yay for forced sterilization!

my three longtime readers will remember that i started feeding some feral cats who were hanging out in my barn, in the hopes that i would be able to befriend them to the point of getting them fixed. three to four months into the feeding, the deaf white cat finally decided to let me pet it. mostly because its head was facedown in a can of cat food. the petting continued, and in december, i was able to pick the kitty up (for short periods of time). quickly, i contacted the local spay and neuter clinic that takes feral cats, and determined that they were closed for the holidays. it would have to wait for the new year.

this past wednesday was the day. as i poured the cat food in the bowls, the white kitty let me pick it up. and i quickly shoved it in an old cage, stuck it in the back of my car, and drove to the clinic. which was more like a disassembly line, a sterilization factory. poor bewildered kitty didn't know what to think, and couldn't even hear the children in the clinic remarking how pretty the kitty was. i paid my money and left kitty there, and included deworming and a rabies shot, and three hours later, they let me pick HER up, post-surgery. she's a she!

and she was going BEZERK. apparently it's common for ferals post-anesthesia. i left her in the cage, covered up, locked in the office and barracaded from the dogs, hoping she'd be feeling better when i got home from work. she wasn't. she was in shock. i covered her up in towels and old tee shirts and petted her. thursday morning, she managed half a meow and drank a little bit of milk. thursday night, she gobbled some tuna and let me pet her forever. she's a little love muffin! too bad i hate cats.

friday, she was meowing but apparently content to stay in her cage and get waited on hand and paw. she made no effort to escape. uh oh, maybe she doesn't want to be an outdoor cat anymore! out in the wild, sleeping on a dirty towel between two bales of scratchy hay, drinking water out of a horse bucket, i could hardly blame her. i had hoped to release her, but it was going down below freezing, which can't be good post-surgery.

saturday, she escaped from the dog crate i had put her in. i found her huddled in the closet, and decided it was time for her to go back outside. i carried her out, past two and half REALLY inquisitive dogs, went out to the pasture, and she jumped out of my arms and ran in the barn. hopefully, to be reunited with her fuzzy hearing-abled friend. who'd better watch out, i'm getting good at this forced sterilization thing.