Worst Predator Around (Sandpoint, Clark Fork, Hope: college, cabin, safe)

[mistyriver]

He's home from the vet today and doing better. On another antibiotic and another painkiller and he has started eating and drinking on his own. He is a bit of a chubster and it's dangerous to let them go more than a couple of days without food because of liver issues, so they got fluids and food into him.

Looks like this coon kept after him given the bites on his tail and hind legs. I think he's a very lucky kitty.

[FutureNorthender]

Oh my gosh, that looks painful. Poor cat. Hope he feels better soon.

[Para]

So sorry about your cat, I hope he continues to get better.

Agreed on the Racoons. When I was in High School living in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, our elderly neighbor lady would bake for them. At around 8 PM or so she'd put out a plate of brownies for them and then yell at them for fighting over the baked goods. Not great for our neighborhood bringing even more of those crafty critters into the area. No one's efforts to secure their garbage cans seemed to work as the racoons always figured out how to by pass the security.

[banjomike]

Folks, be sure to vaccinate your dogs!
Parvo is a horrible death for a dog, and rabies always seems to come out after a wet spring. Of the 2, I dread parvo the worst, and I once lost a dog to it. It's very hard to tell is a dog has it before it begins to kill them, and once they begin showing signs of sickness, it's too late to stop.
The virus ulcerates their intestines, and its' a horribly painful death.

[ScottStielow]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

Nor, the cancer!33


Coons are also known to get distemper and can pass it on to dogs, and also get Parvo (but not sure if they can pass that onto a dog). It was a big problem when I lived in MI. I used to shoot at least one coon a month in the back acres in broad daylight, while they were walking like a drunk soldier.

For sure Melanoma, skin cancer. I know from painful experience. Have to where long sleeve shirts like, (Banjomike mentioned) out side for long periods of time. Along with a good hat!
Scott

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Misty, so sorry to hear about your cat, hope he makes it through all right. Back east coons were a real problem-there weren't that many predators and the population was out of control-would see a new one (and or a possum) dead on the side of the road almost every day (OK, cars were the only predators). They also had a real rabies problem. One of the very few animals I would shoot just to kill. They can get mean, and very unafraid of people. I lived in a neighborhood here that had quite a few, and crowded enough not to have hunters. They would show up on the deck and eat catfood if it was left out. Try to shoe them off and they would stand their ground and growl.

[wildflower82]

Originally Posted by mistyriver

He's home from the vet today and doing better. On another antibiotic and another painkiller and he has started eating and drinking on his own. He is a bit of a chubster and it's dangerous to let them go more than a couple of days without food because of liver issues, so they got fluids and food into him.

Looks like this coon kept after him given the bites on his tail and hind legs. I think he's a very lucky kitty.

Poor guy......that does look painful. Wishing you both high spirits during his recovery......how many lives does he have left.

My cat just turned 21 and he has used up many of his 9 lives, but still going strong.

[Hatehumidity]

Sorry about your cat. I however have a friend who is part of partnership with a few others that feed Feral cat colonies(03)(also gets them fixed)he told me and I have seen him putting food out for these cats and Coons come out to eat at the same time together with the cats. Your coons must not must not be domesticated like his to accept cats.

[mistyriver]

Originally Posted by Hatehumidity

Sorry about your cat. I however have a friend who is part of partnership with a few others that feed Feral cat colonies(03)(also gets them fixed)he told me and I have seen him putting food out for these cats and Coons come out to eat at the same time together with the cats. Your coons must not must not be domesticated like his to accept cats.

We live in the middle of National Forest in northern Idaho. Pretty much what most people would call wilderness.
No wild animals are remotely domesticated or even acclimated really to people or our pets.
We just used to have big guardian dogs that protected our critters from predators.

It's what you get for living out here. Keeping the screen door latched all the time now since George has figured out how to open it. Up to us to protect our pets.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Oh poor kitty! It's amazing that he's still around to tell the tale. I used to think racoons were fun and cute...but since we've had dogs I've learned just how obnoxious they are.

We haven't seen any coon sign in Clark Fork, but I'm sure they're there, unless our resident wolf pack ate them .

About Parvo: Our beloved First Dog (whom I've written a bunch about in the Dog forum -- even my dogs have C-D aliases!) got Parvo when she was 5 months old, and survived because my dad was visiting, and he'd noticed that she'd been throwing up at dawn, so when the vet opened, we were right there. I'll never forget his face when he came out with the diagnosis. There was death sentence written all over his face. But she was a fighter, and she lived! We had her for 13 years, the smartest dog alive! She knew 200 words, and understood whole sentences. But because we had to quarantine her for 2 months during her socially formative stage, she never got socialized to other dogs. She believed herself to be human for the rest of her life. Confidentially, I also think she was a person trapped in a dog costume.