Gotcha

 Mom and her friend took the cat they trapped on Sunday back after surgery on Monday. The goal was to try to catch the momma cat longing to the kittens they got Sunday. Well, in record time Sparkie was in the trap. She is now back with her babies and taking good care of them. She's a little scared but should be adoptable. 

Mom is a tortie and very young....maybe 7 no the old. 4 kittens, 3 girls and 1 boy. 2 black, 1 tortie and a gray.

Oh and mom finally got video of Chanel chasing her tail. 

Our weekend

These monkeys. Kale purred for mom on Sunday. Napa has turned in to quite the flirt. Savoy is still reserving judgment about mom. Kohlrabi and Brussel Sprout are still their happy purry selves.

 

Mom spent part of the weekend chasing a cat with the help of one of the teen volunteers from the rescue and one of his neighbors. The fear was she would be pregnant and she is VERY feral. Mom wasn't sure about all of the details so she set up a space for the cat here in case she was friendly and was pregnant. Turns out the cat was trap savvy so mom ended up driving across town Sunday afternoon to borrow a drop trap. Within a couple of hours they had the cat and she was very very pissed off. She was transferred to a live trap and is being spayed today. So one less unspayed cat out there. But dang it was a hot and muggy weekend to be outside.

We hope you all are safe here in the US after the fireworks. The kittens were a little freaked out at first but settled down once they realized they were still safe here in the house. Mom was most surprised by Daiquiri - she is afraid of storms and the trash truck but didn't seem to care about the fireworks. There was a big one that went off fairly close to our condo and Daiq and Goldfish jumped and ran but fortunately came back out fairly quickly.

About her ear

**a post by the mom

As most of you know, Goldfish came here as a foster and failed to leave. In her case it was a behavioral thing as she was (and kind of still is) very skittish and it would have been a hard sell to find her a family when most people look for the super social cat to adopt.

She was spayed and ear tipped as a kitten as at that point we weren’t sure about her final destination. I hadn’t made the decision yet to keep her and if she needed to move to a barn she needed the ear tip.

Over the last year or so I have heard several people make negative comments about ear tipping, generally that is changes the way they appear. I try my best to explain why it is done. Many years ago it started as a universal signal that a feral or community cat has been spayed or neutered. The alternative before that was to take the cat back to vet, which would include transport, sedation and potential unnecessary surgery if a spay scar could not be found. With ear tipping, if you see a cat with it, all you have to do is open the trap and release them. It is easier on the cat and easier on the trapper.

One woman got a little snippy and I honestly told her that I view it as a badge of honor. The ear tipped cats living in homes or at our adoption center looking for homes survived the outdoors and proved to be friendly enough to be adoptable.

I also have Allie who is truly feral. I call her my garage panther. She is ear tipped and in fact has been caught and released at least twice since she was originally spayed.

I had one woman tell me that no cat should be tipped and be kept inside. I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking how big her house is if she plans to house all those feral cats.

I believe they deserve the best life they can have without the stress of fighting and breeding. Spay/neuter solves both of those problems. 

fun event

There is Gem City Catfe in a city about 90 minutes from where we live. They announced last fall that the Kitten Lady would be coming in and giving a talk about TNR.

Four ladies from the rescue were going to go together. However the weather was supposed to get bad and mom and one other lady ended up being the only ones that went. They had a reservation at the cafe before the talk.

 

If you look close, this climber is shaped like a plane as Dayton

is the home of the Wright brothers.

 

cute display of each cat with their names

The cafe is divided in half with the cafe in one part and then the cats in their own section. The cat section has two levels and lots of places to hide or just hang out. They do give instructions when you first go in about letting the cats come to you and respecting their space. There are places to sit and toys available to play. Like most cafes, there is a cost to visit, but Gem City is $10 for an hour so it is really reasonable and remember that the cost helps the cats.

After hanging with the cats, mom and her friend headed over to the another building for the TNR talk. Hannah Shaw markets herself as the Kitten Lady and started out mainly working with neo-natal kittens from shelters. She has started doing more TNR and talks about community cats - she made the point that TNR will reduce cats in shelters as part of the population of "unadoptable" cats in shelters are ferals/community cats and then tiny kittens that need so much foster support that some shelter cannot provide. It really is a cycle.....spay and neuter those community cats, reduce the number of kittens in shelters. Mom admits that she didn't learn much as she has been involved in TNR for a while. But...it was interesting to look around the crowd and see the different types of people that were learning how important this is in our communities. There were a lot of kids and we love that the next generation of cat rescuers are getting out and learning and advocating.

