Tough and Feraly

 

Behind The Scenes

Living in Southaven for over thirteen years meant I acquired a lot of extra cats, mostly feral from a nearby colony. When we finally moved in July 2020, I had no choice but to make our outside cats, Jesse, Nikolas and Chevy - dubbed The Garage Band by our wonderpurr petsitter, Michelle - indoor cats. Florida has a lot of flying predators, not to mention a few that slither or crawl with big sharp teeth.

The Garage Band have adapted. They are offered time on the Catio, and we also do our best to offer them stimulating toys. I'm astonished to discover that they don't play like my indoor cats. Unless it's battery powered and moves on its own, forget it. Not interested. I honestly didn't realize that outdoor cats would not be interested in playing with toys. It makes sense that their days would be full trying to survive, eat and find shelter. Play for them might be toying with a rodent before dining. Despite the fact that all three were fed three meals, and had cozy beds in our garage, they still clung to their homeless roots.

Anyway, when Jesse got stomititis last year he moved into the Cat Apartment to recover, and lost his position with the Band. Nik gave him a lot of grief. So now Jesse has a huge bedroom to himself (serious envy here) while Nik and Chevy have the huge garage to themselves.

We put  up a wood lattice gate to the hallway to keep the rest of the Wonderepurr Gang from access to the Band. Back in 2017 I saw Chevy roll Herman and that was it for me. I don't fully trust him. He's sweet to Ray and I, and has never bitten us, but he's feral and he's also FIV+. Nuff said.

Rabbit, being the sneaky little brat he is, loves to slip through the gate when my back is turned, and will hide behind the door to the garage like a mischievous child to spy on Nik and Chevy. Since Chevy is highly vocal, he will eventually rat out the AssRabbit.