How neat! And just the humane society part of me kicking in, but is he/she fixed? :)

And just the humane society part of me kicking in, but is he/she fixed? :)

Yeah lets make sure the smart ones can't breed. Doh!

Not sure if he's been fixed, I doubt it. When he licks his privates they appear to be intact, LOL. When he gets more trusting of me, so I can catch him, I will get him fixed. The closest I can get to him is an occasional nose to finger touch when I feed him.

I might need to breed him though! A gardening cat? ;)

He looks like he is wearing makeup! I would post a pic of him if I knew how. I can post on other boards without problems. Nothing seems to work here.

So neat!!

If you need help posting pics see my link.

If that cat catches voles I would love him!!! We had trouble with them last year. It drove me crazy.

I have indoor cats that kill bugs when they find them. So funny.

Karen

Here is a link that might be useful: How to post pics and change fonts

Just a little warning about getting him fixed. Growing up a friend had a cat that was a great mouser. We used to love to watch him work. One day his parents took him to get him fixed. After that he just stopped eating and drinking. He no longer cared to go after mice. We all tried to get him to eat and drink. We even captured mice and put them in front of him. He no longer cared to live and just laid there and died. A bit extreme but when asked early on the Vet said its not uncommon for a male cat to lose interest in catching mice after being fixed. A lot of them lose interest in anything other than eating and sleeping once they have been fixed. Not all of them but enough so that if I had a good garden cat I would not want to risk it.

Thanks thisisme, I might just leave him "intact" since he never leaves the yard. I think he is "in love" with my indoor/outdoor cat. She has been fixed. But he follows her everywhere she goes when she is outside!

DH and I took in an intact tomcat last fall after feeding him for several months(this town is rife with ferals and strays). He is at least 5 years old and who knows how long he was living out in the woods. He didn't even know how to play. Anyway, we had him neutered as soon as we could get him into a carrier. We had to keep him in a large cage(inside)for a week or so to make sure he would use a litter box. Then we put a couple more boxes around the apartment for him since our other cats were gunning for him for quite a while. It was a stinky couple of months(it takes a while for the testosterone to settle down)but now he is part of the gang. Now that the weather is nice(or rather acceptable)he scrambles to go out with the others and will stay out very late unless we call him. We also have a 12 year old rescue that was neutered when he was a tyke and he still brings in little critters that he captures(voles are a favorite). So no, neutering a cat won't make him lose his hunting instinct, and won't kill him unless, as with any surgery, there is a subsequent infection or the cat has an underlying illness. I used to work in an animal hospital and never heard of a cat losing interest in life from neutering. I'm not trying to start a debate, this has just been my experience.
Wertach, if you leave him intact, he will find a female and breed more homeless cats and that would be heartbreaking. He will also always be stinky and spray his territory(most likely your door).
He's a handsome guy and it's nice he's found a friend in your other cat. Our stray too has chosen one of the other cats to be his buddy.

noinwi I did not say it will kill a cat or stop ALL CATS FROM HUNTING. I only posted my personal experience. My friends cat was the Alpha Male on our street. He fought with all the males and had the females to himself. After being neutered we saw him make attempts to service his harem several times and failed. Then he lost interest in everything. He did not have a botched operation or an infection. Right or wrong the belief of everyone was that he simply no longer wanted to live with the cards that fate had dealt him.

wertach nice photo! He is a cutie. Nice job posting photos.

Too bad there is not some kind of kitty birth control :)

Karen

Well I know I wouldn't hunt after you did it to me .

He's a beautiful and very smart cat! Our barn kitties hunt voles and mice all the time. Some are fixed (when we can catch them) some not. One of our best hunters was a neutered male, who took it upon himself to teach all the kittens to hunt, when the three 'mamas' disappeared one year (probably coyotes). He taught every one of those kittens how to hunt and raised them himself. He was a wonderful cat!

Whatever you decide to do, have fun with your big boy 'helping you' in the garden :)

I've got a fixed cat and a stray we fed for about 6 months before I could get him into the house. He used the litter box right away and has never had a mistake, has never "squirted" and doesn't want to be outside at all. My wife cannot get him to go outside. Usually I am able to get him out myself, but he is back banging on our door within a few minutes. My wife wants to fix him, but I am not so sure. He is causing no problem the way he is, just a little shy with the wife, and I don't think fixing him will cure that.
What do you think??

IME when you get them fixed it takes away the sex drive and causes them to get lazy and subsequently fat. I'm not sure if it will change any attitude toward the wife. IMO it sounds like he was a pet at one time and abruptly tossed by the previous owner, possibly a woman, and is afraid of being abandoned again. My little Persian was abandoned at a young age and has never liked it outside.

Peeking through the hole on her post, ready to attack.

Aww. All this talk has me wanting a cat now. :) Reminds me of the very first article I ever wrote for the newspaper...

Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Feral Cats

Taz your cat looks like JAMIE HYNEMAN from Mythbusters! :)

Hahaha! It totally does look like that guy!!

Kim

Compare!

http://totallylookslike.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/129165933593144050.jpg

There is a lot of disinformation here. Neutering a cat will not stop their hunting instinct. All it stops is their mating instinct. The cat may be around now, but a stray intact cat will roam and fight. I had many cats and even after being fixed, both male and female still would hunt and bring me presents (sometimes live chimpmunks, which was not cool).

If you care about the cat, please get him fixed. He will live a longer and happier life and you will prevent many unwanted kittens from a brutal life in the wild or being put to sleep in a shelter.

