A curious thing about the feral cats here is that during the very crisp freezing mornings they seem to be fine with gamboling about, paws on the frost. When we really don't see them is when it's raining and windy. They hide away completely. Is there some biological reason why they would avoid rain but not frost? Maybe paws are one thing but you cannot get fur dry easily!
One cat we did not see today and were really hoping to is Tortipizza (photo above taken last year). Unfortunately, she has dental problems again and when we arrived was looking thin and was behaving oddly. Just like last time, around 2 years ago, she clearly finds eating very painful, and is making these strange jaw/head movements.
We wanted to see her today to try to trap her to get her to the vet tomorrow. Last time, he removed 7 or 8 teeth and she was right as rain later. Cats have 30 teeth so she can probably get away with having a few more out! My friend Lisa says she has known cats with no teeth at all to be able to eat dry food.
Well, Tortipizza did not turn up today and this was the last opportunity, before I come back in March, to get her to the vet. I hope she survives until then. Manolo, our neighbour, has been buying her very soft 'mousse' catfood and that is her best bet, but I will speak to the vet about giving her a steroid in her food tomorrow. That might help with the inflammation. What a worry. She is the last surviving one of the original seven that we neutered in 2011.
Speaking of wildlife, we set up our new wildlife camera last night and were delighted to see some great shots this morning. We knew wild boar (Jabali) came into the garden but it was wonderful to get such a great image on our first try of the camera. What a handsome fella - and on a familiar mission by the look of things. I think he may be heading for the catfood!