11 posts tagged “animal rescue”
This is one amazing kitten. He is super sweet, right off the bat, which is sort of unheard of in feral kittens. He is just a little lover, and he is so happy to be inside, in his crate, getting lots of food and having clean blankets and clean litter. He is a rad little guy. Cross those fingers that he doesn't have kitty aids or the leukemia, because either of those would absolutely destroy my spirit.
Available for adoption in a month in the Richmond, VA area.
I just agreed to foster and tame 8 kittens.
In breaking news, I have lost my damn mind.
Two more girls spayed and re-released:
I can't help but think how many kittens would have been born in the next 2 months. We have so far, in this colony, spayed 6 females and neutered 1 male. All six of the female cats were pregnant. According to Wikipedia, a litter of kittens is typically 2-6 kittens, after a gestation of just over 2 months. You start doing some math there, and you realize what a timebomb we just diffused. A timebomb of wild feral kittens. We still have a lot of work to do, as I keep catching cats I've never seen before, like the black and white beauty on the right. As feral colony caretakers keep telling me: feral colonies are like icebergs, you're only seeing the top 10%. The remaining 90% of the problem is beneath the surface.
Everybody who knows me, knows that I am sort of a crazy cat lady. I'm not like, wearing a kittycat sweatshirt or anything, I don't feed a bunch of feral colonies, but I do volunteer at a shelter to take care of cats, I do feral cat trap-neuter-release, I have three cats of my own, and you know, I'm pretty knowledgeable about cats.
So when this cute orange cat showed up on my doorstep last week, I took pity on him and gave him a snack.
Well yesterday I got an email from a neighbor of someone who'd lost an orange cat. Turns out this was their cat! His name was Jasper, and he lived about 7-8 blocks away, across a very busy main road, and he almost certainly would not have found his way home---and I wouldn't have thought to put up fliers in that part of the neighborhood. Yesterday they came and picked him up and took him home, for which I was really grateful. They left me the collar I'd put on him with my phone number---in case he wandered home, I wanted his owners to call me so if he wandered off again on a cold night, I could get him home quickly next time.
His owner just called me to thank me for getting him home. I'm so glad he is home safely. He is a sweet cat, that Jasper.
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Also last night, my friend and I who volunteer at the shelter, did some feral cat trapping in her friend's neighborhood. We lucked out and right as we arrived with the traps, the lady who feeds the colony got home with a bunch of cat food! The cats SWARMED her, so we moseyed up and asked her if we could trap and fix and return all the cats, and she got all misty-eyed. "Would you? Really? For free? I have been wanting to do it, but I just can't afford it for all these cats..." She told us about how they have kittens, but most of the kittens don't make it to adulthood, and it makes her sad to see the females always pregnant, desperately hungry. She was grateful that we'd be able to spay the two pregnant females (thankfully, we caught both), and she was thankful that we had plans to come back and keep trapping, to get all of the cats fixed.
The best part was, since the cats were all hanging out waiting to be fed, they all went into the traps INSTANTLY. It was the fastest, easiest trap I've ever done. They smelled that Mackerel and BAM BAM BAM BAM, four traps snapped shut.
Usually when you're trapping cats, you place the trap where you've been baiting, and then you wait a couple hours, come back, check the trap, let loose a raccoon, rebait and reset the trap, wait another two hours, no cat, come back in another hour, see if you got a cat... It takes all night, it's exhausting, and frequently disappointing. So last night... last night was a night unlike any other. Those cats went down like deck chairs on the Titanic.
This morning they all went to the SPCA, and are being neutered. They are all scared and sad looking, but they will all come home sterilized and hungry, and we'll feed them, watch them overnight, and then re-release them Thursday AM. Also, we got the woman set up with our rescue organization so that she can take some of the food that is donated to the shelter and feed the colony. When rescue organizations get donated food, we can't really use it, because we feed all of our cats the same thing all the time to keep them as healthy as we can. The great thing is that all the donated food goes to feral cat givers, needy pet owners, and other rescue groups who need it. It is a really great way to "pass it on." I know it must get expensive for that woman to feed all those cats, so I'm glad we were able to get her hooked up with free spay-neuter appointments, and free cat food for the rest of their lives.
