Hissy Fit Jones Here. I’m taking over this blog today. Hisssssss!!!!
I was born to a feral mother. Jen took me in when I got real sick. I’m doing good now, but I’m not the most affectionate fella in town. Anyway, today I’m gonna talk about feral kitties.
Did you know that 17 million Americans feed stray and feral kitties every day? That’s alot of you! I’m sure there’s plenty of you in other parts of the world doing the same thing. On behalf of feral kitties, I thank you.
There’s other things you can do to help those kitties.
- The cats need a safe, dry space in the winter. If there’s space where the cats can be dry and out of the wind, that would be helpful. A doghouse with straw or a plastic storage container with a hole cut in the side will do.
- Food is important. So is water. Provide fresh water every day.
- Remember that feeding strays/ferals make them more visible. If you don’t own the property, make sure you get permission first.
- Please spay/neuter the cats. There are many low-cost programs; call your vet or animal control services to find out if there are programs in your area. If there aren’t, talk to your vet and see if you can’t work something out.
Alley Cat Allies is a website filled with useful information about feral cats. Check it out!
And thanks!
Dogpaddling Through Life 
Oh, you are just what the world needs–Caring people like you, Jen. It’s so sad, and the animals are the ones that suffer without the love and care they need and deserve. Thank you for the tips and the website. (Hugs) x
Berner girls and Moxie
Hey, what about me! Don’t the world need more cats like me? -HFJ
Hi Hissy Fit Jones, thanks for these info about feral/stary cats. They are very important to us because before my cat brofur “Shiro” came here, we didn’t know that cats DRINK WATER like dogs!!! *blush* We didn’t know anything about cats! ( of course we now know better than before though)
We have a small plastic storage container with a scratch board in it in our small garden just in case if the other feral/stary cats need their house. Winter is coming so we hope that homeless cats will keep themselves warm enough with it. 🙂
You and your family are very kind to care for them Kevin!
I love to help feral kitties. I haven’t seen any in my area but I always donate food to my sister who like Tarmac’s mom feeds feral kitties in her area 🙂
That is wonderful! I know them kitties appreciate it. -HFJ
We dont have feral pussycats where I live but I do keep an eye open and will remember what you have sent. Thank you Hissy. I would like to say that I think you are very gorgeous too, if that is okay. Love Charlie xxx
Thanks Charlie! I enjoyed your interview too. -HFJ
Awwww hello Hissy Fit Jones! You are lovely!! Yay! Me and Charlie are so glad that there are many kind hearted people who help ferals!
Take care
x
Hello Kitty. There are lots of kindness left in the human race. When I despair of them, I remember this statistic and it gives me hope.
We are so happy you are doing better sweet Hissy Fit Jones. Bless Jen for taking you in and caring for you. We appreciate all your information. Mumsy and Popsy fed feral cats for years but there have not been any in our area now for a long time. Hugs and nose kisses
I hope that’s a good thing Mumsy. -HFJ
Excellent advice, JB!! You covered all the important points very well. Our people manage two feral colonies. Each one has at least four cats that they know of. But from the amount of food that disappears every day, there must be more. Otherwise, the ones they know about would be as round as watermelons!
A couple of us are very round. We’ve tried to tell them we’re charter members of the Empty Bowl Club, but they responded by buying us a tiny treadmill. The nerve!
We know your mom has a feral food bowl by the fence. She’s a very kind-hearted woman! We love her and we love you, too, June Buggie! RainbowCatsx8
Its near the fence to discourage neighbor kitties and help the ferals get used to us dogs…. just in case.
Oops! Sorry Hissy Fit! We were up too early and not quite awake. We thought this was a June Buggie post. You guys really ARE trying to take over Rumpy’s blog!
Great advice Hissy Fit! So glad that Jen found you and was able to help you out. 😀
There is never an end to those needing a helping hand… or paw.
