It’s quite amazing how quickly time can get away from you. It’s been nearly a year since we last revisited our Tales. I had originally planned to at least provide one update this past spring for the Wooden Anniversary of the Ferals coming into our lives, but life had other plans. What an interesting five years it has been to say the least. It certainly has been filled with both happiness and sorrow, this year in particular, as we had to say good-bye to Mom for the last time in May. It was both a heartbreak and a blessing as her health and mental acuity had been declining since we lost Dad to COVID five years ago. So much of this year has been spent on dealing with the family issues both before and afterwards. However, I didn’t want the year to go by without at least posting something about what has been the rock in this storm of a half decade. It’s really because of them, the Ferals, that we can continue to function at all without feeling such despair too often.
Not much has changed out on the street. We still haven’t seen any regular sign of the other colonies or loners out there. Every once in a while, we’ll glimpse a feral heading down the neighbor’s driveway, but the sightings haven’t been as plentiful as they were a couple of years ago. With no regular sightings over the winter, we unfortunately have had to stop putting food out for whoever may come by as the other wildlife are usually the one’s to partake, especially the raccoons as is still quite evident from the neighbor’s trash that gets scattered in our backyard as they make fast with the goods through the hole under the fence. We can at least take comfort that there are more than a handful of others in the area that still have food and shelter for the colonies that are just beyond the reach of the raccoon territory. I’ve checked with the local shelters and rescue groups in the area as well for signs of Scruff and Catlyn, but unfortunately, no luck. So it looks like we will be left with just the five, plus good ole Hershey.
Speaking of which, the lone girl of the group is hanging in strong, even also being the eldest at around 12 years now. She’s still in pretty good health now, but unfortunately had a few incidents in the recent months of her going Psycho kittie and trying to murder everyone else in the house – particularly Midnight and Tux. It’s seems to be some redirected aggression as it has happened when she gets a whiff of a particular scent from my shoes or clothing after being outside. Most likely it is the scents of the wildlife or the occasional feral who has wandered through the property. We’ve had to keep her isolated for a few days each time and have increased her dose of Gabapentin (used to treat her Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome). We’ve also been using Feliway in the living room and sunroom since the beginning of the year – primarily to continue to help Patch settle in, but it seems to have at least a bit of a calming effect overall on the rest of the crew as well. Every little thing helps!
Overall, we’ve been pretty lucky with them health-wise. Patch especially, after his dental surgery has recovered nicely, and slowly but surely has been getting more relaxed and comfortable in the house. He has even let every other member of the family pet him, so his trust is beginning to build. Maybe one day, he’ll end up a lap cat like Tux, Tiger, and Oreo. Speaking of which, not only has Oreo shown the biggest improvement in terms of weight, but he has gone from a complete “don’t come near me” cat to a needy lap baby, much to Tux’s chagrin. The two of them still are the pair that do not get along at all, but aside from one possible confrontation that left Oreo’s hindquarters torn up pretty bad in the Spring, we’ve gotten them to the point where they just avoid one another, and at least tolerate each other when in the same space. Oreo has even managed to make himself at home on the bed during the overnight hours, so it’s a good thing we inherited my sister’s larger bed from Mom’s house this year.
The feral with the biggest health issue we have now is Oreo. Aside from his mauling which took a few weeks to recover from, we have found out that he is the lone cat of the group to be FIV positive, and also has a heart and blood pressure condition on top of that, which requires medication. So both “mini bear” and I get to take our heart meds twice a day! Unfortunately, his mouth is in the same condition that Patch’s was last year, so we will have to get that problem addressed this coming year now that we have his other issues under control. It’s really a good thing that he decided to move under the sunroom, and eventually come into the house, otherwise might he not have made it outside another year. Even the vet said his name should be Lucky because we were able to get him taken care of before things progressed too far. Fortunately for us, I made the wise choice to get pet insurance for Oreo prior to taking him to the vet for his first check-up, so that has helped with some of his expenses. We’ve learned our lesson from Patch.
We’ll have the rest of the gang on policies as well just to cover our bases at this point. Like I said, we’ve been lucky ourselves that they’ve mostly have had good health for being outside cats. But they are getting older now, and have crossed over that line into being senior kitties, and we know Tiger in particular will be needing regular dental cleanings, so the insurance will at least be paying for itself in the long run. As we draw close to the end of our fifth year with the ferals, and their age, I’ve been reflecting more and more on their departed brothers. Cookie’s loss in particular still hits me pretty hard, even as the second anniversary of his passing approaches. I really wanted him to have more time surrounded with love in a safe home, but it was just not meant to be. Then there was the 10th Anniversary of Willy’s passing this Spring, Tigger’s 25th back in February, and Flash’s 10th upcoming six months from now. And of course, there will be Gandalf’s 27th in March of next year. It’s hard to believe at this point that more than half of my life has been filled with cats, and I have been mourning the loss of some for almost half of my life. I kinda think that come 2026, I’ll dedicate a few entries of the Tales to the kitties of the past, because there are even more to talk about, like Shadow, Hershey I, and Shamrock. There are blurbs for some on RMG website, but I think it will be nice to revisit the good memories, even though they are tinged with sadness. So, if I don’t make it back to this space this year, consider this a promise to myself to tell some more tales of the cats who have shaped who I have become in my waning years.
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