Thank you Terri, for the honor of hosting Sunday Stills for a couple of weeks. I am so excited because March 28 is Respect Your Cat Day. Did you know that cat videos are the most popular on YouTube? I hope you have some cat pictures to share for this week’s #Sunday Stills.
Moji v cosmos
Cats filled our lives for the entire 20 years we lived in Elderwood.
How to Respect Your Cats
Outdoor Cats
Our cats came from our neighbor’s 2.5 acre feral cat colony. In the country people dump cats. If the dumpee can afford to keep and fix them, they have found a home. If not, they reproduce and live as semi-wild animals. All of our cats found us or came from next door.
“All outdoor animals are at risk from wild and domestic animals. The only way to totally protect your animal is to keep it indoors. Of course, that has its limitations, too.”
Dr. Gerald Haggard, Exeter Veterinary Hospital
When we got our cats, they looked like something from the trash, covered with spider webs, matted fur and goobery eyes. Moji was scared of everything and had a favorite hiding place that the spiders also loved. She was too young to be away from her mother, even though she was old enough to ween. She sucked on Nutter’s and Porshe’s ears in order to go to sleep. They did not seem to mind.
What to Do After Adopting a Feral Kitten
- Bathe them but gently, with a wash cloth not immersion.
- Trim their nails if you plan to hold them.
- Feed them cat milk replacement, not milk until they are weened.
- Take them to the vet for infected eyes – amoxicillin can save their lives. We lost one kitten trying to treat it ourselves.
- Get their recommended shots.
- Cats with fleas usually have worms. That’s why keeping them flea-free is so important and so difficult if they are outdoor cats. Comb out fleas dipping the comb in soapy water after each combing until they are old enough for a flea collar.
- Get them fixed as soon as they are old enough.
- Get them chipped. We lost Porsche at about one-year-old because he bolted at breakfast one day and never came back. We were devastated.
- Give them a safe place to go, especially at night. We lost Butters because something took him away, or he wandered away one night.
- Give them clean food and water, out of reach of other animals, if possible. Take the food in at night to avoid attracting wild animals like skunks and raccoons.
- Provide some kind of heating and cooling for them in extreme temperatures.
- If you cage them, provide litter boxes for each cat. They like clean boxes, too.
Caging our Ourdoor Animals
Living in the country, twenty years ago when we arrived, we treated our cats like feral cats. We weren’t cat people, but cats came anyway. Most survived for many years with that kind of attention. They rarely went to the vet, They survived if they survived.
As Scardy aged, his fights caused us several expensive trips to the vet. After the last trip and after losing a couple of our new babies, Vince decided to build them a large cage by putting a chain link gate at either end of the walkway between the garage and house.
At first I was uptight about keeping them caged at night, but within a short time even Scardy and I adapted. We had to make some adjustments when they were little as you can see on the video.
As they aged, the kittens, especially Moji, loved the cage. They had a place to run when they got scared, and could get into the garage as well. We had a safe place to feed them. Because it was covered, it was cooler in the summer than most places in the yard except wet dirt.
Outdoor Pets Have Plenty to Do
Nutter Butter on the shade cloth in the garden 
Moji and Nutter Butter looking out over the garden 
Nutter Butter in the bushes 
three cats playing in the tree 
Moji’s first time on the shade cloth 
Nutters on the prowl in the garden for critters 
We put toys in their cage, too. 
Nutters took the lead hunting critters as neighbor cats followed him.
Indoor Cats
When we moved from their rural home in Elderwood, CA to the mountain community of Prescott, AZ, their lives changed in many ways as did the ways we showed them respect. Scardy and Porsche are now gone. Moji and Nutter Butter reside indoors full time because of the wild animal danger here.
Nutter Butter and Moji’s Indoor life
- The doctor prescribed tranquilizers for the nine hour driving trip from CA to AZ. They weren’t crazy about the cages, but they slept most of the way.
- They are much safer and cleaner even than they were in their cage. Prescott has many wild animals and cats are not safe outside.
- They like to look outside, but haven’t been too interested to sneak outside in the cold.
- They love to cuddle.
- Nutters loves TV. Animated and animal stories are his favorites. He loved “Penguin.”
- They both love toys.
