I see no trace of an aggressive feral. She was hiding underneath my knees just minutes ago, begging to be petted. Of course I caved! 🙂 She is scared out of her wits, but she still just wants to be the center of my attention. Sadly, the place she will probably spend the night is between the two litter pans. I put a heated cat pad there as tonight it is going to dip into the 30’s. I made her a snug little cat cave to keep the warmth in as we haven’t insulated the room yet. There is also a small space heater (oil) electric that I will plug in at midnight to keep her warm.
Phoenix is beautiful and has a puzzling tail. It isn’t manx- it isn’t full-length it is half of both. Either a genetic defect or she got injured in her many years outside.The first owner “lost” her five years ago- although looking at the photos, I don’t think they are the same cat.
Regardless, she is here, scared, confused but she has food, water, litterpans, warmth and a roof over her head. She will go to the vet Monday and we will see what happens from there. But my evaluation of her is she is just scared not aggressive. She would make someone an awesome companion-
Here she is scared but alive:
Hang in there, pretty Phoenix. You might not agree right now, but things are looking up for you.
The “not aggressive, just scared” seems to be a common mistake when dealing with unknown kitties.
PS: If there is a Lowes, Home Depot, or a decent hardware store close by, you might be able to grab either a plug-in thermostat or a timer controlled on/off switch so you won’t have to keep getting up to turn the space heater on and off. Might make life easier for you if it is gonna be a while finishing off the new cat rooms. (or even after, we guess) (places like Target & WalMart might even have stuff like that this time of year)
You are always so full of great ideas! Thanks!
I was going to mention that Agatha was such a pretty name, though I’m biased as that was my mom’s name and a kinder gentler person you would not meet. But Phoenix is a good strong name.
My heart cat was a Manx, Butterball, and from that one photo she does seem to have that round face of a Manx. Manx cats can be rumpy, rumpy risers, or taileys. Looks like Phoenix could be a tailey!
Her tail is not stubby- it is almost long- but halfway to the end, it tapers off like a sword and ends. I can’t touch her tail without her showing me her teeth which would indicate that she injured it and the nerves are sensitive. The bones in a cat’s tail are some of the most sensitive bones- if bones can be sensitive. 🙂 They are so fragile and a kitten’s bones can break in the tail when a child innocently tugs and tugs on it. I believe they have 207 bones in their tail if their tail is full. Her’s is definitely at half-staff.
Here’s a nifty site with lots of snippets and tidbits of facts about cats.
http://user.xmission.com/~emailbox/trivia.htm
If I read it correctly, cats have about 23 bones in their tails.