Despite many kind advice and a few tips, the calico Manx kitty is nowhere to be found.It’s normal to feel a bit of a let-down after the return from a sun-filled vacation. Yet, the main reason for my doldrums is the fact that I have not found my cat.
Thank you for all of the kind advice shared via social media, NextDoor during talks with neighbors in front of their garage doors. The search has felt a little all-consuming, mainly because putting up flyers and driving slowly through the Avenues helps me feel like I’m doing all that I can.
It’s a cat, friends have said. She’ll probably come back. They do that.
After several days of consuming way too much medicinal ice cream, I realized that my overwhelming feeling of distress is cumulative. I lost the cat. I lost the Handsome Woodsman. Both events were sudden, unfair and completely out of my control.
NEAR MISS
A wonderful family sent a note on NextDoor and said they believed they had my cat. They saw my article in the newspaper and spotted a calico with a bobtail. That’s a rare combo, and they were certain they had scored the lost prize.
As it turns out, the man of the household was once the adviser to my housesitter, Thor, when Thor was working on his Master’s thesis at Chico State University.
I didn’t respond quickly enough to the message from the family, and they put the cat in the garage when they had a big birthday bash.
Many sources on scared cats state that cats will hide, even if they hear the familiar voice of their owners. I sat in the family’s darkened garage, whistling the two-tone whistle that should have triggered the kitty’s brain to run to me from the rafters. I thought I heard a rustle, but I’m guessing I heard only squirrel on the rooftop. After prayers and tears, I set a humane trap in the family’s garage and the trap was empty in the morning.
The next day I knocked on doors in the neighborhood near Bidwell Mansion and met a nice woman who recognized my description of the cat. A calico Manx kitty, which looked amazingly like the photo on my flyer, lived across the street. The cat’s name is Lola and has lived there for years. Poor Lola.
The nice family most likely trapped her in their garage, where she was unnecessarily traumatized. I envision Lola squeezing through a tiny crack in the garage and running for dear life toward her home two blocks away.
Lola, I’m so sorry. Maybe you’ll stay closer to home from now on.
However, the misidentification by the family shows that people are looking out for my cat. As I continued to lament and worry, I know I’m not alone. There are lost dog and cat posters on many telephone poles throughout the Avenues, and more adoptable pets at the Humane Society than any cat or dog lady could possibly hoard.
I haven’t given up hope, but resignation is beginning to creep in.
RABBIT REWARDS
Weeks ago, my friend John mentioned he has rabbits and asked me if I wanted a bag of rabbit droppings. Indeed I did.
I went on vacation and since then he has been carrying the poop around in his car.
Rabbits digest lightly and the manure is known for being “cold.” Unlike chicken or steer manure, rabbit poop won’t burn plants when added to the soil. Ammonia in rabbit urine can be harmful, and garden sources I perused suggest waiting for the remnants of the rabbit cage to dry before adding to your prized plants.
By the time John and I made the exchange, his gift was ready for use in the garden.
He suggested I make a rabbit dropping tea, which was easy enough to do by adding the poo to my watering can and waiting a day or two. Some rabbit keepers in New Hampshire, Netherlands, http://tinyurl.com/rabbitTea, also give the precaution to avoid adding fresh manure to a vegetable garden. An alternative is to add the rabbit byproduct to the compost pile, for use later.
Rabbit poop contains phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen, as well as trace elements of other things good for plants, (see more details on a website named Imperfectly Happy Homesteading, http://tinyurl.com/MoreOnRabbitPoop).
Alfalfa pellets, before being digested by rabbits, are often used as a soil amendment for roses.
I neglected to ask John what he feeds his rabbits, but I’m confident the mix is just dandy for my potted plants.
Contact garden columnist Heather Hacking at sowtheregardencolumn@gmail.com or follow on Facebook.
