I'm back, with feral foster's "Hiss and Spit"

[A Cat Called Dog]

The photo of Hiss and Spit is great - you can SEE they're thinking by the look in their eyes (like Jurassic Park, but furrier!)

Bumble is the only cat we have ever had who hisses - it's a default setting obviously, and often just done for no reason. It's not aggressive (though if we try and groom Bumble's long black fur, he will hiss to say 'NO, not today thank you'!)

But then he (actually a she, but so tom-like, so called a he) hisses when I go down in the morning to feed Bumble and his sister Honey. Just saying 'hello, and don't you dare forget to feed me either', or similar. Just making his presence known.

I suppose some cats just do that, just as some are more talkative, and other more quiet - and in my book, the cat yaps like a dog (as some do, apparently).

Bumble also wags his tail - all the time. And what a tail it is! A right chimney brush of a bushy black tail.

Hope you are recovering after your accident. These things take so much time. I injured my thigh muscle in February (by moving boxes of books and furniture with my foot...oh dear...) and the pain didn't go until September. I suppose the muscle must have regrown or something. But the pain over that 6 months, though not acute or sharp, made me so weary... It all gets very boring and wearying - but these things do improve, slowly. Hope you get well soon.

[lornab]

Yes, I have a feeling Hiss might be her default setting, she's so funny, she seems to feel its her duty to hiss at us whenever we make eye contact with her, Spit may need to be renamed 'Growl' though as she always has a special little grumble for us when she sees us.
We had an escape yesterday - Hiss turned up in the living room behind the telly and then managed to climb up the inside of a chest of drawers from underneath whe we tried to get her out, it was very funny as we could hear her clambering about inside, and the drawers kept opening a little bit by themselves, if I hadn't known there was a kitty in there I might have thought we had a poltergeist! Spit was located behind storage boxes under our bed It only took about half and hour to round them up and herd them back into George's room, which is a big improvement on the 20 hours Spit was missing the first time we 'lost' her, the little madam managed to force her way out of a gap in the top corner of her keep cage (now closed off with cable ties to prevent a recurrence), she went into hiding and we had to locate her by closing all the doors and putting a bowl of food in every room, the loud crash at 3am was a bit of a giveaway to her location... she was in the downstairs loo hiding underneath hubby's stage lights
George is away this week on his D of E residential so I do hope they behave for me
Both of them are really coming on, they come straight out for food and we have discovered that although they back away from our hands if we reach out to them, they aren't scared to come to us, they will take dreamies from our fingers and if we hold an open hand over the food bowl, they will come to eat and duck under the hand and allow us to give them an ear rub while they eat. They are accepting contact, but it has to be on their terms, I think this is progress.

[A Cat Called Dog]

Thank you all for welcoming me back, its nice to know I can come on Purrs for some entertainment when my body won't let me play out!

George has good news today as Spit allowed him to give her an ear rub and he says she actually purred, also today they have stolen and eaten a full packet of dreamies that George accidently left out while he was at college, and killed a 'flying frenzy' attachment and a 'feather n leather' toy so quite a productive day on the whole

Hiss and Spit?! What names!

Our rescue cat Bumble (a female but we call her a he, because she's so tom-like) has always been a hisser - often for no reason at all. At first, (we got our 2 rescue cats 14 months ago) you think that maybe she's aggressive and will scram. However, now we realise it's all show and part of Bumble's character. In reality, Bumble is a great big softie and a real homebody too!

His sister Honey Cat (torti-tabby cross) who was so timid and traumatised when she came to us (she used to belong to a drug dealer who was raided by police and hid under the floorboards for days until the RSPCA coaxed her out!) is now the one who travels far and wide, 'up the jungle' as we call it!

Love the photos by the way!

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

     Sounds like George got off lightly with his ear rub. 

[lornab]

Thank you all for welcoming me back, its nice to know I can come on Purrs for some entertainment when my body won't let me play out!

George has good news today as Spit allowed him to give her an ear rub and he says she actually purred, also today they have stolen and eaten a full packet of dreamies that George accidently left out while he was at college, and killed a 'flying frenzy' attachment and a 'feather n leather' toy so quite a productive day on the whole

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

So sorry to hear about your accident and can only second what Sue has said 

The fosters look so cute!!

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Lorna, am very sorry we didnt know what had happened, because I know you'd have had a chorus of supporters who would've found ways of getting messages to you, wi-fi or not.      Very pleased you're getting your life back on track, but gently does it! 

George sounds fantastic.   Every kitten fosterer/rescue needs a George.   

Sending lots of love to Monty and Moses, and syaing Hi to George, Hiss and Spit.   

