We are surrounded by dog people and most of them consider cats as fair game for their dogs. Then along comes Ralph, our big white deaf cat, and Ernie, his young foster brother that he saved from hurricane Ernesto. We’ve considered calling them the John Wayne Toilet Paper Twins…. They are rough, tough and don’t take crap off of any dog and will work as a team to protect themselves and their loved ones from the trepidations of caninedom. Not a dog or a solo coyote in the area will mess with them, raccoons and O’possums also give them a wide berth! The biggest problem is that when Ernie gets into a fight with another cat, he usually loses…. except for our newest addition.
Which brings me to our newest addition. (What a Segue, hunh?)

For about a year we had a feral yellow tom that would terrorize all the cats in the area, along with casting his seed amongst the female population. I shot him with the pellet gun a few times trying to scare him off, which would work for a while, but he would always come back and try to scare off all the males. He tore Ralph up a few times and got pretty bloody himself, then when it came to Ernie, he ripped him up really bad, leaving chunks of skin hanging and open wounds clear to the bone on his chest and lower neck. Ernie would do his best and inflict damage, but the tom never even seemed to feel it.
Finally I started using the .22 revolver just to scare him away, which didn’t work long, so I got some .22 shot shells to sting him… no luck either. I eventually started aiming at him and missed on about 3 occasions. The fourth try, I took my time at 25 yds and got him. I tried for a heart/lung shot to make it quick, but was off a little and nicked his aorta which gave him time to run and bleed out internally. He went about 100 yds and was done. I buried him with honor, and said a little prayer for him. Damn, I hate killing cats!
Then…. Then….. THEN……

About two weeks later a tiny little yellow/orange tiger showed up. Totally feral, Ralph was the only one who could get close to him. They became great buddies, and that saying something! Ralph doesn’t like any new kitties.
This kitten was about 4-5 weeks old when we first saw him and took up residence under the house, coming out when no people were around.
Once I tried to catch and tame him, and unthinkingly blocked his route of escape to the under house area while he was playing with Ralph. When he saw me, he came barreling, Hell bent for Election to get in his hole, only to find it blocked, which gave me enough time to grab him by the haunches. Did you know grabbing small kittens by the haunches is not conducive to keeping your life-giving juices inside your body? That little unholy terror sank his 12″ fangs into my hand about 5 times while creating furrows in the rest of my hands and wrists with 21 claws per paw that were at least 6″ long and as sharp as a microtome. I was bleeding from multiple places but couldn’t let go of the little bugger, he was aimed at my head and if I released my grip, I can only imagine the indignities and devastation that would be heaped upon me!
Finally, I succeeded in grabbing him behind the neck, but that didn’t slow down the carnage. I swear, scared kittens can swivel their heads at least 422°! I finally asked the wife what I should do, since we wanted to tame and cuddle him and in her infinite wisdom replied….. let go! Duh! Doh!
I finally tossed him ass over tea kettle into the bush where his hidey hole was and cleaned myself up for the next 2 hours. I didn’t know I could bleed that much.

Cut to six weeks later……

I changed tactics and started luring him in with food and snacks. That took about 6 days to get him to the steps of the porch to eat. Then another 2 weeks to get him up on the porch to eat and eventually eating his breakfast and dinner by my leg where I could eventually reach out and gently touch him lightly.
I gave him one of our other kitties old toys, and he was in heaven. Before, he would spend hours beating up a rock he had found, now he had an old round ball filled with cat nip and was soft and bite-able. After another week, he would let me pet him and would eat from the patio table.
About two weeks ago he started crawling into my lap to play with my fingers and get lovin’s. Now he waits every morning for his breakfast and snuggling and play time with me. In the evening, about 17:30 or 18:00 he waits for the wife and I to come out and pay attention to him. Later, Cat, (the wife), goes out after I go to bed and spends time with him. He’s turning into a real lap kitty and also a mama’s boy.
He’s made a few foray’s into the house now and is all a’wonder at the marvels there! He’s still a bit leery, but is learning to trust us more every day.
The biggest problem now is that the other cats, besides Ralph, use him as a punching bag and he’s just not large enough to defend himself from them, even though he wants to be friends with them all.