WE ARE FERAL CATS

WE ARE FERAL CATS: THE OUTDOOR CATS (WILLY, SHEBA, GUS, BUDDY)

Feral and hard stray/abandoned cats of Fukui (mostly Univ. of Fukui area) whom have been successfully placed with forever homes in the past three years

Feral and hard stray/abandoned cats of Fukui (mostly Univ. of Fukui area) whom have been successfully placed with forever homes in the past three years:

PUSHKIN (female, grey and white)--now lives north of Fukui City.

MAYA GIRL (female, ginger and white)--now lives with a family (including a dog) in Tsuruga, Fukui-ken.

O'MALLEY (male, orange tabby)--now lives with a family near campus, that household also includes June (see below).

JUNE (female, calico)--now lives with O'Malley.

NANA (female, white calico)--now lives north of Fukui City (not that far from Pushkin actually).

PONGO (male, black and white)--now lives with a family near campus.

ELVIS (male, brown tabby, exotic longhair appearance)--now lives in Erie, PA, USA.

GRACIE (female, calico, longhair)--now lives with Elvis in Erie, PA, USA.

BABE (male, white with grey tabby)--former companion to Pongo, now lives with Elvis and Gracie in Erie, PA, USA.

SESAME (female, black and white)--now lives with a family in Mikuni, Fukui-ken.

EBI (female, brown, exotic longhair appearance)--now lives with a family in Kanto region.

BELLA (female, orange tabby)--now lives with a family in Fukui City.

LADY BABE (female, white with grey tabby)--now lives with a family north of Fukui City, not that far from Pushkin and Nana.

BIBI (female, grey tabby with white)--now lives with a person in Fukui City.

MICKEY (female, calico)--now lives with a family in Fukui City.

TOTO (male, black and white, tuxedo)--now lives with a family near campus, indoor-outdoor cat.

TONIO (male, white and grey tabby)--now lives with a family near campus, indoor-outdoor cat.

RICHIE (male, black)--now lives with the same family as Tonio, indoor-outdoor cat.

EMMA (female, grey-brown tabby with white)--now lives with a family just north of campus, indoor-outdoor cat.

Also:

LENNY (male, orange tabby)--was placed in AFN shelter in Niigata but they found a home for him.

Unfortunately:

MII-CHAN (female, grey tabby and white)--was placed with a family but she escaped and never came back (I looked for 6 months for her).

And:

BIGWIG (white and grey-brown tabby)--boss tom cat (now neutered), now retired to AFN shelter in Niigata.

DAISY (female, ginger tabby with white)--living at AFN shelter in Niigata.

And most sadly, these cats we were unable to rescue:

CARAMEL (male, orange and white)--deceased.

GWEN (female, calico)--deceased.

TIGER BOY (male, grey-brown tabby)--deceased.

SYLVESTER (male, black and white, tuxedo)--deceased.

These four cats are the ones who are still outdoors. I have also sponsored other cats who are now being fed by families near the campus--that would include Toto, Tonio and Richie. And I have a cat with a foster home, Bibi. But these four cats all live outdoors and more or less depend on me. They are Willie, Sheba, Gus and Buddy.

WILLIE

Willie is a cat who also goes to a house down the street to be fed, but spends most of his time near the tennis courts. I believe he is another son of Bootsie-mama. He seems to be blind in his right eye, and I would like to bring him inside soon, in hopes that he can fit into the space where Bootsie-mama, Pancho and Tiger Baby are (although I would keep them separate at first and introduce them in a careful way). I estimate Willie to be the same age as Pancho--5 years.

SHEBA

Sheba is a 5 year old female (now spayed) and the 'boss' of the campus gang of cats (which is down to three permanent members--Sheba, Gus and Buddy--with occasional visitors, such as an orange-and-white male I call George). She is brother to Gus (she is a longhair black-and-white, while Gus is shorthair black-and-white) and she likes Buddy (a black cat) and has allowed him to join the 'gang'.