Random Fridays

We hope all of our US friends had a good turkey day yesterday. Since mom stayed home, she made chili....which we are led to believe is not traditional. MOL

all five kittens - though not a great picture

all packed up and ready for shipping

Goldfish is just learning about this Amazon thing and is

amazed at the things you can buy online

A friend sent us some things and the one box didn't make it out of the living room. It has been occupied by every one of the girls at one point or another. So far Daiquiri hasn't started shredding it yet either, so it can stay until the destruction princess does some damage.

Mom hasn't seen Allie our feral girl in a few days. But she did see a brown tabby come out of the garage Monday night when she was coming home. She is going to give him/her a few days to get comfortable and then set the trap to get the cat fixed. 

Random Fridays

Mom took the recycling out on Wednesday and there was a black cat sitting across from the garage. She tried to get a picture but it took off. And based on the quick glance, it was NOT Allie. Guess what mom will be up to soon???
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The kittens are doing well. For some reason during the day they are over in the corner where mom can't see them on the camera (brats). But in the evenings they tend to wander around more. They are getting mobile though certainly aren't very steady all the time. Veria (the dilute calico) is still having some eye issues so mom is medicating her 2-3 times per day. Everyone else seems to be doing fine.

It is supposed to warm up here tomorrow, so paws crossed maybe mom will crack a window or two.

Random Fridays

We got over 4 inches of snow on Wednesday, so mom got a snow day. She says that there can be disadvantages to working in a small office, but sometimes there are good advantages too. She spent the day doing....not much of anything with all of us. She did put together something new for Chanel. More on that next week.
~~~~~~~~~

Mom has gotten some emails from the neighbor lady Carol that helped with the TNR in our neighborhood. One of our original girls, Annie, isn't doing well. It is so hard when it is a house cat when at least you can provide some comfort. But it is harder when it is a feral you have cared for over the years and there really isn't much you can do for them without causing more stress. We suspect Annie doesn't have much longer here and we hope she crosses peacefully.

It does make mom worry that much more about Allie. She was in the garage on Thursday morning when mom left for work and they have built JUST enough trust that mom managed to get out of the house and into her car and out of the garage and Allie never left her bed on one of the shelves. Which is good since there is snow and probably salt and it is just plain cold here. Mom wishes she could just talk to Allie and convince her that coming inside wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Allie in nicer weather this summer

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Adoption events this weekend for the rescue. There is a fuzzy calico girl at one of the stores. So far there have been 3 applications for her....all of them bad for different reasons. Sheesh....
~~~~~~~~~~

We are supposed to stay cold here and get more rain...which means more ice. Stay safe and stay home if you can!! 

National Feral Cat Day

Alley Cat Allies started National Feral Cat Day to raise awareness about feral or community cats. We admit, we didn't know much about the details until we moved into the condo, started volunteering with Colony Cats and then found our girl Allie and her kittens. We have since done TNR on at least 6 cats in our neighborhood. No kittens since then and no increase in the cat population. Don't tell us TNR doesn't work.....

Our girl Allie

TNR 6/12

Feral Cat Facts (courtesy of Alley Cat Allies)

• Cats have lived alongside humans for more than 10,000 years. They are part of the natural landscape. Feral cats, also called community or outdoor cats, are the same species as pet cats, live in groups called colonies, and can thrive in every landscape. They are just as healthy as pet cats, but they are not socialized to humans and are therefore unadoptable.
• Trap-Neuter-Return is the only humane and effective approach to caring for community cats and stabilizing the cat population. From 2003 to 2013 the number of local governments with official policies endorsing TNR increased tenfold, with hundreds of cities and towns successfully carrying out TNR programs. That number continues to grow every year.
• In many cities, cats are still caught and brought to animal shelters and pounds, where most are killed. In fact, the shelter system is the number one documented cause of death for cats in the United States. About 70% of cats who enter shelters are killed there, and that number rises to virtually 100% for feral cats. 

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.

take a deep breath

*a post from the mom

Some of my friends know part of this story, but here is the whole thing.

