Thursday, September 8, 2016

Dear Fiona

Dear Fiona:

We wish we could explain to you why you were caught and then put in a big crate with your kittens.

We wish that we could explain to you that living in a house with a family is a good thing.

But sometimes that just isn't meant to be the case.

We do make you this promise.....we will take VERY good care of your kittens.
We will raise them and help find them loving homes.

Love, your short term foster family


**note from the mom: the plan originally was to move the kittens in with Marilyn (the other momma car) over the long weekend. That went fine. Fiona has gotten more and more stressed over the last week - the minute I would enter the foster space (the door has a creak), she would start to growl. She never lunged at me when I opened the crate to clean her box or feed her but I suspect it was only a matter of time. She did swat at me once through the back of the crate however when I was moving something and got too close.

However, getting her caught and spayed didn't quite go as planned. I had the trap upstairs Tuesday morning with the intent of getting her to go in and then dropping her off at the clinic. Instead, she shot out of the crate. Around the foster room, up the curtains, across the large shelving unit and eventually up the screen door....and into the condo. CRAP! I tried to corner her by the front door but no luck. She got cornered by the TV, but I am by no means dumb enough to stick my hands any where near her.

Eventually I got her back downstairs and herded her into the garage. Thinking later, I had her pinned behind a table in the entry way and might have been able to get her into the trap, but let's be honest - it was early, I was now hot and sweaty, and honestly, my blood pressure was probably through the ceiling after a couple of fly bys from her.  I set the trap in garage and went to work hoping a couple of hours of calm and quiet would work in my favor. I went back home, taking lunch early (if you can get a feral in a trap to the clinic before noon, they can be done same day) but no luck.

Here is where I make a hard confession: I am certain she somehow managed to get out of the garage. I left the trap and food in there with the door closed for 2 day. The food was never touched....and she was always willing to eat. Hopefully she will stick around....there is food, water and shelter available in the garage. Hopefully Allie will find her and they can be a pair. I will keep my eyes open and keep setting the trap in the hopes of catching her. I just feel like I failed her in that final step....but I will keep trying.

20 comments:

  1. So sorry about Fiona. Hopefully she will come back at least worrying about her kittens and for food. She is so pretty. It took me over a year to catch my feral Mom and get her spayed and then she bit someone at the clinic. They do take the patience of a saint. Good luck to you Jeanne.

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  2. Aw, I am sorry that Fiona managed to escape, but have faith that she will get trapped again. I made the mistake of letting a feral out without stepping back, and he freaked out and climbed the wall and table, and probably reinjured the leg that I'd just taken him to the vet to administer to! All of my other ferals went out; he went UP! Who knew?

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  3. Sorry to hear that! I hope she sticks around too, and that you're able to trap her.

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  4. What a stressful thing for both of you. You did a lot of good for her, and perhaps somewhere in the back of her mind she at least associates people with tasty noms. Maybe that will be enough to help trap her and get her fixed. But either way, you have saved her kittens from that life and that is a big thing.

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  5. OH Fiona.. Fiona.. You are too clever for your own good. Purrs that one day you capture her again - preferably before kittens..

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  6. Oh I am so sorry....I can only imagine how badly you feel for something that was out of your hands. Fiona, I hope you are guided to re-think this and allow yourself to be caught. Otherwise it will be more and more sad. Help is there precious girl. I hope you will allow it.

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  7. I'm so glad Katie must have been found early on as she is such a loving girl.

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  8. Not everything goes as planned. You certainly tried, but Fiona has been living by her wits for a while now, and is evidently good at it. I expect that you will be able to trap her eventually and have her spayed, then she'll be both free and untroubled by pregnancies. Keep going; you're doing very good work there.

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  9. You really did everything you could with this beautiful but so-very-feral girl. I hope you do manage to catch her - it would be great to relieve her of the burden of endless litters.

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  10. You absolutely did your best - hopefully she'll make her way back to you, the sooner the better!

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  11. We're sorry for Fiona ; we wish for her that you succeed in trapping her again, and that you finally succeed in spaying her. Purrs

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  12. You did not fail her. You tried your best - and Fiona is a clever escape artist. Those skills have probably kept her alive out in the "wild". Perhaps you'll get her one day. In the meantime, her kittens are in very good paws and hands.
    Cammie!

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  13. We're sorry it didn't go as planned. Please don't be hard on yourself; cats are amazingly creative when they put their minds and wills to it.

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  14. guyz......pleez ta tell yur mom bye no meenz did her fail; fail fiona ore fail her wee onez......her did her veree veree best that her new how ta due... N that her could due.....sum catz R just craftee enuff N feral enuff... that they willna eggz cept any kind help ore add vise or any combo of...period.......N sinz we speek frum de mouth oh catz, we noe oh what we speek....troo lee..yur mom shuld be proud her did what her could N look at de wee kittenz N ree mind her self oh wear they coulda been...ya noe ~~~ ♥♥♥♥♥

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  15. That's too bad about Fiona. We wish we could tell them that we're only trying to help. But some cats just don't see it that way, and Fiona is one of those. Something tells us you will see her again...and will get the opportunity to catch her.

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  16. You are a star for trying so hard.
    Have a lovely Thursday...

    Noodle and crew

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  17. Shoot! Sounds like Fiona was free spirit and determined to do it on her own. I hope she eventually can be trapped and neutered.

    Thanks for all you did for her.

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  18. That's really tough but some things are just meant to be as they are. Take care, Fiona.

    Purrs,
    The Chans

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  19. oh man, some ferals are just about IMPOSSIBLE. Thank you for trying!

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