Then Chubby Chops arrived yesterday after an absence of many months. I had seen him from time to time in other parts of the village, but fleetingly, and I am afraid he is a victim of the arrival of the London 4 in January. CC had been a constant presence around the house until that. He therefore had found a new neighbourhood and I thought, well that’s okay. He seemed alright.
He has always been ‘full of face’, but yesterday he arrived limping badly and with a huge abscess on the side of his head which must be very painful.
Thankfully though, he has an appetite and he allowed me pretty close. The vet was ready to treat him Monday (tomorrow) morning so I started the process of trapping him. This began yesterday with putting delicious things in the trap that was wired up so it couldn’t ‘spring’. He wouldn’t actually go in but he was hanging around the trap and I placed a few morsels near him which he was gobbling up.
I was worried that in his vulnerable state a fox might attack him in the night, but no, as I made my way to Fort Feral this morning I could hear his croaky cries from the undergrowth and there he was again, limping but hungry.
This time, with soft cat food right in the back of the trap, but with it still wired up, he went right in and ate and would have set the trap off if it had been ready to go. Great! I thought, I’ll trap him tonight. I left Fort Feral with him sitting proprietorially next to the trap.
The London cats, especially Zita, fluffy goofball that she usually is, were not having this and she even had a go at him with her claws out, the minx.
Action stations therefore and I brought the trap over, set it, and seconds later he was in it. Now he has the dubious honour of being the first cat to sleep in a trap in the new house. I’ll transfer him later to another cage, give him some food, and then tomorrow morning I’ll take him to the vet in the ‘crush box’. The vet will anaesthetise him and see if the leg is broken, drain the abscess and I hope neuter him as well, if all that isn’t too much in one go. Let’s hope the leg is not broken.
Phew!
Finally, here is feral cat feeder of the month, Marion, who was here with her husband Mike, for a pleasantly emergency-free weekend recently!