Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Best bet with a cat is take it slowly and be patient. I would create a dry warm place for him to sleep outside. A good way of doing that is to take one of those plastic storage bins - like a Tupperware one - and cut an entry hole and put in some old towels or blankets or whatever. Hopefully he will realize it is a nice dry place to sleep. An alternative could be leaving a shed door or window open. Growing up we always kept the basement window open - the furnace was there so it was nice and toasty and always full of stray cats snoozing the day away!
Then put food out on a regular schedule so he gets used to when you are going to put it out - if you can manage it try that twice a day.
Then step back and observe.
If he is feral he will stay wary of you but slowly get more willing to eat even if he can see you. He will get used to the food timetable and sit at a distance waiting for you to serve his food. You can examine him from a distance to see if he is injured or sick.
It will take a long while before he will be brave enough to come into your house and may never get to that stage.
In terms of diseases the first thing I would think of in the summer is fleas! If you get close enough to touch him you can treat him with one of the topical treatments that you can get from the vet or maybe over the counter. Something like Frontline.
Other diseases are mainly chronic viral ones which your cat may already be vaccinated for. The most serious are Panleukopenia (distemper) and Feline leukemia. Many vets recommend all cats be vaccinated against both of those so if your cat is vaccinated I wouldn't worry about them coming in contact with each other - and you could always go get your cat vaccinated while you are wooing the poor guy outside.
I seem to remember you are in the UK in which case rabies is not a concern - but if I am remembering wrong then rabies is something you should worry about for your cat and dog and for yourself and I would be very wary of touching him if he seems sick or is behaving strangely.
Hope that helps.
If he is feral and trusts you enough to come close I would try and catch him and get him neutered at the vet - he may always be an outside cat but he will do better neutered.

Excellent advice. Way to step up!

 

[featherhead007]

That sounds like a full day.

Here’s my beautiful horse Chaco.

 

[rural mouse]

Shotgun houses are historic to NO.... I tried to find one that looked like my grandmothers but couldn’t find one.... some are very colorful View attachment 2519320View attachment 2519321View attachment 2519322View attachment 2519323

They're common in the historic districts of the 19th century copper mines and around the smelter here too. The color, on the other hand....not so much.

 

[BY Bob]

Here’s my beautiful horse Chaco.View attachment 2823809View attachment 2823810

A very handsome horse indeed.

 

[featherhead007]

Here’s my beautiful horse Chaco.View attachment 2823809View attachment 2823810

I’ve waited a very long time just to have such a beautiful animal like her. Now that I have her WOW!

 

[featherhead007]

A very handsome horse indeed.

She’s a lady

 

[featherhead007]

Sadly, she won’t fit Easily into my Cessna! Just saying!

 

[fuentemoon]

So happy to have tomorrow off! Looking forward to a day at home, paid holidays are the best

 

[BY Bob]

Thinking on long necks

These little ones seem to have much longer necks than Phyllis has ever displayed. You all saw the video.

I have developed a working theory on these necks. These Candy Corn Polish have barring to their feathers. They also have autosexing of chicks along with the barring gene. Perhaps that gene set also includes the gene for long necks as well. Checked out this barred hen with an enormous neck. Remember this photo?

I'm now picturing a mop top on that neck. Maybe something like this?

 

[BY Bob]

She’s a lady

Ladies can be handsome.

adjective, hand·som·er, hand·som·est.

having an attractive, well-proportioned, and imposing appearance suggestive of health and strength; good-looking:

• a handsome man
• a handsome woman.