March 31 2008

I haven't posted anything because i have come down with the flu. I can barely get out of bed so obviously haven't been able to do my rounds. It is going to take me a few more days before I recover from this.

March 28. 2008

I got another cat at my buffet today. i didn't get a good face shot but this is definately not the same cat I have gotten before. He is all scraggly - doesn't look as if he is well taken care of. What I see is not enough to say yes or no so I have hopes I might finally have a lead.

March 25 2008

I have a new black and white cat on the aloha camera. I believe this is the cat the man who owns the house saw. I need to print out a picture and ask him - the shot is not too good but I don't think it is Roy.

March 23, 20008

It turns out the Leo is a kitten! They don't know his exact age (obviously) but according to his teeth he is not yet a year. I can't believe it - he is so big I thought they were going to tell me about 5 years old. He is wiggling into hearts and minds - apparently one lady saw him the day he came out of isolation - she wanted to take him right then and there - but she already had 5 cats. I am hoping this means that he will get a home very soon.

I have decided all my locations are a bust. 3 weeks and no sightings means he can't be there. I am winding down the food - I don't want to stop cold turkey since something is now relying on it. Once that is done I am moving the stations a bit into the woods to see if anything else comes up.

Interestingly I did get a new cat at Aloha - a cheese colored tabby.

March 21 2008

I decided to take the day off today and not do my rounds. I need a bit of a break after the turmoil of yesterday.

Tomorrow I am visiting Leo at his shelter and making sure he is settling in. Apparently he has a fan club going already - I hope that means he will get a home soon. I feel slightly responsible for him since I took him in - I want to make sure he gets a good home.

I was talking to another pet hunter (I will need to check to see if she is okay with me posting her name) and she told me about this stuff called "canine bait". It is supposed to attract dogs but seems to work on many animals. She told me when she used it she attracted cats and raccoons and then dogs from about 4 miles away. SO I ordered a bottle of the stuff and see what happens. I don't feel like I have anything to lose. My one concern is what happens to the animals after - will they go back home? I don't really need a yard full of dogs, cats and raccoons!

March 20, 2008

Today was a bad day. I walk out of the house to my car and see Grey - the feral I have been feeding in the garage - lying there as if he was waiting for me. I talk to him and ask if he is hungry - he walked up to me and started meowing. I reached down and petted his head - he seemed to enjoy it. I figured he wanted some food so I went back to the door and he followed me. I opened the door and he ran right in. He was thin as a rail and seemed to be in pretty bad shape. He went into the kitchen and found the food and water. He nibbled at the food but then started drinking and kept going for a while. I grabbed a carrier and we put him in and drive him to the vet. I knew something was seriously wrong with him and wanted him looked at ASAP. he didn't want to go into the carrier but didn't really struggle. Once there the vet looked him over - he didn't fight or anything. He had about 3 teeth and a very bad mouth infection. Apparently he is about 12 -14 years old - he has been living out there a long time. He was severly dehydrated and weighted next to nothing - I couldn't even tell he was in the carrier.

The vet ran tests on him - he was FeLV positive and suffering from it - his kidneys were shutting down. There was no hope for him so I agreed to put him down - but it wasn't an easy decision to make. Grey had been someone's pet. He loved getting his chin rubbed and was neutered. It hit me hard because I could only imagine Roy being in the same condition - out there making his way and then wasting away from a disease. Grey is now buried in my backyard and I hope that he has some of the peace he was missing in this life.

March 19. 2008

I got a picture today that is a possible! It is from behind so all I see is a longish haired black cat with a white streak on his collar just like Roy has. Now I just need him to turn around so I can get a really good look.

March 18. 2008

The marshmellows worked! The raccoons ate them and left my cat food alone! I have at least 3 cats come to the buffet - but all of them kept their back to the camera so I don't know who they are. I might need to move the camera to a different angle.

I have also been feeding them long enough that I will need to contact a feral group to see how to wean them off the food. At least the weather is getting warmer so they should be able to go back to hunting well.

March 17 2008

Today was the first day that my buffet had no raccoons! The marshmellows didn't seem to be touched either but I am not complaining.

I have a few cats come visiting but the plate got moved so I only got a good look at one of them - not Roy. I will have to move the plate to get better pictures.

