So, for those that had been keeping up with my (very sparse) updates on my journey on taking care of three feral cats, here is an update.
Operation Lock The Cats In For The Night is a semi-success. Midnight (the black one that’s in mid-yawn, looking demonic) and Ash (the gray and white one) have gotten used to being locked in and are happily wandering the basement, sleeping, eating, and playing. Moo (the black and white one, not pictured here) was locked in three times, each time, he freaked the fuck out and hid in some hidey hole, while the other two cats ate all of his food. Now, poor Moo doesn’t come inside the house anymore, because he’s too scared (and too wild, I guess), but he will eat the food I leave outside. I’m letting these kitties stay inside for the night because it’s winter now and freezing, and I let them out in the morning. I’m sure they will survive if they are left outside, because Moo survives these past few frigid nights, and the mommy cat is wandering around, surviving too, but I like these kitties so I want them to sleep over.
Midnight and Ash are getting bolder, wandering up the stairs in search of me and my uncle (or my parents) because we’re the food-givers. My parents are being very stupid in their love for the cats though, they keep feeding them human food despite me telling them to not do that because most of those ingredients are toxic to cats. They wait till I’m too busy to yell at them to toss human foods to the cats, ugh. So far, I don’t see them getting sick, but it’s a matter of time if they continue to eat poison. Cats can’t eat garlic and onions and green onions, they are very toxic to them, but my parents keep feeding them left-over take-out beef and pork, which are full of garlic and onions. It’s also full of fat and salt, which are also very bad for cats. My parents don’t listen to me, they think I’m stupid because I never actually took care of a cat (but I have the use of google, so I know what’s up). My parents took care of cats in their youth, but seriously, they KILLED pretty much all of their cats. They said their cats would last only a few years, get sick, and die. And I’m like “THAT IS WHY THEY GET SICK AND DIE, YOU’RE POISONING THEM!” But they don’t believe me, they think I’m the idiot.
What is it with the older generation thinking the younger generation is dumber than a rock and not to be believed? We have the technology to research what we don’t know easily and we are able to gain the knowledge without needing to be taught by anyone, so why do the older generation still think we don’t know shit?
Each time there are left-over meat, I sneakily have to throw them out. I don’t want my parents thinking they are treating the cats well by feeding them “tasty” human food. The parents are like “Look at how fast they eat it! They love it! They only have a few short years of life, let’s give them more tasty food to eat before they die!” I am so appalled. The parents probably figured out that I’ve been tossing the food because they hide the left-over meat somewhere deep in the fridge where I can’t find unless I start taking everything out to look for it. These babies are also getting fat, which is not good. I mean, all that fat, salt, sugar, MSG, etc...if it’s not good for humans to eat, HOW IS IT GOOD FOR CATS TO EAT? I can’t make my parents understand, they keep saying “we took care of many cats, we know more than you!” More like they killed many cats, ugh.
These cats are still feral though, no matter how cute they are and how much they hover around, they still dart away a few steps if I get too close, and they do not tolerate petting. I tried to pet both of them, I was thanked with a hiss and a claw. Ouch. Hurts me more in my heart than my hand lol. And Ash is the Alpha. The tiniest one is the damn Alpha. When I was tossing treats to them, one of them caught it and got the treat in his mouth. Ash went over and smacked the cat in the face until he spat the treat out, then Ash went and ate it. All the other cats let Ash have first dibs on everything. Moo is twice as big as Ash and Midnight is bigger too, but they are being bullied by the tiny little shit of an Ash. Ash also wolfs down his share of any food, then goes around the room, punching the other cats in the face until they move away, and eat their food. Ash...you freakin bully. I end up resorting to feed the cats with a spoon because Ash won’t punch the cat if they are too close to me, though it might be a matter of time before Ash gets brave enough to start punching the cat as he’s eating from my spoon. I need to prepare a squirt bottle in case that happens :P