I'm a Slave to a Feral Cat Colony

[MichSwampbuck]

@quintessentone

Looks like Little Girl and Booger in the picture.

Barn cats, sure. I've heard that there is a lot of money selling cats and dogs to medical research facilities around here. There are waves of missing pets on occasion that people blame on some mysterious gang of pet thieves who sell them to such facilities. If there is any money in that, I can't be sure, but I don't want blood money made from pets that get tortured to death for researching meds or cosmetics.

[MichSwampbuck]

You know, I could post pictures of the my feline slave masters. I never made the offer of free kittens here yet.

[Oldcarpy2]

We have had several cats over the years just show up, come in and stay.

Gizmo was pretty wild and used to fight a lot.  We spent a fortune on Vets getting him stitched up.  We kept asking if there was anything we could do about it and they kept saying no.

Then we took him in again to a new Vet who said "Why haven't you had him done"?  Gaaah!

We did and he was then fine.

Our current boy, Carl, was a rescue cat - "Would suit being a farm cat" the rescue people described him.
Should have twigged  when they brought him out in a cat box as the girl was wearing oven gloves with magazines taped round her arms.

He was feral.

Long story short, after a lot of patience (he went out a window and was gone for a couple of months but then came back and slept in an old rabbit hutch until we managed to gain his trust).


Now he follows me like a dog and is a loving lap cat.

But I can't give him tummy rubs as he forgets he's not feral and his idea of playing is like behaving like a Velociraptor.....

[argentus]

I must admit, even though they can manage to perform the acrobatics necessary for catching wild birds, the rodents and moles are mighty scare now-a-days. Usually I have to set mouse traps under the kitchen sink and in the kitchen area in the fall and spring. I haven't had mice in the house for years now.

I like nature, and I encourage wildlife where I can, but there are checks and balances in the ecosystem and cats like these are part of that. Even if they put the the local ecology out of wack, it is at least in my favor.

You have become the central variable in an interactive ecosystem.  You have achieved stasis between the predators and the rodents.   Well done.  That is always what we have strived for also.

[argentus]

We have had several cats over the years just show up, come in and stay.

Gizmo was pretty wild and used to fight a lot.  We spent a fortune on Vets getting him stitched up.  We kept asking if there was anything we could do about it and they kept saying no.

Then we took him in again to a new Vet who said "Why haven't you had him done"?  Gaaah!

We did and he was then fine.

Our current boy, Carl, was a rescue cat - "Would suit being a farm cat" the rescue people described him.
Should have twigged  when they brought him out in a cat box as the girl was wearing oven gloves with magazines taped round her arms.

He was feral.

Long story short, after a lot of patience (he went out a window and was gone for a couple of months but then came back and slept in an old rabbit hutch until we managed to gain his trust).


Now he follows me like a dog and is a loving lap cat.

But I can't give him tummy rubs as he forgets he's not feral and his idea of playing is like behaving like a Velociraptor.....

No, you never want to touch their tummy.   That is a test of faith and a trap.   They show their stomachs to tell you they trust you.  If you touch them there, they go into attack mode to remind you of your place.   Out of all our 13 feral buddies, there has been only one who permitted a tummy rub.   He was a good boy.  Run over on the dreaded road.   I wrote a story about it on ATS called something like "Catcarnation", because I think he came back in another skin.

[Oldcarpy2]

Most cats love a tummy rub and they lick your hand like crazy meaning "I really love you but I'm very sorry but I now have to rip you to bits".  It's a cat thing.

Carl skips that and just goes  to extreme violence straight off.

He sleeps next to  my head and if I don't get up early enough to feed him he curls up on my hip and has a very noisy wash.  If that doesn't work, he sticks a claw in me.

Bless him.

He's now sat next to me staring at me.  Supper time then....

[MichSwampbuck]

Cats will bare their belly as an act of trust seems true, but all these cats, if they allow you to pet them, love a tummy rub. I even believe that they tend to get aroused when you rub their bellies.

I always thought that most cats liked it, but it tickled too much. Most of these cats will grab you and do the rabbit kick and bite, but none of it is with claws or teeth. However, I'm sure that such a vulnerable area as their stomach is sensitive and it is instinct for them to protect it. They must be protecting it when they fight, or they could be disemboweled pretty easily. I have played rough with some cat's bellies though, and they will tear your hands and forearms to shreds, even if they are otherwise nice cats and like you.

[Oldcarpy2]

Mine all did the rabbit kick thing  but with claws and teeth.

Sometimes when I turn over in bed and my hand ends up on Carl's tummy he's like "Woo Hoo...big mistake my Hooman"....

[MichSwampbuck]

You have become the central variable in an interactive ecosystem.  You have achieved stasis between the predators and the rodents.   Well done.  That is always what we have strived for also.

Are you suggesting that I am actually a part of nature? That as a human being in the 21st century, that my mighty intellect and exaggerated cranium isn't the end all of evolution and the ultimate crown of creation? I'm I the best that Earth has to offer or am I merely a part of the landscape of my humble abode? I'm I just a servant to my feline over lords or the master of my domain?

[argentus]

Are you suggesting that I am actually a part of nature? That as a human being in the 21st century, that my mighty intellect and exaggerated cranium isn't the end all of evolution and the ultimate crown of creation? I'm I the best that Earth has to offer or am I merely a part of the landscape of my humble abode? I'm I just a servant to my feline over lords or the master of my domain?

I couldn't have put it better myself.   Your cat crew couldn't function so well without you.   Your expansive cranium is certainly indicative of the best of what humanity has to offer RIGHT NOW, but one might hazard a guess at what Homo Sapiens Sapiens looks like, should they be allowed to evolve and prosper.  

As to your servitude, well, you are apparently the pet to your feline overlords.  As am I, although life has winnowed them down to one.   Still, I must go through various ordained behaviors into order to properly nourish my remaining cat.   You know what is the big burn?   The motherfucker -- who we saved his life twice and has been with us for 11 years -- still will not allow me to touch him.   Makes me want to tranq dart him just so he can wake up in my loving arms.