FUN WITH FERAL CATS

BY JAMES DUFFY V

PHOTO BY JAMES DUFFY V

Few greater joys will come to you than in sparing the lives of a family of wild felines.

Today, the cats are out of the bag and out of our house.

I hope my girlfriend does not mind that all our feral cats are roaming the yard for the first time in months.

‘All?’ you ask.

We have at least five in our care. The first thing to remember about feral cats is that if you feed them once, they probably won’t leave. They are exploring the yard now.

Mice, birds, possum, and a family of raccoon travel through the yard only after the cats leave.

The animal rights group, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, reports cats cannot survive without care. Of the 60 to 100 million feral cats in the U.S., most do not die of old age.

We call her Vampire; she hissed at times and came to the yard infrequently for a bowl of chow. She was a gaunt, Russian Blue, meaning she was all grey in color. Russian Blues are gorgeous when they are healthy.

My girlfriend, after she moved into an apartment with a yard, adopted Vampire’s sister, lovingly named Moose. Moose grew into a thick-coated, grey beauty.

In the world of feral cats Vampire has a romantic side to her. Out of the blue, Vampire’s ribs started showing when her belly swelled with a litter.

As she approached her due date, Vampire disappeared for days. Soon after, we heard high-pitched chirps that were not birds.

Six was the final count.

Vampire’s kittens moved together for months, jumping at her tail. Four greys, a black and white we named Amanuensis, and a frenetic grey and white with a nom-de-guerre of Solstice.

The frightened kittens hid when they first came indoors, and they didn’t recognize each other when they lived outside. But, they like it in our home as they are getting more and more domesticated.

One of the greys, Solomon, prefers to catch his meals outdoors. He ate two lizards and a finch on the patio. But he still purrs when we bring him dry food.

While it’s fun to share off of your plate and as Solstice’s curiosity makes her a frequent guest to our breakfast table, we have to be vigilant because common beverages like coffee, tequila and milk can make the curious carnivores sick. If you are feeding them from a plate, it is best to feed them unseasoned meats.

My girlfriend objected to my keeping them in the apartment.

“How will we afford the food?” she asked.

‘You already feed them twice a day,’ I said.

Amanuensis is surprisingly skittish after six months in our care, even though we fed her since she was weened. She spends most of her time in a closet which she hesitates to leave. Her litter mate, Solstice, is affectionate and never seems to sleep. At night, they dart around the house -- foot patter, bangs and screeches wake us. They rarely fight and I feel comfortable letting them out.

Not wanting to increase the size of our cat family or the local feral cat population, we decided to spay our kittens.

The little rascals scratched, bit and hissed like snakes when we took them to the vet. One veterinarian charged nearly $1,000 to vaccinate and spay Solstice. Cats mature quickly as Solstice moaned in heat at just six months of age.

We learned that there are effective alternatives to high priced vets. The non-profit FixNation provides a similar service for about $100. Besides FixNation, other low-cost providers include Spay California and PetSmart Charities that will connect pet lovers to low-cost veterinary services. FixNation provides their service for free if cats are feral. L.A. County Animal Care and Control also lists vets who will vaccinate cats at “low cost.”

After months of cleaning, mediating their disputes, and late-night scampering, to see them play together makes it all worthwhile. ∫ 2021 SPRING-SUMMER

Saul and Solstice curl up in a cat bed on a spring morning.