h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

not totally safe on the roof ,always chance of falling off being mobbed by birds, heat exhaustion,poisoning (lead the water he drinks in gullies and valleys will plus copper) Yes its the right thing to do, other than get the lanlord to discover the benifits of having a cat on the roof, vermin control and all that and provide a little house for him. but we both know that wont happen .

Its very unlikely your two would accept him as both are aware of each other ,you said before his face has appeared in your kitchen window, so your two may have seen him at night, and had he been wellcome they would have looked for him when playfull.The roof options was ok for a short while but as an adult ground level is better.

az, I can understand your hesitancy -- he's not bothered (much) where he is, but if he goes to ground level, there's other threats he's never dealt with.

Have you ever seen him interact with other cats? Would he know what to do, to defend himself? The idea of a bolt hole is a very good one, he'll need a place to "go to ground" if need be. Maybe there's a place where walls intersect behind some bushes? Something like that. So is the whistle or special call, so he'll know it's you.

The reality is, their lives are often shorter when on the street. Taking him in, while more reassuring for your peace of mind, would probably not be the best for him, particularly if he's never been an inside cat and had to interact with other males in close quarters. Being outside is something he's used to, and as long as there isn't heavy traffic in the park, it should be as safe as where he is now. Safer, maybe, depending on what measures Pepe may take if he continues on the roof.

My best wishes, whatever you do. Nimbus is blessed to have someone care so much about him.

SC

You and strays eh!

I seem to remember you looking after a little stray with straggly black hair recently, rather too well if memory serves correctly.

Dont fret yourself too much cats and other strays are tougher than you think and resourceful enough to get by. Let go a little and Nimbus should be fine but Im sure he be glad if you dropped by with the odd meal from time to time.

hi Space Cadette,

No, Nimbus is not bothered much where he is, as long as he gets regular food - and more importantly, daily water.

The main problem about him being up there is my landlord, who doesn't want a cat sh*tting and peeing all over the roof. Pepe even told me he went to a place to ask for cat poison and was told that no such thing existed, only rat poison. And Pepe didn't think further - that he could probably also use rat poision to kill Nimbus. Thank goodness!

I keep going upstairs to sweep up the cat poo and stay up there when I feed Nimbus to make sure he gets a drink of water (since I can't live the water bowl up there). It's quite stressful as at any moment Pepe might come up.

The idea about taking him in is more scary in terms of upsetting the boys - trust me, they are such wimps. Azar is now 10 and Sunny is 12 - they pretty much grew up together and so are very comfortable with each other. Azar was only five months old when I took him in. In fact, they are best mates and sleep together, play together. To suddenly bring in a 1-2 year old semi-feral MALE with an *attitude* would probably be a serious mistake.

Pepe is going on holiday next week, which means I could probably keep feeding Nimbus on the roof throughout the summer. But it's also going to be SO F**KING HOT up there - way hotter than it is in the street, and even way more hotter than it would be in the gardens.

Picture it - hot tile rooftops, sun baking down all day long, no water, no other life forms, just this one stranded cat.

I guess one way to look at it is that he wouldn't have lasted this long without me feeding him since last September. And he REALLY wouldn't have survived dehydration last month without me intervening and sneaking water up to him after the workmen left.

The 'garden option' is just one that might give him a fighting chance to live more naturally as a cat than he has been doing since last September. I mean, the poor thing just hangs out on the roof and waits for food. Nothing to do there, nothing to hunt, no other life forms except the occasional human hanging out their laundry.

I personally think he's a fighter. I think he would at least appreciate being in a garden full of other life than the barren existence he's been living in.


az

<>

I seem to remember that he wasn't all that LITTLE.

I reckon Nimbus is tough enough, and will wait around where he is let off - *his spot* - for meals from us. He's certainly not stupid. He's used to being fed now. But I also think a lovely green and shady park with fresh water available and lots of rats to eat might suit him quite nicely. Much better than a hot and barren rooftop.


az

Oh poor az - this must be tearing you apart.

I would also be tempted to get him off that roof but would worry myself senseless about how he would survive in the gardens.

Having said that I think I would opt for catching him, taking him to see Maria for his jabs and castration and then taking him to the gardens. You will keep an eye on him no doubt and he will be a happier cat for however long he survives.

It does sound like an awful and lonely life for him on that roof.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Debs

az, I think the boys would probably be very displeased!

