MSI Press Blog

  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 ...

  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 sit...

Bobolink's last loving and painful minutes, nestled against owner, Luna .   Integrating New Cats When Older Cats Are Dying Integrating new cats into an established cat family is always a delicate dance, but it becomes even more complex when one of the older cats is nearing the end of life. The emotions in the household shift—grief, vigilance, and quiet respect settle in—and the dynamics between the cats can change in ways that are subtle, profound, or both. In most cases, the cat who is dying has been part of the family for many years, often serving as a social anchor. The newcomers, in addition to finding their place among the living members, must navigate the emotional space left by the one who is leaving. Snyezhka, Happy Cat, and the Distance of Newcomers When Snyezhka was dying from breast, liver, and lung cancer, it wasn’t the new cats who stepped in to care for her—it was Happy Cat, her longtime companion and the beta heart of the household. Happy Cat washed her when she coul...

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...

  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 NSAID...

  Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from Raising Happy Cat families by Luna Norwood Snyezhka, a Siamese-Tabby blend, was an easy rescue. Night after night on our house surveillance camera, we would see this small tan cat stop by our downstairs door, where we left food for the street cats, and eat with relish. One night, I was in our basement area in the early hours of the morning when Snyezhka came up our hill and to the downstairs door for her nightly feast. As she ate, two large tom cats pounced on her, clearly ready to mate her. But she was not in agreement, and she fought them off. Half their size, with twice their spirit. I opened the door, quickly grabbed her, and brought her inside. She did not fight me. She appeared relieved to be safe from her suitors. She slept on a chair in the basement room all night. I placed a disposable litter pan near her, the kind that come with a removable lid, seeded it with some poop from one of our litter robots, and she used it a couple ...