Pan disappears, Ginger gets friendlier, tuxedo, Wen, Ed Sheeran or Wilson... Much cats!

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Pan seems physically OK but very resentful. Whatever happened to her eye it seems to have cleared up well. Since I last wrote she came round for 3 nights, eating then leaving quickly. Each time she was the very embodiment of the term 'if looks could kill'. It is probably just coincidence but in all my experience with black cats they have shown a very high level of intelligence and a strong and long lasting sense of resentment if they feel they have been treated poorly.

After the three nights Pan disappeared. She is very much a wanderer and has gone off for two or three days but this time she was gone for fifteen days. I was worried I'd not see her again when she suddenly popped up on the wall. I put food out for her and she ate, then before leaving, she made a very ostentatious show of pissing on the vinyl BBQ cover then kicking with her back feet to show that that was that. She is very angry with me.

A night or two later she came round again and ate then sat on the table looking at me for perhaps three minutes before jumping down and walking past me into the night. I figured we had settled back into a groove and I was wrong.

I used to be able to stand within two feet of her, and when I fed her, sometimes touch her face but now we are back to a six foot no go zone. She will also not approach if she sees any other cat anywhere in the area. She only comes round sporadically. She is so stubborn and so independent. She is six years old so I know she can take care of herself but I would like her to feel she has a home here.

Ginger is changing fast. On the Ginger hierarchy of needs scratchin is now more important than food. He is still jumpy but he really wants my attention. Besides scratchin time I can hold him with both hands for up to twenty seconds and I can lift him an inch or so off the ground for about four seconds.

One night I scratched him for several minutes then he started to eat. After a few bites he came over to my chair, I thought for more scratchin, but every time I reached for him he bit me. Not at all hard but he kept doing it. I left my hand in front of him and he put his mouth over the fleshy outside edge of my hand and began to tug. I moved myself forward and he kept tugging until he was at the bowl.

He wants me to pet him while he eats!

It's nice that he likes my company so much but you have to draw a line. Years ago Whitey Ford first allowed us to pet him on our bed. He would come into the living room or the office and make odd noises until one of us would follow him to the bedroom and then he would jump up on the bed and then he would get lots of attention.

After some time he stopped jumping up and started waiting for me to lift him up onto the bed. That was all fine for a while until he started stopping in front of the bedroom door. I refused to carry him from there to the bed as I know if I gave in, at some point he would be expecting to be carried to the food, the litter box, the couch, etc.

If another cat comes round Ginger will sit right up against my feet with his head up high. He is willing to share space and food with others but the 'big feeding creature' is rightfully his. He is now so comfortable he will curl up on a nearby chair and go to sleep so soundly that he does not wake up when I get up and say goodnight as I head in for the night. Not even an ear twitch.

He now talks to me. Like Whitey when he started talking, Ginger only makes a thin reedy 'aaaaaaa' sound. It takes a long time for a feral to learn to vocalize and they never really sound quite like a domestic cat.

I've mentioned it before but at the end of April we almost had a situation. One evening around 7:30 Ginger pricked up his ears and started staring. He got very ridged and then moved from the patio into the yard. He had spotted the mama blue jay sitting on a wire. She spotted him and started scolding.

I said 'don't start anything Ginger. You won't like where this will go.'

He looked for a bit but then let the matter drop. I am so happy as I've seen cats start something with a blue jay couple before and those birds will not let up until they leave for the season. As it is we had to go through several weeks of having two poppa robins sit doing the load CHEEP! warning sound every evening as Ginger sat out on the patio.

Each evening Ginger comes and sits and stares at the back door waiting for me to come out. If I am not at home yet I will end up coming from the garage or from the back gate into the yard and he is stunned and happy. He can't seem to think of me coming from anywhere but the back door of the house. Anything else is like some kind of weird magic.

The black and white (with a bit of gray and tan) cat I named Wen now seems to follow Ginger at all times. It is an odd relationship. Ginger seems to neither like nor dislike Wen. Wen is just one of those things like your shadow. What are you gonna do?

For his part Wen seems to follow Ginger as a, maybe, role model? Big brother?

With Ginger getting more comfortable with me by the day Wen has made remarkable progress. He was very feral when he first arrived but in watching Ginger, Wen has become much calmer much faster than I would expect. When he first appeared, to fight with Pan, he did not eat. I thought he was someone's outdoor cat. Now he is eating regularly. He looks a bit like an old man you might see sitting in a park.

Wen has stopped spraying all the time as I guess he has proved dominance over Pan. I think that is the reason Pan hates me or feels betrayed by me and left for so long.

The plan is this. I want to trap Wen, get him neutered, and have him adopted out. He has made such great strides with trust I'm sure he can become a solid (if a bit odd) indoor pet. Also, ferals don't talk but Wen talks a fair bit and that leads me to believe he was at some time a domestic cat and that will make adoption easier. I hope with him gone that Pan will feel more at home and safe here again.

Ginger has been well behaved with Pan, Wen, and the other two cats we had around last year, Wilson and Ed Sheeran, and he and Whitey Ford have sat looking at each other through the window for a long time now so I think he may become our new indoor cat. It will be interesting to see what he thinks of that.

Whitey Ford was a true feral and when he moved in he was terrified of us. Despite that he has never expressed any interest in going outside. Freedom from rain and cold and regular food seemed to overcome any level of fear of the hoomans. Ginger has a bit of a head start in that he knows he likes ear knuckles, face scratchin, and ear to tail tip strokes.

We have had a bit of an issue with a long legged burly black and white tuxedo cat. He dropped in a few times last summer and is now coming round again. He appears to be someones outdoor cat and none of the other cats like him much. He has never been aggressive at all but the other cats find him too big, too loud, and way too friendly. Other cats avoid him and Ginger gets very angry when he comes round. Fortunately he usually leaves quickly.

I told you in my last long winded report that Ed Sheeran and Wilson had disappeared late last fall. One of them seems to be back!

A red cat has come round a few nights over the last few weeks. He is wary but seems not to be too worried about my presence and he and Ginger don't have any issues when they see each other so it has to be one of our old friends. I have not been able to get a good look to identify which cat it might be.

A big thank you to the bunny who made a recent donation and thank you to all the bunnies who have helped out. You have been really great. I may write something about you folks soon.

Pics and vids to follow.