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| Name: |
Turk
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Age: |
Five months old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Domestic Shorthair
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| Home: |
West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
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Turk (Turk the Skurk) was a feral kitten I successfully grabbed by the neck shortly before Thanksgiving 2021 (thus her name, although it's also in honor of a character on the tv show Scrubs). Her first 24 hours in my bathroom did not go well as everything was a mess by morning - toothbrush and paste on floor, poop spread all over the tub, shampoos knocked down from the shower shelf, where she had leaped incredibly and unbelievably high for an eight-week-old kitten. Clearly she was panicked.
From there, however, things improved rapidly. I put her on the waiting list at my local animal rescue league, but they had no availability to take her until Dec. 23rd. I let her out of my bathroom sooner than I usually do with feral kittens because she was all alone in there. She inserted herself into my large group pretty well. My younger cats seemed to really dig her constant energy and playfulness.
There are two reasons I kept her. One is perfectly clear... after all those weeks, giving her up would have gutted me! The other reason is more valid and gives me a better excuse. She remains scared of anyone but me. That happens often as I live alone and my ferals don't get properly socialized to others (thus the reason I have multiple cats). The shelter doesn't want scared, unsocialized kittens for the obvious reason that they are harder to adopt out.
Turk is a bundle of energy, but also affectionate for a few minutes a day at least. She's a firecracker and loves to race up and down the hall. I adore her.
Sadly, she has three siblings who I didn't manage to catch as they moved a block away after I caught her. I didn't know where they were until two weeks ago. One is her twin looks-wise. I feed them daily and will try to TNR them in the weeks to come. I think they're too old to tame at this point and couldn't be adopted out. Of course I'll continue to feed them and talk to them. My New Year's resolution is to work harder at TNVR (trap, neuter, vaccinate, return). There are just so many ferals out there. I hope some of you reading this will do the same. My shelter operates and vaccinates for free, as long as you trap them and bring them in. I'm sure other places offer something similar.
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