Selkie's Crochet

We've finally been able to get James neutered! He first showed up over a year ago and has been incredibly nervous and wary of us -- we had tried to pick him up and take him to the vet for neutering but he freaked out (Peter probably still has the scars) so we gave up on the idea and instead focused on feeding him and giving him spot-on treatment for fleas/works/ticks etc when we could.

Over time he gradually became more tame again but I wasn't confident at all that we'd be able to catch hold of him and put him in a cat box. In the end I borrowed a 'cat-trap' from a lady in Portmagee who runs an animal rescue/rehoming service.

Because James is so nervous and cautious of things he doesn't like, I started out leaving the trap just under our patio table - then the day before his operation, I'd set the trap but put his bowl just inside it so that he could go nearly all the way inside and eat his food without setting it off.

I was really heartened by how willingly he went in this far (though if you look in the photo, he's ready to run if he has to!) - the next day I held my breath and put the food right at the back of the trap and crossed my fingers.....and it worked!

I'd the vet on stand-by in town and they were able to operate on him straight away -- I went off to do a bit of shopping and then came back about half an hour later and it was all done.

He wasn't very happy at all: I think being caught in the trap was very stressful for him, and then having his operation on top of it all. I was worried that he was going to run off and not come back, but even if he did at least I knew that he'd been neutered now so he wouldn't spend his days tom-catting around and fighting.

BUT...he's like a different cat now that his hormone levels have flattened out a bit. The other cats are very wary of him; I think his size intimidates them all but they just give him a wide berth and generally things are ok. Bertie is the most vocal opponent to this new addition but they just avoid each other as much as they can.

As you can tell from the photo - Dinah isn't too impressed either!