Look who's in her bed!!

She has that classic cat disgruntled face. "Excuse me, I'm trying to sleep here"

Day four with Zazi

We had some amazing breakthroughs yesterday. And today....

Currently, I am sitting by the door, legs crossed and typing, deliberately not watching her. I can see her, watching me from alongside the toilet. 

I brought in her food this morning, and instead of leaving it beside her, today I moved it across the room, to a safe place under the plant. It is a good spot, under the little table with the plant on it so she will feel safe. This is where I have been setting her dry food and the water dish so it's not really a new spot. But it is for her wet food.

A short while ago, Zazi came right out from behind the toilet and sat closer to me, on the edge of the rug.

She truly is a little beauty. Her soft, grey coat isn't as solid as we first thought. You can see the faint darker grey tabby markings across her chest and tail. Her huge leaf green eyes don't miss a thing.

Earlier, I had brought her food in, and of course, one of my cats was hot on my heels. I hadn't noticed Vamp behind me...we often joke she is our ninja cat, you don't see her or hear or until she is suddenly, RIGHT THERE.

We have three rescue cats. Mikie was a street cat, rescued at ten months; Muffin was in the shelter for FOUR YEARS, and Vamp had been in the shelter for three years; after coming in from a feral colony. Now, our cats are all mature adults (in their life span anyway, they're adorable goofballs)  and all fixed and vaccinations up to date. Zazi has also had her first round of shots, but hasn't been tested for some other things, so we are keeping our kitties separate.

Mikie in his bed, Muffin the fatsocatso and Vamp the ninjacat

They sniff under the door, because they know something is in here and they smell the food.

But today, I hadn't seen Vamp until it was too late.  She followed me in and didn't notice Zazi (who noticed her straight away) but sniffed around at the toys and the food. I wouldn't let her get too close, I was right beside her the entire time. That's when she did notice the tiny cat hiding behind the toilet. 

Zazi held her ground, and Vamp slowly and carefully extended her head and they were sniffing from a distance. Zazi took the more submissive posture,  and Vamp hissed, but didn't move. Since I was right there, I don't think either one knew what to do. I petted Vamp and slid her over to my lap, to show Zazi it was okay to trust, and as Vamp clearly enjoyed the attention, it was ..okay. It would be okay.  I shooed Vamp out and closed the door. 

And then I returned to sitting by the door, where I am typing.

And Zazi watches me from the safety of the toilet...peeping around the edge at me. A few times she has gone over to her bed, and sniffed, but then remembers I am here and goes back to her spot.

Every now and then I hear her little purr, which is actually quite loud, and it makes me smile.

I didn't see fear in her eyes today. Just confusion. Her whole world has been shifted upside down. No longer does she have to spend every moment of her day just surviving. Scrounging for food, and water, and safety from the elements. Suddenly for the first time in her little life, she is safe, and warm. She can play, and relax.....and not in fear every moment. Here there is safety, water and food. Shelter, a warm heat vent she spends her days lying in front of. And catnip. Let's not forget the catnip.

Playing string

I think today I might hold the world record for Playing String With A Cat.

Zazi is slowly coming out of her shell, which gives me great hope.

This morning she was hiding in her cave, she managed to pull the towel from off top her bin over herself to make a little dark cave off the side of the bin.

I had brought her her wet food with some over the counter deworming medicine in it, and I placed it right inside her little cave. Her dry food and water is still in the other side of the room, to make sure she does get out and move around when it's quiet.

Today was the first day she ate all her wet food right away, which was good.

I came up to sit with her around ten, and let her sniff my fingers, then I rubbed her tiny chin and cheeks to get her scent on me. She allowed me to not only scratch her head and chin but all over her back and just in front of her tail. She looked a little surprised at how good that felt, it made me laugh. She bent her head forward and I froze. Even though his sweet little gal hadn't shown any aggression yet, I was still nervous that those little choppers could do some damage.

But no. Much to my surprise, she gave me a few little licks and her purring intensified.she extended out a fraction and her paws started to knead.

Of course, suddenly, enough was enough. She lowered her head and this time, one quick lick and a gentle mouthing with the slightest hint of teeth, as if to say; 'no more, please.' She is such a little lady.

I withdrew my hand and let the towel fall back. I also sat back and waited to see what she would do.

