If all of you remember Gato, our feral kitty who we trapped in April and she had her babies successfully inside? But what has become of Momma Gato? Well here is her story: The Story of Gato, now known as Lady Gata Cleopatra A beautiful tortie was outside and living under a deck last winter. One of the coldest in a long time! The people fed her but could not get near enough to touch her, much less capture her. They named the kitty Gato, thinking it was a boy. They continued to feed Gato all winter and she stayed living under their deck. Never seemed to venture far. In April of this year they noticed HE was pregnant! They knew they had to do something, so they called Kenosha Forgotten Friends for help. The plan was to try and capture her, let her have her babies and find homes for them and they wanted to keep Gato inside as a house kitty. She was trapped pretty easily on April 13, 2014 and kept in my downstairs bathroom to have her babies. Gato was not an easy girl to deal with. Occasionally I could pet her, but only if she was in the mood for a few moments. She all of a sudden stopped eating and did not look well. Since she was pregnant, we thought, this was a major concern. She needed to get to the vet ASAP for ultrasound to see what was going on. We tried sedatives in her food. That didn’t work! She loved to sleep in one of the covered kitty beds, so the only way we could get her into carrier was to close up the bed with her in it and put all into carrier! At the office, on Easter Sunday, we discovered she had a fever, but she was indeed pregnant seen on the ultrasound. And we guessed she had another 3-4 weeks to go. She received antibiotics and recovered quickly. On May 13, exactly 30 days after coming inside, Gato delivered 6 healthy babies. Thank God, no problems with her pregnancy as she still was not easy to handle at this point. Three boys and three girls, Hodgins, Booth, Sweets, Camille, Angela and Temperance. Gato became even more difficult to get near as she was now protecting her babies. She would charge at me as I opened the door. Since Gato was very food oriented I began to force her to come to me if she wanted to eat. After a short time she would sit very near me and eat. By the time the babies were 2 weeks old she allowed us to handle them a bit. Things seemed to be progressing, where we could pet Gato more and more each day. And I began to see a scared little girl, not a feral kitty. So I became more determined than ever to work with her and give her the love she so deserved and show her that humans were really not so bad. When the babies were weaned, we moved Gato to her forever home with the people who had watched over her during the winter. But….Gato was sitting in a window one day and the screen fell out! They said she sat on the ground for a moment like she was stunned and didn’t know what to do. They could not get her and by the time I arrived, she had taken off. So now the fun begins! Everyone thought she wanted to be outside but after working with her for months already I insisted that it was an accident that she was out again and now was just very confused. We had a terrible storm the next day where a large tree had fallen over their garage. Still no sign of Gato. We just kept hoping she was safe. While Gato was outside her babies became very ill with a high fever and refused to eat. So now we were worried about her babies too. After a few days, here she was on the deck again in her same spot she was all winter! Her babies recovered just as quickly as they had taken ill. Is there a connection between momma and babies? Who knows? I sat out daily hoping she would come near and recognize that I had the food bowl as we had done for the last few months inside. She would come close, but not close enough to catch her. We considered the trap again, but she was a smart girl and they usually won’t go into the trap twice. They have an enclosed gazebo so we propped the door open and let her go in there to eat. Once comfortable, we tried closing door and getting her. Oh no, Gato would have nothing to do with that! She broke through the screen door and off again! So we tried the trap again. It took several days of putting food bowl closer and closer to trap, then inside just a ways but not all the way. She would walk around the trap and then leave again. It was heart wrenching to watch her so close, yet untouchable. FINALLY, we used her favorite treat…Trader Joe’s tuna. She walked around the trap and you could see her little mind turning on what to do. Then the draw of the tuna won out! We had her! She was immediately taken to vet to be checked out again since she had been outside for about 3 weeks.. At this point, no one thought she would make a good indoor kitty and that she should be left outside. I had a feeling that she was just scared, not feral. I believed it so much that I was willing to work with her and try to find her a home if no one else wanted her or keep her myself. After months of working with Gato and her babies I was not about to let her out again. After a lot of convincing, the people who originally fed her agreed to set up condo in their home so she could look outside at familiar surroundings. They were not optimistic. With her in a condo, it was much easier to handle her. She quickly mellowed out and began to enjoy the constant attention. Within a short time she was roaming the house and playing with her fur brothers, who I am sure helped show her the “inside” life! Now she is a keeper for sure! She has never tried to escape out the door and seems very content inside. She even sleeps and snuggles with them at night. She is still not easy to pet when she is on the floor but when she is ready for attention, she goes to sit on a table or on her scratching post. She has now been renamed Lady Gata Cleopatra, has been spayed and microchipped and has bonded with her 2 fur brothers and humans in her new fur-ever home! Working with Lady Gata has been a very rewarding experience, although very frustrating at times. But through it, I have learned a lot about the so called “feral” kitties and know that persistence does pay off! After months of steps forward, steps back, a bit of frustration and lots of joy, we have a great Happy Ending for Lady Gata and her family! Two of Lady Gata Cleopatra’s kittens are still looking for their special person/family. They are Sweets and Angela. Sweets name fits him perfectly as he is a sweet little boy who loves to play and snuggle with you. Angela loves to sit on your lap and is a beautiful tortie. Sandy/President Kenosha Forgotten Friends
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 00:24:05 +0000
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