IF you do take him to the park, how on earth are you going to get him down there? If you have to bundle him into a carrier, be sure to stock up on Betadine (iodine) wash first -- cat bites can be nasty!

SC

If you did take him down to the park, if he wasn't happy there, at least he could find someplace else to go. If he IS stranded on the roof, he has no choice about where he goes (nowhere...).

My inclination would be:
1) to take him in
2) take him to the park
3) find someplace else for him

Since the first is not a viable choice, he really is safer at ground level, in the park or elsewhere....

Getting him into the carrier might not be all that difficult. With the landolrd away, you have time to "jolly him into it".

When I got the carrier for Benjamin, I just left it open for him to investigate. After a while, I cloded the door while he was in, opened it after a few seconds, closed it, left it closed for longer and now he likes to sleep in it.

If you put it up there in a shady sorner (if there is one... if not, drape a blanket over it to create some shade), with water and his food in it, you may be able to sit there while he eats and then, simply close him in....

I don't KNOW if it would work, but it might.

Perhaps if you miss a feeding and then put the food inside, he'll be hungry enough to go in for the food and not be copncerned about enclosed space it is in....

If and when you do take him to the park, keep him in the cage while he gets himself oriented and interested in his surroundings before opening it.

That was shady corner, not sorner....

You guys are the best!

I've really appreciated all your input, advice, etc.

I've been in touch with Maria the vet and she says she is going to ask around her clinic to see if anyone wants to take in a fully-grown abandoned male cat.

Anyhow, I think the idea of taking him in myself is pretty much ruled out. I mean, I have to think of the 'boys' first and given that they are quite old now and set in their ways, having Nimbus here would be far too disruptive and might end up having quite disastrous results.

I'm thinking it wouldn't be that hard to get Nimbus into the cage. It's quite a large plastic cage with plenty of ventilation - I used it when I 'trapped' Azar all those years ago. I just put a tin of tuna at the back of the cage, Azar went straight in to eat and I closed the door. Nimbus might be more suspicious, but after Pepe leaves on holiday I could leave the cage up there for him to get used to. But I reckon if I put something very tempting like tinned tuna or sardines at the back of the cage, Nimbus would go straight in. Well, and then he will turn into the Tasmanian Devil after I close the door (which is what Azar did).

<>

This is why I'd do this in the early morning, Mudhooks. So I could stay with him as long as was necessary. I'd wait until he calmed down and started sniffing at what was outside the cage, then I'd open the door and let him take his time coming out. And I'd put out a bit more food and a water dish for him outside the cage (that guy is constantly hungry, even after he's had a good meal).

I'm not sure about having him castrated before letting him out in the park, Lady. I'll ask Maria what she thinks but I reckon he is going to need his b@lls out there, that this will help him survive. Castrated cats tend to be much more passive and I don't think he'd survive long if he didn't have all his natural resources, so to speak.

Since Pepe is leaving soon for summer holidays I could keep Nimbus up on the roof for most of the summer, but come September I'd still have to do *something*. And a hot summer, with temps sometimes reaching close to 50º (especially up on the roof) seems a very harsh thing to put him through.

I've even thought about trapping Nimbus in the cage and taking him down to the Animal Protection place, but then he'd only be given one or two weeks (max) to be adopted before they put him down. And really, who is going to want to adopt a snarly hissy-spitty fully-grown tom like him? People tend to adopt cute kittens and puppies there.

Someone else told me yesterday that it seemed cruel to just chuck him out 'in the street'. And when I explained it wasn't going to be in the street but in a very lush garden setting they said - 'same thing!'

<> (Space Cadet)

Yes, I know that. I've taken care of other street cats - including Azar's dad - so I know they don't last that long 'out there'. Azar's dad (Cat) died just before the kittens were born - he'd been in a fight and got a serious infection, and even giving him antibiotics in his food didn't help. It was the same situation back then, that I wasn't able to take in a fully grown street tom so I just did what I could.

Meanwhile, Nimbus cannot stay on the roof - Pepe has made this very clear. Also Nimbus would have been dead long ago without me feeding and watering him daily since last September.

The garden option is the best thing I can think of right now for Nimbus. And even if he only lasts a few more months out there, well, he would have lived more of a natural cat life, hunting and fighting and mating and all that stuff. And I do plan to keep stopping by the gardens once a day to leave food for him.

But I won't do anything immediately. I want to hear back from Maria. Imagine if she comes up with someone wanting to adopt an old abandoned thing like Nimbus! I'm sure I'd do it myself, if I didn't have other cats to think about.