I pulled over the string and twitched it back and forth. She immediately fixated on it, all those hunters' instincts kicking in. Her pupils dilated and she froze - her front end still as the telltale tail twitched.

After what seemed like hours of watching she slowly, slowly inched forward. I continued to twitch the string just a bit further away, and she inched out, ever so slowly.

Finally she gave chase out to be middle of the room. She forgot herself in the thrill of the chase, and suddenly she stilled as she remembered where she was. Her eyes slowly came up to mine, and for the first time, I didn't see any fear. I dropped my own gaze quickly, with a little smile. For the first time, no fear, but a look somehow that combined both wariness and the" I want to trust you please don't hurt me" look.

And of course, that's when the phone rang, and she retreated back behind the toilet. We continue to play string, over he top of the toilet.

Cast of characters...so far

Of course, we have Zazi the feral kitty.

We have String. A loyal and good friend of all cats.

Leopard ball, with real feathers on it. Several other toys, like Sock and Ball. 

Her bed.

And today we introduce Spongy Mouse. A little sponge type ball with a cut out of a mouse on it with a little tail. If you throw it it bounces with a slight twist so the tail spins.

Zazi -the first cat we managed to trap. Approx six months old. Currently fixed, recovered and socializing well. This is mainly her blog. This was her, scrounging for food when Jay first saw her.

Jumper - thought to be Zazi's sister as they are nearly identical. She has had a litter of four, and once those little cuties are weaned, we shall adopt them out and undertake the task of socializing Jumper in hopes of adoption. We shall see. When I had her in the trap she was calm, and gentle. Reports are that she and babies are doing very well and she is a great first time mom, despite still being a baby herself.

Taylor - a big grey male that also is a suspected litter mate as he is also a twin of these two gals. He has been fixed and will be released back into the territory after recovery. He is not a a candidate for socialization.

Fluffy black male - so far has escaped being trapped however he is on our catch list. He will most likely be a TNR candidate and not adoptable as he is so so skittish.

Brown tabby male - the suspected father undetermined. He is the most elusive and has the widest territory. May or may not be trap able but we won't give up.

Mama cat- not all stories have happy endings. Sadly she was so sick she would not have survived much longer. She was humanely euthanized. And there were many, many tears shed by all involved.

How it All Began

This past summer, we were out on a gorgeous summer's evening for a stroll. We passed by the local downtown theatre, and noticed a mama kitty with her kittens playing by a dumpster in the back road way.

That began the odyssey of learning all about feral cats in the city.

Working with a local cat rescue, we went on several "Cat Stakeouts" and learned how to coerce and trap ferals with food. We were lucky that time; all kitties were adoptable and have since found wonderful homes and are doing so well.

In October, when out for a lunchtime stroll; Jay saw two cats huddled near a fence behind a hotel. This was unusual as the area is industrial and is not a spot you would expect to see a mama cat and her kittens.

He started to feed them, and noticed that there weren't just two, like we first thought. Turned out, there was a small colony starting in a very inhospitable area.

Two turned into six and Jay minded them all winter; building shelters for them and providing food and water.

Once they gained enough trust we contacted our cat rescue friends and we have at this point, managed to trap four of the six cats we see. We are hoping the end result is all are adoptable into forever homes after being fixed, vaccinated & microchipped. If they can't be adopted, then at least we will TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) and keep on minding the colony.

Why?

 Because:

Image courtesy of totalwildlifecontrol.com

(And the fact that we are both suckers for a cute little whiskered face. And we love all animals.
We have a membership at the Toronto Zoo. We do our best to recycle and save the planet. And we're trying very, very hard to be as close to vegetarians as we can. )

 We are documenting the progress of our rehabilitation for the first kitty, Little Miss Zazi.  She will be available for adoption after socialization.
Her litter mate, Jumper, was trapped last week JUST in the nick of time...three days after trapping, she had FOUR new babies of her own.
The male, Taylor, was neutered and is pending evaluation to see if we can rehab him or release back to the colony.
Unfortunately, the female thought to be their Mama cat had to be euthanized after trapping. She was very sick with infections and it was better that she was not suffering.

What can the average person do?

Spay. Neuter.

Help where you can to control feral cat populations.

Feed/Shelter Strays during inclement/winter weather.

Donate to your local shelter/rescue.

As we develop this blog we will post links about rescues, updates and other info about ferals around the GTA/Peel Region.