From commentor Triassic Sands:
For the past month I’ve had a stray cat hanging around my house. (I have three cats and they seem to act as magnets for strays.) He first showed up during a cold snap and I went ahead and started to feed him. I have an indoor/outdoor cat (a female) and they co-existed without any sign of conflict at all. Although the cat was an unneutered male, he has never displayed any aggressiveness at all.
Last Sunday night, I trapped the cat and Monday morning delivered him to a local service that spays and neuters stray and feral cats for free. They washed him, cut away some of his worst mats gave him rabies and distemper shots. He doesn’t have fleas.
Although he wouldn’t let me approach him outside, every day and night he came to my bedroom window, where I fed him. While he was eating, he allowed me to pet and scratch him and he clearly enjoyed the attention. Last Sunday morning after eating at 5am, he returned at 6am and I realized he wasn’t hungry, he just wanted attention.
The cat is a medium-long haired adult male tabby, who has now been neutered and had some basic medical attention. It seems clear that he must have had a home at one time; he likes people and enjoys being petted, scratched, and brushed. Currently, he is recuperating from surgery in a cage in my garage. Although he did cry to let me know he was outside my bedroom window and wanted food, he is generally very laid back and quiet. His coat is dull and typical of a cat who’s been out on its own. When warm weather comes, I’d shave him and let his coat grow in after he’s been eating regularly for several months and had a clean, warm, dry place to sleep every night.
If I didn’t already have a full house, feline-wise, I’d adopt this fellow in a second. Once he has a permanent home and learns to trust his human companions, I would expect him to be a really affectionate cat. I would also expect him to adapt to a permanent home quickly.
As I said, he has coexisted with my female cat without any signs of aggression or conflict — and that was before he was neutered. I have no idea how he would be around dogs. Ideally, I hope he can be successfully socialized into an indoor cat. I have to take one of my cats to the vet in early February; if I still have this cat, I will take him along and see if the vet can offer an educated guess about his age. I haven’t weighed him, but he is a burly fellow, without being exceptionally large. He is lean and muscular. The woman who gave him one injection in his neck said his neck muscles were so hard it bent the needle.
I live in Sequim, WA on the Olympic Peninsula. If anyone would be willing to offer this really nice fellow a permanent home, please contact me through Anne here at Balloon Juice. I’m going to make an all-out effort to find him a home. I’ve been asking everyone I meet; I’m going to post an ad on the Peninsula Friends of Animals private adoption webpage; and at some point will probably put him on Petfinder.
From his picture & TS’s description, this handsome guy has the “northern longhair” (Maine Coon/Norwegian Forest/Siberian cat type) personality — affectionate with humans, affable with other cats, happy to coexist with dogs (just ask our blogmaster!) If funds are needed to transport him to a new home, I’ll be the first to donate. Anybody who’s interested in adopting, or knows someone who might be, contact me (click on my name in the right-hand column, or email annelaurie (at) verizon (dot) net) and I’ll put you in touch with Triassic Sands.
WereBear
He is SO made of awesome. (And so are you, Triassic Sands.)
Everyone who wished they had a Steve Cole, step forward.
Percysowner
He’s beautiful! Sadly I live in Ohio, so there is no way I could take him. I hope you find a home for him.
Poopyman
ZOMG! Maine Coon! Are you sure you want to give him up?
Mike J
I can’t take him, but I can drive over to Sequim if cat taxi is needed for delivery (within a reasonable distance of Seattle. I’m not driving him to Ohio, but I’ll relay him pony express style to the next station.)
Culture of Truth
Some Cat
Mike J
Not that anyone cares, but for the non PWNers, Sequim is pronounced squim. So now you can hear it correctly in your head.
Throatwarbler mangrove is also acceptable.
Violet
@Mike J: I love the peninsula. So gorgeous. Wish I knew someone who could help. Let me see if I can find someone.
Kay (not the front-pager)
From the title I thought he was in DC, and was going to offer to drive him to WV for John/Steve (one of my cats has health problems that may be contagious). Unfortunately that won’t work for Wa. State.