I am feeling really good about myself today. It has been a long time since I've done anything that lifted my spirits like yesterday did---finding Jasper's people, and trapping 4 cats lickety-split. It reminded me why I do the things I do. It reminded me why I care, and why I put the effort into Doing The Right Thing. I hope there is a sunshiney corner for me in Kittycat Heaven.
In case you hadn't heard, of the 48 dogs evacuated from Michael Vick's dogfighting ring, 47 of them have been deemed acceptable to be released to rescue organizations. This is a HUGE victory for animal rescue folks, as only one animal had to be euthanized due to illness, and the evaluator said that the rest of the dogs were suitable for rehabilitation and training and eventual placement within loving homes.
This means that 47 dogs who had been doomed to a life of being abused by humans for entertainment, will now be loved by humans as family members. I don't know if you live in an area where dog fighting is common, but I do. Dogs get stolen out of back yards here to be "bait" dogs. Dogs are bred and trained to fight. Pit Bulls, especially, are routinely bred, abused, and trained to kill or be killed by other dogs. None of these gorgeous animals ever had a chance to be a pet, to be loved by humans. They are bred, abused, tortured, and viciously killed and thrown away.
Personally, I'm so grateful that this dog fighting ring was dissolved, and that charges were pressed. It sounds weird, but I'm glad it was somebody famous doing it, because it shows how pervasive dog fighting is, and it really put the epidemic of dog fighting out into the public eye. Now animal rescue folks can work towards tougher legislation, we can push for bigger penalties, we can rescue more animals from a life of misery and mistreatment.
This may be something you don't know: The shelter I volunteer for, The Richmond Animal League, has been awarded four of the 47 rescued dogs. They are going to be placed into loving foster homes where they can work on becoming loving members of a family, for the first time in their lives. And someday, when they recover from what they've been through, they can be adopted by their own loving families. Forever.
If you had thought about donating to something this year, I can't think of a better cause than volunteering your time or your money to your favorite local animal shelter this year.
And just in case you're interested, here's a list of the rest of the shelters that took in Michael Vick's dogs:
- Best Friends Animal Society, Kaneb, Utah (22 dogs)
- BAD RAP, Oakland, California (10 dogs)
- Richmond Animal League, Richmond VA (4 dogs)
- Georgia S.P.C.A., Suwanee, GA (3 dogs)
- SPCA of Monterey County, CA (3 dogs)
- Recycled Love, Inc., Baltimore, MD (3 dogs)
- Animal Rescue of Tidewater, Chesapeake, VA (1 dog)
- Our Pack, Inc. (1 dog)
Last night I spent a couple of hours trying to trap the last kitten, who was with Momma Cat hanging around under the deck at my friend's house. The last kitten was tricksy, though, so we put momma in a crate with some salmon, and then put the trap right next to her with some food in it. When Momma finished her salmon, she gave a cry for the baby kitten to come join her, and he ran up, smelled the food in the trap, ran inside to check and BAMMO. Kitten! I took them both home last night.
Today, Momma Cat, who I'm naming Jezebel, went to the SPCA to get spayed. They made me pay for it because she's friendly and wasn't in the cat trap, which... whatever. I went ahead and got her tested for everything and got her all the shots and stuff, too, because, well, whatever. If I'm gonna pay for part of it, I might as well pay for all of it I guess.
The kittens I got signed up with the rescue organization last night, and they are going to the vet today. I think Thurman's bent paws are fixable with some physical therapy. I've been working with him, massaging his paws, trying to get them to straighten out a little. If nothing else, he thinks that is fun playtime. All four kittens have eye infections. I think one of the black ones, Houdini the escape artist, will probably need one of his eyes removed. I don't know what I'll call the other black and white kitten. I try to name kittens in batches so the shelter knows they're related? But I dropped the ball this time by calling the big red kitten, "Big Red" and by naming Thurman, too. I guess I could still change all of those. I thought about calling them all by H names: Houdini, Hank, Hal, Holden, etc. I don't know. Any suggestions, people?
