want her to get hooked. we always have problems the day after a "treat" of freshly roasted meat and she sulks terribly - moody Maya!

Thanks everyone for your advise and encouragement - we have bad days but the good ones make up for those

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Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Well that turned out to be a very good day.

Maya turned up for breakfast and ate most of it - finished off at lunchtime plus some treats

Came for tea at 16:30 and scoffed a full sachet

Back again at 20:30 and ate at least half of another sachet

At 22:00 Stealth appeared so a bowl of fresh food went down for him and I retreated into the kitchen for a couple of minutes then went back out.

No Stealth in sight - but Maya was eating his dinner!

She has been quite playful today so good day all round

Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Strike the pose!

Do we have a touch of a squint?
20170821_123243-1.jpg
It now seems that our neighbour ha stopped feeding Maya - and other cats - as she has been visiting 3-4 times a day and, normally, eats the lot.

We have now been able to work out what she likes and doesn't. Very small pieces of meat or fish are preferred as well as Terrines so she tends to have meat in the mornings and fish in the evening alternating from Felix doubly delicious to the Aldi Terrines.

We had a minor issue on Saturday night. After eating supper she came into the living room to say hello and have some treats. All of a sudden another cat appeared in the room. Richard, her ginger and white brother from the same litter. Maya did not appreciate the intrusion and left quickly closely followed by Richard.

While a couple of other males in the area terrify Maya, Richard unsettled her. What was quite disturbing however was the Richard was cornering Maya and glaring at her. At one point, Maya was in the greenhouse sitting in her box while Richard was sitting outside, at the door way with his back to her.

Once I escorted him off the premises, Mia came straight out of the greenhouse but was on alert.

Do we now know who the bully was causing her to leave home in the first place?

Later that evening, Stealth appeared and a bowl of food was put down for him. As soon as he started to eat, Richard pushed him away. As Richard has a home to go to I moved him out of the way but he would not take no for an answer. Another of Maya's and Richard brother's then turned up - a black and white male - and this cat and Richard hissed and growled at each other until Richard got his way and ate the food. Stealth just sat in the background watching.

Stealth was fed by himself a couple of hours later.

Quite interesting to watch the group dynamics

Regards

Dave
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Oh dear! Maya has been proper poorly

Monday was probably the most stressful day with Maya so far. She seem unhappy and was off her food.

About tea time we called her in and she turned her nose up at the food then went onto the garden and dumped a rather large pile of poo.

she didn't even try and bury it, simply walked away meowing. she came back to the back door and just crouched down crying but would not let us touch her. This is not totally new and we have had a couple of similar experiences before. However this time she was in some distress.

I have always said that if she became ill I would get her trapped and up to the vets even though I knew this would probably set us back in our quest to adopt her. But her health and well-being has to come before anything else.

I phone our local Cats Protection branch asking if they cold help to trap her but the traps were out and would not be available until the following day. As we could not get hold of here we had no alternative to wait.

After a discussion we decided it may be worth a go trying to worm her as she has not been treated for well over a year - at least - so picked up some Panacur and mixed it well into a tuna terrine which she did eat later in the evening.

Tuesday saw Maya spending all day in her bed looking extremely sorry for herself and she did not venture out until very late but did eat 75% of a bowl of food. she still looked groggy though.

this morning on getting up she was on our neighbours outhouse roof teasing their dog and! she came over and cleared a bowl of food out while Stealth sat in the background for leftovers. There was none so Stealth had a bowl for himself.

Maya has spent the rest of the morning in and out, Not 100% herself - and exploring the house, hopefully looking where she fancies making her bed for when she moves in.

Maya popped in for some lunch but turned her nose up at the Tuna Terrine - probably because how it made her feel last time! She is however looking a lot more like herself and we will see what the next 24 hours bring
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Mayday21 »

Hi Dave worming Maya was a good idea - maybe Stealth needs doing to especially if they spend time together. Keep us posted. Btw you're both doing a great job. Maya's one lucky girl & hopefully Stealth comes round too. Vivian
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Re: Maya & Tabby

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Mayday21 wrote:Hi Dave worming Maya was a good idea - maybe Stealth needs doing to especially if they spend time together. Keep us posted. Btw you're both doing a great job. Maya's one lucky girl & hopefully Stealth comes round too. Vivian
Thanks Vivian. This is the first time we have dealt with a semi feral cat so learning as we go along. The help and advice we have had here and from Cats Protection has been really helpful.

