The Parking Lot Colony

Four neurotic felines make up the feral colony in my condo parking lot. Each one is crazy in his/her own unadoptable way. They are fed and looked after by my upstairs neighbor MK who has been feeding them for years and now by me as well after I moved in a year ago. The cats in the colony are Carpark Cat, The Tortie, Mr CrankyPants, and the Ginger Tom.

I have only gotten to know (and photograph) Mr Crankypants and the Ginger Tom. Carpark Cat and The Tortie are super duper scared of all humans except MK. I can't even get near them. If I leave them food, they will not eat until I am out of sight. Mr CrankyPants and the Ginger Tom are tamer but in an aggressive, demanding, bitey, scratchy sort of way. They don't want to be friends but they are not afraid of us. Cranks will yowl at the top of his lungs demanding food, the Ginger Tom will get angry and actually bite us or grab our feet and scratch us if we don't set down his food fast enough for his liking. We keep containers of cat kibble in our cars for them but sometimes we run out and have to go into our apartments to refill. When this happens, the Ginger Tom gets really mad and chases after us and blocks our path furiously. I have scars on my legs from this lunatic. He is a freaking nut. He looks nuts too with all his bald patches and battle scars. Sometimes while he eats I muster up the courage to cautiously stroke his scarred bald head with one tentative finger.

None of the four in the colony get along with each other. The Ginger Tom and Mr C are both alpha males and always pick fights with each other and anyone else. Carpark Cat is also male but much smaller and timid and easily bullied by these two. The Tortie is the only female in the colony and also easily bullied... Poor thing. MK and I try to make sure everyone is regularly fed but more often than not, the bullies eat, and the timid ones are off hiding somewhere. We hope to have everyone neutered to stem the bullying and territorial issues and also to make sure they don't breed. They are extremely difficult to catch :( People who live in the building have been complaining about cats in the compound and also complaining about people feeding cats in the compound (MK and I of course.. hahaha). I don't see why it bothers or affects other people that we feed the cats but well, I guess some people are just petty, arrogant, heartless, and really really stupid with nothing better to do or think about.

Mr CrankyPants and Carpark Cat had a big fight last week. Both ended up pretty badly beat up. I managed to catch Mr C (he went ballistic when trapped) and send him to the vet. He's been patched up and neutered and is staying in a cage in my study until his antibiotics are finished at which point I will release him back into the parking lot. His stay with me has been challenging as he can't stand being confined and became super freaking mean. He makes a huge disgusting mess in the cage everyday. I can hear him "working" very hard at that all the time and yowling his head off. The vet and her assistants had a lot of trouble with him. I had hoped to rehome him but the vet says he's not adoptable. She's right. Carpark Cat is still out there somewhere with his injuries :( MK was out of town when the fight happened and isn't back yet. She's the only one that might be able to catch Carpark Cat and bring him in for treatment and neutering. I haven't seen him since last week.

Mr CrankyPants at the vet. He stayed there for a few days because he was too scary and angry for me to treat at home. His wounds needed daily cleaning and he was also neutered during his stay. I was too shit-scared to do any wound cleaning.

Mr C giving me the angry stink-eye. His paw pads were badly torn up. When walking (limping painfully really) he left bloody patches on the ground. His front forelegs also had many deep scratches.

He took of his e-collar and I was too scared to try putting that back on too. Anyway it occurred to me that if it was replaced, I would then have to worry about taking it off as well. Argh. I'm a chicken, I admit it.

The Ginger Tom and his bald, scarred, head.

My poor scary feral friend.

I have a feeling there might be a cuddly kitty in there somewhere... Just don't piss him off :)