Life on the Farm is Not Easy

Just ask Oliver, King of the Pride

We are a barn cat relocation site for Project Purr. This hard working and dedicated organization mainly focus on the trap, neuter and release aspect for feral cats (Feral cats are not wild and something to fear. They are cats that have had limited - if any - exposure to humans and so they are afraid of us. A real life 'fraidy cat). However there is a rescue function to this organization as well. Feral cats which are turned into shelters have no chance of being adopted, and so after their three day'stray period' these cats are euthanized. Project Purr rescues these cats and finds homes for them. I've talked about the relocation and imprinting process here and here and here.

We have had four groups of cats relocated here. Oliver was in that first batch and has become our poster child for what ferals can do on a farm. He has blossomed into a friendly cat that sits on our laps yet is also a great hunter of rodents. He's taught the newer additions how to be a hunters and showed them that humans are not scary.

With the drought, we have had wild critters (coyote, mountain lion, etc) come closer than usual, but we have also had visits from other ferals as well. Food and water are a big draw to these guys, and we have that here. It would be great to incorporate these guys into the pride, but Oliver has a different idea. Fights do happen - it is the way it is.

Oliver didn't show up for breakfast for a few days. Missing one feeding isn't uncommon, but missing two in a row is not so good and I begin to worry. Day Three and Oliver showed up looking a little swollen. His continued to swell and swell. He eventually looked like this

Because he's as tame as he is, I was able to feed him some turkey broth as he was having a really hard time chewing.  He's not tame enough to capture and take to the vet, so we had to have nature do it's thing.

After about 4 days, the infection burst. Because there is a loss of fur in the area, we were able to see that he had been in a fight and was either scratched or bitten (if you want to see an 'after' photo, you can   look after the jump - it's not bad but if you're a teeny bit squeamish you may not want to see). He was not able to eat dry food right away so he was given a diet of sardines, tuna and ground turkey baby food.

Oliver is now eating dry food again - he's on his way to health again! YAY!!!!!