Monday, August 20, 2018

The Old Campaigner



This is one of the feral cats I hope to capture. I’ve named him Raleigh.


He looks rough and battered. There is something amiss with his left eye, blood or pus leaked out near it or from it at some recent point. I think he is old and possibly deaf. He is polydactyl.

He doesn’t seem to be quite a part of the feral colony behind my work-place. The other cats brush by him without fear, but he appears at times when the other cats are elsewhere, probably sleeping. He shows up in the heat of an afternoon, and tonight, he was sitting in this chair when I arrived to check the traps I left out. The other cats came by later.

No one went into the traps, least of all Raleigh. I think he is an experienced fellow, perhaps once having belonged to a human, but now fallen on hard times. He wanted food but was wary of the cages. He was not so wary of me. Brandishing a dish of soft-food like the magic wand it is, I crept close to Raleigh, close enough to push the dish under his nose. I was twenty inches away, and he kept eating even while I spooned food into the dish.

I’ve not seen him eat together with the others, though he will come at feeding times, and sit on the verge of the group, hoping. He looks solid, but his fur is thick, and it may be that there isn’t much else to him. But he ate well tonight.

I have new tactics ready for my next evening of trapping. It will involve less time, perhaps as little as an hour each night, but it will be much closer to the time when their care-taker comes to feed them, so they will be congregating, hungry, and expecting food. I hope Raleigh isn’t too much of an old campaigner to be lured inside a cage. He may be sick, or he simply may be old and tired, one of life’s discards who deserves much better than he has received.

Even if I can’t trap him, I will watch out for him, and maybe make his old age a little easier.

11 comments:

  1. Good luck catching Raleigh. It sounds like the poor guy could use some care. Hopefully you'll be able to catch him and get him the care he needs. Please keep us posted.

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  2. They break my heart, especially the discarded ones. 😢

    I'm wishing you the very best of luck in trapping them, including Raleigh.

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  3. The poor fellow. Best of luck with him.

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  4. I hope you can trap him to get help for his eye. Poor fella.

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  5. Raleigh is a terrific name for this kitty, and I hope you catch him soon. A drop trap may work for those cats who won't go into the humane traps, if you didn't already know that.

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  6. raleigh, itz veree nice ta meet ewe N we hope ewe will let de cat fatherz dad cap sure ewe.. sew ya can get in for a check.....we agreez...yur life SHULD bee eazee urr......st francis' blessingz two ewe dood ♥♥♥

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  7. This poor kitty really needs your help. The eye must be painful and very disconcerting for him if he is hearing impaired. I pray you’ll be able to trap him , put him right, and maybe find a nice warm and toasty barn that needs a cat. He may turn out to be a dear old fellow full of love once he feels he can trust you and is out of pain. (Our shelter had a large Maine Coon that hissed , bit and beat us all up for several months then turned into a total love bug). God bless you John.

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  8. I hope you are able to trap Raleigh. He looks like he needs some TLC and I know you will do all you can to see he gets it.

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  9. I'm late in reading so know that you did manage to capture Raleigh. I'm off to read the next few posts to see where you're at with him now.

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