Just over a couple of weeks ago, a friend I volunteer with mentioned that she had seen some kittens on a construction site (she works for the city water department). We talked about options and I offered her my trap to catch the family. I figured a rescue that focuses on TNR would be a good fit and that under the circumstances I would be ok getting permission after the fact. And I got the go ahead a couple of days later.

Unfortunately the mom cat moved the kittens, but after several attempts (and keeping in mind my friend isn't on site every day so that slowed everything down), the kittens were found last Tuesday (a week ago now) and the mom cat was caught later that day.

Mom is tiny, black, fuzzy and feral. No doubt about the feral thing either.... the hope was maybe she was scared and had been abandoned, but she has been calling me names from the start.

The mom cat got flea meds on the way to the house and the kittens got a bath once we were all home. They are SO tiny....their teeth are coming in and based on the timeline, they have to be at least a month old. I know this is going to be a battle. 3 black kittens, 1 gray one. There was a fifth one, but a driver had seen the mom cat drop it as she was presumably moving kittens over a week before we caught the rest of the family and took it home with him - their family has had bottle babies before and I got an update last Thursday that the kitten is doing well and they are going to keep him (or her).

Tuesday night was a long one. The gray kitten started going downhill and I pulled him out. I sat with him and tried to warm him up and get him to eat with no luck. I finally took him into the bathroom where I had moved Marilyn and her kittens when I put the feral mom in the large crate. Marilyn took to the baby right away, but I knew his chances were slim. I kept checking on everyone during the night. It is hard to get a feel for the other kittens since I can't really see them if they are curled up with each other or with mom - it is just one black blob.

Unfortunately, the gray kitten passed away Tuesday night. Considering his condition, I wasn't surprised, but it still hurts to know that I couldn't save him.

Wednesday was a long day. I tried to move the web cam so I could see in the crate, but managed to actually disconnect the camera somehow, so that was a bust. (it is back online now [more or less] and I am NOT moving it ever again - haha) I work about 20 minutes from home (if traffic is moving) so running home at lunch isn't an option. 

I finally made it home after work. I went into the foster room and the kittens were quiet. Knowing I wanted to check on them, I still hesitated. It was the ultimate moment we face as fosters: if you don't check, you don't know; but if you don't check, you can't get bad news. 

I pulled up the sheet covering the crate and 3 little black kittens were walking around and started meeping when they saw the light.

I put my head down on the crate and took the first deep breath of the day.

They still may not make it. I know that. They are so tiny and fragile. They are older than Marilyn's kittens but about about half their size. I will have an update later in the week as decisions are made about how to keep them going. The issue for the moment is that I can't reliably get my hands on them since their momma is very freaked out.

Oh - and as for mom....there is another city site that actually built a shelter for their ferals (YAY). Mom cat will be spayed and ear tipped and moved down there. Ideally she would be taken back to her original location, but this other site is much safer and she will be watched over there as well.

the name Fiona has been running around in my head, 

so that is the name mom will have from now on

No names for the kittens yet....

random Fridays

A little more about our TNR boy from yesterday. Mom emailed the other lady who lives near us and it seems she sees this boy. Either way, he is now neutered. The vet at the clinic did check his eye and this it may be a defect or an old injury. Either way nothing really to do for it. Someone asked if he can see out of it, and there really is no way to tell, but looking at him in the trap, it doesn't seem to bother him.

~~~~~~~~

When mom traveled to Maine, she realized she left her necklace and rings. Miss Connie sent them back to her and included that green toy. Not sure if it is 'nip or 'vine, but it is pretty popular around here.
~~~~~~~~

Still have the hot and humids....yuck!!
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mystery solved - his name is Sherlock

We have been having an issue with escaping kittens from the foster room. They are climbing the screen doors and jumping over. Not something mom is a big fan of....for several reasons. She is working on a potential solution, so we shall see what happens.

However, she got home from work on Wednesday - after picking up the TNR boy and releasing him - and discovered that Sherlock had escaped....and knocked over a plant and spread the dirt EVERYWHERE! Especially all over mom's chair in our living room. Oh.....she was ticked off. She knows it wasn't malicious, but oh she was mad....  We have ONE plant in the house and he managed to knock it over. Mom spent a while picking up and using the evil dyson to clean up.