Wish I could help. He’s a beauty.
BillinGlendaleCA
I almost ended up spending my teenage years in Sequim, my parents wanted to retire there. They even bought property up there when I was a pre-teen.
schrodinger's cat
Steve needs a brother. Can we arrange cross country transportation? Kitteh is full of win and awesome.
Roger Moore
@Mike J:
And is famous for its lavender. I went through while visiting Olympic National Park this summer, and they made a big deal about the lavender.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Roger Moore: It’s also know for it’s crab and lack of rain. They have irrigation channels running though the area.
mai naem
@schrodinger’s cat: Looks like he could be Steve’s brother. Doesn’t Yatsuno live in the NW. Also Bill in Portland but not sure if it’s Portland ME or Ore.
BubbaDave
I can’t take that handsome fellow (2 cats in a 1-BR apartment is the maximum for both my lease and my remnants of sanity), but I’ll pledge $50 toward travel/rehoming expenses.
Roger Moore
@BillinGlendaleCA:
The lack of rain is why it’s perfect for lavender. As I understand it, the Olympic peninsula is a textbook example of rain shadow. The western coast gets a ton of rain, the western slope of the mountains gets even more, and there’s a severe rain shadow just past the crest of the mountains. Sequim is right in the most severe rain shadow zone, so they get too little moisture to grow much. They chose lavender because it’s well matched to their specific climate zone; go 10 miles either east or west and it would be too wet to grow it.
schrodinger's cat
@mai naem: I think its Oregon, but I am not 100% sure.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Roger Moore: As I said earlier, I almost ended up spending my teenage years there. We visited almost every summer after my dad retired in 1974. His health prevented us from making the move.
schrodinger's cat
Triassic Sands, can I upload his magnificence on my ICHC profile and my blog?
Kthx.
Thread needs more kitteh:
My caption made it to the first pg of Animal Captions on ICHC yesterday, Catzilla with his buddy Godzilla
ETA: Of course, you get the photo credits, if I get your permission to do so.
Schlemazel
Love the little apostrophes above his eyes, what a cutie.
kc
That is a beautiful cat!
kc
@schrodinger’s cat:
Nice!
Mike J
@mai naem:
He lives on the wrong side of the mountains and already has a cat. He has said he may be moving back over to sound side (Oly? I think).
schrodinger's cat
Oh noes WP has eated my comment.
raven
@BillinGlendaleCA: I went to the Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair near Sultan right before I shipped out. The first mutli-day, multi-band rock festival held. I hitched up from Ft Lewis and had a great time!
MomSense
He’s gorgeous! I’ve got a sick kitty I need to take care of right now but maybe if you can wait a little longer. He has the same eyes as my coon cat.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mike J: I’ll excuse the pun.
Violet
@Roger Moore: I think Sequim almost qualifies as a desert, it gets so little rain. Did you eat at the Alder Wood Bistro? Yum!
Guest
TS should contact these folks, they have quite the network and I don’t think they’re that far away:
http://www.theittybittykittycommittee.com/
Xboxershorts
I live on a back country road outside Coudersport, PA. After Adelphia collapsed and was taken over and then taken apart by Time Warner Cable (A county of 16,000 lost over 2000 jobs!) we wound up with 8 cats (I guess back roads are drop zones, the bastards!) hanging around.
We did the same with all 8, neutered, basic shots, wormed and deflea’d as needed.
We’re down to 5 now and I’m feeling blessed and less stressed.
danielx
What a handsome guy, truly wish he wasn’t so far away. Although local feline political situation would probably explode if I brought another one in, since the present situation falls under the heading of “peaceful coexistence”. Sort of like the east/west german border back in the bad old days, all over the issue of who is going to be the alpha cat.
Edit: being subjected to feline optical death rays because someone wants to eat, it’s not time to eat, the cat knows I’ve acknowledged his demands and thinks I’m just holding out to be a stingy househuman.
schrodinger's cat
Triassic Sands, can I upload his magnificence on my ICHC profile and my blog?