GUS

Gus is Sheba's brother, but his personality is quite different. Sheba allows me to pet and groom her (which she needs every year before it gets hot), but doesn't like being held. Gus loves to be held (so long as there are no other people around), and he is not 'bossy' like his sister. They are very closely bonded and even wait for each other at dinner time to come and eat. Gus is somewhat timid and disappears on the days when sports clubs are active in the area where he, Sheba and Buddy live. All three are feral cats, but are quite used to me and could adapt well to indoor living. I think the key is to keep them together, since they are so closely bonded. I would like to bring them inside soon.

BUDDY

Buddy is one year younger than Sheba and Gus, so he is probably 4 years old. He has a brother who is also all-black who lives near campus--Richie, who spends his time with his own gang, which includes Tonio and Toto. I have got all of these male cats fixed, and the two groups overlap because Richie comes to visit the campus cats, and Gus and Buddy often go to visit Richie (although Tonio doesn't like them so much). Buddy has bonded very closely with Sheba and Gus now and spends most of this time with them, helping them to hold the territory around the gym and swimming pool. Late last year they seemed to accept an orange-and-white, George, but George went somewhere else for the winter. I wouldn't be surprised to see him back this spring. He too has been neutered.

Sheba, Gus, Buddy having mealtime together.

BOOTSIE-MAMA

BOOTSIE-MAMA

Bootsie-mama is probably the same age as Ragi-mama--7 years old, as they are sisters from the same litter. Ragi-mama stayed on campus and had several litters there. Bootsie-mama moved to a location just north of the main campus of the university, around its tennis courts, although she and her family would come onto campus looking for food. She is very wary of people, as one of her litters was killed by a man with a hoe--Tiger Baby survived, but three other kittens were killed. That is one reason why Tiger Baby is so special to me because he survived that time. Bootsie-mama is doing well in the sanctuary. She was at first easy to panic, but now she is very calm and is happy surrounded by her two sons, Pancho and Tiger Baby. She is confident enough to allow me to be very close when she eats. She has many places to hide in the sanctuary, and likes to spend a lot of time sleeping in high spots where she can also look out the window.

PANCHO

PANCHO

Pancho is the son of Bootsie-mama and older brother of Tiger Baby (I call him Uncle Pancho). He is probably 5 years old. He is a true feral and very shy around people. He doesn't like me to touch him, but he does allow me to be close when he eats. He now spends his time in the sanctuary with Tiger Baby and Bootsie-mama. This is for the best, as they are safe and warm there. The neighborhood where this family of cats lived was hostile. Someone actually killed Bootsie-mama's kittens with a garden hoe, so this has helped to make all three of these cats very wary of people. But they trust me and Tiger Baby even plays with me and lets me pet him. Which is remarkable considering how much they have been through. It's nice to see them safe and happy in the sanctuary now.

RAGI-MAMA

RAGI-MAMA

Ragi-mama is the mother of many of the campus cats. These include: Maya Girl, Tiger Boy, Gracie, Caramel, OB-kun, and Gwen. Unfortunately, Caramel and Gwen disappeared from campus and are presumed dead. Tiger Boy was struck and killed by a car just north of the campus. I believe Ragi-mama is the sister of Bootsie-mama (Tiger Baby's and Pancho's mother), and estimate both to be 7 years old. She now lives on the ground floor of my 'sanctuary' building, in the space behind where Shaun and OB live.

TIGER BABY

TIGER BABY

Tiger Baby is the last-born son of Bootsie-mama. He is about 4 years old and completely feral, except for the fact that when he was a kitten living outside near my apartment house, I played with him. When the other cats were around, he would react the way they did, with fear. But when they weren't around, I could pet him and even pick him up and cuddle him. Which was always tempting to do, as he is so cute. He now lives indoors in my 'cat sanctuary', with his mother, Bootsie-mama and an older brother, Pancho, born in an earlier litter (before I got Bootsie-mama spayed)--I call Pancho 'Uncle Pancho' because that is how he interacts with Tiger Baby.

This is a recent photo of Tiger Baby in the 'sanctuary', safe, dry and warm. He has his winter coat on and it makes him look larger and heavier, but he is not a large or heavy cat.