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  This is a series of Caturday posts on the topic of taking in  feral cats .  General information (from pervious posts): For a few decades, we have rescued feral cats. In fact, with only one exception, our "domestic" cats have been ferals that we brought inside to join other ferals, already domesticated, as part of a bonded cat family. Right now, we have five cats (alas,  Murjan , the single non-feral cat we had, died from cancer last fall), all of whom get along pretty fabulously. Of course, all of that is easier said than done, and the bonding took time -- lots of it. Here are some of the things we did to create our cat family, some of which is not at all typical of what others have done, but it has worked for us. We don't trap the feral cats at all; we win them over and invite them in. We do this by feeding them a distance from the house and walking away, then moving the dish closer and closer to the house and walking less and less far away, until they are eating at ou

  Our beloved 12-year-old cat, Snyezhka , a Siamese mix whom we rescued from a life on the street when she was 1-2 years old, pulling her from a fight with two tom cats that she seemed to be winning in spite of unfair odds, has appeared in Caturday posts before. So, if you want to see more information about her -- and more pictures -- just click on the link. Snyezhka went from street cat to lap cat not immediately but gradually, with time, gaining confidence in her relationships with the humans and other felines in our house. She immediately recognized Happy Cat because he had been rescued from the street before she was, and they had bonded. That helped her to blend into the family (of six cats and three people) fairly quickly. She became my lap cat, always snuggling up to me even when there was not a lap available. Clearly, she loved her family. She had no desire to go back on the street nor to take even a step outdoors when a door was left accidentally open although she loved sitting

This is a simple post -- and a simple but earnest request to keep our little Snyezhka in thoughts and prayers. A sweet cat, rescued from the street when she was about a year old, has gone through two years of stage 4 breast cancer, with immunotherapy, and has now been in remission two years. Friday, at her quarterly check up, her oncologist discovered that Snyezhka now has lung cancer -- two nodules. Typically, we are told, cancer metastasizes in the first six months, not after two years. But here we are. Feline lung cancer appears to be a death sentences. On this Caturday, please keep our little sweetie in your thoughts and prayers. For more Caturday posts, click HERE . For more posts about Snyezhka, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in

  With rescued street cats (we have 6 of them, mostly older ones), the things inside them that are always unknown in the beginning start to show up as they grow older. Jack is the simplest and healthiest—and youngest. Just missing an eye. Happy Cat has recurring skin cancer. Wooper has IBS and asthma. Bobolink (Boulder) has feline AIDS. Simone si reacting positively to a new medicine, injected once a month, for arthritis; after 16 years she is now jumping up on the bed and snuggling in with me for the night, which she was unable to do with just cosequin. She also has two cysts that cannot be removed without surgery, and the vet considers the surgery at her age too risky so we do at-home management of the cysts. And then there is Snyezhka. Snyezhka survived breast cancer—discovered four years ago and in remission for the past two. We thought she was in good shape until four months ago when lung cancer struck. The immunotherapy did not work, and she has been just on Metacam, an NSAIDS. L

  Our gentle, loving, lap-sitting, bright-eyed, Siamese-mix Snyezhka, rescued from the streets a decade ago when she was a couple years ago, is in remission for breast cancer (thanks to immunotherapy) but now struggling with lung cancer (immunotherapy did not work so now she is on steroids) and liver cancer (this was last night's ER surprise).  She has been in the ER, with the vet, or with the oncologist three times in the past three week. Financially draining, yes, but even more emotionally draining, bringing back memories of the last five months of Carl's life -- one cancer leading to another and then to another in all too rapid an order until the end came, not unexpectedly although abruptly. Snyezhka is falling in that same path -- dozing more than awake, eating less and less, and losing her balance. She collapsed last night, rolled of the top of the sofa where she was sleeping, then staggered across the cushions, and rolled onto the floor, and staggered under a chair and f