[lornab]

Wow! It's nice to see you are all still here! if only they'd had wifi in the hospital i'm sure I would have recovered loads quicker with some virtual purrs and headbutts

I'm back up an walking for the most part without crutches, but of course me being me, every now and again I overdo it because i'm impatient to get better fast and I end up in pain and limping again, I guess i'll learn eventually All my bits are screwed back together so at least I won't fall apart, it's a slow process rebuilding all the muscles that were damaged by a combination of my spinal injury, the surgery and the immobility - I was flat on my back in hospital for the best part of a month and it's scary how fast muscles waste when you don't use them... I used to have runners legs still, I'm getting lots of physio and going swimming twice a week too which I love, I feel almost normal in the water, I'm so glad I learned to swim as a child as it has certainly helped me now.

Our first lot of fosters 'Socks' and her four kittens (born on my sofa) are doing well, Socks and two kittens were re-homed, but two boys Monty and Moses stayed with us as homing was very slow and we got too attached to them to let them go, (they are two now!) we thought we'd be 'struck off' the foster list for keeping kittens but Brock and Misty, two very timid kittens came to us (well George really) at Easter this year and he did a fantastic job on them, they were both very hand shy, Brock in particular was very frightened when he arrived but turned into a right monkey, and very affectionate by the time he left.

Brock and Misty.

George is ideally suited as a kitten socialiser, he is laid back to the point of unconsciousness and also is deaf on one side so if he sleeps with his good ear to the pillow he can't hear the kittens trashing his bedroom 

Hiss and Spit have moved into his wardrobe now George has let them out of the keep cage, another favorite hiding place is underneath his bedside table, they sneak around the back and go underneath the bottom drawer, most resourceful really! it would be lovely if they did turn into Purr and Snuggle - I would be delighted, I think we may have our work cut out though!

[Tiggy's Mum]

  back Lorna

Sounds like you've been having a tough time to say the least!  Good luck with Hiss and Spit, let's hope one day they might be renamed Purr & Snuggle! 

[souffle]

Lorna - how lovely to see you back but sounds like you have had a very rough time Hope you are soon making progress and getting back to your self again.
Your kittens are lovely and I'm sure they will become more friendly with all the hard work your son and you put in. You are giving them a great chance.
I always remember your last kittens born on the sofa!! Do you ever hear how they are doing?
Looking forward to updates on the newbies

[Lyn (Slugsta)]

Gosh, that does sound like a nasty accident! I am glad to hear that you are on the mend.

I suspect that the kittens are going to give you a lot of amusement while they are with you 

[Liz]

Lorna welcome back and hope the road to recovery hasn't to many steep hills

The kittens are beautiful and although most folks will say its to late at 16 weeks its not with a lot of one on one human bonding - I have 3 ear tipped ferals 1 is wonderful he is called Lennox and came to me at 8 months and is now 2 and I can pick him up kiss and cuddle him and he is no different to my domestics his Mum Annie is now coming on but his 3 legged Aunt Maddison is a nasty evil girl who may mellow over time

Good luck and keep us posted

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Lorna, first of all I'm horrified to hear you've had such an appalling accident, with what sound like very severe injuries.  I hope that you're getting plenty of help to get mobile again, and well done to you for taking on such a big challenge on top of your other activities.   

Well done to george for his patience with these youngsters.  I have a feeling it may pay unexpected dividends given time. 

Would love to follow their progress and to learn how you get on (not just with the hiss-spits!)

[lornab]

Hi all,
I'm posting in the welcome section as its been such a long time, to say hello again and introduce you to our two feral foster kitties appropriately named Hiss and Spit until they get better manners!

A lot has happened since I was last active on here, most notable being me falling of ladders and ending up in hospital for a month back in May with a broken spine, pelvis and wrist  I'm on the mend now but rehab to full mobility is going to be a long journey and kittens are good diversion therapy
They are two tabby girls who were part of the Cat's Protection scheme to Trap, neuter and release - the first two stages went as planned, and both girls are spayed and ear tipped but they weren't released as the location they were trapped apparently wasn't suitable for follow up feeding and whilst in the shelter they started coming out of hiding for food. So they have been handed over to my son George who is doing the volunteering section for his Duke of Edinburgh Gold award with the CPL, he has already successfully 'humanized' one pair of kittens earlier in the year (admittedly they were nowhere near as feral as these two), and they have recently gone on to a loving forever home.
We've had the little darlings a couple of weeks now, up until yesterday they have been in a keep cage in George's bedroom, we have installed a shelf for a bed so they get a bit of exercise jumping up and down, litter tray and food are on the bottom floor. They are very hissy and cannot be handled, however with patience George has managed to get them come out and eat in his presence and he can touch them a little although they don't like it, they are also now approaching him and taking dreamies from his fingers which is a massive improvement With the arrival of toys from the purrs shop yesterday (thanks Tan!) he has let them out to play and explore his room. Like typical feral's they eat every meal like it was their last and can be easily lured back into the keep cage with a pouch of cat food.
I know we have an uphill battle on our hands here as I would guess they are around 4 months old now which is way too late to be starting socializing, so they will likely never be tame enough to be handled, but it would be wonderful if we could get them to the stage where they could at least be outside cats and trust humans if only a little that would be progress indeed.
I'm looking forward to chatting with you all again and sharing the ups and downs of our battle.

Lorna x