Wake Up And Eat: Observations Of Cats From Feral To Adopted

By Heater Case

An instructional memoir for caring and, when possible, adopting feral cats. Part funny. Part sad. All true. I hope you can learn not only from my mistakes but from the things I got right.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Heater Case
• Release date: Jan 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005574376

Heater Case

Heater Case has been a writer, musician, and artist since elementary school. He's lived extensively in New York City and Boston, with shorter incarnations in Chicago and Los Angeles. He roots for the underdog because underdogs need good pep talks and that requires being positive and unselfish. He also likes turkey burgers with Eggo waffles instead of buns. That about sums it up.

Book preview

Wake Up And Eat

Observations Of Cats, From Feral To Adopted

By Heater Case

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2022 Heater Case

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

I would be a big stupid head miscreant if I didn’t dedicate this to Rosemary.

Without her, this book would have a very different ending.

Table of Contents

Part One: Stumbling Through The Cativerse

Part Two: Limbo

Intermission: Ask Mister Cat Guy

Part Three: Grembo

Part Four: The Three Amigos

Part Five: Elsa, Baby and Reality

Part Six: Second Chances

Part Seven: Third Chances

Part Eight: Malaysian Fish Sauce and Beyond

Part Nine: The Past Through The Future

Part One: Stumbling Through The Cativerse

My little feral colony was right behind where I lived. I had what they call a ‘garden apartment’, a rear basement apartment that opened out to whatever happened to be out there. I just affectionately called it The Bunker.

In my case, my back door opened to a little concrete ‘porch’ which stepped down to a backyard which, in turn, was next to a humongous empty lot. This space was pretty tightly bordered by eight foot high plywood fences. It was inaccessible by people unless they really, really made some kind of effort.

Or they were a cat.

I had no intention of becoming the Jane Goodall of cats. They all came and found me.

Hobo, Old Man, Chad, Frankie, Ben Affleck… you start naming them. Food and water at a consistent time is the great icebreaker. Believe me, cats can tell time. Then you start thinking about shelter. Use what you have or can afford. Release your inner McGuyver. Here’s something from an article I wrote several Autumns ago.

In case you can’t see the text, it says:

Find a nice box.

Line with foil (reflects body heat).

Seal drafty seams with tape.

Bend the upper flap into a canopy.

Coat of paint for waterproofing."

Mylar is great stuff. Foil is the next best thing but mylar rules. Just get those emergency silver blankets that FEMA and Marathons hand out. Any outdoor or sports store has them.

This was my super quick model. It’s not hurricane-proof. In fact, if you can, place it under some kind of overhang and up from ground level (to limit flooding and intruders). My concrete porch and under my landlady’s deck was perfect.

Online tutorials offer many brilliant ideas involving combinations of styrofoam coolers and storage containers, depending on your budget and available tools. I was just getting by at the time, so my back porch always looked like it was moving day.

Now, about what to put inside your little hut. Towels get damp and then they get cold and rob body temperature from your ‘client(s)’. The same is true with folded newspapers, blankets, carpeting, fake sheepskin, and hay. What you need is straw. Not hay. Straw. If push comes to shove, at least four walls and a couple of meals a day can make the difference in their little lives making it through the winter.

As my project continued (and my budget expanded) I started getting ‘self-warming’ mats that reflected body heat. More about this later.

I found that simple dry food (kibble) put out (and then saved) in reclosable plastic containers worked just fine. If you’re on a tight income like I was at the time just save empty containers from butter, cream cheese, hummus… whatever works. Clean them thoroughly. Also, wash your hands every time you come into contact with these containers, whether setting them out or bringing them back in.

In warmer weather, you might find ants to be a problem, especially if they hitch a ride back into your house. I discovered that bay leaves are a fairly effective non-toxic repellent. Tape them all around the top of the resealable lid. When putting out the food, lay down the leafy lid and place the food on top of it. You also get the benefit of extra pest control when you bring the containers in for the night

I also found out that leaving food out 24/7 was not advisable. Unmonitored food will not only bring around more cats than you can handle, especially bullies and interlopers, but it also brings raccoons. Not only are they chaotic scroungers, my heart almost stopped when I learned about how dangerous raccoons can be for cats. I wondered why I never saw any of the cats try to defend their food. The raccoons just busted through and, luckily, all the cats backed off and helplessly watched. I started reading up on the cat/raccoon dynamic and I’ll spare