  Happy Cat was so named because of his cheerful, laid-back, cool, and chill nature. An outdoor who always kept his distance, he approached us for help when he came down with a lung disease and was close to death. At the time, he was somewhere between two and four years of age. That was 2012. He has been with us since, joining our cat family of four at the time, and welcoming new cats into the fold as the family grew to six in number. Happy Cat was the beta cat, grooming and nurturing the other cats, especially the new ones. All the cats are indoor cats only; Happy Cat helped our rescued cats adjust to being inside and having a family. First after Happy Cat came Snyezhka . He knew her from his street days, and he seemed so happy to show her around the house. He groomed ger several times a day, and they slept together. After Snyezhka came Bobolink , afraid to venture forth from his cubby on the cat tree in the cat room; one full day with Happy Cat took care of that. Happy Cat lured him

Our sweet little Snyezhka, who survived breast cancer and overcame diabetes, only to be diagnosed with lung cancer -- two tumors in her left lung. So far, so good. One chemo compound was not effective, but the cancer did not grow. Snyezhka is on another compound; it is holding the cancer at bay although not putting it into remission. Prone to upper respiratory infections (URI), she is on and off clavamox regularly. It is usually effective. I was not surprised, then, when she started sneezing last week, but instead of a few day's build up, by evening of the first day, she was having difficulty breathing. We took her to the vet -- and the vet put her on oxygen immediately and then once again during the appointment. Clavamox came to the rescue, and she seemed better. However, just in case, I wanted her oncologist to know. We took her in, and the oncologist suspected -- and found -- pneumonia. I wonder what would have happened had we not had the second look. Word to me (and the wise):

  Just for fun for Caturday, I am sharing this pictured of our little Snyezhka. I arrived home from some errands, looking forward to relaxing with a cold drink in my usual spot, to find my spot occupied by Snyezhka, our Lynx Siamese cat who recently went into remission from Stage 4 breast cancer as well as from diabetes and is now being annoyed by a URI. I did not have the heart to wake her. Enjoy the picture, and for more pictures and stories about Snyezhka, click HERE . For more Caturday posts, click HERE -- and come back on future Saturdays for more fun with cats. Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

Snyezhka, on a better day, waiting for the vet with "master" CB Leaver   This past week my sweet little Snyezhka, who suffers from lung cancer, developed a really bad upper respiratory infection almost instantly -- sniffles in the morning and difficulties breathing at night. The vaporizer, which often helps, did not fo its job very well this time, and her breath became labored -- but it was unclear whether it was labored enough to take her to an emergency room, a very complicated fact since we live very far away from any emergency services that are open after 7:00 at night. The closest one is an hour away, and I would not be able to drive in the dark and observe her condition -- or do anything about. So, I turned to a place where I have found helpful information in the past: the Internet. I wanted to understand the severity of the URI this time, wondering what the intersection with lung cancer might be, if any. I came across one of these 24/7 places that promises great vet ad

 Murjan, born in Jordan, traveled to the USA when he was just a couple of years old. He is the only domestic cat among the six cats, but he quickly established himself as the alpha cat. He sometimes thinks he is human and likes soft and warm sleeping spots. Other times, he is certain he is a dog, likes to be walked on a leash, and rolls over to have his belly rubbed.  Murjan loves to communicate, especially having night time discussions with his human.  He will even listen to and obey little ones.   For many months,  Happy Cat hung out in the bushes, waiting for the other feral cats to finish eating the food that had kindly been set outside. Then, one day he became very ill, climbed the 17 steps to the Leaver front door, where he fell, exhausted. Betty Lou discovered him there, scooped him up, and took him to the vet. Happy Cat had a serious lung infection. Once healed, it was not safe to let him outside. That did not matter because he was delighted to have found a home and will not ve

  When our alpha cat, Murjan , died, I thought that Happy Cat, Murjan's best pal and truly a pal to all the cats, would take over as alpha, keeping all the remaining six cats in line. That did not happen. Happy Cat earned his name by his mellowness. Our biggest cat at 16 pounds, he is our gentlest.  Integrating cats into healthy cat families and growing happy cat families is indeed tricky business. But it is easier with a beta. Happy Cat has shown us that again and again and again and again. Simone lived under the bed. She had been afraid of her shadow ever since we rescued her from human bullying on the street. Born a stray, she found houses intimidating, but there was safety under the bed. Of course, she would come out to eat, and we would cheer whenever she chose to spend some time in the sun. Then, a couple of years later, along came Happy Cat. While Simone still finds security in being under the bed, she comes out a lot more often and interacts with Happy Cat, the only cat she