Re: I adopted a new kitty; looks just like Cricket

[Marylyn]

Just so you'll know:  Barn cats are held in high esteem in the cat world.  They have the best of several worlds as long as they have a caring person around.  They have food, a warm, dry place to stay, plenty of good hunting, warm hay to sleep and hide in etc.  I didn't realize how admired they were until I read a book by Dawn Haymen  (www.springfarmcares.org).   The caretaker is for putting out good snacks and clean water and  taking care of emergencies.  If you would like to work on Charity's fears try spending time in the barn talking softly, taking out good snacks frequently and putting Feliway spray on you and your clothes.  And look at things thru her eyes and ears.  You are very big and you don't smell right (sorry--you don't smell like a cat--the Feliway will help here) and, well, you get the idea.  Just the size thing is frightening.  And her only contacts with people have involved being crammed in a box, dumped, loosing her kittens, being trapped and taken to the vets.  There are a number of websites on feral cats.  And there are lots of things you can do to at least partially socialize her so you'll know if she is healthy etc.  It is so obvious that you care about her and you have done well by her.  I have had two feral cats move in with me  and they are totally different from house cats and totally wonderful in their own ways.  I am feeding TNR several that come to my Mom's.  People have either dumped them or they are the offspring of some that have been dumped.  I wish they all had a nice warm barn and someone to care for them the way Charity does.  Just spending time around them, just talking and being, makes it easier for them to realize you are not going to cause pain or kill them.   Now I'm rambling......Thanks for caring about Charity.  I suspect she appreciates it very much too.  :)))                                                             If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures                                                  from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who                                                  will deal likewise with their fellow man.                                                                   St. Francis ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 10:32 PM Subject: Re: I adopted a new kitty; looks just like Cricket In a message dated 3/29/06 1:02:43 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Well, I finally went back to the shelter yesterday >> morning, while my dogs were being snip-snipped at the >> vets, and adopted that little black kitty that stole >> my heart weekend before last. Wendy~ Best wishes on your new baby!  Wishing you both many years of love and happiness.   And, I do believe that our departed furbabies come back to us.   Do you remember me posting about my little Timothy??  He is one of the bottle babies I raised this summer.  (They were dumped in a box w/ their feral mom, Charity...She got out, and my neighbor brought the babies to me.  I did trap Charity, had her spayed, tested and tried to socialize her.  Poor thing, she was just too frightened.  However, she does stay in my barn, and does not stray far from here.)  I'm rambling again....   Timothy is now 10 months old, and I swear he is the reincarnation of my Ethan!!  (Ethan was my Felv boy who I lost to lymphosarcoma when he was only 18 months old.) Timmy is solid black, compact body with amber eyes, just like my Ethan.  I noticed months ago different "mannerisms" and "looks", and it is uncanny! I adopted Thomas, his brother out in November.  But Timothy will have NOTHING to do with adoption events!!  He would act very "disinterested", and I even had a man comment that Timothy had found a home - MINE!!  And, I guess that's true.   Nina said that sometimes reincarnation happens when there is "unfinished business".  And, Ethan's passing was so sudden, he had never been sick.  I did expect him to live much longer, so of course, there was much that was "unfinished".  Heck, we never even got to say goodbye the way I would have liked to have been able to do.   I look at Timothy and I think that perhaps he REALLY IS my Ethan, come back to me in a healthy body so we can share a lifetime together. Who knows, huh?  I take comfort in these things.   I wish you all the best. Patti