in the sense of loss of a "home base" and the risk of rabies, feline leukemia, etc. that she now faces due to their irresponsible behavior. I can't catch her to get her to the vet for her vaccines. I can't stop the neighbors from feeding and sheltering her, or force them to hand her over to me. It is up to them to stop and give her the chance to come back home. The good news is they appear to have stopped feeding her.
The shelter spent nearly a year working with her, before she was trusting and friendly enough to move out of the feral "barn buddy" program into the "pet adoption" program.
I spent 3 months -- with ideal circumstances for rehoming a cat -- building trust while she learned that my farm, and the barn, are her "home base" where she always has food, shelter and ear scritches.
She is now where she started: back to semi-feral and homeless. I can't confine her here to re-teach her that this is her home base. I can't get her to the vet for her vaccines. That is what I cannot fix.
It is up to the neighbors to stop feeding and sheltering her, and give her the chance to come back to her real home.
The people across the street put food out for her again on Monday, but they stopped putting food out on Tuesday and Wednesday. They were supposed to try to get hold of her and bring her to me on Wednesday, but instead they were gone all day. However, today, they are at home but they still have not put food out for her, so I'm thinking that, after thinking about our conversation, they decided that *they* don't need to be responsible for her.
In the meantime, she came here for food the last couple days (I keep the food dish level so I can tell if she's been eating). The weather is scheduled to be good for the next 10 days or so, so as long as they don't feed her and she continues coming here to eat, that is a beginning.
Hopefully when the weather gets bad again, they also won't shelter her, however sorry they may feel for her. The barn is always there for her, and there is currently an 80-bale pile of hay for her to nest in (the rest of the hay is stored in a separate shed).
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