Pookie's Minions - Pookie's Gone ☹

Happy Birthday, Zim! I know you had a great day with your mommy to spoil you.

Thanks, Diane and Esther, for the birthday wish.

Goonie was awfully well behaved yesterday, including holding back the annoying water drinking and subsequent bathroom trips.
I ended up staying home all day yesterday and today just so I could spend more time with my birthday boy. I had places to go and errands to run, but I did none of them. Oh well, there's always tomorrow


No, Diane, I haven't started to feed the black cat yet. We're not quite up to that stage of the relationship. It took many months of standing on the deck and saying hello to Callie from across the entire backyard for her to even stay within the yard perimeters. I'm not even sure if the black cat is feral or someone's outdoor cat roaming the neighborhood. I never got to see if his ears are clipped or not.

Guess who I saw sitting on the deck this morning? Callie! She was sitting up in her corner, waiting for the unsuspecting bird to come along. When she saw me looking from the kitchen window, she didn't run away nor looked frightened. It took me a while to go outside with her breakfast (had things to do before needing to leave ~9:15am for a dentist appointment), but when I finally did, she almost didn't stay. She didn't meow nor came running over to me; instead, she cautiously stood at the top of the steps, leaning against the railing post, and watched me approach her. She did allow me to pet her, but she didn't lean into my hand like she did last year. When I put her food bowl down, she didn't immediately walk over to eat, because she was still glued to the post, but after a minute or so, she did. She ate about a tablespoon full before stopping and looked around the yard behind her. I fed her a couple of bites then she walked to the side of the deck, where she rubbed on her house then looked back at me. I walked over to her, fed her a few more bites of food, then she turned and walked away.

Here's the "very sad" part: When she walked away the first time, I noticed that she was walking wobbly, as if something was wrong with either her hip or one of her back feet. When she got up and circled before walking away to the side of the deck, I saw that she was favoring her right back foot, where she barely put it down to walk. From what I was able to see, the foot itself didn't look swollen; as a matter of fact, it actually looked smaller than the other three (it may be because her toes spread out when they're placed on the ground, who knows). She didn't whimper when she walked, but the limp was very obvious when I watched her walk away. Oh, speaking of, she didn't motion me to walk her home, nor waited at the end of my driveway for me to catch up

Should I attempt to grab her, place her into a carrier, and take her to the vet? I would hate to find out that whatever injury she has is an easy one to heal, but I chose to ignore it and it got worse to the point where her life could be compromised. On the other hand, if she had simply sprained it and she's fine, then I stress her out by grabbing/entrapping her against her will, she may never come back to me ever again.

What should I do?? What would you do??

Hey Gina. I would probably observe her for a few days before making the decision. If there's no improvement, and if she seems to be more friendly, I would consider taking her to the vet. I wonder if her injury has kept her away. How sad for you to have to watch her like that.

I agree with Esther, she's wild so might not take to being a carrier too well, but on the other hand, she might need medical help. I'm just glad she got back up on your deck, maybe this means she's back to visiting and getting food from you. Hope so!

I'm also sad that our visit wasn't more loving, where she'd meow and rub herself all over me. She acted as if we'd only met a short while ago, like how things were when we first started last year.

You'll have to give her time, it's been awhile since she was at your place. I'm hoping your relationship gets back to where it was. Fingers crossed!

Callie and I are rebuilding our relationship, where she's more trusting of me now but has yet to come running to me nor sit on the deck.

I had forgotten to post an update from the 17th here (had posted on Facebook).

May 17 at 5:14pm:
Anyone know how to give a mourning dove the Heimlich maneuver?
There's a dove sitting in the bird feeder for the past 10 or so minutes, shaking its head like it was sneezing, but now that it had turned around sideways, I can see it trying to move something in its throat.

May 17 at 6:28pm:
An hour of watching her (I say "her" because two other doves tried to mount her while she was on the ground), following her around the yard, talking to her in hopes that she'll understand (HA!), and numerous failed attempts at trying to grab her, the mourning dove finally flew away into the woods after Zim lunged at her
She had a huge crop, but only to the right side. The feathers around her neck was all fluffed up. Despite being in distress, she kept trying to eat, but every mouthful she took, she spat it back out.
I hope to God that she'll be ok, that whatever is stuck in her throat will eventually be softened then swallowed, or she finally coughed it up and out.

May 17 at 6:48pm:
"Dorky" just flew back and tried to eat more seeds. The other doves immediately started to poke at her head

May 17 at 8:26pm:
Instead of catching and helping the mourning dove (which flew away as soon as my fingers touched it, in the first 5 minutes of walking outside), for the past 1+ hour, I watched Callie (my resident feral cat) play with a mouse that emerged out of the shed. She first caught it with her mouth when it peeked out, walked about 10 feet towards the middle of the yard, then dropped the mouse. Then she proceeded to swat then stalk then pick up then drop the mouse again. She did this until we were at the opposite side of the backyard. Every now and then, Callie would come back to me for some head rubs and to hear me tell her that she's a smart kitty. She finally lost sight of the mouse when she got distracted by a chirping bird nearby, though she continued to search in the same area despite being told that the mouse had ran off in a different direction. After about 10 minutes, she finally believed me in that the mouse ran away and gave up looking, then we walked back to her usual spot next to the shed, where she ate some dry kibble (because I ran out of her favorite). Then I came back into the house because I was fast becoming a bug pin cushion.

