Misty had recently vanished for a week. When she returned, she looked so haggard and thin. I could see she was fighting an URI. I could also tell that she was extremely dehydrated as her third eye was almost covering her eyes. What do you do when you have a feral cat who absolutely wants nothing to do with humans? I do have to wonder what she went through before she arrived here. But now it was not time to dwell on thoughts.  I had to put a plan in place and activate it.

I went over to the feed store and bought several feeder mice that were already deceased.  Using a large syringe I pumped so much fluid into these mice they looked like balloons. I also for good measure added some liquid antibiotics. In her heyday, Misty was a great hunter. She would always bring trophies up to the house and drop them on the steps. She would make quick work of them so we generally only got the leftovers. She would stand some distance away looking quite proud of herself when I would come out of the house and scream when I saw her treasures. LOL

I am happy to report after she has had a week of these manipulated mice. She is doing much better. Her breathing is no longer ragged. Her third eye vanished in just a few days.  She also is now drinking on her own and eating a lot better.

I have no idea how old this cat is  when she arrived here I had my horses and that was years ago. The vet put her at about three years old at that time, so she has to be at least 20? I think for her it’s going to be a matter of just coming out one day and finding that she is deceased  Even looking so haggard and thin as she was I didn’t think she’d have energy to move away from me and I was wrong.

Thankfully,  I have only had a few feral cats that have behaved in this manner. I would say though looking back at how they were towards the end of their lives, she is the toughest to deal with. But at least I have found a way to give her fluids and medicine without her being wise to it.

I knew in deploying this method that there would be a possibility another kitty would take her treasure from her. But I also knew that when she did have her prey in her possession she would vanish under the house or wherever she could find a place to get away and she would make short work of the mouse or the frog or whatever she decided to catch. She even brought me a garter snake one year.  So I took that chance that she still had that strong prey drive despite her depleted state

What will happen next is completely up to God. I can only make use of the tools that I have learned over the years and living and loving these wonderful, totally misunderstood creatures.

I know it’s early. But I’ve seen Christmas trees on top of cars already. I just wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas,Happy Hanukkah or however you celebrate the season. May we all wake up in 2022 to a kinder world  God Bless Us, One and All-