Great blog Hissy Fit! You look a game fella! So glad Jen helped you out – and excellent advice on feral cat care. Luckily no feral cats in our area. We did have one which me and a neighbour looked after, he was neutered and had a little kennel outside. After neutering, he got a lot more friendly and was eventually rehomed cos we already have four cats in a small space between us.
that was really good of you guys to help that kitty -HFJ
Love this post! My little girl Isabel was born to a feral mother, and the people who found her and her litter didn’t realize kittens needed to be weaned, so they took the mother to the pound and gave all of the (way too young) kittens away. It always makes me sad to think of how much love Isabel missed out on, and how hard her growing up was just because she was torn from her family by people who didn’t understand feral cats need love and protection, too. Luckily, she ended up getting to be her disagreeable, cranky old self in my house, and over a couple of years she calmed down a bit. True help came when her very socialized brother Murphy came to live with us – he forced her to be nice or get cuddled and bathed to death, lol!
*sniff sniff* I love happy endings. -HFJ
Discarded ice-chests work great. I have four, maybe five here I picked up out of grader-ditches converted to cat shelters. All that insulation top bottom and sides takes away a lot of the chill even if there’s only a towel or empty cat-food bag hanging over the front to keep the wind out. Nice post. Thanks, Jules
I like you Jules. -HFJ
The city I live in has a Feral Cat Program – great program. It certainly helps keep the mice population under control.
Jen got my mom and me fixed in such a program before I got sick. The are great. -HFJ
What a lucky kitty to have someone to take you in! The world needs more people like your owners 🙂
Very good advice Hissy Fit 🙂 I don’t think our tabby is a stray, but we’ve made a nice comfy place for him in our shed/summerhouse. He seems to like it here, and you know cats, they will go where they are made welcome and the humans are a soft touch lol
I don’t have any pets and never really did, so I usually just read these and love them. Sorry, Hissy Fit (what an awesome name!!!), this will be about a dog…
When I was ten, we lived in a rural setting. My friend “down the street” was more than a two mile walk that I made alone as often as I was allowed. Halfway along, the road crossed over a culvert, a river of cow manure in the winter and a barren rock bed in the summer.
This summer afternoon, the uneventful rock bed contained an ugly grey plastic bag. I was raised to detest litter, so I was staring at the bag in contempt when I saw it move. Curious, and a little scared, I climbed down the bank and tore open the bag. I nearly vomited as the smell of rotting carcass escaped under my nose, literally knocking me over backward.
Grabbing a nearby stick, I pulled the bag open further to reveal a small puppy, eyes still only half-open, struggling among the dead bodies of his sisters and brothers. I screamed my tears, fought the nausea, and pulled him from the bag. Cuddling his helpless little body in my arms, I scrambled out of the culvert. I ran all the way back home as fast as I could and demanded Mama help me.
Mama made a call to the vet for some advice. Then she helped me give him a lukewarm bath. We dried him off and I sat there with my new puppy, whom I’d named Burpy (baby-talk for puppy) during the run home, on a towel in my lap. I nursed him as best I could with an eye-dropper when he was hungry and petted him when he wasn’t.
A few hours later, Burpy was gone and Mama explained to me what the vet had explained to her. Burpy’s contact with the dead bodies and his fat tummy were an assurance that he had no chance at all of survival. Maybe if we had found him sooner… The only thing we could do was make his last hours comfortable.
I was still crying when I fell asleep that night. That act of cold-hearted, senseless animal cruelty, and the ignorant irresponsibility that led to it left a permanent scar in my life. It will break my heart as long as I have a heart to break and a memory to remind me.
Please, please, please pass it on to your friends. Spay/neuter your pets, unless you plan to be the loving home for their babies. ♥
Anne, I can’t explain or justify why people do the things they do. But I am grateful you gave that little puppy a bit of comfort and love at the end of this life. In the end, that’s all that really matters, isn’t it? That we loved each other?
Oh absolutely, Rumpy! ♥ You’ve read Oatmeal for Breakfast, so you know I still love him and I still dream about him even if he was only in my life a few hours!
