Prince out of cage on porch. Cats allowed also on porch- under obs.

Puma eyeballs Prince through the window at night.

Prince is in the left lower corner watching Luna and Puma who fascinate him by their antics, indifference to him, and fearlessness regarding me, the human.

He's tentative copying their perches- not sure why they are on the porch or what direction he should look. They ignore him.

He ignores me. he fears me. He despises me it seems.

below is the cage where Prince spent his early days. That too was half the product of a kind stranger who brought it in his truck, going miles out of his way. When he offered to get the dog in, I had to explain, it was a cat, a wild one. He shared, after a pause, he too had wild cats but never fed them. They ate the mice on his farm. We left it at that.

cropped ear

His ear finally healing- his head tells the community- he is a feral cat who has been neutered and has a right to live out his life. It tells animal services, this is a "kept cat" and they will seek the person who provides for his colony.
Prince was registered in a colony of one. He is a Prince.

Safe ferals play too.
Obviously, he brought his pretty self back HOME after a few days away to discover his new residence. He also brought a few new friends who wanted to eat his food. I had left the porch screen door ajar so he could come in to eat and leave. So he would know he was free.
My 2 cats thus couldnt go out if the porch door was ajar since they were basically indoor cats. They hated Prince more than before, if possible.

Prince in his new location

But this blog is about Prince the feral whom I thought was a Princess because of his timid, reclusive ways. The first surprise upon picking him up with the group who never truly considered him a part of them, was that he was a male. Therefore, renamed.

He spent a week or 2 in a large cage on my back porch. I covered it from the hot sun and put a fan out there to cool him. He remained scared to death. If I came near him, he hissed, quietly, fearfully. It wasnt a pleasant time for either of us.

My 2 little cats werent allowed out the first week so as not to frighten him further.

Eventually, not knowing how to clean the cage, I had to let him onto the porch where he remained hidden for another 2 weeks. he slid out to eat when I wasnt around. Hissed if I came near him. I wondered what I had done and how to ever get close to this cat. I wondered if he were more miserable here than lost on the streets.

If you look closely, you can see the cropped ear: sign of the feral. You can also see he is plumping up and starting to keep himself clean tho my 2 couldnt stand to be near him. I had no idea they were such snobs since they werent brought up that way.

Eventually, Prince got out the open porch door. I searched for him at night and the next day. I bought binoculars to further search him. I went to sporting goods stores loking for night binoculars to better spot him in the dark. Every white piece of paper was a potential discovery of this cat, every white hunk of garbage, every pail. If he got hurt, I would blame myself. Armed with various truths abt cats- they always return to where they are fed, they return miles away to their first home, they are shot to death by cat haters, etc I learned to just let time take its course (yeah right, not)

help?

Now I have a wild cat in a cage crying on my porch and my 2 cats unable to go out to the porch they love. It seems the whole state went away for the holiday weekend and if not, are deep asleep. What do I do? Do I release him again to the wild as some suggested or return him to the bad place he came from. Do I just wish it were better? Do I sell the house as is with the cats in it- as I once planned to do when I discovered a frog in my toilet?

I email a woman LiZa in Alaska I know only from an organization I sometimes seek advice or education from for the permanent makeup procedures I do. Luna is just a baby and helps by entangling herself in the wiring.

Amazingly, LiZa responds almost immediately offering encouragement and advice- from ALASKA. She stays with me in this from afar with her vast knowledge and good naturedness despite the busy schedule she carries professionally and all the people she stays in touch with, personally. I have never met this woman nor heard her voice yet she cares about me and this cat from a place I have never been in the middle of my night.

Prince owes part of his future wellbeing to this woman who came through for us in a dark lonely hour.

One tested postive

Just a baby, neutered and scared, waiting to be released back to his home.

This one wasnt so lucky. He will never be released to the wild again but nor will he be euthanized.

I was to pick up the cats after they were spayed and neutered. There were 6 cats in cages to be brought to my home to recover and then be released. By a turn of events, the humane society was full and couldnt accept the cats on the appointed day of delivery. Our area was one of the selected locations for money from Mission Orange, so people and cats and organizations were participating in the reduced cost of spaying.

Our cats were brought to another service for their surgery and testing. On Friday of the holiday weekend, I learned 1 cat tested postive. I was so fearful it was my white cat with the turquois eyes whom I had named Feral Princess. It was the biggest cat, a male named Tiger.

That facility didnt believe in euthanizing cats but the humane society felt a positive cat couldnt be released back to infect his colony. The told me they would stay open late for me to return with the cat to be put down.

At this point, I was as alone and abandoned as these anesthetized cats. For me, I simply couldnt be a part of a death car transporting the cats, still in their traps to the humane society, leaving 5 in my car and dropping off the 6th to be ended. I called people I knew- no one was available- no one could even help drive the cats- I had a corolla.

A man I knew who had property and his own view on life and people and animals, said he would not allow the cat to be put down. Bring the cats to him to recover. At this point I felt I was selling my soul to allow this cat to live for reasons which will remain undisclosed- a cat I didnt know- since I couldnt recall this cat trotting up to me to be fed.

Feral cats on the property happily eating.

In an airconditioned mobile home, with porches to the outdoors, 24 hour TV (usually on sports per the owners taste which he feels the cats must enjoy also), regular meals, couches, and toys, etc. lives Tiger with a new group. Tiger was described as one of the meanest cats met- but he is entitled to his temper, never asking to be saved, or trapped, or tested. He is safe; he is alive; he is pissed. He has adjusted. He still hates humans. He is a feral FIV+ cat. The one cat in the window is another + cat.

Many cats owe gratitude to this man who operates with his own money his own sancutary. There are chickens, goats, minature horses, offspring ofhis favorite dog live in the house. There are free running ferals outdoors. Another part of the house contains house cats- who have acess outdoors. They all enjoy privacy and like facility for abused women and children, its location remains a secret too outsiders.