From commentor Johannes:
I’m writing again on behalf of the group of volunteers that run the cat colonies at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Back after Hurricane Sandy, the Balloon Juice community supported the repair work that has kept the colonies flourishing these past two years, and helped us find a home for Sanders, the sweet cat with one eye. We’re hoping that the blog can help once again.
Attached is a photo of a cat we call Morticia. Morticia, who is about six years old, has always been friendly — visiting with her was one of the perks of the volunteers’ work at the Navy Yard — but recently we brought her to the vet to have an upper respiratory infection treated. She’s fine now, and she is FeLV/FIV negative. She has a cataract in one eye, and is blind in that eye, which makes continued outdoor life dangerous for her. Before and after her vet visit, she was kept at one of the volunteers’ home, and we realized that she is a house cat at heart. Even friendly ferals often aren’t, but Morticia is serene, companionable, and is even okay with other cats. We’re hoping to find a good home for her; she;’s indoors right now, and loving it, but she’s in what can only be a temporary home.
Morticia would make a happy home happier, and her purrs will more than earn her keep.
As anyone who’s had the privilege to live with one can tell you, tortoiseshell cats are the best. If you’re interested in giving Morticia a permanent home, or know someone who might be, leave a message in the comments below or email me (click on my name in the right-hand column, or annelaurie at verizon dot net), and I’ll put you in touch.
raven
Sent to NYC friend.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Sadly, we are on the opposite coast, but I will say that the cat who won my dog-loving now-husband over to the feline side was a tortie named Natasha, who decided that he was her personal human within a few weeks of our starting to date.
Torties will rule your home with an iron paw, but since their wishes are for snuggling, purring, and petting, they’re pretty easy to keep happy.
Johannes
We already have a tortie–and they deserve to get all the love they give!
And thanks so much for posting, Anne Laurie!
PurpleGirl
I would love to give her a furever home.
AL, I’ll send you my contact info in email.
Elizabelle
Good luck.
Litlebritdifrnt
I was at my mechanics shop today (my fuel pump went out) and they support a healthy and growing feral cat colony. They were telling me that the only cats that will allow them to pet them were the torties. As I was outside smoking a cig I noticed the most beautiful Siamese boy, blue eyes and all. I asked them how a feral colony could produce such a beautiful cat and they opined that at some point they think that someone had dumped a Siamese male on them and the result was the beautiful teenager that I saw. They have a heated house in the back that they maintain so the cats have somewhere warm to go at night and they told me today that they go through about 30lbs of dry cat food a week. I know people say that a good mechanic is worth his weight in gold but a good mechanic that you trust and who takes care of a feral cat colony is the rarest thing in the world.
PurpleGirl
@Litlebritdifrnt: Now for the $64,000 question: Do they spay/neuter the cats in the colony?
JPL
@PurpleGirl: That would be so nice. This story really touched me and the cat needs a happy home. I hope it works out.
princess leia
The tipped ear is a sign that they are spay/neutering and releasing them. Tattooing is another indication that they are sterile, but the most common is the tipped ear. So yes, they are making sure they are no longer breeding.
Pogonip
@Litlebritdifrnt: My neighbor has lynx point and snowshoe cats, beautiful animals, that would sell for 4 figures if they were tame and had pedigrees. I am seeing so many Siamese-patterned strays in this area, not only my neighbor’s, that a while back I wondered if I was remembering wrong that the Siamese gene is recessive, and looked it up. It is indeed recessive. I can only guess that there are a lot of hardworking Siamese toms around!
Tommy
Just got this out of the mail:
http://www.amazon.com/Catit-54521-Double-Diner-White/dp/B0032GCENA
It is still in its plastic. Little girl seems confused by it. I think I might have openly said across the room “you are going to be eating out that thing darn it.”
debit
@PurpleGirl: Dunno where you are, but if we need to chip in to get the cat to you, I’m in.
Johannes
@PurpleGirl: She’s been spayed, and has received her shots. We’ll give you all the medical info when we follow up–and I’m looking forward to it.
Tommy
@JPL: I don’t know how we do this. I will cover any cost to get her to you. I just ask one thing. About once a year you send me a pic of her chilling in your house.
tommy.young at gmail.com.
