Feral Fables

It's hard to believe, but Marty and I have just finished the downstairs "media" room that was devastated by the flooding here in Milwaukee last July. This was only a few weeks into the beginning of the blog site's opening. I have been trying to introduce all the cats (past &; present) along with their overall antics. While I was taking things from storage I came across some notes I wrote about "Caruso". I have not introduced him into the blog yet as he passed away on 1-16-2010. It has been difficult to write about him.

As all the rest of the cats did, Caruso came into our lives very unexpectedly. The first time I was made aware of him was on an early June morning when the window was open. He was, ahem, shall we say---singing his way through the neighborhood looking for a lady friend. He was so loud you could hear him three houses away. That's how he got his name-----for those of you who don't know or who are too young to know-----Enrique Caruso was a great opera tenor. The first time he came into the yard when I was sitting in the nice weather, he came right up to me and purred and purred-------loud!! The other cats were not excited about this addition, but he could care less. He'd found a nice shelter with free food and he wasn't going anywhere. He loved to eat, eat, eat. Treats he just gulped right out of my hand and he would sit like a dog waiting to get his. And believe me, he could not, would not be ignored. He became conditioned to the beeper on the microwave because I heat the cold food up before serving it. I loved this cat! He would jump up on my lap and put his front paws on my chest and just purr. I don't know why, but I always felt he was given to me because of the loss of my cat Tuffy several years ago.

Caruso's favorite place to sleep was always right in the middle of the floor. I think this was his way of telling the other cats, "You can't get rid of me!" He also developed other spots where he enjoyed sleeping.... On the couch (right in the middle all stretched out!) any of the chairs, the guest bed and many outdoor spots as well. When it was time to go out to sleep on the porch at night, he had the most peculiar habit of hissing very loudly as I showed him out or picked him up and took him out! It was never accompanied by any aggressive behavior, just the loud hiss which both my husband and I came to expect and laugh about. Eventually he did begin to want to stay in the house at night in the colder weather, but of course he still wanted to go out when he wanted to, so it became a habit of waking up in the wee hours of the morning and letting him out before rolling back into bed. Man---he sure did rule the roost!

When I had him neutered, I took him to my own vet. I had suffered the loss of 4 male cats in a row who had tested positive for FIV. When that happens to a cat in the TNR program, our Humane Society automatically kills these cats. I had done a lot of reading about FIV and found that not all shelters or rescue groups agree with this policy. In fact Alley Cat Allies no longer promotes this policy unless it appears that an animal may already be quite ill. I was afraid he may test positive so I spent my own money to have his surgery done. While at the vet appointment with Caruso (who was really just loving all the extra attention he was getting) the Doctor convinced me it would be in his best interest to know as it may help us to make decisions about his healthcare someday. I consented. He was neutered and he did test positive for FIV but not FeLV(leukemia). Cats can live long lives with FIV as long as their health is managed. So he came home and joined our group.