- We have to keep them away from the dog food. It makes them sick. So do hairballs.
- They love to wake us up at 4:00 am to feed them even though they have food in their tree. This is not working well for us.
- Nutters and Kalev, our dog, still wear their Seresto flea collars. They have to be changed every nine months. Moji took hers off. Since she is indoors 100% I haven’t worried about her yet.
- The harness and leash I bought for Nutters did not stay on longer than five minutes. As soon as I tried to get him to go outside he backed up and scraped it off against a chair leg. I guess he doesn’t want to go outside badly enough to be safe. 🙂
- Nutters has been throwing up hairballs because he’s grooming no only himself, but long-haired Moji. I called the vet and they recommended hairball medicine. I didn’t find it at Walmart even though it is on their website. I found hairball treats, a special undercoat brush that removes a lot of hair without hurting them, and some food for cats with sensitive stomachs by Blue. He loves it, and so far, no hairball messes in the house.
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
Super Spring Green Bursts of Color
- Aletta
- Amy
- Betty Louise
- Brian Bushboy
- Cathy
- Cathy
- Carol
- Cee
- Dawn
- Debbie
- Denyse
- Donna SORRY I MISSED YOU, DONNA!
- Frank
- Graham
- Hugh
- Irene
- Jacquie
- Jez
- Jo
- Joe
- Kanaloon
- Kirstin
- Liana
- Mama Xingfu
- Maria
- Marsha, that’s me
- Natalie
- Paul
- Russell
- Sadje
- Sarah
- Sue
- Susanne
- Tracey
- Woolley Muses AKA Don
- Yvette
Thanks again for Joining me this week.
I hope I did not bore you with too much catty information. Have a great week! 🙂
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
84 responses to “#Sunday Stills: Respect Your Cat”
Marsha, this is such a wonderful post! Thanks for taking the reins this week and next. I’m late to the party still with no internet (any day now I’m told), and our poor GB phone plan needed an update. I’m on unlimited data but have to do most everything on my phone. So I’m catching up on my blog reading. About the precious kitties, I’ll never forget your amazing efforts to capture each feral cat and take them to the vet for services. My sweet Leon crossed to the rainbow bridge in 2018. There are feral cats around here but sadly the eagle and coyote populations keep them at bay! I’ll give you a call soon after Easter!
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Thank you so much, Terri. For trusting me. I can’t wait to talk to you! 🙂
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lucky Kitties Marsha and nice job with them. Such cute pics!💖
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Thanks, Cindy. they are much loved kitties. Nutter Butter loves my computer. He loves it when my fingers are typing and wants to lay on them. I’ve lifted him off three times and he’s back trying to rub his face on them. HELP!!!
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Oh I can tell.. such a cutie and soooo annoying.. Ollie does that too!
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Nutter B is on my table watching me type right now. He says hi. 🙂
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oh sooo sweet.,. Say thanks and Ollie is on my lap sending meows to you both!💖
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I think Nutters can smell Ollie through your words. He’s rubbing his face on my computer. I finally put his bed on the table so he doesn’t walk on my keyboard.
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oh they are quite intuitive. Good idea.. they have a mind of their sown alright! 💖
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He prefers the keyboard to his soft bed – go figure.
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I’m begining to think we’re the crazy ones!
💖
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What!!! Us??
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Now I forget what we said!! 💖
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Hi Marsha, what a great topic for this week
Here is my post. Enjoy.
https://ceenphotography.com/2021/03/30/sunday-stills-challenges-respect-your-cat/
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Adorable Freddie. Thanks for playing along. You were picked up by the news, it looks like. 🙂
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[…] is my entry for Marsha Ingrao as Guest host, Sunday Stills Challenge with the Respect Your […]
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[…] is hosting for Terri’s Sunday Stills for a couple of weeks, do pop over and get some great cat advice — mrrrow […]
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Thank you so much, for linking to my post, Wide Eyed Wanderer. 🙂 You are awesome! 🙂
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Oh my my – cheers to your commitment to feral cats! We;ve had three cats over the years – but stopped after the last one due to my wife’s allergies. I laugh at the thought they too have individual personalities.