Agree with buford. When I was doing that article, I was stunned to see just how many cats and kittens that shelter had. Felt so bad. :/

Kim

I have a feeling he will never trust me again if I put him in the cage to go to the vet. :-)

It's too bad you cannot edit posts on this forum.
This cat is DEFINITELY a stray.
It was living under a neighbor's shed with about 5 other kittens for quite a while before it came near us. We fed it for months until finally he came in and just acted pretty much like our other cat. He watched the other cat use the cat box and that was it. Seems to me he must be fairly intelligent, or maybe I just like the cat. :-)

"IMO it sounds like he was a pet at one time and abruptly tossed by the previous owner, possibly a woman, and is afraid of being abandoned again."

I disagree Taz. I think the cat was probably owned by a human male (can't say I'd call him a man) that never socialized the cat as a young kitten, so when the human male abandoned him, he looks to another male as a provider, but is not overly friendly to women because he never learned to love or trust them.

Just
{{gwi:1292219}} worth.

Betsy

buford I merely posted my personal experience with one cat. I did not generalize it to all cats. It may be different than your experience with other cats. It may be different than everyone else's experience. However it's not disinformation it is the truth. The only disinformation is in your post as you are discounting my truthful post even though you were not there to witness it. If you live in a world where everyone must agree or where only one point of view is valid please let me know where you live. I want to avoid that place like the plague.

thisisme, I wasn't specifically talking about your post. It's an old wives tale that fixing a cat will take away its hunting instinct. Tom cats are usually young cats (as stray outside cats rarely live beyond 2 years old. Cats, like people get slower when they get older. But cats will still hunt, it is an instinct, not a hobby. Some have it stronger than others.

The cat may not like being taken to the vet for a snip, but it will be much better off for it. BTW, the first time you smell an intact male cats urine, you will want to get it fixed. Trust me. It stinks to high heaven.

I've had cats for years and I've smelt it before, so I know for some reason he is not marking, or we would be aware of it I'm sure. It is NOT pleasant.
Tom

Give the cat a break. Let him be. Build your friendship first! Praise him on his wonderful gifts he brings you. You can condition him with treats when you find these new gifts. There will be time to fix him when you have snow on the ground.

I know this is an old post that I started nearly 4 years ago. But I wanted to let Y'all know how things turned out with my Buddy. I had him fixed a few months after the first post. He kept on hunting and became an indoor/outdoor cat.

He never made a mess, always used the litter box from day one or went outside to relieve himself. We became the best of friends, he was like a dog! He cuddled, slept with me, followed me everywhere, and ate breakfast with me on weekends. He loved scrambled eggs!! When I would come home from work he would run to greet me if he was outside. If I didn't get right out of my truck he would be on the hood looking in and meowing! If he was inside he would be looking out of the window waiting on me, then greet me at the door. He was so adorable!! And he still loved the garden, he was by my side every day, doing his part in the garden!

But sadly he died last November from leukemia. If only I had known that he should have been vaccinated for it he would probably be with me now.

He was very protective of his territory and fought with a lot of cats that were invading his territory. That is probably how he got the disease. I had my other cat tested and vaccinated a week after he died.

Good for you, Wertach, you gave him a loving home and a good life. We recently lost our older vole-catcher to kidney disease. When we moved back to the PNW a couple years ago, there was a girlie-cat, already spayed living in the garage. She's one of the gang now. And within the last few days we took in another stray(probably dumped)that moved into the garage, had him neutered, tested and vaccinated and have him in our kitty halfway house room. In a few more days we will start letting him out to roam around the house, then start letting him outside again and see if he stays. I think he will...he really likes my DH. He was probably a guy's cat before he ended up here. Unfortunately we're in a popular rural pet-dumping area.
Hope your other kitty has a long and healthy life with you.

Wertach, that is a very touching story. You did your share and enjoyed the company. and

made beautiful memories.

Seysonn

Unfortunately, my wife prevailed and we had Tuffy fixed. Once he was healed he went out and I couldn't get him in the house for months. Finally he came back in, but hid all the time, he would only socialize with me once in a while, and he was kept in. The first time he was let out again he disappeared and I have not seen him since. I miss him a lot, even though we have other cats.

Last summer, while I was fishing, I started feeding another cat(a female). After the results with Tuffy, I am reluctant to rescue and spay this cat. She is obviously a few years old and very friendly to me (after feeding her for months). I already have 6 cats living with us and the wife says no more, although she rescued 5 of the 6. I think I'll let her be and keep feeding her.

Tom

That sounds like a rare case. The cat not wanting to hunt, eat or drink. I've had cats for 50 years and I never had that happen to any of mine.

What a beautiful story. I'm sorry you lost your friend wertech, but at least you gave him a happy life while he was with you. Whomever neutered him should have tested him, think it's fairly standard. Find a different vet IMO. Thank you for sharing!

So sorry to hear that, Wertach. But you did your best for him and gave him love and a home. No stray cat could ask for more.

We took in two feral kittens last summer. Took all of 20 minutes to get them to stop hissing at us. Now one cuddles up on the couch with me every night. Got them fixed last december, but they're both still hunters. So far, just 3 voles, and I know this sounds heartless but I hope they develop a taste for the rabbits that are the bane of my garden.

When the time is right, Wertach, I hope you find another gardening buddy.

I'm sorry you lost your kitty. I have an 8 year old male that follows me around. He thinks he is a puppy dog. I'd be lot without him.