Imbrium
Jennifer
sometimes Gaz is fine with it; I guess it depends on what Nala's doing. they'll sit face to butt in the litter box pretty often with one of them munching on hay.
Nala and Gaz
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Imbrium
Jennifer
bunny situation's about the same, they bicker a little and snuggle quite a bit when they're out together. tomorrow they're off restrictions, so I'm gonna clean up their run again tonight and let 'em move around more... if things are going well, I'll let them stay out in the run together tonight and sleep in there with them.
I had a total *squee* moment with the stray kitties tonight!
I was out feeding them dinner... I've always been certain the orange cat would let me touch it first when the time came - he's always been very wary of me, but never seemed outright afraid like the grayish-brown and white one. the shyer kitty used to not even let me get within 15-20 feet of it, but lately it'll let me get pretty close as long as it's inside the garage and peering under the door to watch me put out food.
well, the shyer kitty shocked the hell out of me tonight! she (I *think* it's a girl; at the very least it doesn't appear to be a un-neutered male) actually came OUT of the garage not just while I was near but while I was standing *right* there pouring food in the bowls and started eating! I reached out very slowly and gently pet her from her neck to mid-back and she didn't run or flinch or anything! I pet her like that three times and then backed off so as not to spook her by moving too fast, then went and cleaned the water bowl. I can't believe she let me touch her!
I had a total *squee* moment with the stray kitties tonight!
I was out feeding them dinner... I've always been certain the orange cat would let me touch it first when the time came - he's always been very wary of me, but never seemed outright afraid like the grayish-brown and white one. the shyer kitty used to not even let me get within 15-20 feet of it, but lately it'll let me get pretty close as long as it's inside the garage and peering under the door to watch me put out food.
well, the shyer kitty shocked the hell out of me tonight! she (I *think* it's a girl; at the very least it doesn't appear to be a un-neutered male) actually came OUT of the garage not just while I was near but while I was standing *right* there pouring food in the bowls and started eating! I reached out very slowly and gently pet her from her neck to mid-back and she didn't run or flinch or anything! I pet her like that three times and then backed off so as not to spook her by moving too fast, then went and cleaned the water bowl. I can't believe she let me touch her!
whitelop
Morgan
That is always the way we started touching our strays. You keep doing that and they'll associate loving with food and then it won't care about you being around anymore.
Its so funny to watch strays because they're scared of you then you touch them while they're eat and you can almost hear them say "oh, thats kind of nice. Okay you can pet me a little while I eat"
That is exciting that she let you touch her though!
Its so funny to watch strays because they're scared of you then you touch them while they're eat and you can almost hear them say "oh, thats kind of nice. Okay you can pet me a little while I eat"
That is exciting that she let you touch her though!
agnesthelion
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Well maybe the girls being off restrictions will help sort things out. Take all the other variables out, so to speak.
I do agree with Suzette that sometimes too much space can cause scuffles but, not sure that applies to you. I guess it depends on how close to square one you had to go back to. I think you have good instincts with your girls and you will know what to do.
Cute moment with the kitten
I remember when I was 9 years old there was a lone stray black kitten in the empty lot behind our house. All by my 9 year old self, I bonded with this kitten. I mean, she started out SO scared of me that I couldn't even be within 50 feet of her and she would take off. I can remember the moment she finally came up to me like it was yesterday. I was so proud!
You should try and get some pics of the cute kitties finally trusting you. It would be cute to see
I do agree with Suzette that sometimes too much space can cause scuffles but, not sure that applies to you. I guess it depends on how close to square one you had to go back to. I think you have good instincts with your girls and you will know what to do.
Cute moment with the kitten
I remember when I was 9 years old there was a lone stray black kitten in the empty lot behind our house. All by my 9 year old self, I bonded with this kitten. I mean, she started out SO scared of me that I couldn't even be within 50 feet of her and she would take off. I can remember the moment she finally came up to me like it was yesterday. I was so proud!You should try and get some pics of the cute kitties finally trusting you. It would be cute to see
Imbrium
Jennifer
I do have a couple pictures of each of them that I took a while back... http://s1183.photobucket.com/albums/x465/mareimbri1/bunnies/stray kitties/
I'll be able to get some close-up shots within the next month, probably. I'm planning to go take a 2h class on november 17th with san antonio's TNR (trap-neuter-release) program - once you take the class, you can pay a refundable deposit in order to be loaned humane traps plus a temp cage/crate thing for after you trap the cat(s) and for a couple days or something right after their surgery. they have lots of places you can bring the cats to get dirt cheap spay/neuter surgeries + vaccinations (anywhere from $5 to $25 per cat *total*) - only catch is you have to have taken the class and you have to bring the kitties in the humane traps. they fix 'em and vaccinate them, then you release the stray kitties back to wherever you found them and can continue feeding them and stuff.
basically, instead of cramming half-wild cats into shelters where they might get put down if they can't become fit to be pets, they encourage allowing them to stay in their existing feral cat colonies but want to get them all fixed/vaccinated for obvious reasons... then whatever volunteer has adopted the colony can continue to look after them.
