Last week, a feral cat strolled into our property. Though kitty belongs to our neighbour, it's not neutered and has been walking around with a blood red gash on its neck for 6 months now. Once upon a time, when we thought it was a street cat, we wanted to take it to a vet but never got close enough before it would dash off. Recently, we learnt the cat is called Ferguson and belongs to a neighbour. It makes me mad that someone would ill-treat his pet this way. I thought of calling SPCA on him, but Kelly says he's an unstable eccentric old man. Who knows what he might do to Hunter or us out of spite.
Meanwhile Ferguson seems to have taken a liking to our property. We found some spray marks on walls, plants and the cat door which might have been his job. We theorised that could be one reason why Hunter refuses to use the door for weeks. One day, Ferguson walked through our gates. Hunter continued to snooze peacefully, unaware of any presence. So much for his hunting abilities. I pity Ferguson for his uncaring owner so I decided to show some love with many cat treats.
Warmed by the idea of food, Ferguson plucked up the courage to approach the house. By this time, Hunter had woken up and was hiding under the chairs. Cats are territorial. Most of the time, they don't allow another cat to trespass but instead of defending his territory, our cat was trembling in his safe spot. Meanwhile, the other cat just walked into our house. Obviously Obviously, both of them aren't going to be best friends so we had to discourage Ferguson from getting too close to the property and claim his stake. We gently shooed Ferguson out and he stood in the garden waiting for more treats.
Hunter loves us, the house and the food. So I can't understand why he didn't dare to stand up for himself. I picked Hunter up to confront Ferguson. Hunter wailed, hissed and spat at the other cat but he also wriggled violently in my arms till he broke free. Then he ran away. Useless cat. we rewarded Ferguson with more treats. Kelly reached out to feed him with his hand and the cat swiped with his claws. Blood ooze out of the slash marks. While Kelly washed the blood which continued to flow, I cleaned the wounds with anti-bacterial lotion.
When Kelly was done washing, Ferguson was still waiting for his treats. Damn cat. His persistence won him a whole bowl of food which he hungrily scoofed down. His owner doesn't feed him too??! Meanwhile, I caught Hunter and locked him in the house so both cats won't get into a physical fight. After bandaging Kelly, we spied on the cat. Ferguson ate, groomed and plonked himself contentedly in front of the house.
After a long long time, Ferguson was still sunning himself in our garden. Hunter was busy pacing the door, wanting to get out. So I let him out and see what he would do. Both cats immediately went on the defence, wailing and hissing. Then all went quiet. I peeped out of the window and saw both of them sleeping in different spots with one eye open.
Hunter, scaredy cat and useless defender. It was amusing for us to watch the whole exchange though.