Then she sent a text to the head of the rescue - could mom possibly take the boy back to the adoption center? He is healthy and ready to go....and needs to get out of the house. She was told to take him up there and mom ran to get him there before they closed.

Mom and another volunteer scanned his chip to find his information and then get him set up in a condo that is used for kittens. As they were doing this, there was a woman who had come in looking to adopt. She had adopted from us this spring and the kitten developed FIP and passed away. The family waited, but knew they wanted another kitten. The lady asked to hold Sherlock and bless him he rolled over and purred like a lunatic.

Long story short - mom got the kitten out of the house....and without even getting him back in a cage, he got adopted and went home. Bwahahaha.....  When she got home, mom sent a text to the head of the rescue and got a response "oh that's funny. too perfect"

We could agree more. Congrats on getting adopted Sherlock!!!
~~~~~~~~~~

Juniper is ready to go - just needs to be spayed. Mom called the clinic the other day and they are WAY backed up so the rescue is going to see if they can fit her into another appointment before the end of the month. She can't be adopted until she is spayed. But.....if you know anyone looking for an outgoing super sweet tortie, send them our way....

TNR

As some of you who have been with us a while know, we are doing TNR in our neighborhood. It started up the street with mom and another neighbor lady when there were kittens found (that would be when mom found Bug). Then Junior was trapped. Then more kittens....and they managed to get 2 girls and a couple of boys. Mom then trapped Allie at our end of the neighborhood. And things have been very stable for years.

More recently there have been sporadic sightings by mom and the other lady of two big males tabbies (OK - we can't be SURE they are boys, but mom says based on the size of their heads, she is 90% sure). And those boys are elusive....both mom and the other lady have set the trap a few times and got nothing. (that's not true...mom got Allie once - MOL).

Anyhow, as mom was coming home from her volunteer shift at the shelter last night, the goldish tabby guy was laying on a nearby sidewalk. Mom was all "I swear I am gonna get him" so she put some Fancy Feast broths in a bowl (she had a sample package) and set the trap later that night.

She got up early this morning and YAY the trap was sprung.....

Except this guy was in the trap:

Well huh - we've never seen THAT guy before.

He does appear to have an issue with one eye - but mom says it looks more like a defect rather than an injury. The vet at the clinic checked him out and said he is in good shape. The eye could be an injury but an old injury. Either way they don't think it bothers him.

Either way - he was neutered, ear tipped, checked over, given a rabies shot, and then released. 

National Feral Cat Day

National Feral Cat Day

#FeralCatDay

Alley Cat Allies

Feral Cat Facts (from Alley Cat Allies)

• Cats have lived alongside humans for more than 10,000 years. They are part of the natural landscape. Feral cats are the same species as pet cats. Feral cats, also called community or outdoor cats, live in groups called colonies and can thrive in every landscape. They are just as healthy as pet cats, but they are not socialized to humans and are therefore unadoptable.
• Trap-Neuter-Return—a humane approach to managing and caring for community cats—is the only effective method of stabilizing cat colonies. In the last decade, the number of local governments with official policies endorsing TNR has increased tenfold, with hundreds of cities and towns successfully carrying out TNR programs.
• However, in the majority of cities, cats are still caught and brought to animal pounds and shelters where they are killed. The shelter system is the number one cause of death for cats in the United States. About 70% of cats who enter shelters are killed there, including virtually 100% of feral cats. That’s why it’s so important for people like you to join us for National Feral Cat Day®, and every day, to help change society and create compassionate communities for cats.

Blog the Change

Tomorrow is National Feral Cat Day so what an opportunity to talk about feral cats, community cats and TNR.

Our feral girl Allie....hard to believe we have been caring for her for over 3 years now after she had her kittens in a window well near our condo. Mom sees her more in the winter and less in the summer, but we know she is around. Our garage door stay open about 6 inches to give her access to food, water and shelter. Some would say we need to re-trap her and bring her inside. We say - she would HATE that. Why should we change her lifestyle based on our beliefs? Would we love to know she is safe all the time? Sure - but she wouldn't thrive inside....and to force her into those confines is unfair.

This is Katniss. She was dropped off near us and then caught and spayed, but wasn't being cared for at all. Luckily we have friends who care for a colony out of town and they agreed to take her. It took quite a bit of time and effort on mom's part to catch her (ferals get trap savvy pretty quickly) but she was caught and moved. We don't recommend this for all ferals - it is better to release them where they are familiar with their own territory. But for her safety, it was decided to move her. She adjusted (eventually) and can now be seen integrated into the colony.