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You’re a good soul for taking care of feral cats! We adopted our little diva from the humane society Feb. 14, 2021 and no regrets. 😻
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Aww, she’s a newby. I can’t take much credit for the feral colony except that I got my kittens there and helped spay a few cats that my neighbor could catch.
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They really do. Moji is definitely our diva.
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Super post. Loved all the information and darling photos.
xoxoxM
>
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Awww, thank you Monica. So fun to talk to you. Sounds like we are coming mid-May. 🙂 Can’t wait to see you! 🙂
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Hello from Australia! I enjoyed reading your post and learned a lot more about cats. We have had a couple over the years way back and both sadly died. No longer having a CAT story, I used this opportunity to share the CAT a strophic times some in our country have been through in recent flooding rains. https://www.denysewhelan.com.au/denyse-blogs/catastrophe-flooding-rains-sundaystills-13-38-2021/
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I spelled catastrophe wrong on my comment. If you want to make me look smarter, you can correct me. LOL What a fabulous post, Denyse.
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What a great post about respecting our feline friends. I’m going to have to reread it so I can take it in and absorb it more.
Thank you for hosting this week and In the meantime here’s my link
https://cranethie.com/2021/03/29/cats-cats-and-more-to-be-seen/
Take care
Cathy
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Thanks so much, Cathy. I enjoyed all your fur baby pictures. a real catty town! 🙂 🙂
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Thanks for adding me, Marsha. You are very kind! 🙂
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Of course, Donna! I hope people notice! I’ll add it again next week in green so people will get a full shot at your post. It’s worth the read!
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How wonderful that you were able to take in so many needy cats! They deserve our love and care! 🙂 Here’s my post about Benji, a cat in motion! https://catsandtrailsandgardentales.com/2021/03/28/cat-in-motion/
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Perfect. He is very animated. Definitely in motion! What a fun kitty, Benji must be, Susanne. 🙂
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Thanks Marsha. Animated describes Benji perfectly! And yes, he is SO much fun! 😻
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I’m so glad you shared him. Our pets become part of our blog life, too. I don’t know if you know Russel Ray. He had a cat ZOE and at the end of each of his posts he had a different “Zoe approved this post” stamp. When she died, he volunteered at a cat shelter and featured a cat for every post.
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Thanks for the info! I’ll look him up! My cats inspired my blog, even the name. Tiger’s photo is my avatar and was the author of the very first post! Benji came along later and took over! 🙂
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Lol. How cool is that? We adore our pets and they are so spoiled and sweet.
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[…] Shared with Sunday Stills, Respect your Cat. […]
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That’s a lot of care for cats that you two have done. Well done! Great information here for properly caring for your cats. We will never have a cat because of my allergies. We have Heaven because she is hypoallergenic. I’m allergic to dogs too. I love my cat lover customers though. They are passionate and love their kitties. I guess you didn’t see my Spring Green??? I didn’t post it until yesterday. 🙂
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Oh no! I checked this morning. I missed you and Donna. Please send me you link. I’ll add it.
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Here is mine. https://oureyesopen.blog/2021/03/27/sunday-stills-spring-green-03-21-21/
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I’ll post it this afternoon. Hard to do on my cell. Thanks so much!
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I hate doing WP from my phone. I’ve only created a post once and didn’t like it. Now I have my new laptop to go mobile. Happy about that! 🙂 I’m too old school for my own good.
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I don’t like doing a post on my phone. I’m not sure I could with those weird photos my iPhone takes.
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Ditto!
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[…] For Sunday Stills Challenge hosted by Marsha. […]
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Your cats are beautiful, Marsha. I’m going to try Blue, my girl is having hairball issues, as well.
Here’s my link: https://jacqbiggar.com/2021/03/28/giving-my-cat-some-love-sundaystills-photography/
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I’ve already got you added to the list for next week. I’m in love with Harley. 🙂
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Thank you! I’m fond of her, too 🙂
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Give it a try. I got the one for sensitive stomachs. I couldn’t find anything else. My dog also loves the Blue food. I just started giving it to her and her eyes, which were cloudy are clearing up!
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Oh, that’s great! My cat is so finicky, but maybe if I mix it into her regular food and gradually wean her over. Thanks, Marsha.