May 17 at 10:12pm:
Just so no one worries or think otherwise, the little mouse was never harmed in any way. There were no puncture wounds nor injured limbs nor blood anywhere. In fact, at one time when Callie swatted it, it actually turned around and slapped her hand! Every time the mouse squeaked from being picked up, Callie would immediately release it.

May 17 at 10:55pm:
WOW! This is a definite first!
I was just outside to put the trash out at the curb. After I placed the trash can at the curb and turned around to get more, I was stunned to see Callie sitting on the empty lot, out in plain view. I squealed out "Callie!", to which she returned a "MEOW!" After putting all of the trash at the curb, I walked over to her as she ascended the dirt mounds. She immediately rolled over onto her back, stretched, and looked over to me. After about a minute or so, I extended my arms and clapped my hands together, and asked her to come over, and she did! A few head scratches and back pets later, she walked back to her dirt mounds and proceeded to eat a few blades of grass that were strangely growing out. By now, I was already being eaten alive by bugs and asked Callie if she wanted me to walk her home (I didn't do that earlier because she was still engrossed in finding another mouse; could that be why she was still here?), but she wasn't interested. Instead, she lied down in a crevice on the dirt mound, as if she was getting ready to go to sleep. That was when I bid my goodnight and came in.


I have another amazing update to post. Will do that later after I have it all typed out in Notepad first (so as not to lose it).

As for I would wait a few days, she may have a sticker in her pad which would be uncomfortable and hurt to walk on. I wouldn't attempt to look at it yourself as she may scratch or bite you and you don't want that, it may cause a loss of trust that you have between you. if her foot looks smaller she may have a dislocated toe bone <happened in my cat in key west> That would flatten the foot out a bit and make it look smaller. I would watch for swelling in it in case something bit her. If it swells then I would try to catch her and take her in but that's just me. Good luck with her.

Thanks for the update, Gina. I've been wondering how it was going with Callie. Glad to hear relations are being re-established.

I saw your entries on Facebook, so glad she's decided to be close to you again. Don't forget to stock up on her favourite food

Tonja":2453stqx said:

As for I would wait a few days, she may have a sticker in her pad which would be uncomfortable and hurt to walk on.

Click to expand...

Unless the stickers are in between her toes, I don't see anything under/around/on top of her foot.

Her limping seems to be worse, and she even started to hesitate when sitting down. This change made me start to wonder if it's her knee (do cats have them?) or ankle that's injured instead of her foot or pad. Who knows.

Could it be arthritis in her hip or joints?

Tonja":3t0tl3sj said:

Could it be arthritis in her hip or joints?

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I have no idea. She was fine before the winter and even when I saw her unexpectedly during January, but when she emerged after the thaw out, that's when she started to limp.

Without a vet exam, one will never know what truly happened to her. Speaking of, I did ask her if she'd allow me to take her to the vet to have her foot/leg checked out, and I got a :shock: and a meow, then she walked away to the other side of the shed. Can't help but to take that as a "NO WAY JOSÉ!" :laughing6:

Oh lordy! I completely forgot to post about the latest amazing development to my relationship with Callie.

After Callie had her fill of dinner Monday night (after begging her to eat more and spoon feeding half of what she had eaten, including a rub-down [her back facing me and me rubbing her shoulders with both hands] in between), she got up from her corner spot next to the shed and walked about 8 or so feet toward the front yard. Suddenly, she stopped, lied down on the grass, rolled onto her back, and began to groom herself. I was about 3 feet away from her at the time, watching her meticulously lick her tummy and all, and wandering if she'd allow me to slowly walk over to her and pet her while she's lying down. As I stood up and began to walk, she immediately put on her caution stare but didn't stand up. It wasn't until I was a foot away that she rolled over onto her tummy, still watching me with caution. I softly asked her if I could rub her tummy, and to my ultimate surprise, she actually turned over to where her back was facing me (strange but true) and allowed me to scratch/massage her all over. I started with the top of her head, then her cheeks, then the back of her neck, then her back, then I decided to push my luck and went to her chest. She gave me a :shock: look and lifted her head up as if she was going to bite my fingers, but she didn't. I pulled back a little and massaged her shoulder instead, and that relaxed her enough where she put her head back down. Then I tried my luck again and went for her mid section, and again, she raised her head and went for my fingers, but still didn't bite. This time, I didn't move my hand but instead kept on rubbing her. I guess I had pushed my luck a bit too much because a few seconds later, she grazed (barely) my index finger with her front teeth and then quickly stood up and walked away, not before giving a soft "meow".

The fact that she sat with her back to me to begin with surprised me, but to be lying down with her back to me and allowing me to touch her chest and mid section pretty much left me speechless but in heaven. I wonder if she'll let me do that again

Oh, one more thing - she had been sticking around hours after she had her dinner, where before she'd immediately walk towards the front of the house demanding for me to walk her home. I had finally moved her little house from the deck to the other side of the shed, but she has yet to go inside.