I'll be able to get some close-up shots within the next month, probably. I'm planning to go take a 2h class on november 17th with san antonio's TNR (trap-neuter-release) program - once you take the class, you can pay a refundable deposit in order to be loaned humane traps plus a temp cage/crate thing for after you trap the cat(s) and for a couple days or something right after their surgery. they have lots of places you can bring the cats to get dirt cheap spay/neuter surgeries + vaccinations (anywhere from $5 to $25 per cat *total*) - only catch is you have to have taken the class and you have to bring the kitties in the humane traps. they fix 'em and vaccinate them, then you release the stray kitties back to wherever you found them and can continue feeding them and stuff.
basically, instead of cramming half-wild cats into shelters where they might get put down if they can't become fit to be pets, they encourage allowing them to stay in their existing feral cat colonies but want to get them all fixed/vaccinated for obvious reasons... then whatever volunteer has adopted the colony can continue to look after them.
whitelop
Morgan
That is so awesome that they have a class to help out with the feral cat population. I am a total believer of the TNR program. I don't know if we have it here, but its something to look into.
Are you certified or whatever for a certain period of time? Like after you get your little pride of fixed, can you do it again with more cats from a different pride?
BTW the kitties are adorable. The little orange tabby has a really sweet face. Is that one the boy? It looks like it, he looks like hes got a tom cat head. They're lucky to have found you.
Are you certified or whatever for a certain period of time? Like after you get your little pride of fixed, can you do it again with more cats from a different pride?
BTW the kitties are adorable. The little orange tabby has a really sweet face. Is that one the boy? It looks like it, he looks like hes got a tom cat head. They're lucky to have found you.
Imbrium
Jennifer
I assume you'd be certified or whatever for a while, though hopefully my "colony" will stay at two cats, lol - they, the racoon(s) and the opossum(s) are eating me out of house and home! (not sure which of the other critters I have multiple of, but definitely one of 'em 'cause I'm going through 4-5 lbs of cat food a day)
I caught a glimpse of what looked like boy bits on the orange cat at one point, so I'm guessing it's an unneutered male. the other one, if female, must already be spayed 'cause there's no humping and no kittens.
I plan to try to bond with them more while they're captured... I suspect that if I can get the brownish-gray and white cat to warm up to me, she'd make a wonderful little house cat. she's got a very sweet and docile personality, she's just really scared. I suppose I'd be wary of hell as humans if someone dumped me out on the street, too. poor kitties!
I caught a glimpse of what looked like boy bits on the orange cat at one point, so I'm guessing it's an unneutered male. the other one, if female, must already be spayed 'cause there's no humping and no kittens.
I plan to try to bond with them more while they're captured... I suspect that if I can get the brownish-gray and white cat to warm up to me, she'd make a wonderful little house cat. she's got a very sweet and docile personality, she's just really scared. I suppose I'd be wary of hell as humans if someone dumped me out on the street, too. poor kitties!
agnesthelion
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basically, instead of cramming half-wild cats into shelters where they might get put down if they can't become fit to be pets, they encourage allowing them to stay in their existing feral cat colonies but want to get them all fixed/vaccinated for obvious reasons... then whatever volunteer has adopted the colony can continue to look after them.
^^^^i had no idea this even existed. Why isn't this done more often with feral cats! Seems like a perfect solution to me!
^^^^i had no idea this even existed. Why isn't this done more often with feral cats! Seems like a perfect solution to me!
holtzchick
Well-Known Member
I'm glad you started a blog I will also be reading! I love seeing your girls together! It's a shame that their bond has hit a rough patch recently but nothing some TLC won't fix
whitelop
Morgan
Stray cats always seem to make the best cats. I've had plenty of strays turn into pets in my lifetime. We had one come up who was about a year old, I put him to sleep at this time last year, after 17 years with us. He was a great cat.
I'm so glad you're doing this for the kitties! I hope your colony stays just the 2 as well. Its really hard with more than that, we had 12 cats at one point and I think 7 were strays.
How are your bunny babies today? Are they bonding any better?
I'm so glad you're doing this for the kitties! I hope your colony stays just the 2 as well. Its really hard with more than that, we had 12 cats at one point and I think 7 were strays.
How are your bunny babies today? Are they bonding any better?