Jolly good post, Hissy Fit Jones. An absolutely gorgeous picture too. I’m sure Rumpy Dog won’t mind – you passed on a good word. Glad you’ve got a home now 🙂
Thanks. I like it pretty good around here. ‘HFJ
Our humane society offerz spaying/nuetering of feral, barn, and stray catz for $20. mommy tooked da intruder(bob) there to getz nuetered and they only charged her $10 because she used to volunteer there. He just showed up at our door on July 1. it had been really hot da for da last few dayz(over 100 degreez with da heat index) and there had been a really bad storm dat night. mommy and dat boy boughted him in and the next day they tried to findz an owner but no one claimed him so we kept him. We don’t knowz how long he had been a stray but it had been for quite a while because he waz really skinny for a two year old kitty and he had gotten an ear mite infection so bad in his right ear dat it iz permanantly turned to da side. He iz really friendly for a stray but he getz on my nervez
We have a few strayz around our house(we livez in da country) but they iz too smart to goez in da trap.
Yeah, them kitties are pretty smart. They don’t miss a meal but know to steer clear of a trap.
Good story Hissy Fit Jones. We don’t have any strays in our neighborhood – I wish we did so I could chase them – but my person said years ago she had gotten a feral kitten that was found in another part of town. He liked the big cats they had at the time, but when they were gone my person got two more kittens and he didn’t like them at all. She couldn’t keep him in the house after that. When she was gone he would push the screen out of her bedroom window and escape. I’m going to have to figure that one out. I’m a pretty good escape dog – but I’ve never pushed out a screen. Oh yeah, my person said she keeps the windows closed so I can’t. -Bongo
Yeah, them humans think they’re so smart! Mine does the same. -HFJ
Thanks so much for your visit to my blog. I am so impressed with yours. This is my first time stopping by. Love all of your conversations and the way you call attention to things we all need to learn. Thanks for all of your hard work on your blog. genie
Hello! Thanks, we do try. Ya hafta do what ya hafta do, right?
Oh thanks HFJ! My kitty, Vicks, wanted to tell you she was an abandoned kitten a long time ago but today lives indoors like a divine queen. She insisted the two strays outside visit the vet for family planning and life is grand for them too! During the snow days, they both hide out in the garage. Say hi to Rumpy 🙂
Hello! Thanks for caring for those kitties. -HFJ
What a lovely blog–er dog. So glad you visited me so I could meet you.
Thank you for visiting me. I hope you come by again, sometimes, Dolly, my soon to be 19 year old catkid posts.
We’ll do that. woo woo woo!
We love ferals and Miss Hissy Fit, you are beautiful! You’re always welcome to hang with us.
Thank you, Hissy Fit Jones for such a great post … our humans are suckers for fur-balls … and they make sure everyone is spayed/neutered (whatever that is!) They have eight of us inside (you read right – 8), and we think we can detect two (2)others on the front porch!!! We say that because they won’t let us look through the screens in the front, but will let us look through the screen door in the back where we can see 3 big dogs who check us out regularly … so that is very suspicious!! 🙂 It can be a zoo at times, especially during the winter months, when two of the dogs can come inside.
We all started as strays … none of us were intentional gifts for our humans, but we are happy and show them how much we love them with purrs, nuzzles and our own special antics. I know the two in the front (you know, the ones we are not suppose to know about) wish they could come inside too, but that would be TOOOO MUCH for any of us; I’ve heard our humans try to decide what to do for the winter — they use the names Jazzy and YaYa … they slipped … so our suspicions are confirmed! 🙂 Anyway, apparently Jazzy won’t come on the porch at the same time as YaYa — so she is all concerned on how to make sure Jazzy is warm and safe during the cold months here in TX. Our human female feels bad because YaYa has a warmed bed and covered kennel … but Jazzy doesn’t have any of those options unless she comes on the porch too!
Thank you for the additional information, and reassurance for our human mom! We thank Old Jules for the idea of an igloo – I am sure our humans can get one out of the garage to use. Keep up the great posts — one or two of us often read over our human’s shoulder when she thinks we are sleeping, then we share with the others!!!
xoxox Miss Magnolia, Truffie, Whisper, Shady, Goldie, Callie, Midnite and Tabasco (aka “inside kids”)
My Pixie Bob cat hisses all the time because she is jealous of my other Twylah. Both are rescues.
I don’t know about the hissing but my cat does it when he feels harassed. Nevertheless, Hissy fit Jones knows best on cat care and has no problems I can foretell. 🙂