Posted on by robynhoovenwilson

Meet Blacky – The Nosiest Neighbor EVER!

Blacky being a spoiled brat
This picture describes Blacky to a TEE!!
Like He Owned the Place

Blacky first came into my life on August 17, 2015. I thought he was another feral cat or maybe a stray since he literally moved right on to our property as if he owned it!

He was already ear tipped. I LOVE when cats come to me already ear-tipped!! Ear tipping is a universal sign that a feral cat was trapped, neutered, vaccinated for rabies and then released/returned.

Since he was so friendly and looked well-kept, I posted his picture on Facebook to see if he was someone’s missing cat. My friend Ken, who works across the street from my house at his folks’ business, commented that it was his sister’s cat.

She recently moved back home with her husband and children.

He Needed a Home

A few days later, she came over and asked me to help her figure out what to do with him. She recently got a dog and Blacky and this dog didn’t get along. Plus, her folks had two cats upstairs that Blacky scrapped with. Unfortunately, in August it’s really difficult to find rescue around here because it’s the height of “kitten season”. The Kits were still outside at the time and I couldn’t even find a rescue to take four adorable 3-month old kittens let alone an adult cat with an ear tip!

She worked something out for him that he could stay on their screened-in porch and he could live outside. Plus, he had a home in my yard if he wanted it. He was originally a feral cat so this is the life he was used to.

A True Survivor

Rose told me that she met Blacky in Wildwood, NJ, when she lived there. An older neighbor was feeding him but really couldn’t afford to feed him anymore. It’s a mystery who neutered him. After Superstorm Sandy battered the NJ Shore in 2012, Rose rescued Blacky, (who was living outside as a feral cat at the time) packed up her family, and moved inland to a town neighboring ours.

Sandy was a horrendous storm that destroyed parts of the Jersey Shore. Blacky lived about 75 miles South of the worst damage, but Wildwood, NJ also was gravely affected by the storm surge, wind, and beach erosion. If you haven’t heard of Sandy, watch this video that shows some of the storm and damage.

Blacky is TRULY a survivor.

Blacky's First Visit
Blacky, the first day he “adopted” us as his second feeders, er, I mean, family!

Growing Pains

Blacky adopted us as his second family very quickly. Like, as soon as I fed him the first time, he decided this was his home, as well.

As if he always lived here and paid the taxes!

Blacky terrorized every other cat here. Fluffy and The Kits were still outside, Oreo was on patrol here many times per day, Chatty (now Cosmo…read about his rescue) showed up a couple of days later and was extremely frightened and sick. At the time, Oreo was living next door to the house where Blacky was staying and Blacky ran Oreo, the head honcho..the Lion King, out of there more times than I can count.

Blacky’s TOUGH. I guess with his life he HAD to be!

He also terrorized Big Orange when Orange moved here in 2016. That entire Spring and Summer I would have to hold the outdoor hose in my hand and warn Blacky that I was “cocked and loaded” if he chased Orange ONE more time!

He eventually settled down and co-exists peacefully with the Yard Cats as well as his doggie brother, but it took a good two years to get him to that point!

So Blacky was living here almost full time and slept here in a shelter I provided for him. He bounced back and forth between our house and the neighbor’s house with some stops off at their next door neighbor’s when it tickles his fancy.

Then He Became Very Sick

Blacky, sick, just before his mama came over and brought him home.
Blacky on January 18, 2016, just before his mama came over to take him inside.

In January, 2016, he was in his heated shelter out back. We get direct sunlight there in the Winter and that area gets nice and toasty. I went out to feed the cats and Blacky would NOT eat and wouldn’t come out all day. I called Rose and told her something was wrong. She came over to see him and he finally came out of his shelter for her, so she snatched him up and put him in a carrier to take him inside. We took him to the vet the next morning. He was burning up with a 105 degree fever and was diagnosed with eosinophilic granuloma complex. The vet gave him a Convenia injection and I had him give Blacky a Cerenia injection for nausea and an appetite stimulant. The vet directed Rose to keep him inside for as long as he would tolerate.

And thank God she did. Just a couple of days later, we got socked with the Blizzard of 2016. It would have been very tough for him to endure the 2′ of snow and high winds we had with that storm, especially if he was sick.

