Poor Caelum
December 31st 2009 04:57
Some time ago, roughly september last year, my readers may remember my kittens. I am working on a follow up post to show you whats become of them all. Only one of them has drfted off into the world with no word. Zenith is here and happy, her daughters WhimaWay and Niah growing into astonishing beauty. The other daughter has been renamed Spider Puss and plays with her new best friend, Felix.
You may also remember that just when my charges returned from their desexing, I found some more kittens. Zenith's sister RiverStar, and her four little puff balls. On that day I successfully trapped all of them, only to have Riverstar and her one ginger kitten escape. In that post, I named the ginger Bourneheld, but that was soon amended to Caelum. Read about them in related posts.
Mum felt extremely sorry for little Caelum. For a long time, he was presumed dead. Then he appeared, and began to get more and more friendly. He also grew in beauty and began to strongly resemble his cousin, Axis, from our litter. I knew, that his brothers and sisters had been put down by the RSPCA, and tried to tell myself that was the best thing. The life of a feral cat is not a sweet one.
He had a few lovely months. His coat was glossy and golden and he played in our yard. We made plans to trap and desex him, find him an honourable home.
For a few months after that, Caelum disappeared. He had reached sexual maturity and had been chased off by our resident toms - of which there were four.
One night I was up late. The dogs began to bark and would not stop. I heard cat screams. However, I thought nothing of it. There are always cats fighting or mating around here.
The next morning, we found him.
He was collapsed in the back yard as if he was coming to us for help. He was skin and bones, his glorious golden coat in tatters. His front right leg was broken, high up near the body, one of the hardest bones to break. His face was scratched open, bleeding and making his eye weep, as the socket was torn.
We bundled him into a cat box and sent him to our local vet to be destroyed.
Im sorry to say, if he had been one of mine, I would have paid anything to see him put right. But he wasnt mine. I did what I had to do.
I couldnt help but think if he had gone with his brothers and sisters to be destroyed at 3 weeks old he could have been spared this suffering. It was like some kind of horrific conclusion to the conflicting thoughts Id had over putting the others down and letting him live. I was validated, but I wished I hadnt been.
Since Caelum's demise, mum has refused to feed the feral cats. The mother Riverstar has drifted away, and with her, the last breeding female, so have the toms. I believe the feral cat population to be under control. And I will never again hesitate to do what needs to be done, even if I find it personally abhorrent.
And what killed him is still under debate. We have no dogs, Id see and hear them, or at least evidence of them. Another cat could not have done that to him, his injuries were simply too severe. There is a possibility he fought with another tom and rolled under horse hooves. Another possibility is old man fox - a big guy, almost the size of a german shepard, orange rather than red, he pads about at dawn and at twilight. He could have easily inflicted those injuries and let his quarry go as he came too close to the house. Perhaps Caelum threatened his cubs or tried to steal food.
And perhaps theres something else out there. Something I dont know about. Something deadly to cats. So my rules of 'no outside' have become set in stone.
You may also remember that just when my charges returned from their desexing, I found some more kittens. Zenith's sister RiverStar, and her four little puff balls. On that day I successfully trapped all of them, only to have Riverstar and her one ginger kitten escape. In that post, I named the ginger Bourneheld, but that was soon amended to Caelum. Read about them in related posts.
Mum felt extremely sorry for little Caelum. For a long time, he was presumed dead. Then he appeared, and began to get more and more friendly. He also grew in beauty and began to strongly resemble his cousin, Axis, from our litter. I knew, that his brothers and sisters had been put down by the RSPCA, and tried to tell myself that was the best thing. The life of a feral cat is not a sweet one.
He had a few lovely months. His coat was glossy and golden and he played in our yard. We made plans to trap and desex him, find him an honourable home.
For a few months after that, Caelum disappeared. He had reached sexual maturity and had been chased off by our resident toms - of which there were four.
One night I was up late. The dogs began to bark and would not stop. I heard cat screams. However, I thought nothing of it. There are always cats fighting or mating around here.
The next morning, we found him.
He was collapsed in the back yard as if he was coming to us for help. He was skin and bones, his glorious golden coat in tatters. His front right leg was broken, high up near the body, one of the hardest bones to break. His face was scratched open, bleeding and making his eye weep, as the socket was torn.
We bundled him into a cat box and sent him to our local vet to be destroyed.
Im sorry to say, if he had been one of mine, I would have paid anything to see him put right. But he wasnt mine. I did what I had to do.
I couldnt help but think if he had gone with his brothers and sisters to be destroyed at 3 weeks old he could have been spared this suffering. It was like some kind of horrific conclusion to the conflicting thoughts Id had over putting the others down and letting him live. I was validated, but I wished I hadnt been.
Since Caelum's demise, mum has refused to feed the feral cats. The mother Riverstar has drifted away, and with her, the last breeding female, so have the toms. I believe the feral cat population to be under control. And I will never again hesitate to do what needs to be done, even if I find it personally abhorrent.
And what killed him is still under debate. We have no dogs, Id see and hear them, or at least evidence of them. Another cat could not have done that to him, his injuries were simply too severe. There is a possibility he fought with another tom and rolled under horse hooves. Another possibility is old man fox - a big guy, almost the size of a german shepard, orange rather than red, he pads about at dawn and at twilight. He could have easily inflicted those injuries and let his quarry go as he came too close to the house. Perhaps Caelum threatened his cubs or tried to steal food.
And perhaps theres something else out there. Something I dont know about. Something deadly to cats. So my rules of 'no outside' have become set in stone.
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