Discussion
ali_kat said:
Keep it up, he will 
especially as it gets colder 
Open the door, come to it, go away & leave it open - curiosity & a trail of food, will help
Oh & kneel down to him, without staring directly at him. They will trust you a lot quicker if you get down to their level & don't stare (they stare at prey/things they don't like).
You may want to have a chat with next door first, just to say that he's unhappy & you'd like to help them make him happier, if they don't mind, by letting him into your house when they aren't able to do so. Then there's no fall out.
We're getting somewhere as it is. We've moved on from "Quick! Bloke from the house! Ruuuuun!" whenever I go into the garden, through "it's fine to be in the garden at the same time as one-another" to now, where I can sit on the front steps, and Basil will just wander around, cautiously, but going about his business just far enough away that I can't reach out to him. He let me get pretty close to nab the photo, just so long as I don't 'invade' his space it's fine. I talk to him too, trying to keep it soft and low. All he gets 'at home' is shouting and yelling. especially as it gets colder Open the door, come to it, go away & leave it open - curiosity & a trail of food, will help Oh & kneel down to him, without staring directly at him. They will trust you a lot quicker if you get down to their level & don't stare (they stare at prey/things they don't like).
You may want to have a chat with next door first, just to say that he's unhappy & you'd like to help them make him happier, if they don't mind, by letting him into your house when they aren't able to do so. Then there's no fall out.
I'm not worried about falling out with next door - we don't do much more than nod across the fence anyway. I've no intention of 'stealing' Basil, or bribing him to 'cross the border', because I don't think the wife would ever go for that. I'd just like for him to trust me, so I could get close enough to check that he's healthy, and feed/water him if it's needed.
Next door t'other way has three cats at the moment, one of which 'invited itself' in to stay from further down the road when another neighbour had, to put it politely, some 'instability' when it came to 'test driving' potential new partners. I don't think that cat liked the chopping and changing, the changing faces of the men in the house, so started letting himself in via next door's catflap. She had a word with the 'owner' (can you ever really 'own' a cat?) and the new arrangement was fine once they'd tried persuading the cat home, but it wouldn't stay put. The lady next door didn't really want the extra responsibility, but she's a soft touch when it comes to cats.
It's quite some time since we had a cat that we actually deliberately acquired. The last one we lost had been left behind at a (residential) job we moved to. We had him for 17 years despite his being fully grown when we first 'inherited' him.
Our current 2, one moved in from next door when she decided to retire (from being the house cat in a busy household with 3 dogs), and the other was a stray that turned up in our front garden and is still with us 2 years later.
Our current 2, one moved in from next door when she decided to retire (from being the house cat in a busy household with 3 dogs), and the other was a stray that turned up in our front garden and is still with us 2 years later.
I'll shut up, you know what you're doing already 
Roo said:
Chillax cat.
Unfortunately the latest news is he's probably got somewhere between the next couple of weeks and the next couple of months left.
You'd never know it by looking at him.
Regrettably today was his last day. We've just returned from the vet where he was PTS.Unfortunately the latest news is he's probably got somewhere between the next couple of weeks and the next couple of months left.
You'd never know it by looking at him.
Unfortunately the final diagnosis was bone cancer and he was going to go downhill very quickly from now on, so the decision was made
Sadly it means we've lost all three within eighteen months.
Roo said:
Roo said:
Chillax cat.
Unfortunately the latest news is he's probably got somewhere between the next couple of weeks and the next couple of months left.
You'd never know it by looking at him.
Regrettably today was his last day. We've just returned from the vet where he was PTS.Unfortunately the latest news is he's probably got somewhere between the next couple of weeks and the next couple of months left.
You'd never know it by looking at him.
Unfortunately the final diagnosis was bone cancer and he was going to go downhill very quickly from now on, so the decision was made
Sadly it means we've lost all three within eighteen months.
Really sorry to hear this Rooirocfan said:
Roo said:
Roo said:
Chillax cat.
Unfortunately the latest news is he's probably got somewhere between the next couple of weeks and the next couple of months left.
You'd never know it by looking at him.
Regrettably today was his last day. We've just returned from the vet where he was PTS.Unfortunately the latest news is he's probably got somewhere between the next couple of weeks and the next couple of months left.
You'd never know it by looking at him.
Unfortunately the final diagnosis was bone cancer and he was going to go downhill very quickly from now on, so the decision was made
Sadly it means we've lost all three within eighteen months.
Really sorry to hear this RooRoo said:
Roo said:
Chillax cat.
Unfortunately the latest news is he's probably got somewhere between the next couple of weeks and the next couple of months left.
You'd never know it by looking at him.
Regrettably today was his last day. We've just returned from the vet where he was PTS.Unfortunately the latest news is he's probably got somewhere between the next couple of weeks and the next couple of months left.
You'd never know it by looking at him.
Unfortunately the final diagnosis was bone cancer and he was going to go downhill very quickly from now on, so the decision was made
Sadly it means we've lost all three within eighteen months.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Mrmaggitt, when we got this one and his brother, who was also black, the rehoming people said 'we've got two left but they're both black'
From a litter of five nobody wanted the two black ones.
We would be more than happy to have black cats again, provided they're ones needing rehoming.
Mrmaggitt, when we got this one and his brother, who was also black, the rehoming people said 'we've got two left but they're both black'
From a litter of five nobody wanted the two black ones.
We would be more than happy to have black cats again, provided they're ones needing rehoming.
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