A New Arrangement

Blacky, being Blacky, could only be held inside for so long before he started to scheme his escape. Blacky does things HIS way and ONLY his way. He returned 8 days later. Since Rose figured out a way to keep him separated from the upstairs cats and he was getting along better with Buster, his doggie brother, Blacky became an indoor/outdoor cat. Rose now brings him in overnight and he stays in when the weather is bad.

Everything happens for a reason.

Blacky Keeps Us on Our Toes!

Recently, Rose came over here and told me, “Blacky’s gone!” He didn’t come home the night before and the last time anybody saw him was the previous afternoon when he came over to hit me up for food.

This was VERY unlike Blacky.

He has a schedule. He normally goes in when she calls him in at night, comes here at 7am to eat with my Yard Cats, goes back home to nap until around 10am and then bounces around our block for most of the afternoon, with naps on my property in between his escapades.

Rose thought he was dead. She believed something or someone got him.

But I just had a feeling he was around somewhere. I was concerned he was sick and went off to die alone. He’s probably about 9 years old and has been losing a little weight so it wasn’t out of the question.

We knocked ourselves out for three days trying to figure out where he could be so we could help him. I posted all over Facebook, talked to all of the neighbors on our block, looked high and low and nagged the hell out of Rose to make sure she was doing the same on her side of the street. I even crawled under my next door neighbor’s barn (where Fluffy had The Kits in 2015) with a flashlight to make sure he wasn’t under there.

For three days I called him. Rose called him. We asked her next door neighbor to check around inside HIS barn, outbuildings and shrubs. I kept picturing his face and telling him to let me know where he was so I could help him. I told him that I couldn’t help him if he didn’t make himself known to me!

Blacky v Wild Turkeys, 2017
Blacky blocking a flock of wild turkeys from exiting our back yard…October, 2017

The third morning, it dawned on me that I should look UP. Maybe he climbed a tree and couldn’t climb back down? He’s so soft-spoken under normal circumstances that I wasn’t sure if I would hear him if he was in duress.

I went out front to put food out for the Yard Cats. I called Blacky a few times. The next thing I hear is what sounds like a cat in heat across the street, next door to Rose’s house. I started walking to the street to get a look. As I approached my street, I saw Blacky’s dumb little face in the window of the barn door across the street!

Just like I thought…he got himself trapped! He must have wandered in their barn one day while they were doing yard work and they didn’t realize he was in there when they locked up.

Reunited and It Feels So Good!

Lucky for us, our neighbor returned home just a few minutes later and let me into the barn. Blacky wouldn’t come out with them in there so I asked them to leave us alone out there. He still wouldn’t come out so I ran home (in flip flops, no less) and got a can of his favorite food. I walked back into the barn, cracked open the can and he finally came out.

By then I got in touch with Rose and she came over with a carrier to grab him and keep him inside for a while to make sure he was okay. The weather was hot that week and he didn’t eat or drink anything for that three days he was missing! We both fed him all he could eat the next few days to help him recover. Luckily, he was in pretty good shape for being in a hot barn without food or water for so long!

Blacky and his mama Rose the day I found him
Blacky and his mama, Rose, May 4, 2018. I just found him that morning!

He Changed My Life for the Better

It was then that I realized I love Blacky as much as my own cats. I consider him one of my pets even though he has a home and a mama. A cat can never have too many families, right?

Rose keeps talking about moving out of her folks’ home. And I keep trying to talk her into leaving Blacky to live here. But I can’t bring him inside like she can, and I have to remember he is HER pet, but sometimes it’s hard. He LOVES her. He knows she rescued him. Remember when he was sick and he came out for her and not me?

I have to remember that myself.

Sure, he loves me, but Rose, her husband and kids are his FAMILY. I’m just the nice neighbor with the good food!

All I can do is keep hoping Rose doesn’t move anytime soon! And if she does? I have to PRAY that he will be happy and be okay. And stalk her for weekly updates!

TRULY One of a Kind

He is THE MOST UNIQUE cat, animal, LIVING BEING, I ever met in my ENTIRE life. He marches to the beat of his own drum. It’s HIS way or the highway. He stalks me from across the street when he wants food.

Blacky stalking me in my bedroom window.
Blacky was across the street watching me put suet out in the bird feeder. I tried to duck him and come right back in. The next thing I know, I look at my window to see who Rascal is talking to and see THIS!

