Stray Kitty

We've had a true feral cat on the farm for almost 6 months now. I don't think he's ever been a pet - he is not neutered and will not let you get near him. We would love to catch him one day and get him fixed but even if we put food in a trap (and no where else), we can't get him. Doesn't like enclosed spaces at all. So we put up with Riley...especially because he's a good mouser!

I always read stories about true pets being dumped in the country or just let loose and abandoned. I figured maybe our part of the country was a little more civilized than that. Well, looks like I might be wrong. Mom was staring out the kitchen window in the pre-dawn light and asked if I thought that was an animal - nope, surely it was a plastic grocery bag stuck on the bush. Went about our business and noticed the bag was gone a few hours later...but it hadn't been windy. Mom mentioned she thought she saw a flash of white heading under the back porch a few days ago - Riley is partially white, so I wondered if it wasn't him. Well, finally in the afternoon we saw a very interesting looking white cat running down the driveway towards the street. I thought "good, we don't need yet another mouth to feed around here!". I even figured on taling the dog on an extra long romp in the front pasture to make sure she scared away the pesky critter.

Well...the pesky critter stuck around. That night, I saw her head pop up at the back porch door (where we feed Riley). I banged on the glass but it didn't scare her off. I grumbled a little...and then saw the collar. Ok, she's a pet...and she's in trouble. She had stepped through the collar with one leg and it was tight around her body. Oh boy, she knew the right place to come. It's one thing for me to try to shoo off a completely feral cat in the hopes they take up residence elsewhere. It's entirely another for me to see an animal that needs help due to human actions. That collar had to come off.

I sat on the door mat, slide the door open just a little and began sweet talking the little thing. Ha! No need for all that! She burst in the door and jumped into my lap before I could even blink! I was actually a little startled and thought she was coming to claw my eyes out! She was a whirling dervish in my lap, meowing and purring and rubbing on everything. We had 4 people in the living room that night - me, Mom, and my in-laws. The cat had to make sure she rubbed on every single person's leg and get a head scratch from them all. Meanwhile, I'm trying to get the collar off. She wouldn't stay still! So I figured I might as well cut it - finally got the scissors in place without danger of cutting the kitty and made the snip. She took off to explore the house...and the collar dragged behind her, stuck to the armpit.

Utter dismay on my part. I admit to watching way too many Animal Cops shows and have seen the gruesome aftermath of a tight collar that has become embedded in the neck of an animal as they grow. I finally got the little kitty under control locked with me in the bathroom. Took a deep breath. And peered at her arm. Yup, the collar had cut into her skin. BUT, it had not actually become embedded - the blood just made the collar stick to her fur. I got it loose - meanwhile, the kitty has not stopped purring and rubbing all over me.

So she has found a nice warm spot to spend some time while we see if she is a missing pet or a dumped stray. While I do hope she finds her home if there is one looking for her out there, I can't help but want to keep her - she is the friendliest little critter!

Mom said we can't give her a name since we don't know if we are going to keep her. Well, Mom is calling her Azure, Chad has picked Blue and Jana came up with Crystal Gayle! :)