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I’m doing that a little bit now, too. 🙂
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[…] #Sunday Stills: Respect Your C… on Marsha Ingrao – Always Write […]
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Love your cats and stories. So wish we could have cats, but allergies in the family make that impossible. The only cats around belong to our neighbours…
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I love my kitties, Maria, but before we left, I asked the new owners of our property f they would like to keep them. The cats had been there for their whole lives, over two years. He said they had allergies. We had no idea how it was going to go turning them into inside cats, but they have adjusted fairly well. They are fun to watch, but you can do that on YouTube without sneezing! 🙂
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This is a lovely post, Marsha. You are a great cat lover. We have two cats and they sleep inside but wander in the garden during the day. They never leave our property.
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That’s perfect. They are so safe and have the best of both worlds! Our cats look out the front door with yearning to go out and chase lizards that taunt them on the front patio. One of them snuck in under the screen door, much to his bad fortune. 🙂
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Looks like your cats have been a very happy bunch. We couldn’t bring our cat to Hawaii because he just couldn’t travel. Going 5 minutes to the vet used to make him insane! Here’s mine today: https://grahamsisland.com/2021/03/28/the-bgp/
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Hi, Marsha – I have unending respect for people who take in neglected animals in need of a good home. A huge shout out to you and your neighbors!!
On a lighter note, how do I get on your lineup list? I’ve been good, honest! 😀
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I missed your link? I looked for it, too because I saw your comment. Would you send me a link, and I’ll edit my post. I looked, but I must be blind! 🙂 I’m so sorry, Donna. I wouldn’t overlook you for the world! 🙂
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https://retirementreflections.com/2021/03/21/its-not-easy-being-green/
Hi, Marsha – No problem at all. It is easy to lose track of all of the links each week for Sunday Stills.
Thanks again for hosting. Very fun post and I learned a great deal!
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It’s up and posted. Again, I’m so sorry.
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Absolutely no problem at all!
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Lots of green hugs!
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[…] This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Respect the Cat.’ See more responses here. […]
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I miss you and your darling cats in Elderwood! Any cat adopted by the Ingrao’s was the luckiest cat in the world! I hope to come visit soon!!!
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Awww, I ‘m glad I don’t still have 5-10 cats. I would never survive with that many inside. I think I’m allergic to the ones I have. I miss my friends! Reorganizing my photos has made me even more nostalgic. Love you much, Sally. Bet you had a great day in the garden yesterday.
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Love your pics and tips.
Here are mine.
https://troyerslovinglife.blogspot.com/2021/03/taking-in-life-around-me.html
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Thanks, Kirstin. The cats say thanks, too. 🙂
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Best post ever 😎
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Well thanks! Do you have a link to your post about cats? This link just took me to reader., which took me to your website. I’d love to see your cats. 🙂
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That is the tragedy….I enjoy living vicariously through your photos because I can no longer have cats because of a mast cell disorder causing anaphylaxis with minimal exposure. But your photos bring back wonderful memories. ❤️
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I’m so sorry about your cell disorder. I had a friend almost die from anaphylaxis during surgery because of an allergy, so I know it can be very serious. I was supposed to stay away from cats during my cancer surgery recovery period, but I seem to be ok except for a constant mild allergy now from either the cats or their litter box. We keep an air purifier in the room with their box and keep it super clean, and it helps but doesn’t eliminate the problem. So please enjoy them from a distance. They’re super sweet.
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Awww. thank you! Your big black kitty looks just like my favorite baby. I will enjoy them all. 🙂
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Moji is adorable and a diva. Vince thinks she needs her own website.
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lolol….I’ll be watching for it! 😎
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He hasn’t offered to manage it, though. So you will probably have to get your Moji fix from my blog. 🙂
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I am glad you are up to the hard work of blogging then. Tell Moji he has a follower! 🙂
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I will tell her. 🙂
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OH, and I am so happy to hear you are tolerating them – they bring such calm and comfort.
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Except at 3-4 am when they get hungry. The pounce on our feet!
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I remember those days.. lol
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You take care, Sunnyside. Have a wonderful week. 🙂
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You too, Marsha. So nice to ‘meet’ you!
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So nice to meet your too, Sunny. 🙂
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