Little did I know that Gerald is an EXTREMELY vocal cat. Well, ginger cats are, but Gerald is not only vocal but very, very, very loud.
So yesterday, I first put him in Robin’s condo and Robin was clearly quite unhappy. But Gerald was not happy too. He toppled the litter box, knocked over his water bowl several times, made nonstop loud “ngiowing” noises and tore down the towel covering. Now, the catio is very close to the neighbour’s so it was definitely very, very disturbing. I think Gerald could be heard three houses away.
So from the condo, we moved him out to the porch, in Ginger’s sick bay. Samantha was right there, trying to save him.
In the porch, with the cage covered, Gerald continued his very loud yowling, toppled the litter box, the water bowl and messed up all the newspaper strips I had placed in the litter box (plus the tofu litter, which was clearly a foolish idea). We tried giving him time, but after hours, he was still yowling very, very loudly. We thought that surely he would grow tired of the loud yowling, but no, he did not.
Now, the other next-door neighbour (who declared she did not like animals) had just moved in a few days ago. If Gerald continued to yowl all night (which he definitely would), it wouldn’t be fair to the neighbours too.
So after a few hours, we made a judgment call and released Gerald. But first, I brought him in to check his surgical site – all looked good. My husband reasoned that all the stress of being caged wouldn’t be good for Gerald’s recovery, anyway. One consolation is that the vet had already given Gerald a long-lasting Convenia antibiotic jab because of his multiple minor scratch wounds. This would give him extra protection.
Upon release, I had expected him to run for his life, but guess what? He did not. He actually stayed in the porch and continued yowling/talking. In away, he reminded me of Timmy. Timmy loved to “talk”. But Gerald is perhaps five times louder than Timmy.
So Gerald hung around, continued to “talk” until after awhile, my husband had to stop him because it was just too loud! So he scuttled out of the gate.
Meanwhile, Creamy had been very quiet in the room upstairs. He is so sweet and docile. I was concerned about Creamy boarding at the vet’s because they informed me that he had not urinated since his procedure. The vet did check and his bladder was small, so he’s not blocked. Just too afraid to eat or maybe, like Riley’s first day, too afraid to urinate?
That is why I gave Creamy the big room upstairs so that he no longer feels caged.
Creamy ate heartily, though (so did Gerald, of course!).
After a few hours, I checked and to my relief, Creamy had urinated (a lot!) and defecated…but right smack in the middle of the bed! But not to worry, I had already foreseen that happening and I had covered the bed with a piece of tarpaulin and put another piece of bedspread over it. I also prepared a litter box, but Creamy did not know how to use it. Not his fault if he had indeed grown up on the street.
But Gerald knew how to use a litter box!
The vet said that Creamy would benefit the most if he were released as he was clearly very scared and unhappy in the cage at the clinic.
This morning, I woke up at 3am to feed Riley (it’s her spaying today so I have to fast her for 8 hours prior to the surgery). I also fed Creamy and he finished up all the food.
By 7am, I went to check and Creamy was now mewing. I know, he wants to go back “home” to the street.
Where they are born is where they belong.
So I carried him downstairs, checked his surgical site (all good), and told him he is always welcome to our porch to eat.
Like Gerald, Creamy also was not in a hurry to go away. He stayed in the porch, ate some more kibble, then hung around under the car. He just wanted to be free, that’s all, to do whatever he wants, not to be confined in a room.
Gerald passed by our gate but when he saw my husband, he scuttled off. I bet he wanted to come in to eat.
Here he is, with Samantha.
I hope Creamy and Gerald will come to our porch to eat daily. Be free, go forth but do not multiply (!!), take care of our street and do not let other cats come in!
I wonder where Cheeto is.
And I certainly hope Bushy will not come anymore. He is clearly someone’s pet (he wears a collar and he has some pedigree in him) and he is not neutered.