La Caterina
@PurpleGirl: To add to Johannes’ comment, we spay, neuter and vaccinate all the colony cats at the Navy Yard. We take them for vet care when we notice problems.
kc
@PurpleGirl:
Yay!
PurpleGirl
Johannes and I have talked already; I need to talk to La Caterina tomorrow.
I live in Queens and they live in Brooklyn. It’ll be easy for us to meet. Not a long commute between us. But thank you to those mentioning helping me to get the cat.
debit
@PurpleGirl: Awesome! Hope that all goes well and Morticia finds her way to you without delay.
Anne Laurie
@Pogonip:
Or one un-neutered “escapee” with an agenda!
We have a three-year-old rescue who’s probably purebred Oriental Shorthair (red tabby, gorgeous dude). He was found eating garbage out of a mall dumpster, then re-homed before coming to us because he’s an incorrigible fabric-chewer with a particular talent for leaving unpatchable holes in clothing — and he’s a genius for winkling open drawers & sliding through gated doors to find new targets. He really, really wants to be an indoor-outdoor cat, too (despite his previous adventures) so we’re forever grabbing him off the front walk before he can run into traffic, or the back steps before he reaches the gun club / gets mugged by the neighborhood foxes. Rocket was neutered the first time he was rescued, of course, but I can certainly understand how a Siamese tom might’ve ended up spreading those recessive genes all over the neighborhood!
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@La Caterina:
I’ve heard that some feral organizations now recommend doing a vastectomy on any mature males they manage to trap instead of neutering. The theory is that they keep all of their instincts to protect “their” females from other toms but can’t make any new kittens. Have you heard of any vets in your area recommending that?
satby
@PurpleGirl: Hooray!
TaMara (BHF)
@PurpleGirl: Yay for a new family, once again brought together by Balloon-Juice.
TriassicSands
I hope someone will step up and adopt Morticia.
In January, Anne posted an adoption bleg for me — for Burley, the Maine Coon that I trapped, had neutered, and have been fostering. He’s listed on Petfinder.com and another site, but so far only one person has contacted me. Unfortunately, she lives 100+ miles from me, but worse has a greyhound that she says is cat-safe indoors, but untrustworthy outside. That meant Burley would have to be a 100% indoor cat, something I can’t guarantee and I doubt he wants. So, the woman looked elsewhere.
We’ve been very fortunate — our weather has been amazingly mild, so Burley’s home in the garage (where I must keep him because of my extremely aggressive female indoor cat) has been quite comfortable. I go out and spend time with him at least twice every day and visit him more often, but he is clearly lonely and wants more frequent companionship. He’s turned out to be what I expected and what early indications pointed to — a very friendly, affectionate fellow who really likes people. We have a routine now: when I go to visit, I sit down and he immediately jumps onto me. For the next ten minutes or so, he squirms and head butts and just generally soaks up all the lovin’ he can get. Occasionally, he’ll get a little too excited and bite me, but it is always a very gentle “love bite” and he lets go immediately.
I’ve had him to the vet and he is 4-5 years old and 13 pounds of lean muscle. I can’t believe no one has adopted him yet, but there is so much competition on Petfinder and we’re pretty far from major population areas. He’s in perfect health, has had all his shots, has an ID chip, and he’s FIV and feline leukemia negative. This is just a reminder that BURLEY NEEDS A HOME. (I named him that, because he really is burly, but I added an “e” to make name out of it, instead of naming him with an adjective.) I’m not trying to compete with Morticia, since we’re on opposite coasts, and I really hope someone will see her and take the leap. Torties, in my experience, are great cats.
Adopt, Adopt. Adopt. You’re getting sleepy. You feel the need to adopt a cat…Your eyelids are getting heavier. You want to have a cat on your lap…You can’t resist…. You’re asleep and all you can think about is adopting a cat. When I snap my fingers, you’ll awake. And adopt….
Sandia Blanca
@TriassicSands: I can’t take any more cats, but I love to help others find homes, so I’m adding a link to that earlier post for you.
https://balloon-juice.com/2015/01/08/cat-rescue-bleg-sequim-washington-area/
TriassicSands
@Sandia Blanca:
Thank you.