Poor ol' Nimbus. I really do want the best option for him.


az

Gaaaaa! It's happened again. Woke up this morning to discover that the sofa had been peed and cr*pped all over! And given the size of the turds it had to be Sunny (his are much bigger than Azar's). So I picked Sunny up, showed him the sofa and snapped my fingers at him (no, didn't 'rub his nose' in it or spank him, which I also didn't do last time) and he immediately raced under the bed and hasn't shown himself since.

It's been months since the last incident on the bed. I just don't understand WHY this happens from time to time.

Annoyingly, Sunny managed to do serious pee damage. I have a throw over the sofa (to hide the fact that Lua ripped the entire thing to shreds) so that obviously needed to be washed. But he also managed to soak both seat cushions, the back cushion and even down into the bottom sofa frame itself. Luckily the back cushion comes off and just fits into the washing machine, but the seat cushions (big huge square foam things) had to be washed in the bathtub and are now out drying on the balcony. As for the bottom bit of the sofa, I could only scrub it down with a strong cleaning solution and hope that takes away the cat pee smell.

Anyhow, I am not 'punishing' Sunny this time by 'making' him stay under the bed. In fact, I didn't even say anything to him, just showed him the sofa and snapped my fingers to show my disapproval. But he's been under the bed now for about six hours . . . I guess he remembers the last time.

I just wish I understood why this happens! I also discovered that 'someone' had peed on my work table in my studio overnight - luckily it didn't damage the finish (cheap IKEA table top that it is) but . . . why?

If it was only random peeing outside the box then it could be a sign of illness, but the pooing says to me that it is some sort of neurotic 'acting up' (which was also Maria's opinion last time it happened).

Meanwhile, we can't use the sofa until the foam seat cushions dry, which could take until tomorrow . . .

Gaaaaa.

az

teritorial possesion possible,this is mine sort of thing ,maybe as a result of nimbus smells ,now that you are getting closer to him.For all his size he will still be threatened by nimbus,and nimbus is bound to be marking out his space.Generly it feeling threatened that starts most cats doing this,normaly if its behind tv or sofa recomend putting a bowl of food there as most cats tend not to mess near food.

Mind your the size of the turds are not always proportinate to the size of the depositor.

Yeah I know turd size can vary but Sunny's tend to be quite big. Azar's tend to be smaller. This is from years of observation. Also later on, once I'd taken the sofa apart, Azar showed up looking very curious. Which *could* have been the perpetrator visiting the 'scene of the crime' but he really looked a bit confused and was sniffing about (when I got up Azar was fast asleep on the balcony and Sunny was moaning about his brekky).

I don't see how Sunny could feel threatened by Nimbus as we never touch him, though we might bring in smells of him on our shoes after being upstairs. But then, wouldn't Sunny pee on the shoes?

Thing is, Sunny isn't castrated, so he *may* still have territorial issues due to this. Azar has been castrated and has never acted threatened when I've temporarily brought home strays - in fact, he always wants to play with them. Sunny, on the other hand, usually hides under the bed.

After I cleaned up the pee on my work table I found Azar in that room fast asleep in a box of patterns I have on the floor in there. So I don't think it's him doing this. Mind you, he's such a clever and devious thing that maybe he's setting Sunny up???

I think I mentioned before that the owner of Sunny's father told me that Mis *always* shat on the sofa when they didn't get up early enough to feed him his breakfast - could this sort of behaviour be hereditary???

I'm now somewhat concerned about our new bed - heaven forfend that a mess is made there! When it happened last time it was winter and the duvet soaked up most of the pee (and we just rinsed it out afterwards). No damage to the mattress.

Anyhow, feeling a bit sad that Sunny has now been under the bed for seven hours without a peep from him. I think I should go have a talk with him and give him a cuddle . . .


az

Poor kitty....

Benjamin did that a few times when my ex and I were together... peeing, anyway. I think that those times, it was a "pee problem". However, once my Mom and I moved into this place, before I finally put a door onto the back room in the basement, he peed all over the couch in the basement. He also had a "pee problem" that time and was peeing all over. The vet said that it was either crystals or nerves or both...

However, a couple of times, it was on my duvet (when my ex and I were together) and twice on the couch (in this house).

In the case of the couch, it was both pee and poo and I think in both cases, it was "That's what you get" for something he felt slighted about.