You will find some articles that state that feral cats are "bad for the environment". What they don't tell you is that all their "science" is based on one article - and it is bad science. The World Animal Foundation just published an article that disputes the original information...something feral advocates have been doing for years.

You can find out more about ferals from several places - we recommend Alley Cat Allies and Vox Felina. Mom has argued with our condo association and did manage to get them to back off. One man wanted to bring in "someone" to "get rid off those cats". Mom explained that extermination doesn't fix the problem. And that the cost of bringing someone in to do that certainly didn't seem a good use of her condo fees. Granted, while they let the people inclined to help continue to do so, they haven't put forth any effort of their own to help. But at least they aren't impeding the process.

In short, look around you. There are cats out there living in your community. Some of them are truly feral - living with a certain fear of people. Some are community cats - left to fend for themselves by people who once said they would protect them. Both groups deserve support and respect. Educate yourself and your neighbors. Spay and Neuter!! TNR and ear tip.

Blog the Change

We wanted to talk about how hard it can be sometimes for the public to understand why the rescue responds the way it does at times. When mom does an adoption, she will give adopters the rescue information and remind them that the main number is a cell phone - and the rescue can get upwards of 200-250 calls PER DAY. Leave voicemail and someone will get back to you but it may take 24 hours. Mom will give people adopting our fosters OUR information.

Of those phone calls, the majority are people asking for help. Or more to the point, "telling" the rescue that they can't keep their pets and have to leave them with the rescue. It can be exceedingly frustrating. And remember...the main goal of our rescue is TNR. The head of the rescue is very reluctant to take owner surrender animals (unless they are previous adoptions). She will make suggestions and give ideas and try to educate, but it doesn't always work.

And then you get calls like the rescue got last week. A neighbor noticed cats wandering near a house where the people had recently moved out. The cats were getting skinnier and skinnier and the lady knew she had to do something. She contacted several groups and said our rescue was the one that called her back. Volunteers went out and it was a disaster. The house was trashed. There were cats inside and out. Some already dead. Some in VERY bad shape. Some were feral as well. Luckily the neighbor that reached out agreed to help with the ferals, so they were medical checked, spayed/neutered and returned to the neighborhood. The rest are now in our care - about 30 to 40 cats. In this case, the news was also contacted and came out to do a story...which will hopefully help bring in some donations and adoptions. (we can't imbed the story, but you can see it by clicking here)

Which leads us to change.....what can YOU do?? Step up...volunteer, get involved in TNR, foster, educate or donate (or all of them).

The first step to change we believe is TNR - control the population and the rest gets a little easier.

Allie - our feral girl

caught - and not happy about it

but spayed, released and cared for

thanks for your support

up to our ears

We are up to our ears in kittens....if you hear anyone say we are reaching the end of kitten season, whap them!!

We have the TNR kittens from before July 4th:

Mom has decided on names. She wanted to do something after TNR,

since they were rounded up during an effort to spay/neuter a colony.

Top to bottom: Reno (with the spot), Nashville, and Topeka (the girl)

Oh course, London is still here too. He is SO snotty. Back on meds and hopefully this round will work. If not, we may have to upgrade to another drug, but the next one up isn't so great for kittens, so we are hoping this one works for him. He did get better after the last round, but only for about 10 days.

Over the weekend, another plea went out for help. Our rescue was involved in helping a neighborhood where a lady moved out leaving many cats in her wake. Some didn't make it, some were feral and TNR'd. And the rest are with the rescue. But space was needed, so mom agreed to take another group of kittens to free up space in the intake side of the rescue.

A gentleman had called the rescue asking for help. The policy of the director is that we will help you, but you have to be willing to step up as well. He was, being willing to let us spay the mom and he will take her back with him (you can see her in the last picture). The kittens are with us until they are big enough to be fixed and then adopted. 2 boys, 2 girls. They are a little shy, so we know they didn't get much socialization. Maybe 6 weeks old. Mom put up a request for naming help in a group on facebook as she had some ideas but couldn't complete the group. Meet the spice kittens:

