Autumn was trapped at the feral colony. After a brief time of evaluation, it was decided that she wasn't really "house cat" ready, and all of the foster homes that we knew of (ours included) were over crowded. So she was released back near the colony feeding station. She ran off, hopefully toward known territory. We haven't seen her since release.
Below is the original account of Autumn and her adventure with us.
We think she's a feral cat. She may just be abandoned cat who has resorted to her wilder ways to survive.
On 3/28/00 my SVFF partner and I trapped a beautiful calico and white cat at the building near my colony. The former tenants in the building used to feed the cats. The building has since been sold and the feeders have moved out. The new owners are doing everything they can think of to discourage the cats from hanging around. We've been trying to help get the cats spayed and neutered so they won't increase in numbers.
On 3/29/00 my partner took the cat in for the TTVAR program at the humane society. When he arrived they told him they may not get her done because they had so many cats come in that morning for TTVAR. They were talking like they might need to hold her till Friday. A few hours later we got the notice that she had been done. Apparently, someone pulled some strings to get her done or less cats arrived than expected.
Shortly after the notice that the TTVAR was complete my husband called in a rush. He was scheduled to pick the cat up so they called him when they ran into problems with her. He said theat he'd received a call from the humane society that the cat was in distress. He was rushing over there and wanted to know what I wanted him to do. I called the HS and spoke to someone in the surgery room who said that she seemed to be having a metabolic reaction to the anesthesia. She was not breathing well and her temperature wasn't registering. We talked about whether or not they could help her or if we should move her to my vet's office. He wasn't sure she would make it there. I asked him about giving her fluids because he mentioned she was very dehydrated when she came in and he said he'd check with the vet about doing that. I told him I'd be happy to pay for any additional care they could give her. I also sked him to have my husband call me when he arrived.
I talked to a tech at my vet and she thought if the cat wasn't movable and was in bad shape it might be better to let her go. I called my partner to see if he could help me with this decision. We were worried we might have taken someone's cat but if she was that dehydrated then it appears no one was caring for her after all. I was having a lot of trouble making the decision to just let her go. Something kept saying to try and save her.
A few minutes later my husband called from the humane society. He wanted to know what I wanted him to do. I told him it was sort of up to him. I didn't want the cat to die on him while he was transporting her but if he was willing to do it we could take her over to our vet. He was willing. (Did I mention what a wonderful man he is?) I him that the tech at the humane society had thought she shouldn't be moved. He asked about it and they told him he could move her. She was breathing and alive at that time but not in good shape. We agreed that he would take her to our vet after all.
I called the vet back and spoke to a different person. I gave her as much detail as possible and let her know my husband was on his way with the cat. I left my phone numbers and asked her to call me and let me know what was happening with the cat. Later the vet called and let me know that the humane society had given the cat warm fluids. The vet also gave her a B12 shot in case she was anemic. They monitored her until she was out of the woods before they called me. It turns out that this lovely kitty will be just fine.
The Director of Animal Care gave us a call to see how she was doing. They were all quite concerned about her at the humane society and wanted to know whether or not she had survived. The Director was able to give me an update on what she had reacted to. Apparently, she actually reacted to the tranquilizer they give them. She had not had any anesthetic yet. The tranquilized her and tested her for FeLV and FIV. They shaved her stomach and found she already had a spay scar so they didn't need to do the spay surgery. She got her ear notched and got her vaccinations.
Her name is "Autumn" because of her vivid orange, black and white coloring. She reminds me of pumpkins and halloween when I look at her.
Autumn is currently being boarded at my vet's office while we figure out what we're going to do with her. She's not quite tame but she does allow me to pet her. She'll hiss at the approaching hand but then will allow the petting. She's even curled her toes and purred for me. If I get just the right spot on her neck she'll curl her head under and roll slightly on her side. This is not the behavior of a cat that has been wild all its life. This leads me to believe she was abandoned and has been on her own for a long time. The current plan is to continue to work with her and see if she'll be less wary of hands approaching to pet her. We'd like to see her go to a good home at some point in the near future.