EVERY SINGLE TIME I pull up in the Jeep on nice days, he comes running over to greet me and get a snack. If he doesn’t see me and wants something, he will jump outside the windows and STARE into the house until I go out there to tend to his needs.

Blacky stalking the Jeep.
January, 2018. And you thought I was exaggerating, right?

And I’m not the FIRST neighbor that he adopted! Apparently he has done this to Rose’s other neighbors before he moved here!

Blacky has a fan base of neighbors all over South Jersey spanning three counties and 70+ miles!

He has plenty of attitude and plenty of MOXIE.

And a TON of personality!

I’m forever grateful that God and Saint Frances brought Blacky into my life, and I enjoy every single moment I have with him. Even when he’s being bad! Or eating enough cat food to put me in the poorhouse!

Blacky and Lefty the Reindeer, 2015
Blacky, ever the nosy neighbor, is always the FIRST to check out what I’m doing outside. Here he is with his pal Lefty the Reindeer in 2015. It’s our tradition that he helps me decorate for Christmas every year!

Nicknames: Sylvester the Cat, Daddies, Fuss Pot, MOOCH, Nosy Neighbor

Songs: “My Way” – Frank Sinatra, “My Way” – Limp Bizkit

**This post contains affiliate links, which means we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products that we use and wholeheartedly believe in!

Your support is crucial to us as it helps us to continue to advocate for special needs and community cats!**

Any treatments, food and supplements I mention in this post are the result of my own research and experience. Please consult with your vet as necessary.

 

 

 

 

Posted on by robynhoovenwilson

A Day in the Life of a Cat Servant

 

servant-to-rascal

Serving Rascal treats on a Silver Platter.

“My mother had not had a hot meal for herself in 15 years…” – Ralphie, “A Christmas Story”.

I can relate.

How is it that I have LESS personal time NOW than I did when I was married with joint custody of two step kids, two cats, and managed a staff of 25 at Commerce Bank?

Oh, that’s right…I have a hell of a lot more than two cats now.

And it’s a good thing I work from home. Or, rather, I get brief “power hours” to squeeze in work in between cat servantry.

Here’s what a typical day at the Penny & The Kits Compound looks like!

I cannot sleep in. Although my cats “let” me to a point, if I’m not up by 7am, Patchy comes to “visit”. And my eyes will peep open. And I roll over to go back to sleep but I think of the STARVING orphans outside whose food was stolen overnight by the Creatures of the Night that GUILT prevents me from snoozing for more than a few minutes.

So I get up, and after explaining to Penny, who is a social eater so will starve all night rather than eat when I’m not sitting RIGHT there next to her, that I have to “pee like a racehorse”, I do my business and then go sit on the floor next to her so that she can eat her crunchies.

servant-to-penny2

This is my view every morning while impatiently longing for the coffee that just brewed.

After she’s done, I am now “allowed” to pour myself a cup of coffee.

But…

Oh wait! Princess Penny wants water out of the bathtub now! Even though she has a ceramic cat fountain and five, yes count them, FIVE, other water bowls in the house, she MUST have bathtub water! And because she’s stage 4 kidney disease, she pretty much gets what she wants.

Then I finish preparing my cup of coffee. And I start to prep the food to take outside to the feral cats.

But…

Oh wait! Penny wants crunchies again! Because she can only eat four pieces at a time! She convinces me that “grazing” is good for weight management. Which is why she’s STILL slightly overweight despite being stage 4 kidney disease!

After greeting the other indoor kits, and making sure Penny is squared away with food and water to “hold her over” till breakfast, I make a quick escape outside as soon as little Bossy Poo isn’t paying attention.

And I’m greeted by Trouble, Oreo, Fluffy, Big Orange, Domino, and Blacky, the neighbor’s outdoor cat, waiting outside with hungry eyes, while Shadow lurks at the back of the yard, patiently waiting for his meal.

After tripping over Trouble zig-zagging between my feet for the 25′ walk from my back steps to the shed door, I finally make it in there in one piece and silently thank Tony Horton for incredible balance from doing P90X Yoga.

