Captain Nixon

He was sitting right in the middle of a trailcam recording and yet I didn't notice him. He was eating amongst the other cats and I thought it was my regular tuxedo cat Maito. But in fact a new tuxedo cat had arrived at my feeding station in April.

He was sitting in "The Clubhouse" eating peacefully and a bunch of cats from my colony was eating near by. He was sitting in an angle so that his body was partcially hidden behind the trap. I could just see it was a black and white cat and since I only have one of those, I was sure I knew who it was. So I didn't pay much attention to the cat on the video, untill something odd happened. I noticed that the other cats kept a close eye on him as he left the Clubhouse. Suddenly they didn't seem too comfortable around this cat, that I thought they grew up with. This gave me a hint that it might not be Maito after all. Later that same night the cat returns to the bowl in the Clubhouse and my oldtimer Tommy comes by. Tommy is a very peacefull cat who gets along with everybody in the colony. He really is a lover, not a fighter. So it didn't make sense that he was sneaking by the cat in the Clubhouse. This was enough to tell me that it was definitly a new cat that had found my feeding station. I named him Nixon.

Vet time

I was lucky that Nixon was easy to trap. I caught him the very first time I gave it a try and he was in that thing withing an hour! So he got a night in the barn and the next morning I took him to the vet. He wasn't tame or chipped.

The handsome stranger was examined and was found to be around 2 years old and FIV negative. He had some dental calculus that was removed and he was also treated for ticks. Then of course he got castrated, vaccinated and ear marked before he brought him back home.

Not a crook

Maybe you think I named this guy after a certain president. This is not the case. I was rewatching Band of Brothers around the time Nixon showed up, so I named him after one of the characters from the series. I have another cat who is named after a character from the same show - he is called Buck. Maybe they can form their own little band of brothers.

Nixon was released back where he came from and is my TNR number 23.