Imbrium
Jennifer
still getting into scuffles, but no one is actually getting hurt so I've been letting them work it out themselves. the chase scenes seem to be happening significantly less often and sometimes Gaz just thumps and moves away and Nala doesn't chase. they're spending a lot of time sleeping and eating together.
they got their home back yesterday morning (I let them off restrictions like 9 hours early because I was going to be asleep). Nala was running around the pen doing little binkies
I slept in there with them just in case they got into a fight, but they were quiet (as usual) while I slept. I did wake up at one point and moved my hand down towards my leg where I discovered Nala in bed with me, curled up against my thigh! she moved when I touched her and came up and sat on my pillow for a bit while I fell back asleep - too cute!
an interesting side-effect of the bonding issues is that Gaz has gotten cuddlier towards me - used to be when I'd try to pet her, she'd run off (often towards Nala like "save me from that big thing")... now she's much more receptive to petting and even comes to me sometimes if Nala upsets her. she also got in bed with me a little more often than usual.
I've gotta say, this whole spaying thing has really made me understand more how people get frustrated with poorly-kept rabbits. they get pretty smelly and destructive when they're confined in a tiny space all the time with no out-of-the-cage time!
Nala's cage was a disaster... I'd given her a kleenex box with some of the crappy bale alfalfa that was chopped to bits and very dusty to see if she'd eat it and she ended up dumping it all over the floor. I saw very little tarp through all the hay (she also spread out her timothy instead of eating it).
I hadn't cleaned out the cage in 2-3 days and when I was cleaning it right after I let them back into the pen and took the temp cage apart, I found she'd made herself a toilet BESIDE the litter box on a pile of hay mulch >.>
most of the pee seemed to have gone UNDER the edge of the condo and all of it had damp 1'' long alfalfa bits + tons of alfalfa dust stuck in it. the shop vac was in over its head because of how clumped together stuff was. I just got what I could with paper towels and left the rest to dry out so I could go back today to scrape off another layer. it's a filthy mess! I haven't even bothered with the first floor of the condo where Gaz was yet, but at least that can probably be solved by peeling the fleece off the coroplast and throwing it away. I've gotta get the floor mess cleaned up first, though, so I can actually sit on the floor to clean out the condo.
I really hope I never have to confine them like that again - they make so much less of a mess when they've got more space and it's much easier to find the messes and get them cleaned up quickly before the problem escalates.
they got their home back yesterday morning (I let them off restrictions like 9 hours early because I was going to be asleep). Nala was running around the pen doing little binkies
I slept in there with them just in case they got into a fight, but they were quiet (as usual) while I slept. I did wake up at one point and moved my hand down towards my leg where I discovered Nala in bed with me, curled up against my thigh! she moved when I touched her and came up and sat on my pillow for a bit while I fell back asleep - too cute!
an interesting side-effect of the bonding issues is that Gaz has gotten cuddlier towards me - used to be when I'd try to pet her, she'd run off (often towards Nala like "save me from that big thing")... now she's much more receptive to petting and even comes to me sometimes if Nala upsets her. she also got in bed with me a little more often than usual.
I've gotta say, this whole spaying thing has really made me understand more how people get frustrated with poorly-kept rabbits. they get pretty smelly and destructive when they're confined in a tiny space all the time with no out-of-the-cage time!
Nala's cage was a disaster... I'd given her a kleenex box with some of the crappy bale alfalfa that was chopped to bits and very dusty to see if she'd eat it and she ended up dumping it all over the floor. I saw very little tarp through all the hay (she also spread out her timothy instead of eating it).
I hadn't cleaned out the cage in 2-3 days and when I was cleaning it right after I let them back into the pen and took the temp cage apart, I found she'd made herself a toilet BESIDE the litter box on a pile of hay mulch >.>
most of the pee seemed to have gone UNDER the edge of the condo and all of it had damp 1'' long alfalfa bits + tons of alfalfa dust stuck in it. the shop vac was in over its head because of how clumped together stuff was. I just got what I could with paper towels and left the rest to dry out so I could go back today to scrape off another layer. it's a filthy mess! I haven't even bothered with the first floor of the condo where Gaz was yet, but at least that can probably be solved by peeling the fleece off the coroplast and throwing it away. I've gotta get the floor mess cleaned up first, though, so I can actually sit on the floor to clean out the condo.
I really hope I never have to confine them like that again - they make so much less of a mess when they've got more space and it's much easier to find the messes and get them cleaned up quickly before the problem escalates.
whitelop
Morgan
Imbrium wrote:
That is so awesome that Gaz is more lovey! I wonder if its from the spay or if its from her and Nala not getting along. Either way, its awesome! I'm really glad that they're getting along better too.
Foo is doing the same thing with the pee. She is dumping her hay out and putting it in a pile and peeing in it. NEXT to the litter box. She got locked out of her cage for almost 2 days because she was being a brat. I got it all cleaned out though, wow what a pain in the *** that was.