I prepare their food. Then I take care of Orange, the feeding station at the back of my yard for the more shy ferals, and back to the shed to syringe Trouble his L-Lysine supplement in a tasty base of Fancy Feast broths. Which are NOT cheap. But he enjoys it and I do realize a feral cat is ALLOWING me to squirt medicine in his mouth via syringe, after all!

I finally get back inside to the Indoor Masters…after spending a half hour with the Outdoor Masters because Miss Fluffy is ALSO a social eater so I must stand out in that shed regardless of the weather so that she can finish eating…MUST cuddle Oreo exactly 2 1/2 minutes and I’d BETTER have some treats for him…and change the water bowl in the shed since the raccoons like to use their water bowl as a dipping bowl overnight.

me-n-fluffy-selfie

Feeding Her Magestette ON her heating pad so she doesn’t have to eat on the cold floor.

So, now to feed the Innies their wet food. Which means watering down Penny’s food and sprinkling the kits’ wet food with freeze dried raw or else they won’t eat it. And they will look at me with sad, sad, sappy eyes if I don’t feed them EXACTLY what they want the way they want it!

Once they are finally done, I am now allowed to wash their food bowls and prepare Penny’s AM blood pressure pill and supplements for her kidney disease. Which means MORE Fancy Feast broth (yes, I realize I should buy stocks in Purina) as a treat after her pill because that is the ONLY way Penny will allow me to shove a pill down her throat!

Oh, and Penny wants more crunchies again!

After she is done with me for the moment, I must prepare “cheesy snacks”. Which is actually Mischief’s Prozac (more on that to come) wrapped in the cheese so that pilling Mischief is a TREAT and not a tragedy…for ME, that is. Once he gets his cheesy snacks and I give Penny extra cheese off my fingers because she has been in her ‘last days’ for the past 17 months and I will do whatever she wants, I go outside to change the rest of the water bowls for the ferals, give out more free treats (in case anybody is wondering why I have the fattest feral cats in town), cuddle Oreo and Trouble some more and I MUST sing to Fluffy or else she will not let me leave without taking a chunk out of my ankles.

So, finally, after coming inside to scoop the litter boxes…

But, wait! Patchy wants to cuddle, climb me like a jungle gym and lick my pants first!

So, after REALLY FINALLY scooping the litter boxes, I have to weigh Penny and see if it’s okay to give her sub q fluids (again, the kidney disease), warm her fluids, change the five water bowls throughout the house, top off the five crunchy bowls throughout the house, and THEN, after singing The Penelope Song to Penny while she gets her fluids, the next couple of hours are mine.

Unless Spunky, Rascal or Mischief want to help me work out. Or if it’s the day I have to test Penny’s blood glucose (more on her diabetes and remission to come…). But only AFTER Rascal sits in my lap for 5-10 minutes while I sing to HIM. And I must be careful not to scare Mischief while I’m exercising since he likes to sit on my bed and watch. Which means not jumping too much and OMG NO I CANNOT drop the weights!

I get a little time to feed myself and work…

So, it’s now 4-5pm and it’s time for their next wet meal! I don’t overfeed my cats. They get several mini-meals throughout the day to keep Penny’s blood glucose levels stable even though she is currently in remission from her diabetes. But, God forbid I feed Penny and NOT feed the others! So mini-meals it is!

Then it’s BACK OUTSIDE to the feral cats for their evening meal. Which they hardly eat anything because they had been free-fed all day, but since the Creatures of the Night will come steal their food overnight, I must make sure. And NO MATTER THE WEATHER, I must play with Trouble and Fluffy (and sometimes Orange). Although, he’s SOL if there’s lightning around.

Then it’s back inside to REALLY bang out some work for two hours. But ONLY AFTER Penny has some crunchies again…and then I MUST sit on the couch in the living room on my laptop to work so that Penny can take a nap next to me. And if I don’t, you ask?

She will take one of her fuzzy balls in her mouth and wander around the house howling loudly until I do what she wants me to do.

In the evening, when I’m done my “to do” list for work, I SNEAK into the shower while all the cats are passed out…but if they CATCH me, I have to distract them with toys so I can lock myself into the bathroom and shower, unsupervised.

Then it’s time for more Fancy Feast broth and Penny’s Pepcid (kidney disease). Which she BEGS for because the broths are “forbidden food”.

