|
Want your "Puddy & Me" photo featured on
the website ?
Make a $25 donation to Fixin Feral Felines and you're in
!
Dawson visiting from
Kansas made a real connection
with Puddy
Click photo for another
pic
For our
Regulars
Remember the little black and white kitten
that used to
be in the shop ? Well, his name is
Felix and he came home with us last year. Here he is with his best friend
Ralphie.
~~~
Update on the Feral cats behind the
shop
Support TNR in your
area
Trap
- Neuter -
Release
This is a proven
way to reduce and
someday eliminate feral
cat colonies.
Puddy's
two feral brothers and a sister were
fixed this
year and have been returned to their
habitat
behind
our store where we feed them daily.
The sister kitty had 6 kittens under a
porch.
ll were adopted
out.
Unlike Puddy
they are not ready to be a
house cat but they are not totally wild
either.
The black one (I haven't named him
yet)
will sit outside
the door and yowl if I am
not quick enough with the
chow.
Removing the cats from the area does
not
solve the problem
as new ferals will arrive
to fill the void and begin the cycle
again.
Besides, feral cats are often not
very adoptable
so the
solution would be euthanasia.
Not a very good
solution.
Contact - Jane
at
Fixin Feral Felines
www.fixinferalfelines.org
DeKalb -
Sycamore area
Please remember FFF if you
are
interested in donating to a worth
cause.
|
Puddy Tat - The Shop Cat
This is
his story and he is sticking to it !
Puddy actually adopted us, domesticated
himself
and moved on in.
When we moved to
our new (4th) new location
in August of 2006 - back on State Street
I noticed there were some
cats hanging around the back of the buildings along
Red Johnson Way. Being a cat person, I kept an eye on them.They
appeared
to be looking for food. In the back of my mind the ultimate goal
to
would be to eventually get
them toTNR facility if they
were in fact feral, so,
I started feeding them
After a
month or so they got to be regulars waiting by my car every night for
the evening meal. One warm evening when I had the back door
open
I noticed a couple of them had come in as far as the beginning of the
retail area.
As soon as I
came
around the counter the second one (the black one) took off like he
was shot from
a
cannon but theTabby just looked at me, then glanced around the room as
if
to say "Nice place
you got here lady".
He
didn't run, but rather sniffed around a bit, gave me a couple more
looks
before
taking his time to follow his brother back out into the night.
The next
evening he was there again, and a few days later showed up with a
second
tabby, this one with a white underside. Once again the second cat bolted
when
they saw me
but "Puddy" stuck around to see what was going on.
This became a ritual most evenings and the bold tabby
began to hang
out with me nearly
every night
the door was open. As long as I didn't attempt to go near him all was
cool.
We went through a couple of names for him and PuddyTat
stuck. You remember ...
" I taut I taw a Puddy Tat ... I did, I did
..."
By the middle of the
next summer, I found myself with a kitten in the shop. He was one that had
been rescued
from the side of the road and I thought my daughter might him adopt.
later.
I have
a full house at home (cat
wise) so he resided at the shop in a dog cage at
night.
He was free to play
in the store during the day while we worked because he was attatched
to a
giant
nylon play pen that he dragged
around the shop behind him -
it was too funny.
( Felix
the Cat - we will tell his story soon)
Puddy really took a shine to him, rather than being
aggressive he made every effort
to get near the cage so the kitten could paw at his
head and give him some of the affection
he so desperately needed. In due time my guilt at leaving this little
baby cat alone
in the evening, got the better of me - and it was
getting kind of silly to come back in the
middle of the
night to check on him - my guilt being what it was, so he was brought home
to join the
rest of the "colony" at the Big House.
Puddy
was noticably lonely the next day and was searching for his little
buddy.
That's when
he turned the corner and started seeking out attention from his people
friends.
Within short
order he was getting petted by the girls at the shop and in a
few days was
allowing
customers to pet him on the head. Amazingly the first customer to do this
was
a big, burly
guy and contrary to conventional cat behavior - Puddy just loved
it !
And from that
day on he has matured into the most sociable of creatures. Running to
the front of the shop to greet newcomers, or lazing about the
room. startling those who
are
not prepared to see a
LIVE CAT lying in the aisles (some think he is battery
operated).
We got him
fixed (thank you Jane) he got his shots and soon after and he took up
permanent
residence within the
shop (none of my housecats would be allowed in the place).
Puddy is the
ideal shop cat as he is perfectly
well behaved and never jumps
or disturbs
the merchandise.
He did have a
bit of an "adventure" soon afterwards though, right at the start of the
New Year.
Some of
you will recall he had a rather
bald spot because of his surgery.
Freak thing,
it was.
Some kids
were in one day and he was showing off how high he could jump up to
catch
a
dangly toy and on the
3rd attempt he apparently came down wrong. It turned out
that he had
managed to wrench a piece of bone almost completely off
from his leg
(very
odd injury for a healty, young
cat) and required surgery and a pin to repair it.
He has healed
beautifully and is doing great., but still has a bit of a gimpy run,
so don't
tease him about it.
Customers
tell me they pass by in the later evening and talk to him through the
glass door,
as he is
usually watching the comings and goings of the people on the street and is
always
up for a chat
or a finger wag promising playtime.
He is
especially watchful for dogs coming down the block and frequently sits out
on the outer
front step to
see who might be coming his way. Rather than run back to the safety of the
rear of the
store - he stands his ground and has on occasion faced off with the
offending
canines by
puffing up real big and letting them know just who's territory they are in
!
God help the
dog who crosses this threshold (and a few have tried) for
SHOP CAT is
on duty and will put them in their place in two shakes of a dogs tail
!
Well, that is
the PuddyTat story to date. We plan to post photos of him from time to
time just to
keep it interesting. He loves to get visitors, so stop in soon and give
him
a pat on the
head and try a new candle scent while you are at it.
Angela,
Puddy & The Scent Shop Girls
|