It’s discouraging when the phone doesn’t ring. Or rather, when the phone rings and it’s not about Burley. Everyone who has seen and interacted with Burley has gushed about him. I took him to the vet recently with one of my other cats and all the vet was supposed to do was give him a quick look, listen to his heart, and estimate his age. But she couldn’t stop playing with him and she kept saying “He’s so cool. He’s gorgeous.” That from someone who sees one cat after another, day after day. And he’s not gorgeous in the same way my other “Maine Coon” is. She is tiny for a Maine Coon, but has an absolutely beautiful coat — soft, with a huge ruff around her shoulders and chest. Burley, in keeping with his name, is rougher in appearance, but there is something about him that people really respond to. The woman at the front desk looked into his carrier and exclaimed, “Ooooh, Maine Coon….”
Kristine
I FB’d the original post. Hope someone steps up.
TaMara (BHF)
@TriassicSands: I FB the original post. Maybe Anne Laurie can repost his story this week.
Manyakitty
@PurpleGirl: Wonderful! Torties are the best!
kc
@TriassicSands:
He sounds wonderful.
The Moar You Know
My wife is savagely, life-threateningly allergic to cats and this breaks my heart; I’m not getting rid of my wife, but the idea of living without kitties for the rest of my life is a soul-crusher, no doubt.
But I spent 44 years of my life having cats, and I gotta say, torties are fun. Not the best: I have a soft spot for your bog-standard grey tabby. Easy to get along with. You’re always going to be getting into it over something with your tortie. But the greatest cat I have ever had, hands down, no questions, was a tortie.
I envy you, PurpleGirl. Torties are fantastic. Hope you can deal with some personality.
Kitts
Oh,I wish I could adopt that cutie, but my landlord only allows one cat, and my own tortie Maine coon mix is big enough for two cats, so she’s pushing the rule as it is.
debit
@TriassicSands: If Burley can be transported to the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, I will happily take him.
JustPeachyAndYou
I would be willing to contribute to the cost of getting Burley from valued commenter TriassicSands to esteemed commenter debit.
Diane
@TriassicSands: Is this baby still available. I am in Manhattn
TriassicSands
@debit:
@Diane:
I won’t absolutely rule out a long distance adoption, but I think it is best to make that a last resort. Whenever a cat is adopted from a shelter, the adopter can return the cat if things don’t work out — and cats being cats and people being people, sometimes things don’t work out. It’s one thing to go through the trauma (to the cat) and expense (to humans) to transport a cat across the country (1757 miles from Sequim to Minneapolis; 2953 miles to NYC), because the adopter is all excited about getting a new companion. But, if things don’t work out, the poor cat would have to be returned to WA.
Debit, I have a specific question for you living in MN. What do indoor/outdoor cats do in the winter when it is bitterly cold? I have a cat who came to me just as Burley did and she has always steadfastly refused to be an indoor only cat. In the 11 years I’ve had her I dare say I would have barely slept if I had tried to force her to stay inside. But the weather here is very mild — with not very nights that qualify as really cold. It is never too cold for her to go outside, but in MN it could be dangerous for a cat to go outside — I assume they go out, discover what cold really is, do their business, and haul ass back inside.
Anyone who is seriously interested in even considering adopting Burley should contact Anne Laurie for my contact information. We can discuss it on the phone. (Or if you email me, I’ll send you my phone number.)
One reason why I hoped (and still do) to have him adopted quickly is because of the risk (i.e., certainty) that I would get attached to him. Of course that is happening, but it is better for Burley if he’s placed in another home with much simpler feline dynamics that I have here.
debit
@TriassicSands: I fully understand and respect your hesitation. In answer to your question regarding indoor/outdoor I can’t answer, as my cats are strictly indoor. I live close to a major university with heavily traveled streets and drunken/asshole college kids. The result is that a neighbor with indoor/outdoor cats lost all of them, either due to traffic or cruelty. Therefore any cat I adopted would also be indoor only.
It sounds like you expect Burley to need to be at least partially outdoors. It can be done in Minnesota; a pet owner could set up a heated shelter along with a heated water dish. However, as I said, that person wouldn’t be me.
Best of luck with his adoption. He seems like a real sweetheart.