Yes that is exactly what we are going to do and also our next door neighbour's cats AND the semi Feral cat that live's at the rail depot where my wife works - they are also all going to get flea treatment too!

Had a wonderful evening with Maya when she came back for more food followed a treat of a small amount of specially prepared roast chicken, some cat yogurt followed by five minutes of playing with a catnip toy. It was so lovely to see her rolling around on the floor with the toy rat :)

More exploring including rolling around on the bed - more vacuuming of bed done straight afterward!

Maya has certainly shown some character tonight as is looking and behaving much better - I think the vet can wait ;)

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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

And here is Stealth
tabby.jpg
And he is VERY hungry today
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by Kay »

that's a very difficult to resist sort of expression he has there, Dave - and he's not that feral if he sits on a windowsill - you're soon going to find yourself the proud owner of two cats if this progress continues

and they are a well matched pair - one white with tabby and the other tabby with white
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Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

Hi Kay
Kay wrote:that's a very difficult to resist sort of expression he has there, Dave - and he's not that feral if he sits on a windowsill - you're soon going to find yourself the proud owner of two cats if this progress continues

and they are a well matched pair - one white with tabby and the other tabby with white
What a pair
20170824_101114.jpg
The two together - although Maya is looking non to impressed in this one!

That was actually our backdoor step. He was VERY hungry this morning and cleared 2 bowls of food and wanted more. Nothing would have stopped him getting at food! Maya had already been fed but demanded another bowl of food herself - I need to buy more bowls (and more washing up liquid)

We still think that they are related and, now that we have a photo, will be doing the rounds of cat owners/lovers in the area to see if anyone knows anything about him.

We already have permission to adopt Maya so she is getting lots of encouragement. Stealth on the other hand is either feral or a stray. We will feed him if he is hungry but not yet encouraging him until we find out if he is homed already. He is un-neutered and Maya gave him a slap around the face for the unwanted attention she got after he had been fed :)

I think they would make a nice couple if Stealth pays a visit to the vets and gets sorted first ;)

Dave
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Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:33 pm
No. of cats in household: 4
Location: East Cheshire

Re: Maya & Tabby

Post by ThorpeDave »

A quick update on Maya and Stealth - as he is now called

Maya's health has improved throughout the week and we have also managed to get some anti fur ball treats inside her too. Up until now, Maya has refused to eat anything crispy and were beginning to think that there may be something wrong with her teeth.

A couple of days ago I whizzed the anti fur ball treats and some dried food up in a food chopper adding some roast chicken and the juices from the roasting process and set it in the fridge overnight. After allowing in to warm up to room temperature, this home made terrine was offered along side a bowl of her favourite pouch of Gourmet. Surprisingly, "daddies" cooking was preferred so was happy that we got the treats inside her.

True to form, today we put some more anti furr ball treats down for Stealth and Mays strolled up and ate them instead without any problems :o

The most positive progress this week has been that we have finally persuaded our neighbour to stop feeding her so that we could monitor and control what Maya was eating a reduce the risk of Maya eating food that had gone off in the heat of the day or had been partially eaten by the hedgehogs.

We are now providing at least 3 meals a day so we know what is going in and we can also see what is coming out the other end and both are very positive.

There has also been 2 further benefits

The general cat activity has plummeted meaning that the cats that scare and bully Maya are not now coming round expecting to feat.

As a result Maya has been far more visible in our garden, sunbathing and chasing butterflies. This morning she was perched in a tree some 15ft in the air. thankfully she found her way down without any problems because I was certainly NOT going to go up there and get her down!!!!!

Stealth

Now that we have photographs of stealth we have been able to post his picture on various local facebook pages and twitter asking if he is missing from home. We have had no response so far.

we have also visited neighbours and cat lovers in the area to ask if anything is known of him. Without a doubt, Stealth is not a popular presence as is seen as a pest. Several have reported that he gets into their house, eats their cats food then sprays all over the kitchen. Obviously not a popular chap!

Of course, no one wants to know him and no one wants to do anything about him other than moan.

Having talked to the very helpful Cats Protection, we have a plan in place to try and get him to come and feed on a regular basis so that we can then trap him and get him up the vets to be checked and snipped.

stealth turned up late last night and feasted and was back again mid morning.

today however he has a very pronounced limp but would not let me get close enough to find out what the problem was. I suspect it is a fight injury so even more reason to get him trapped and off for a check-up.

I am not looking forward to the trapping process as few cats take kindly to it and it seem somewhat cruel to put them through that level of stress. However, I know that in the long term it is in his best interests.

Regards

Dave
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