Since both times it was on Mom's end of the couch, I feltit was something to do with her.

Since Mom does most of his feeding, now, he seems to recognise that 1) she is here to stay, and 2) that she has some value to him, he hasn't done it since.

I am thinging that one of those times, the door to the basement was accidentally closed. His box was in the basement. Since then, I installed a rubber door-stop on the indide of the door which flips down so that I can put him in the basement and he can't come up, if we have to do something which requires the front door being left open. I also put a second box (rather unattractivelty) in the hall closet so that he has reasonably quick access to either one.

That (and a diet change) seems to have solved both the "pee prblem" and with a change in attitude about Mom, the problem with the "snit" pooping.

Ummm, I hate to bring this up, as I don't know how others feel about it, but why is Sunny still .. au nateurel? (apologizing for any foreign spelling mistakes).

I live in a very busy area, traffic wise, and I viewed having Rocket neutered as for his own good, since if he got out his chances of a tangle-up with a car were high (having seen the evidence of others... ).

Just curious, tell me to 'myob' if I offend.

SC

Well, Sunny and Azar are both apartment cats - as was Lua.

I got Azar castrated because after he matured he started marking territory all over the place. But as Sunny never did this I didn't see it necessary to put him through an operation for nothing.

Neither of the boys has ever shown any interest in 'escaping' - especially Azar. I mean, when Sunny was younger and more agile he used to perch on top of the balcony railings (eek!) but Azar seemed to have got his fill of street life from his first five months living under cars and has never shown the slightest interest in anything going on outside *his place*. Likewise Sunny. That guy is such a big chicken that he usually hides under the bed when someone comes to the door (until he susses out who it is).


az

But unneutered males will mark territory by peeind and placing scat. Which is another reason I had gone that route with poor Rocket...

It could be that while you and Nog were out, you might have stepped on some other cat's markings and not realized it, like you would have, had it been on the roof with Nimbus. It could be Sunny is remarking on some bad*ss tom out there, whose smell he picked up.

SC

I thought I would share an un-cat but still animal story that occurred last night.

Over the last few days, while passing by the park across the street frp where my Mom is house-sitting, I had noticed a large white dog on several occasions, tethered to a park bench. It was some distance from, but facing, the tennis courts. I assumed it belonged to someone playing on the courts. However, since it WAS some distance, I couldn't be sure.

When I went by yesterday afternoon, I was sure it was still there, sitting in the shadows by the bench. Later, when we went ny in the evening, it was still there. I dropped Mom off and stopped beside the park. There it was. I was furious because while there were some kids playing in the courts, it really looked like the dog was either abandoned or simply tied there while the kids played for hours.

I told my sister that I was going to check on the dog.

I got out and walked across the field. When I got about 20 yards from the dog, I thought it strange that he didn't look over at me. Finally, about 10 yards away, I called out "Hey there, Puppy!"

No response.

I thought "Poor thing must be deaf!"

Just then, I noticed that in the light from the courts, his fur was glinting.... "How odd!" I thought....

Then it hit me.... It was a ceramic statue!!!

I had forgotten that all over the park, there are these white-glazed ceramic statues of dogs, cats, exotic animals, and people.... They aren't all to the same scale, either. This dog, however, was to scale.

Luckily, I didn't just march over to the tennis courts and start hollering about someone cruelly abandoning their dog or, even worse, call the Humane Society about the poor abandoned dog!

OMG!! That's so funny! I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when you called out!

Here's another funny story - bit long sorry...

I have one of those "Furreal" cats - they are very realistic looking animatronic toy cats that purr, miaow, hiss, raise their heads and tail and even push against your hand when you tickle them on the cheek!

I put it on my sofa once when a friend, who really doesn't like cats too much , was due to drop round. I told her that my cats were most likely to be asleep in the bedroom or out so she would be ok.

When she walked in and saw the "cat" on the sofa she didn't say anything but went and sat as far away as poss. I sat next to the "cat" and started stroking it so that it began purring and moving. She said that she'd rather not have the cat in the room if that was OK so I picked it up and threw it out the door!!! She freaked out! Started accusing me of cruelty and saying that she didn't think I would ever do that...meanwhile I was so much I was

Eventually I calmed her down and went and got the "cat". She wasn't impressed at first but then saw the funny side. In the end she sat with it on her lap for the rest of the evening! Now she says she's ok with cats and doesn't mind them in the room with her and will even go and stroke them! WOW!