Updates

Beau, formerly "Ringo", was a cat who wormed his way into a colony of ragtag cats in deep east Oakland, by a liquor store.  Beau was very polite, and did not bother the other cats when they were eating.  We fed him off to the side. We trapped him, had him neutered and vetted, then re-released him.  We felt he was not totally feral, but did not show himself to be completely tame either.  We felt bad putting him back out.  Beau disappeared for a few weeks, then showed up again, with his tail looking very badly damaged and broken.  He was very hungry.  Beau showed up every night for food, and we tried hard to catch him in the trap. His tail, clearly necrotic, was falling off, piece by piece.  We were desperate to catch him.   This location is busy and noisy, and difficult to trap cats!   Finally, one night, starting around midnight, two of us used a "drop trap" to catch Beau. It took us quite a while, but we were able to catch him.  Then, transferring him into a regular trap, proved difficult.  Beau just sat there, and would not move, apparently unfazed by our movement and attempts to get him transferred.  We finally cajoled him into the trap, took him home, and the very next day, Beau went in for surgery, to remove his necrotic tail.  He came out of it fine, with a lot of stitches at the base of his spine.   A wonderful benefactor paid for Beau's surgery.    She also offered to recover Beau at her home.

Beau is now living the life of a prince, in Benicia.  We have lots of photos of Beau, and none of them show him upright!  His "base of operations" is the bed, surrounded by toys and pillows.   I have visited Beau, and he is a very happy, and incredibly tame cat, who surely had been someone's cat in the past.  He must have been lost and on the streets for some time.