The feral and my other cats..

Well. I think there is a photo somewhere hereabouts of the redoubtable orange and white feral who arrived here quite a long while ago...I think he was dumped as he had clearly been handled. Loved my ankles! He is a character and a half. He is totally territorial and totally unscrupulous. According to him HE is the ONLY CAT allowed on the premises. er.... sorry laddie but my two got here first! He terrorises them.. Chases them mercilessly. One sight of a cat and off he goes,a streak of orange and white fur.. My girl cat race off and stays away days and my huge boy is not much braver but has been seen and heard bashing the feral's ears before vanishing up a tree. For some reason the feral does not climb trees.. Wee dog is unsure what to make of the feral. But will " see him off" on command. So there goes the big cat, followed by feral, followed by wee dog... never a dull moment. I need the feral as he keeps other strays away. Ireland has an abundance of feral cats and one I had here was a nasty piece of work. Occasionally feral gets into the house and sprays.. Yukk! All makes life interesting indeed up here on the mountain...

I would suggest getting him neutered, if not already, as he may either be carrying or will catch FIV/ FELV while fighting.
We have a stray entire male at the farm, once I've checked he isn't microchipped ( unlikely as un-neutered) and I've advertised him on local lost and found pages.... He is in for a blood test for above viruses, the snip, microchipping in our name and then vaccination.

A kind thought but not possible just now and we need him to keep the others away. Circumstances....And this is wild rural Ireland. We don't vaccinate either, on advice. This one was dumped up here, another local custom. And the feral who wants in here is a nasty, inbred evil tempered ginger who my feral has seen off a few times.

Interesting creatures adaptation wise are ferals.. someone writing on the Irish ferals spoke of that they are programmed after one generation to " feed and breed". Although this one gets fed everyday he is always after food, like the Barnardo's kids who would not go to sleep unless they had a crust of bread in their hands. he KNOWS that the collie cannot see him and pinches food from her bowl and this morning tried to take a piece of raw chicken from the collie's mouth. REALLY! All collie could smell was the chicken of course.. Needless to say feral did not get it; he had already had his food.. He tried then with wee dog with a very different result! The growl echoed round the valley! Cunning essential for survival and no holds barred! When I am feeding blind collie I tell wee dog " See him off!" to ensure collie gets properly fed. Of course in the wild a blind or disabled critter would simply starve but this is not the wild although sometimes....