Life is Good for Crabbie

Living in the country has its charms.  Unfortunately, stray cats are an uncharming fact of life if you live in the country.   Most of these cats are feral, and take off when I approach.  That was Crabbie The Calico's  first response 15 years ago. 

But she hung around thru the summer of 1996, and proceeded to have a litter of kittens under my grainery (much to my chagrin).  So I tamed the kittens once they started to explore their larger world, handled them, socialized them  and placed them into good homes.  And then live trapped Crabbie and spayed/ vaccinated/ leukemia tested her and released her back into my yard. 

And she still hung around.... 

So I started to feed her, and occasionally gave her a pat  with leather gloves.  Crabbie started coming when I called her (for food).  When winter came, my husband (who is a real softie) made up a bed for Crabbie in our garage -fleece blankets, heated water bowl, private litter box.  Crabbie could come and go as she pleased, but chose to spend most winter nights munching from her private foodbowl in the insulated garage.  She started sitting on our kitchen porch if she wanted the garage door opened.  She would be sitting there when I came home from work.   She continued to spend time under our grainery with a variety of wild critters over the years:  rabbits, wood chucks, opposums, and ofcourse other strays.  

This is Crabbie Cat's 15th year as our outside feral cat.   She now runs to us when we call, loves her head scratched, gets daily canned food, tolerates topical flea protection, and sleeps on our deck in the sun when all is quiet in our yard.  She just finished her annual tranquilization/ physical exam/ vaccinations/ grooming/ annual labwork at the Fox Valley Cat Clinic, and she is in amazing health for her age.  This is the first year I let her wake up from her tranquilizer in a carrier in my house (but away from my house pets). It was too cold in the garage for an old lady cat.  I  may not be able to save the world, but for one feral calico- Life is Good.
Dr. Maureen Flatley