These are the boys: Tamarind (the snowshoe mix) and Tumeric

The girls are both brown tabbys

short hair is Anise (below with her mom), long hair is Cinnamon

(we thought we had a picture of both but apparently not - MOL)

TNR surprises

A couple of weeks ago mom got an email from a client at her office asking about some feral cats by this lady's house. While mom doesn't try to get personal with clients, it happens some times and she really likes this family. Their boys have some serious medical issues and mom tries to help as much as she can. So when T sent the email about cats and kittens she was seeing, mom reached out to the rescue about getting some TNR done. Mom has our one trap, but we know that if there is a whole colony of cats, it is better to try to trap as many at the same time so they don't get wise to the traps.

Mom had spoken to the head lady of the rescue and made it clear if there were little kittens, they could come here. As hard as it is, there does have to be a point where cats have to be released. There are some older kittens, but they will go back to the colony. Sometimes you can socialize those kittens, but it takes a lot of time and there just aren't the resources. However, the little ones can't be fixed and can be socialized pretty quickly.

Thursday afternoon she was texted that they had two little kittens (they thought there was 3). The office closed early on Thursday and mom got the 2 kittens to the rescue vet to get them tested. And they are....negative!! Woohoo!! Mom brought them home and got them set up in the play pen in what used to be our dining room. One boy and one girl. The boy was a little hissy, but they were mostly just scared.

Thursday evening mom was called by the man doing the trapping that he had the third kitten. Alright!! So mom drove back across town and got the kitten. This one was hissing and spitting and altogether ticked off. Mom checked - it's a boy - and put him in with his siblings. And as with the alcohol kittens, canned food works wonders. By Saturday afternoon they were coming to greet mom at the door to the playpen and the hissy boy was coming out when mom was sitting there and rolling over right next to her. He is going to be a lover boy. :)  They are a little aggressive about food right now, but once they realize that they will continue to be fed, that will decline. In the meantime, mom will admit that growling kittens (they all weigh about a pound) are kind of cute.

They will be with us about a month or so while they get social and get bigger. Morocco finds them interesting but doesn't show any desire to be a mom again. She is being spayed today and will go to an adoption window as soon as one is available. Cairo and London find them interesting - in a "hey look they got canned food and we might like to nom those kittens" kind of way.

Mom is allowing the boys to name the kittens, so we will keep you posted on that. As for the TNR, we have the older kittens (2), three tomcats and one of the mom cats so far.

 

first kitten caught

he is still pretty skittish

 

our no longer hissy boy

 

tiny girl kitten

wild few days....

Sorry we have been scarce for a few days.

Thanks for all the comments about Bug.

Mom was gone for a few days. Our grandpa is in Minnesota getting some medical treatment and mom and her brother drove up on Saturday, spent a couple of days, then came home on Tuesday. Grandpa is doing better and they enjoyed seeing mom and her brother. It gave them all a break.

Taquito is no longer limping. And....she, Blanco and Queso were spayed/neutered on Wednesday. Which means next step is Petfinder and to the adoption center. Salsa and Tostado will go for surgery on Monday.

Tuesday night mom heard and saw a couple of big tomcats out on the driveways having a fight. Mom broke it up and then set the trap hoping to get one of them. No luck....but we know they are out there so mom will keep setting it and hopes to catch them both. Cross your paws.

Saturday morning on the way out of town, mom had to drop Rome off at the rescue's adoption center. He was VERY snotty and not feeling well. He hasn't come back to us yet. Mom has been in touch with the rescue lady and they are having to syringe feed him. Please send him some purrs.

London and Cairo are doing great. London is a little snotty. Cairo is so full of himself that it is hilarious.

Mom is going to spend the weekend with all of us and all the kittens just unwinding. And we hope to get around to visit our blogger friends too.

wordy Wednesday

Can you believe it was June 2012 that mom first saw Allie (our feral girl) and caught the alcohol kittens??  (for their first post, click here)

At the time Allie was spayed, the vet aged her about 2 years old, which would make her about 5 years old now. For a feral, that is pretty good. We do what we can for her...keep an eye out, leave the garage door up a crack for her to get to food, water and shelter. There are even some toys in the garage (we know someone is playing - those toys move around). And while we wish we could wrap her up and find her a home and everything, she truly is feral. Mom can get within about 4 feet of Allie before she takes off. Even when she was crated with her kittens, Allie made it VERY clear to mom that she wasn't happy about the situation.

