Thursday, October 18, 2007

New Barn Cat Rescues!

The farm currently has two barn cats, Bruce & Spot, rescues who arrived to their new home early this past spring from a desperate rescue organization in Montreal that requested us to take them because nearly 2 yrs of socialization in a house had not tamed the pair. Quite wild, the two fixed littermates were not often seen during the warm summer months around the barnyard. But now that fall is upon us, we are seeing the pair more in more in the barn at night waiting for us to put down their food. Spot even popped his head into the the dinning room window during Thankgiving dinner, as if making a request for some warm turkey too!

We have also rescued 4 other cats in the last few months that have simply found their way to our home in all sorts of states. And here they are in the order of rescue:


Thomas Kincaid: A snotty-nosed thin little boy who appeared on our doorstep the night that our resident barncat Finn died. A sign? He has been happily living in our house and apprenticing as a future hunter under the careful eye of our resident house (and sometime barn) cat Oliver. He is one of the friendliest cats that you will ever chance to meet and reminds us very much of our dearly departed Finn. He is getting fixed tomorrow (ouch!) and once he is all healed up will move into the barn with the others.


Hazel: I spotted Hazel at the feed mill up the street one day and convinced Drummond that we had to rescue her and bring her to the house as a playmate for Thomas Kincaid (who was driving all the other animals crazy with his kitten antics). Hazel was young, but in really terrible condition when we got her. We were not certain that she would make it, with blood coming out of her anus even. Terrified of humans it was hard to treat her, but Drummond & I used lots of patience and good medications. She is now worm-free, infection free and a healthy young girl! She will be fixed tomorrow also and will eventually make her way to the barn once we have socialized her with people more - we want socialized barn cats (she now sleeps with me, and affectionately accepts any patting if I approach her carefully).


Bob Hope: Strange name for a cat, but he has a story. Bob was a stray that ended up on a friend's parents doorstep over a year ago. They fed him, but without knowing much about cats did not realize that he had some major health issues. We accepted the cat in hopes of rehabilitating him into the barn or another home. His original rescuers were told that Bob was a girl, so I suggested that they start calling 'the cat' Hope (fitting name I thought) until we came to pick the cat up. Well, Hope was a boy so we quickly changed his name to Bob Hope... although I still call him the Pope when my husband is not around! Bob is a double digit, fixed male who has lost all but 4 teeth due to years of malnutrition (he is now fed largely moist food cut up small, but he still prefers dry cat food since this is obviously what he is used to). He is blind with severe cataracs and has Horn's Disease (neurological) which causes one eye to always be fully dilated among other nervous systems problems. He is extremely thin and is slowly putting weight on after deworming. His ears have been partially frozen off and he has back leg trouble... but he can still manage to jump onto your lap for a snuggle! He is a really affectate guy who would be a lovely cuddle kittie for a quiet home. He tolerates other cats and dogs... we'd love to place him with a caring family for the little time that he has left (a few months to a few years at best).


Kiska: She is a gorgeous dumper cat that appeared only 4 nights ago, skin and bones on our doorstep (although the long hair camouflages it very well). I caught her into the garbage at 1am and with lots of patience convinced her to come out for some offered food (fresh organic meat and some warm milk). She is seems to be in otherwise very good health and we hope to find her a good home. She gets along wonderfully with the dog and other cats and is a gentle spirit. She has terrible mats in her long fur from the brush that she has obviously been hiding in. While I cut, pull and break burdock from her coat, she will only lick my hands in frustration as an appeal for me stop. What a sweetheart! Kiska will go to the vet on Friday with the others to be evaluated by our vet. We will surely update her rabies and put her into the barn (provided she is indeed fixed) until we can find her a home (she does not appears to have much hunting ability, probably having been a former housecat, and may not have the most enjoyable life in the barn).



If you know of anyone who would be interested or willing to take either Bob Hope or Kiska, please call us: 613-674-1947. We realize that these two lovely creatures would be better off with another family.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi,

Thanks for the update on Spot & Bruce. I often wonder how they are doing and it sounds as if they could not be in a better place. It will be interesting to see how they behave when winter comes. If they have functioning brains they will move into the barn where they will have shelter and then they may become more visible.

Thanks again for taking them in and giving them a home where they can live good lives,

Dee