Re: Fred's Greebo ...... or Greebo's fred ...... RIP

[Kay]

I know what you mean - when Tosker was brought here by his rescuer, she insisted I stroked him as he hunched up in a corner of the enclosure, and was adamant he loved it, but I knew a cat paralysed by fear when I saw one

only when he started to hiss at me did I know we were making progress

[Crewella]

Yep, I understand that completely. xx

Pugwash sends purrs (and a couple of hisses for good measure) to his twin. xx

[Crewella]

I've been at work all day (it's a week when we have a sale on) so OH has been on cat duty. He was happy to report that Fred hopped down to eat his dinner in front of him and that he saw him start to have a wash. He started to stroke him, and Fred ended up giving his hand a good wash too.

He's still a bit wary of me, but then I'm the one that keeps grabbing him to put gunk in his eyes, but it sounds as though Fred's definitely perked up a bit, I'm so pleased.

[booktigger]

That's great news, glad he's showing an interest and accepting a fuss, doesn't sound like it'll take long

[bobbys girl]

Oh good news Helen!

[MarkB]

Great news Helen

[greenkitty]

That sounds like great progress, as you say he's had one hell of a week must be a lot to cope with for a bewildered cat. Perhaps he's going to be an "OH cat"

[Crewella]

'Stinky Fred' (I must find him a nicer name at some point!) is slowly coming round. I can still feel him trembling as I stroke him, but he is brighter and more interested in the world around him, and is coming out for his food when I go in there now. I'm working on getting a purr out of him.

[bobbys girl]

I'm working on getting a purr out of him.

and I'm sure you will very soon.

[Lilith]

Looks like Fred Bear's bearing up...

Good on yer for taking him btw , poor old guy needs a break

Pheeew they do stink though don't they?

[Crewella]

'Stink' really doesn't do it justice ...... I swear the air around him gets a sort of lurid green shimmer ...... like 'Pig-Pen'!

He's definitely sprayed around the door to his little house, I can see the patches, and I suspect he's sprayed inside it as well. Everything in there reeks, as do the heat pads I've been putting in there for him. I wonder if maybe he's trying to comfort himself by surrounding himself with his own scent?

Now that he's showing a bit more interest in the world around him I'm less concerned than I was about his passivity. Daz was about 3 when he was trapped, and actually doing pretty well for himself and was trapped as much because he was causing a nuisance in his neighbourhood as for his own sake. He was filthy and pretty stinky, but not much underweight, and was similarly passive and trembly when he arrived. I think some cats are just naturally like that - Daz is definitely a lover not a fighter, and I suspect Stinky Fred is much the same.

I really wish I didn't have to keep grabbing him and putting the chloramphenicol in his eyes, but even with that I do think he's starting to understand that I mean him no harm.

[Lilith]

You mean like the Young Ones' underpants in the laundrette sketch?

[Crewella]

Exactly like that!

[nannymcfee]

They do pong don't they...but foxes arn't much better really musty pungent pong, we have a little ginger unneutered tom who has come back again ..he must have been someones as has a collar mark...( ,watch this space) ...but gawd help us if i forget to close porch door, hes marked my door twice now... our Phoebe will happily sit next to him, Luca will fight him and Spike would kill him, but hes a lovely little tubby one...hubby says DONT TELL ME YOU HAVE FED HIM..........errr.......

Perhaps Fred Bare has lost sense of smell.....and doesn't mind....what about bicarb of soda????

[Kay]

poor lad - perhaps he's never had a place of his own to mark before, so he feels driven to make sure everyone, whether 2 or 4 footed, gets the message that the pen is his

and it sounds as if it's done the trick as far as you're concerned, anyway

[Crewella]

It certainly has! He's my first experience with a tom cat as Daz was already a couple of weeks past his op when he came to me. I now understand what people are on about!

For the most part I've decided to ignore it and give the pen a good clean when he's been done and his hormones have calmed down. He's has precious little comfort in his life, of recent anyway, so if he's finding it of some comfort then that's fine by me.

He must have been a pet at some point. We turned a corner last night as he leaned his head down into my hand and almost did that sideways roll onto the floor, and he then meowed at me for his dinner for the first time. He's still very trembly when I pick him up to do his eyes, but I do think that he's realising that, though it's unpleasant, I'm not going to hurt him or do any worse than that. The fact that he seems to know all about fusses somehow makes the fact that he's been so badly treated even worse - it's such a betrayal.