But Allie is spayed and she has safety and food. One of our neighbors has a shelter set up for her too and puts food out as well. And the neighbor said that she has seen Allie lounging under another neighbor's dryer vent in the winter. Resourceful our girl.....

We aren't sure how far Allie roams. And especially when the weather gets nice, mom doesn't see her as often. A couple of weeks ago, mom had seen her on a Monday morning. On Tuesday evening, mom drove to the shelter to volunteer and there was a cat on the side of the road that had been hit by a car and obviously died from it. Mom was almost sure it was Allie. But she couldn't bring herself to go check more closely. Mom said that just wasn't the image she wanted in her head of our girl. We were heartbroken....but we also knew that locking Allie in a house was never an option.

Well, that Saturday evening, mom ran an errand, and there was Allie - sitting just like she is above...across from our garage, waiting for mom to get out of the way. Mom was stunned. And while we hope the black cat mom saw along the road didn't suffer, we are glad it wasn't Allie.

We know she won't live forever.....none of us do. And life for a feral cat is even harder. Though with her being 5 years old now, she certainly has to be street smarter than most. We will continue to provide her with what we can.  Mom has sat in the garage before and talked to Allie, but Allie makes no indication that she is going to give mom a chance to get too close.

For anyone who loves a feral, you understand. And we certainly don't ever want to discourage anyone from getting involved in TNR and caring for colony cats. It can be incredibly rewarding.....and getting them spayed and neutered cuts down on fights and disease and overpopulation.

what if or what is

a post by the mom

A neighbor and I started looking out for the community cats in our neighborhood back in 2010. It all basically started with Junior and Bug. And then we caught a momma cat and discovered the Memorial Day kittens. Things settled down at that point and Carol (the lady on the other side of the neighborhood) was basically feeding 2 cats - Annie (mom to the kittens, best we can tell) and Blackie (not the father).

Allie showed up near my house in 2012, but I have no reason to believe she is related to the other two cats and Carol says she hasn't ever seen her up there.

Last fall we both started seeing a long haired white cat. I was heart broken - had we missed a kitten? But it has been so long, we should have seen this cat before now. Had someone found a kitten and then kicked the cat out of the house? There was no way to know. However, with the weather being SO brutally cold this winter, Carol and I agreed to wait until spring to trap this cat as surgery is hard and recovery in the cold is that much harder.

I would occasionally catch a glimpse of the cat running out of my garage - he certainly wasn't grooming himself very well. Carol was getting a better look at him and agreed he was pretty scruffy.

The end of last week, Carol sent me an email expressing concern about the cat and asking if I thought it would be time to try to trap him. Among other things, he was spraying and her neighbors weren't happy about it.

I took the trap over on Sunday and finally got a good look at him....it was bad. His ears were crusted and bloody. His fur was matted and filthy - and missing in spots. The worst though was his jaw - it appeared to have been broken at some point and healed to where he couldn't move it right and his tongue was hanging out. I told Carol that I would take him to the clinic but that my opinion was that he should be euthanized....he wasn't living, he was existing and more than likely suffering.

I went home that afternoon and the "what ifs" started playing in my head:
What if we had caught him sooner?
What if we missing him as a kitten?
What if 
What if
What if

I knew I had to stop and took a deep breath. Anyone working in welfare - people or animals - will tell you that getting hung up on the what ifs will weigh you down and make you lose your mind. I had to focus on "what is".
What is the current situation?
What is the possible outcomes?
What is the most humane thing I can do for this cat right now?

Tuesday morning we caught him and I took him to the clinic where the rescue gets their spay/neuter done as they are feral friendly. Rather than have a conversation in front of a waiting room full of people, I put a note on the intake sheet explaining....they took him back and said he would get an exam and they would call me.

Rest In Peace Sal

Fly Free over the Rainbow Bridge

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a post script: I wrote most this Tuesday before the vet called me that afternoon. They sedated him to get a better look. He had lost several teeth on the bottom (his jaw was fine) and the rest were pretty infected. He was one giant mat and his body weight was fairly low. They aged him out at approximately 7-9 years old....which means he was more than likely the father of the kittens. And as his body began to fail, he started coming around in order to find food. It doesn't make the story any less heartbreaking, but I can take some comfort in the fact that we most certainly saved him for a long miserable death.