My shop vac doesn't like to vacuum up hay, wet or dry. It just doesn't want to do it.
That is so awesome that Gaz is more lovey! I wonder if its from the spay or if its from her and Nala not getting along. Either way, its awesome! I'm really glad that they're getting along better too.
Foo is doing the same thing with the pee. She is dumping her hay out and putting it in a pile and peeing in it. NEXT to the litter box. She got locked out of her cage for almost 2 days because she was being a brat. I got it all cleaned out though, wow what a pain in the *** that was.
My shop vac doesn't like to vacuum up hay, wet or dry. It just doesn't want to do it.
Imbrium
Jennifer
so here's what Gaz spent her 10 days of captivity doing... the fleece and coroplast were 100% untouched when they got spayed. you can also see some of the pee mess Nala made in the temp cage on the bottom half of the pic:
some pics of Gaz in their new hammock:
I also got them some other goodies that arrived while they were in lock-up:
https://secure.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?SKU=1271377
https://secure.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?SKU=1478460
https://secure.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?SKU=1268821
some pics of Gaz in their new hammock:
I also got them some other goodies that arrived while they were in lock-up:
https://secure.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?SKU=1271377
https://secure.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?SKU=1478460
https://secure.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?SKU=1268821
I have one bun that's messy like that all the time. Drives me crazy!! Gaz looks comfy in her hammock
agnesthelion
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I'm glad they are worming out their scuffles with no injuries. I tell ya, the language buns speak to each other is so intricate, you may never kmow what got into them.
The pee and poop mess could be from marking territory again maybe? Either way, I know it's not fun having messy buns? Agnes was basically, well, perfect. Archie is a little messier, he's great with his litter box, thank goodness, but he throws hay everywhere, pellets everywhere, rearranges like crazy. He's a nutty bun!
The pee and poop mess could be from marking territory again maybe? Either way, I know it's not fun having messy buns? Agnes was basically, well, perfect.
Archie is a little messier, he's great with his litter box, thank goodness, but he throws hay everywhere, pellets everywhere, rearranges like crazy. He's a nutty bun!
Imbrium
Jennifer
well, they've always had poops everywhere, so it's not surprising that they ended up with them all over the place in such tiny cages. their run has actually seemed marginally cleaner since I let them out (compared to pre-spays), though!
the pee... well, they tend to think hay is for peeing on. if the pile of hay happens to not be in the litter box... yeah, that's what happened to my floor.
I caught them snuggling in the hammock today! I was SO happy because they stopped using their old hammock like a month ago. I thought maybe they outgrew it or something because once upon a time they LOVED it, so I got them the new one that's a lot bigger and moved it to be above the top level in the condo so that it adds an extra level. I snapped a few pics, though I didn't get a really good one 'cause when I opened the door for pics they decided to get up for pets.
the pee... well, they tend to think hay is for peeing on. if the pile of hay happens to not be in the litter box... yeah, that's what happened to my floor.
I caught them snuggling in the hammock today! I was SO happy because they stopped using their old hammock like a month ago. I thought maybe they outgrew it or something because once upon a time they LOVED it, so I got them the new one that's a lot bigger and moved it to be above the top level in the condo so that it adds an extra level. I snapped a few pics, though I didn't get a really good one 'cause when I opened the door for pics they decided to get up for pets.
Imbrium
Jennifer
ssd: bunnies is in trouble today!somebunny PEED in my bed (well, air mattress) while I was in the kitchen getting cereal and parsley for breakfast!! not just a little bit, either, like an "I just drank a big gulp" pee! I just washed those sheets two days ago, too
ssd:to top it off, a ROACH died in my laundry room *cringe*
I suppose I should just be thankful that I wasn't in the path of that godawful hurricane... but seriously... pee IN my bed??
whitelop
Morgan
Somebun was like "oh, this bed looks nice, I shall pee on it to make it MINE!" Then they binkied away knowing they now own your bed too!
Imbrium
Jennifer
I was fine with the poop-marking they did on my air mattress a while back (like the time they left 50+ poops in < 15 mins), but this crosses a line!
whitelop
Morgan
So I've been reading through some of the Muppet petition posts, and Nala REALLY does look like a Muppet.
Like, she could have little sticks coming from her legs and she would be a Jim Henson Muppet! She's beautiful and adorable don't get me wrong, but...she looks like a Muppet! I never really noticed until I started reading those posts.
I wish I had a bun that looked like a Muppet!
Geez how many times can I say Muppet in one post?! hahaha.
Like, she could have little sticks coming from her legs and she would be a Jim Henson Muppet! She's beautiful and adorable don't get me wrong, but...she looks like a Muppet! I never really noticed until I started reading those posts.
I wish I had a bun that looked like a Muppet!
Geez how many times can I say Muppet in one post?! hahaha.
