We have some awesome neighbors. On one side, our neighbor has a super-sweet dog who is an excellent watchdog. On the other side, there's a couple who are passionate cat-lovers. They have seven indoor cats, and they also feed the outdoor feral cats. I think I'm going to have to take a few snaps of the outdoor cats so you can get to know them, too.
Our favorite is Howie, who hangs around our house and gets into fights with Emma through the window. There's something about Emma's catty brain that causes her to leap up and smack the window when Howie's sitting on the other side. A few months after we met Howie, we discovered that Howie was a female, so I decided that Howie is short for Howeena.
Anyway, I'll save the introductions for another day. Yesterday evening, our neighbor G came over with a tin of cat food to distract Howie because G was trying to trap another one of the cats, McNulty. She thought McNulty had been hit by a car, so he needed to be attended to. McNulty is a very stand-offish cat, so trapping him would be tricky. I put out the food, and Howie fell-to, but I didn't hear any more about Mcgregor after that.
Yesterday, when I arrived home, I noticed a cat sound-asleep in the basket under the bushes by our front door [Howie often sleeps in it, as does Wendy], with a large, raw wound and attendant flies. It didn't stir when I approached pretty closely. So I called G, and she came over in an instant with a cat-trapping net.
Her initial attempts failed--she managed to get the net over McNulty, but couldn't get it closed before he escaped and loped awkwardly off across the street. Hurried introductions to the neighbors across the street ensued, and shortly after that we managed to corner McNulty and net him properly. I helped G load him into one of the traps, and she covered him over with towels until this morning.
I don't know his fate yet--G said that his wound mostly looks like a large abscess, and if so he'll probably be turned in to a shelter to be euthanized. It's sad, but it was even sadder to see the poor animal slowly suffering in the basket. Such is the life of a feral cat.
I'm in complete agreement with G about her frustration with irresponsible pet owners. She has worked hard to make sure that the feral cats in our area are at least spayed (and this is no small feat). And it is quite heart-warming to see a person who quietly does so much good for our neighborhood.
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