8pm meal time is usually pretty quick because by now, they are ready for evening play time. And if I have more work to do, or just tired or, God forbid, sick, it doesn’t matter. They will hover UNDER FOOT while I’m scooping their litter boxes once more until they ALL get some interactive play time with Mommy, and sometimes Grandmom. Even though they have EACH OTHER to play with! And even though they often blatantly YAWN in my face or Mom’s face while we knock ourselves out to entertain them!

Then, and only then, after they are spent, I’m “allowed” to eat. Although, Penny usually wants water or crunchies or attention JUST when I’m fixin’ to sit down to eat. Hence the quote at the beginning of this post.

Bedtime is time for Penny to have one more wet meal (again, the kidney disease…I will get into her regimen). After I hook Penny up with some tuna water and prepare her Snuggie next to my bed, and if Penny is not in one of her attention-hogging moods, I’m allowed to settle down and do some reading or watch “The King of Queens” before retiring for the night.

I doze off while listening to Rascal run around for NO GOOD reason chatting it up, hoping to get one of the girls to play with him.

Or Spunky chirping and giggling and squeaking while she tries in vain to drag her favorite wand toy up the basement steps. Or…

Oh! Gotta go! I’m LATE for Penny’s pill and she’s practically doing cartwheels at my feet to get my attention! I’d better snap to it!

Spunky holding my lap hostage before bed.

**This post contains affiliate links, which means we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products that we use and wholeheartedly believe in!**

All treatments, foods and supplements mentioned in this blog are based on my own research, experience and done with my vet’s knowledge and consent. Consult with your vet as necessary.
Posted on by robynhoovenwilson

Our Cats Took Over The Bench

mom-and-dad-the-bench

Dad and Mom on The Bench in 2012 waiting for me to come home from work so we could go adopt Penny & Weeny.

I’m owned by cats.

I started this blog to let others who naively believed that they adopted cats and are ‘cat parents’, and later figured out that their cats, in fact, own THEM, know that they are not alone.

The cats get my food budget, my clothing budget, my free time, my dating life, and now, apparently, my outdoor patio furniture.

#catsrulehere

Let me tell you about The Bench…

When Mom retired a few years ago, she purchased this bench so she could sit outside and watch the grass grow, which is what we do here in the NJ Pine Barrens in the Summer. And the bench SAT and SAT and SAT in this box for MONTHS while she waited for my dad to assemble it.

But he never got around to it.

So I decided to take a stab at my handyman skills and I was THRILLED when I got it to together, the folks sat on it, and nobody got hurt!

The Bench has very sentimental value. My folks were sitting on this bench waiting for me to come home from work on May 2, 2012, so we could all go adopt Penny and Weeny from a rescue. My folks spent many a summer night on The Bench listening to cicadas and tree frogs in the last years of Dad’s life. The Bench served as Dad’s link to the outside world in the Summer of 2014 when he was mostly bedridden and dying from cancer.

Now, the feral cat and the neighbor’s outdoor cat have claimed it as their own…

This week, we are enjoying some May-like weather here in South Jersey with temps in the 70s. I did some yard clean-up the other day and figured I would set up the cushions so that Mom could enjoy the warm, sunny weather.

trouble-bench-feb-2017

Trouble-within minutes of me setting up the cushions.

Mom has NOT had a chance to enjoy it because not ONE hour after I set up those cushions, Trouble claimed it as his napping area every morning after breakfast. He worked out a deal with Blacky, the neighbor’s cat, so that Blacky could have it in the afternoons!

Where does that leave Mom? Sitting INSIDE on this beautiful day watching HGTV.

blacky-bench-feb-2017

Neighbor’s cat, Blacky, taking the ‘afternoon’ shift on The Bench.

And so it goes when you are owned by cats… Even feral cats and neighbors’ cats!

I have a lot of experiences and stories to share about my five indoor cats, my eight or so feral cats (YES THEY ARE NEUTERED AND VACCINATED), and my ‘late’ cats and others who have passed through in my life.

They have ALL been lessons and blessings! I hope to entertain you, share what I have learned from Penny’s complex medical issues, caring for feral cats and the challenge of cat behavior, and connect with you along the way!

Stay tuned!

**This post contains affiliate links, which means we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products that we use and wholeheartedly believe in!**