Sammy is coming along

Sammy was a small kitten when she moved into my backyard in North Central Regina last fall. Despite my best efforts to coax her into my arms, and later tries at trapping her, she evaded all of it. I am quite certain that she had started out life as a tame kitten, but her time on the street left her wary and timid. She was very smart though, and figured out how to eat the food as bait in the cat trap without setting it off! Sammy would often sit on top of my outdoor cat run in the middle of the night and look in my bedroom window, teasing my dog Atti. She would also play through the mesh of the cat run with the kittens I was fostering at the time who were the same age as her.

As winter came, my concern for Sammy instigated my efforts to customize my backyard shed as a feral cat shelter. I set up four insulated shelter boxes, got a heated water bowl, and even ordered an outdoor heating pad for cats to place in one of the shelters. I checked the shelter regularly to top up the food and water, and make sure that all was well. My hope was that once winter was over and it was safe to try and trap again, I could finally nab Sammy.

Sammy wintered beautifully in the shed. Her fur was in great shape, and she had no signs of frostbite (damaged ears or paw pads) that outdoor cats in Regina often show. As soon as spring arrived, I resumed my trapping efforts, and finally one evening I succeeded in getting her. I released her into my basement fostering room. And then I realized that she was heavily pregnant. I was broken hearted, and felt so responsible for it, since if I had only managed to trap her in the fall this would have never happened. Now, there was no way I could get her back into a trap or a carrier to get to the vet for an abortion and a spay. She was terrified, and I couldn't even touch her. I decided that I would just let her mellow out, and shortly afterwards, she had her kittens. Sadly, as is common with many first litters, all but one of her kittens died shortly after birth. However, Jellybean thrived under Sammy's care, and he has now gone on to a wonderful adoptive home.

Flash forward a few months, and Sammy now has the run of the house with all of the other critters. I took this video this morning of Sammy eating breakfast along with some of the other cats. She is still a very timid girl, and disappears if anyone other than me is in the house. However, she plays with everyone, and will now sit within about a foot of me, and sniff my fingers. Sammy is a long term taming project, and normally PFA doesn't have the fostering resources for this kind of lengthy process. But I feel a special responsibility for my Sammy, and will work with her as long as it takes.

-Sarah