Since the summer of foster kittens and taking on the mantle of care-taking for the cat colony in my neighborhood, I have always had a soft spot for the tiny dilute tortie Daisy, who is also the mama of the kitten we kept. All told, I wanted to keep her after the kittens were weaned, but I was at my limit for house cats (4), and Daisy was a YOUNG mom who still wanted to roam around. She was like a rebellious teen mom who was happy to return to her wild ways once her babies were safely in new homes. Even when back in the colony, Daisy recognized me and I have slowly been making inroads with the amount of attention she allows.
A few months ago, Daisy learned that if she scaled the palm tree to our balcony I would leave a treat out for her. Since she is red pony mare smart she quickly decided that having a private feeding station was really nice. Of course, in my efforts to win her over, the treats evolved to full meals of her favorite food and a kitty cabana complete with heat pad for chilly nights. She now gets monthly flea treatment and I’m able to pick her up for snuggles in exchange for her regular feedings.
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The balcony has become our special place. She can sunbathe in peace and actually enjoys getting back scratches and a rare tummy rub. Hubby isn’t fan of this new arrangement, but I’m able to argue that since she is outside, I am not violating my 4 indoor cat maximum - Daisy is just in training to be an indoor kitty as day by day we are building trust.
My birthday was a couple of days ago, we had the usual balloons, cake and nice meal and Daisy was kind enough to want to contribute. She had to scale a palm tree to our 2nd floor balcony with this dead birdie in her mouth just to say "Happy Bird-Day! (feral cats must not understand the birthday concept, so she must have assumed we were saying “Bird-day.”) I’m glad I’m earning her trust and respect, but I did tell this mini huntress that there really is no need to hunt the birdies although I was honored to receive this gift. Mr. BatCoach said he tried to remove the ‘gift’ before I got home, but she grabbed it and hid it behind a plant as if to say “this is for Mrs.BatCoach - not you!” Sure enough when I came up the stairs she pulled it back out and put it right in front of the slider door so I wouldn’t miss it. She was quite proud of herself.
I remember Daisy and her kittens (and Marlowe and Papa Torbie). I’m so glad she’s still around and getting more tame. She looks great!
