What was that about herding cats again?

[dianec42]

There are three stray cats who seem to have adopted stuartc and me. We've bought a couple of divided food dishes and a few of those foil packets of cat food (we need more, BTW) to see if we can domesticate them. So far it's been going pretty well... the first time, stuartc put food in two of the dish compartments and I put water in the other two. The cats turned up their noses at the water - they must have some other source - and then crowded around the n-1 food sources. Well, fair enough - so this time I put food in three compartments.

Do they each eat out of one compartment? Of course not. The shy one hung back while the other two devoured the first compartment, then they all three crowded around the remaining two. (-:

I'm thinking of naming the black one Dishwasher, incidentally...

update: They're still hanging around -- I'm sure that as soon as I get off the couch to start doing anything, they're all going to flee. They've been in the living room for about 10 minutes now, even the shy one - a new record! Dominant black-and-white kitty has explored the bedrooms and come back; even the shy tortie is exploring the living room!

Comments

[gypsy0131.livejournal.com]

It might be wise to have them corralled and taken to the vets if you intend to have them in your house. We had a stray, fell in love, and a year later had to put him down because he had FLV. For some reason, strays tend to be more vulnerable to this sort of thing.

As to feeding, I noticed it is always best to have separate bowls placed in far flung areas so that you can have each cat eat happily in his or her own space. After all, you wouldn't want to eat one inch away from someone you were afraid of/disliked...

They sound lovely. Post a piccie!

All in good time...

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, we're going to have to catch them before we can take them to the vet. The big black & white one obviously used to be somebody's pet - he's been fixed, and he actually let stuartc pick him up last night. He's almost certainly had at least the basic shots. The other two are pretty wild though... they'll all need to go to the vet, but it's going to take some doing. (Especially if the two smaller ones are girls, we need to get them fixed!!)

[aliza250.livejournal.com]

Our cats have to be pretty thirsty to drink from their indoor water bowl, and I've seen them walk past the outdoor water cooler to drink out of a dirty bucket. A thin stream of water in the sink is the preferred source - we turn the water on in the bathroom sink, let the requesting kitty drink, and then turn it off. Sometimes I'll just close the drain and run a small pool of water in, then turn it off while the cat drinks.

A deep glass or ceramic bowl will keep the water cooler and tastier than a shallow plastic dish.

Laurie tamed a feral kitten, she may have some useful advice.