Photo by Marcus Ganahl on Unsplash
This isn’t what I had in mind.
But this is what I’ve got.
I am now living with 4 wonderful feline friends.
Two are elderly and consider themselves “retired.”
Two are youngsters, and they’re living it up.
Meanwhile, with Hattie gone into spirit and my yard no longer under her protection, we’re being inundated with wild critters.
- It’s been years since I’ve seen chipmonks in my yard, and now they’re running all over the place with not a care in the world.
- After years and years of the same old squirrel baffle keeping squirrels out of the bird feeders, one squirrel has figured out how to get past it. This means it had time to sit quietly and ponder the situation without a cat chasing it away.
- The mouse population inside my house feels safe, too.
Starlight’s attitude is rather like that of Tibetan Monks, whom, I’m told, are careful not to injure worms when they garden or dig a foundation for a house. She believes that it’s fine to play with a mouse, but when I ask her to kill them, she looks at me in horror.
OK. She’s clearly more spiritually advanced than I am.
Melissa thinks the mice are great fun. Â She thinks of them as toys that are far more interesting than anything else I’ve bought or made for her.
I hate to say this, but . . .
I NEED A CAT!
Not just any cat.
An experienced hunter who takes the job seriously.
Where can I find such a magnificent feline?
In a previous post, I shared that I had put out a telepathic call for a feline to live in and protect the yard with complete amenities. No one has shown up.
So now, I’m thinking of taking additional steps.
In pondering my options, I realize that my choices of how to proceed may be very limited. For one thing, rescue organizations expect people to keep even feral cats inside, despite that it’s mentally and emotionally stressful for them.
I don’t want a kitten. I want an experienced hunter, someone who enjoys the hunt and is good at it, likes to eat whatever he or she catches, and won’t want to become a house cat.
I don’t need any more house cats.
Maybe I should visit some local stables to see if anyone is overrun with cats that are at least semi-tame?
So, dear reader, I’m open for suggestions.
How do I find a cat who will be delighted to live outside with shelter provided, get 1 or 2 excellent meals from a can daily depending on need and the weather, enjoy fresh catnip from the front yard, and loves, loves, loves to hunt for her own food?
Good question Nedda.
It makes me think that perhaps the “answer” may not be so cut and dried as attracting a hunting outside cat. Does this situation contain another message? It reminds me of those messages you could only read if you held them up to a mirror.
The Universe will deliver. Our “job” is to go with the flow and enjoy in whatever we create.
Just some thoughts…
Love,
Liz
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Liz. I think the message is that I didn’t appreciate Hattie nearly enough while she was here. She so wanted me to think of her as part of the family, and I didn’t “get it” until just before she left. So this time I’m prepared for a slightly different relationship.
Have to say my thoughts are similar to Liz’s. Sometimes we just have to sit back, wait and trust. Communicating with those that are there now sounds like a challenge, maybe there is an opportunity to sharpen your communication skills and take things to a new level.
Hi Nedda,
We have often been offered cats from farms where we buy honey, milk, goat cheese, veg…all separate farms (we couldn’t take in these cats as we have 3) and asked to ‘ask around) if anyone is looking for a potential mouser. Generally they have been older kittens, like 8-10 months and well-trained by the mama cat. Just the right age for castration which farmers don’t bother with.
So, perhaps you could contact farms not too near (so they won’t go back there through traffic) as well as country vets who know all the farms and might have a lead. The cats are self-sufficient yet used to a handout as well. They tend to be booted off their home territory by the older farm cats so one of these could be the perfect match!
The farms near us are of no use to you, we live in France.
Bon courage!
Barbara and Harold
Hi, Barbara,
Good suggestion, and that option has occurred to me also. Farms often have many more cats than they know what to do with. On the other hand, I’m looking for an adult, not a kitten. I want someone who is an experienced “survivor.” I live in a wooded area with open fields behind the house where foxes, coyotes, coydogs, and other predators who eat cats are very active. I don’t want to put a youngster in danger.
There are some stables in the area, and I may visit a few of them to see what they have to say about cats.
I’m also thinking about how to introduce a new cat to the yards, as I don’t want it to run off. It needs time to decide that this is the new “home” and a place to feel safe. So I’m hoping to find someone who can be handled without buzz-sawing me.
It’s also important that the cat be healthy. Whomever it is will have some contact, even through a screen door, with my indoor gals, and also with other ferals in the neighborhood. Hattie lived to be about 16, and she had been “vetted” after I caught her and had her spayed. So I knew my gals were not going to catch any of the very contagious viruses that are running around out there.
Hi Nedda,
Perhaps Liz is on the right track. As an animal communicator, is it right to direct one of your animals to kill another being – not to eat, but because you don’t want the other being there? Might you think about communicating with the small wild ones? I have found that listening to them, speaking respectfully, and considering their needs to be as important as my own often brings satisfaction on both sides, without the need for taking the life of another being. Now, I am neither a monk nor a vegetarian, and I was told once that “eventually, everyone gets eaten” and that it is a form of recycling or renewal. But my preference is, if I am to be the cause of ending a life, that it be for the right reason. Namaste.
Hi, Emmy,
This has always been a thorny subject for me. Sometimes I’ve been able to persuade critters that they just don’t belong where they are and need to leave, but last year I had to kill off an entire colony of ants who had been living in my house for at least 18 months and whom I could not persuade to leave.
I certainly couldn’t kill a mouse, but my experience teaches me that the best way to get them out of here is for a serious feline hunter to live in the yard, someone whose mere presence will persuade them to choose to live elsewhere.
Hi – yes, most shelters will want you to adopt a cat for indoors, but we (Danbury Animal Welfare Society) often get Ferals from TNR or certain surrenders from good Samaritans that we think might be tame enough and good as “barn cats.” When investigating local shelters, you can specifically see if they have any that fit the bill. Good luck!
Yes, that’s what I’ve decided to do. A semi-feral or feral cat would be perfect. I just need to find the right one.
Yesterday I finally trapped one of the mice in a container and took it into the woods and released it. My cats were just stunned that I’d take it away. But there are probably plenty more available as playmates.
In my area the shelters do have a spay/neuter and return feral cat program. The cats are sent back to live outside where they came from or adopted out as barn cats, etc. to others. Ask around, not all rescue groups would require you to keep a feral cat indoors. This is a win-win situation that works well here (upstate NY).
I have found that with cats, once you make the wish for exactly what you want, they have a way of showing up very quickly, fitting the specifications! Be clear (which you already are) — it will happen and probably a lot quicker than you would “logically” expect. I swear they receive the request telepathically and respond accordingly. This will be a wonderful opportunity for many a cat (be sure to just say “one” 🙂
Please keep us posted on how it works out!
Happy Hunting LOL
Thanks to everyone who is following and commenting on this situation.
I just realized that the first post I wrote on this subject, which was about putting out a telepathic call for a semi-feral feline hunter, was actually posted to Animal Communicator Forum. Here’s the link, for anyone interested in reading that one.
http://animalcommunicatorforum.com/2016/04/25/telepathic-broadcast/#.V2abT6JQf9o