Your seedling blooms must be a welcome sight this time of summer. The orange one will look pretty blooming into September. I guess it was a welcome surprise to see the prodigal three-legged cat. Maybe he will stick around more faithfully now.

Debra

Lovely seedlings! It's nice to have blooms this time of year. Thanks for sharing your cat story. I hope he does stay close by now. Maybe he will become friendlier again.

Lori

These are pretty seedlings. I really like the orange one and the buds look prolific! Aren't cats something? Minds of their own.

Kate

Nice seedlings! The first one has such bright color. I love the red eye on the second one.

Nancy

Lovely seedlings! That second one is especially nice - doing a hibiscus look, very tropical in appearance.

I also care for the ferals. Very long story of how this came to be that I won't go into, but we are caretakers of a colony which at present numbers 16. Over the past 7 years, we have neutered 33 in all, trapping and releasing the wild ones. I have given antibiotics to the ferals as well - some injuries from fights, possible falls, gunshots and traps. 4 are indoor only having been rescued as kittens, but get leash walks - which they love - you can believe we hear the complaints when they miss their walks. They also have a 100 sq ft outside cattery, with access to the indoors through a bedroom window. 4 are allowed indoor privileges, though they often prefer to be outside; the rest do not come inside. One old tom was badly beaten up a couple of years back, and now is more likely to show up regularly for meals. I'm wishing he'd decide to move into the shelters here for the winter so that he wouldn't have to wade through the snow to get here this winter, but I can't make him - he'll have to decide on his own.

Alex

Thanks everyone, I'm very pleased with these 2 seedling. The first one bloomed last year so I guess it is pretty well set. It had decent bud counts, over 25, with 4 & 5 branches. Kind of weird shaped scapes though.

I have worried about the cat, but he will do what he will. He hasn't been around this afternoon, usually at the door demanding dinner about 4:30, & now almost 6:30, so I guess he's out wandering again. I probably need to get him some more antibiotics & hope that helps his leg heal. Maybe he won't go too far. You are doing a wonderful thing, Alex!

I really like that first seeding. I too have a clump that is 2 different seedlings, not sure how they got mixed.

Alex, I applaud you and all that you do for the cats! Thanks for being such a caring person. I loved hearing all that you are doing to help.

Nancy - it's hard not knowing for sure if you've done enough, but you have. If the leg has fallen off, he's probably already on his way to healing. I've noticed that just a couple of doses of antibiotics can sometimes be enough to jumpstart the cat's immune system. And, as they are wild and you can't closely monitor them, it's just as well. But even if he doesn't make it, you've given him an edge, and you've given him food. If he needs more food, he knows where to come. You've done good.

Alex

Thanks, Celeste!

Thanks Alex, I have not been sleeping that well, thinking about him & wondering if I'm doing enough. I'm going to talk to the vet that the Humane shelter uses today & see what he says.

Nancy - I hope he can help put your mind at ease. Feel free to send me a message if you'd like to talk more about this.

Alex

Nancy, your seedlings are beautiful I like that gold/orange one. I had a similar feral story...we did trap him and took him to the vet. They stupidly let him escape the cage and run around the office then neutered and splinted his injured leg, but he died when they tried to wake him. I hated that so much, he was a pretty cat and had tamed enough to take food from my hand gingerly, but to take it. You all remember Bella the feral that I managed to tame who is a house cat. Alex, she was not a kitten although Murphy and Katy were, but all tree are ferals that became house cats. There s a gold male that is coming into my yard a lot, and I will probably TNR him but take him where they deal with ferals all the time, not the regular vet. We also have one that has been here for 18 years. She will not come in (but goes in the basement for rain or extreme. We feed her twice a day and she loves to be petted, but not picked up. Nancy, I agree, he shold do fine now the leg is off.

kay

What a sad ending, and something similar is what I am really worried
about. I checked on the pet forum, & someone mentioned that the leg
getting shorter may be because it is slowly rotting off. I hope not. It
looks raw, not rotting, and seems to be getting better. The vet seemed
optimistic after looking at a picture on my phone. Got some antibiotics.
They are predicting a possibility of getting about 5 1/2" of rain from
the remnants of Harvey, I'm doubting that but I hope the cat is ok. He is under our deck which is dry but don't know how dry it will be if we do get that much rain. There is a dog house there by the deck for my cats-they never use it but maybe he will if it gets bad. The cat looks better every day. My husband calls him Ghost because he disappears in such a flash. I'm going to really start working on taming him when the rains stop. Just hope I don't disturb him so much that he leaves.

Nancy - you must be down south, then? If so, then at least he won't have the issue of deep snows later. The weather has been so erratic - both good and bad, that, unlike some years, I have no inkling what will happen this winter.

Tell your husband - ha! Ghost is a good name! We have one we call Shadow for the same reason. One of the untouchables, of which there are only a few. He doesn't even like to have you in sight when he comes to the food dishes.

Don't rush trying to tame him - it does spook them for sure. Another we call Little Mama, as she was the last of those to have a litter on this property. She was already so full of kittens we didn't want to attempt TNR. Afterwards, she was very skittish with us, but winter was coming on and she gradually moved all 5 of her kits to one of the larger styrofoam shelters on the porch. By the time we decided they were old enough to spay/neuter, they were half tame - easy as pie! Except for her - we needed the trap for her. It took 3 years before she accepted us. I think the deciding factor for her was the summer she sustained an eye injury that I was sure was going to poison her system and blind, if not kill her. I started feeding her out in the corral garden where she felt safe (we had styrofoam shelters out there as well.) I'd quarter the antibiotics and roll the pieces in some wet food. I probably project my feelings onto these cats, but I felt like she knew I was trying to heal her. After her recovery, she started following me from a distance when we were out walking the other cats. Now she is an indoor/outdoor resident, and I wish I could keep her off my bed at night - LOL!

Alex