He's certainly a lot perkier and has been sitting out in the sun on his little chair for the last couple of days. I'm going to start trying to brush him a bit and spend a bit more time with him now that I feel he's a bit more settled and not so stressed. I feel he's on the road to recovery, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him get better.

[MarkB]

Baby steps. I guess it is a mix of mental and physical with him. He's in the right place x

[bobbys girl]

Thanks for the update. It's nice to hear he is settling in and starting to trust again.

[greenkitty]

Great update Helen, poor lad must have been frozen with fear. As Mark says baby steps will ensure Stinky Fred turns the corner and realises that us humans are a push over and the source of lots of good stuff (excluding eye drops!)

[Crewella]

I got my purr at last.

He's a lovely, friendly boy and is desperate for a bit of fuss and some affection, it's so sad that he's got into this state. He's still a little bit wary of coming right out in the open, but sidles up for a stroke, rubs round your ankles and has definitely decided we're probably OK. I'll swear Daz, Basil and Pugwash (all of whom came to us in a bit of a sorry state themselves) have been round there to have a chat "she can be a bit of a pain and he can be a bit grumpy, but they're OK really, and you get regular grub", I've seen them lurking round there.

I can see a spark of hope in his battered little face, and it's lovely to see.

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[Walesgang]

Aaaawwww well done Helen!

I just want to pick him up from your photo and give him a cwtch

Keep up the good work xx

[nannymcfee]

Gosh Helen, within that short time you can tell by that new photograph you are working your magic, his little face no longer looks 'unloved'

[bobbys girl]

That's very good news Helen. He does look better.

But even so, looking at that little face makes me wonder just WHAT happened to him. Like Val says, I just want to cuddle him.

[JulieandBarney]

Well done Helen,

The difference in the first picture to the last one is amazing, you can actually see his little smile forming

Bless you for looking after this poor little soul, looks like he's on the mend already..xx

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Oh yes, definitely he looks better already. His little face is so precious. Well done Helen. What a sweet boy you have there.

[booktigger]

Aww, it's nice to see him looking perkier

[Lilith]

Yay - he's got his head up!

Aww that moment when a cat who's been wary of you comes to love for the first time...

He's going to be a handsome chap too, once he's got some more grub inside him and that coat's recovered.

Good luck with the stinkiness - my Finn wasn't confined and my house stank like a subway gents' - but we got there. As the testosterone levels fell, his manners improved, bless him.

BIG congrats!

[Crewella]

Thanks, it is lovely to see him looking less dejected. I do kind of get to give him a cuddle when I hold him on my lap to put his eye drops in, but you can feel him shaking like a leaf the whole time. He did seem slightly less desperate to get off once his eyes had been done yesterday though, so hopefully he's beginning to understand the routine.

All we know about him is that he'd been seen as a pest in his neighbourhood for a long time, getting in through cat flaps and stealing food. Someone managed to corner him and shut him in their garage and then rang us, threatening to poison him if we didn't go and get him quickly. They had at least rung a rescue and not pest control, so I'm hoping they just said that in order to get us to take him in.

It's so sad that cats like Fred and Pugwash get into that cycle where, already viewed as a nuisance and a pest, as they start to struggle and become more and more desperate, scruffier and stinkier they get more and more vilified until they're barely seen as a cat at all.

[Lilith]

It's so sad that cats like Fred and Pugwash get into that cycle where, already viewed as a nuisance and a pest, as they start to struggle and become more and more desperate, scruffier and stinkier they get more and more vilified until they're barely seen as a cat at all.

Yes indeed! I expect you've heard of 'depersonalisation' and that is just what it is - the feeble excuse of seeing an animal or person as no longer 'deserving' of 'respect' if they become distressed or degraded or discriminated against in any way - and it's the whole root of abuse, sadly. What is really frightening is the way quite mild-mannered people can be brainwashed into jumping on to the bandwagon, as well as the insecure who need to blame an underdog to feel secure.

Oops shurrup Lil and gerrof your soapbox, but sadly it's true isn't it?

Give old Fred a fuss from me and congrats on making him into a person again

[Cussypat1974]

He is a different cat already! Well done Crewella, he is coming on in and bounds under your loving care. He is probably realising that the eye drops are making him hurt less, plus the fact that they actually ARE hurting less makes the experience less awful for him! He looks like an absolute darling, and once you are finished with him, he will be the envy of any cat lover!

And Lilith,myou are dead right about the depersonalisation.... Sadly. A stinky old Tom cat becomes a nuisance, but people easily forget that he was once an adorable, wide eyed kitten. Same with homeless stinky people really..... They were once little pink babies like the rest of us.....