March 16, 2008

There is a new cat at my home buffet! So maybe it is possible for Roy to be lured home this way. I do have a possum coming here so I need to find a way to discourage it without chasing away the cats. If Roy came and didn't find food would he come back later or would he not bother?

I put out jack mackeral at the other sites so hopefully I will get some more cats there. I did put out lots of marshmellows so the raccoons will go for them instead of my cat food.

March 15, 2008

Today I went to a birthday party and didn't get home until now. I felt it was a bit late to be running around in other people's yards and decided that one day shouldn't hurt. I hope.

I did buy some marshmellows - I was told they work better then apples. They were on sale so I got 6 bags worth.

March 14, 2008

The camera at aloha picked up a new cat - a calico. So at least more cats are getting the idea that food is there.

The camera at the latest sighting got a black cat who kept all the important body parts from the camera, and the batteries died so I don't know any more about her.

Raccoons ate the food at the other station - the apples were gone too! I am going to need a better way to keep them from the cat food.

I didn't notice there was an error when trying to post this last night.

March 13, 2008

I haven't been keeping up with the blog because I don't really have anything to report. Racoons have been eating my food so tonight I put out apples. hopefully that will help.

March 11, 2008

I did my usual rounds today. I got a new cat at one of my cameras - a simese. I also got permission to put a camera in the woods where he was last seen. I now need to make the tough decision on which camera to move. A friend sent me one that I have at my house now so I can see what is eating my food now that Leo has moved away.

March 9, 2008

So I went door to door again today. The good thing is that people seem to know me. Every single person gave me back my flyer and said my postcard was on their fridge and they were looking for Roy. One person did ask me if I have been looking for him since summer and seemed to be very surprised (not in a good way) that I am still looking for him. I don't know why I am letting someone else have so much space in my mind but I am now wondering if I should let it go. It's been over 6 months - is there really hope of finding him now?

I did my rounds with the cameras - none of the food dishes had been washed away. Looks like the camera in the senior community finally got the black cat - it is not Roy.

March 8, 2008

For the past three days we have had some serious rainstorms. My entire front yard/driveway is a lake. I have seen many roads are well on the way to being washed out.

Because of this I haven't bothered putting out more food or checking on the cameras. Since all the plates are in the open all I will do is get soggy friskies - which nothing eats. I am hoping that tomorrow will be better so I can go check on everything and knock on more doors.

March 5, 2008

Due to last nights huge rainstorm nothing was at any of the sites. I replenished all the friskies and set the third camera back up again. I have no idea why it wasn't working - maybe the cold?

I set it up in the house and it took pictures right away. I know that the cat with the white stripe is still in the area because I was told by the lady who owns the house the camera is at that she saw him. So I can't abandon the area until I know for sure if it was him.

March 4, 2008

It is raining so there is nothing to note at any of my locations. I did put out food to keep the animals in the area.

March 3, 2008

The first camera still only has the tabby. The tabby has been there a while because he was just hanging out by the shed for a while.

The second camera still is not taking pictures. I took it home with me so I can figure out with the issue is. I was talking to the lady who owns the house and she saw the cat with the white stripe again a few days ago while walking her dog. SO this cat is staying in the area. I will not abandon this area until I get a picture of it. She did say that he looked at her when she called his name. but Roy was partially deaf. I am not sure if this makes a difference or not. I am thinking of putting together a mug shot and showing it to her. Getting picture of different tuxedos and seeing if she can pick out the cat she saw. She did tell me I can keep the camera up as long as I need to - which is a big relief.

The third camera got a black and white cat - but it was too close to the camera so I moved the food back and hope that will help.

March 2, 2008

The first camera had pictures of a tabby - which doesn't look anything like Roy! But the person said he did see the tabby and that was not the cat he had called about.

The second camera is not taking pictures. I reset it to see if it was the positioning. If I don't have pictures by tomorrow morning I will have to read the manual to see what the problem could be.

I went to set up the third camera on the same place I had it a few weeks ago. A friend had photoshoped the pictures and one of them looked like it could be Roy. There were too many areas that could wing either way. He had a stripe on the forehead, but it wasn't quite right, but the head was at a weird angle. The fur was way shaggier - but it is winter. The feet were right. So I put the camera back so I could be sure either way. The couple in the house were very nice to me and agreed that I could leave it until I was sure.