Kthx.
Thread needs more kitteh:
My caption made it to the first pg of Animal Captions on ICHC yesterday, Catzilla with his buddy Godzilla
ETA: Of course, you get the photo credits, if I get your permission to do so.
schrodinger's cat
@MomSense: What happened to the stray kitten you adopted?
raven
Rod Taylor, Star Of ‘The Birds’ And ‘The Time Machine,’ Dead At 84
TriassicSands
@schrodinger’s cat:
Go right ahead. I don’t need a photo credit. As long as you don’t use his image for anything illegal or in bad taste.
schrodinger's cat
@TriassicSands: Thanks, and I will mention you in the photo credits.
Linkie for Catzilla and his buddy Godzilla
JustRuss
@Mike J:
Which has always bothered me. Why the hell isn’t spelled “squim”? And don’t get me started on Worcestor.
TriassicSands
Right now, i’m just reading the comments. My plan (though plans can change) is to try to arrange for his adoption, but to keep him here for about a month (3-1/2 more weeks). At that point, his hormones will have settled into the new normal and his new companion(s) will be getting the finished cat, so to speak. I don’t expect big changes in his behavior, but I’d prefer any changes happen before he’s adopted so there are no surprises later.
It will also depend on the household situation he’s headed to. The simpler the dynamics, the easier his integration should be and the less critical will be his hormone levels. I feel responsible for what happens to him, and I want to make sure he has the best chance of landing in a permanent home where he’ll be cared for and loved for the rest of his days.
I’m going to try to get him to a vet who can offer a best guess as to how old he is.
Major Major Major Major
We haz new cat
http://imgur.com/igzRxKq
MomSense
@schrodinger’s cat:
He belongs to our neighbor’s teenage daughter who lives with her mom and is only with our neighbor every other weekend. So he goes back and forth between our two houses. They have a dominant older cat so he really likes it here. He has had to stay at his other home for now because my old cat is so sick.
The testing came back negative for diabetes and hyperthyroidism. He has lost a lot of weight but his organs and lymph nodes are swollen. He is on an antibiotic and we are feeding him tuna and chicken breast. Hopefully he will improve on the antibiotic. If not then we have to discuss more tests. He is really not feeling well.
MomSense
@Major Major Major Major:
Very handsome! Congratulations!
Major Major Major Major
@MomSense: Russian Blue, should be a good fit.
BubbaDave
@MomSense:
Poor fellow– hopefully the antibiotic helps him. Is he still drinking a lot of water?
bumper
Ooh, I live on the Peninsula too. Well just on the border of the Peninsula proper. We already have 4 cats so can’t take any more. If you need a driver from the area, I might be able to help.
Kristine
Posted to Facebook.
MomSense
@BubbaDave:
He is still drinking a lot of water but at least he is eating a bit, too.
ruemara
Gimme! But I have to make sure I have job. Don’t gimme, but let me look.
Roger Moore
@Violet:
Sadly no. We were just passing through on the way to and from Forks, where we stayed while visiting the National Park. We stopped to get coffee, but that was it.
BubbaDave
@MomSense:
That seems like a good sign. Fingers crossed for him…
Steeplejack
I’ll chip in some for the moving expenses.
Debbie(aussie)
What a gorgeous cat. I guess Aust is just a bit too far. Sigh
Bex
@Major Major Major Major: If you didn’t see my name suggestion yesterday it’s Laptop.
mellowjohn
maine coons are the greatest. i’d take him in a heartbeat if i didn’t live in IL.
greenergood
What a gorgeous beast! If I could teleport him to Scotland, I’d read my gorgeous tabby tom the Riot Act, and tell him ‘We’ve got company …’ But I can’t see this fellow being without a forever home for very long at all! Happy New Year everyone!
TriassicSands
Unfortunately, my phone/Internet service is down and the phone company won’t get around to fixing it until Monday, so I won’t necessarily be able to respond to any messages. Right now I’m using the WiFi in a hospital. But once I leave here I’ll be cut off until they get service restored.