Meet Our Residents

Our Very First Feral

Wampus
(Faerylwampus Elizabeth Thistledown)

There's a funny story about how we got Wampus, and how she got her name. We weren't even completely settled into our house yet when we decided to get a shed. We asked the delivery guy if we could have it angled in a back corner of the yard to which he replied, "Oh, so you want it catty wampus." Of course we found that turn of phrase hilarious and decided we would use that as a name for a future cat. Well, not five minutes later, we had the opportunity when we spotted a tiny little tabby watching us from the back of the house. She must have been living around and under the house, but we'd never seen her before. She was only a few months old, and all we had to feed her was some leftover chicken breast, which she gobbled right up. She also enjoyed hanging out in what we referred to as "The Fairy Garden," hence the addition of Faeryl, combining fairy and feral. She's been our awesome girl ever since and we love her dearly.

The Ones Who Beat the Odds

EAmon
(Eamon Padraig Hephaestus Luke Dragonfly)

Eamon is one of the very first kittens we saw at The Feral Farmhouse, along with his siblings, Echo, Samy, and Sage. A few years ago, he stumbled out from beneath one of our sheds, barely able to walk. His eyes were rolling around, he couldn't focus on anything, and he was yowling with all his might. Terrified, we rushed him to the emergency vet, where he remained overnight with a very high fever. He was released to us the next day, but while his fever was down a bit, we saw barely any improvement. Luckily, we were able to contact one of our own vets on Monday morning and she diagnosed him with Neuro/Ocular FIP. Although this disease was once a death sentence, thankfully our wonderful Dr. Phillips (now known as "Aunt Nikol") knew exactly what we were dealing with and how we could help our boy. She put us in contact with an incredible group of people so we could get the necessary medication and our FIP journey began. The fight was a difficult one, for both Eamon and ourselves, while he endured first painful injections (which we learned how to administer at home) and then 9 1/2 pills per day for three months. But after that, amazingly, he was cured! He's been a happy, healthy boy ever since, and we couldn't be more grateful to both his doctors and the many friends and total strangers who contributed to his fundraising campaign. We coudln't have gotten through this without you!

Siobhan "Fluff"
(Siobhan Fiona Caterina Persimmon Jewel)

Siobhan was the smallest of a litter of three (her brothers are Aidan and Freyr). When we found them, they all had upper respiratory issues, but while her brothers' infections cleared up just fine, she ended up hospitalized with pneumonia. She eventually recovered from that, only to start making the strangest sounds. Instead of meowing, she would make what we can only describe as a sort of quacking sound. It was so strange! Again, Dr. Phillips was able to provide us with a diagnosis. It seems our little Fluff had a polyp in her ear that was taking up so much room in her tiny body that it was causing the strange quack/meow. A specialist was recommended, who concurred with Dr. Phillips' diagnosis, and the risky procedure for removal of the polyp was performed. Luckily, Siobhan pulled through with flying colors! She now meows like a normal cat (albeit very quietly) and is the picture of a beautiful, healthy Siamese kitty.

Mushroom
(Mushroom Maebry Portia-Bella Montague)

Mushroom got her name because when we first saw her, our first thought was that this tiny little creature looked exactly like a 'shroom! She was the tiniest kitten we'd ever seen, but obviously older than she looked. Her sister Juniper (from the same litter of two) was very healthy and playful, while Mush was obviously stunted. We also realized quickly that she was having an incredibly difficult time pooping. She would try so hard that her little rear end would lift up off the ground! Her beautiful mother cat (Mae) seemed to be asking us to help her, looking from her itty-bitty baby back to us with the most imploring gaze. We took Mushroom to the amazing Dr. Borth, who helped us get her through these difficult first stages of her slower-than-normal development, and through a combination of enema treatments at the vet, IV fluids administered several times per week, and a bit of Miralax in her food daily, she was eventually able to relieve herself without issue. And then her eye problems began. While we've never been quite certain what caused it, she developed ulcers in both eyes. Our incredible Dr. Curtis saved most of her eyesight with a revolutionary treatment of very specialized eye drops. While her eyes still appear a little cloudy, any loss of vision certainly doesn't keep our little Mushroom from running around like a cat with perfect vision!

Dahlia "Kitty Rat"
(Dahlia Reina Ariadne)

While Dahlia's story isn't quite as harrowing as the others in this group, she at the very least deserves an honorable mention for several reasons. For starters, our Kitty Rat was born to a feral momma cat, along with a brother and two sisters, all perfectly formed kittens, but Dahlia was born without her right front leg. She has a normal shoulder and socket where the "arm" should be, but it simply isn't there. Not that she realizes that - she still tries to use it to cover up in the litter box! We call it her "invisible limb." During a checkup at the vet, we found out she was FIV+. While FIV is certainly not a huge issue or concern, it can mess with a cat's immune system, making them more susceptible to viral infections, tooth problems, etc. At that point, she was already nearly 10 years old and the vet we were seeing at the time told us she could probably make it another five years or so, provided she stayed indoors and had limited contact with other cats. Well, here we are 10 years later and our old girl (who celebrated her 20th birthday in March) is still with us! This is an older picture of her, in her glory, which is how we imagine she'd prefer you to see her. While she's still very healthy and beautiful, all things considered, she's now blind in one eye and lacking most of her teeth. But that doesn't stop her from enjoying her frequent treats and meals, being spoiled rotten, and basically loving life.