The kittens are pretty glad to have their momma back, and she is pretty glad to have them with her. They are much more relaxed when she is around, and Houdini didn't try to escape once all night, which is amazing, because he can turn his head sideways and squeeze through the bars! It is only a one-inch gap!
Well, momcat is doing well, I let her free on Saturday and she took off like a gunshot, she couldn't have been happier to be free. I saw her Sunday, and I've been feeding her in the same old location, hoping she brings the black kitten back to that spot, so I can trap the black kitten and work on taming it. Momcat is staying well-fed, at least, so that'll help her heal from her surgery. I hope she is keeping a low-profile, but who knows. I am probably foolish to think that she would bring her kitten to be trapped. She eats next to that trap but won't fall for MY tricksy human ways again!
The kittehs are doing pretty well. They still hiss a little bit at me, but they have stopped spitting at me and trying to swat my hands. They realize that the hands bring the delicious spoonfuls of all-meat pureed baby food, which they LOOOOOVE, so they tolerate my presence. They are even venturing out into the other parts of the cage when I am not looking---they even ate a whole bowl of kitten kibble last night. They are very skinny so I am encouraging them to eat as much as possible. Today I picked them both up for a few minutes and held them in my lap and tried to get them to eat some baby food. Gray tabby went for it, but orange wasn't having my bullshit. They both were glad to get back into the cage, huddled in their corner. Baby steps with the feral kittens, baby steps. It is hard, because I want to cuddle them and kiss their (de-wormed) bellies, but obviously that will be a while.
Anyway, I set the trap again today for the last kitteh, I hope I catch him/her, but if not, I'll keep moving the trap around that area and hope that I just luck out. Persistence (and wet food) is the key.
Thank you all for the generous donations!
A few of you have asked if I was going to accept donations to help the stray kitties I'm rescuing. I don't personaly need the money, but I thought about it, and you know who does? The rescue organization who is placing these kittehs for me.
The Richmond Animal League has been placing these kittehs for me, and they are super awesome (even if their website leaves a little to be desired). These people LOVE animals, and they have been awesome to me when nobody else would help. One day I was there visiting Gus, and a woman was picking up a kitten she was adopting, and the adoption staff was all crying, saying goodbye. They LOVE kittehs. They are Good People.
YOUR GENEROSITY IS BOUNDLESS. Donations closed. You can still donate to the shelter on their website, if you wish. Thank you so much for your help, the shelter and the kittens are so grateful. I am in awe of your generosity and kindness. Thank you.
You people are Good People. The kitties, and RAL, are grateful. I am bowled over by your love and generosity. The kindness of you internet friends always touches my heart. We all send our love. Photos will be posted of kittens as soon as possible.
EDIT: update, two of three kittens trapped and safely at home. Name suggestions?
Well, she's back from the vet, and the vet, being awesome and herself understanding the kitty rescue plight, only charged me $75 for the spay and the shots. I love you, Dr. Jack! They gave me the cat's rabies certificate with the little rabies tag, and I laughed. What am I going to do with paperwork for a cat that I am releasing back to her natural habitat? So funny. I can't wait until three years from now when I get a reminder in the mail that "Torti Feral" is up for her rabies renewal. Ha ha ha. Sure, I'll bring her right in. ;)
Mommacat is in the basement again, this time with plenty of food and water. She did NOT like me opening the cage door and she kept trying to make a run for it, but she wasn't sure which way to run, so she just ran in circles in the back of the cage. Dr. Jack also loaned me another cage to try to trap the kittens but said I might have better luck with a cat carrier and leather gloves. Uh, no thanks, these are a little big for that, I think. I'll try the trap route. I will probably set the traps and just wait. I'm going to have to have Robert, the guy who helped me find them, and probably Allen, come help me lift the metal grates to get down into the window well where the kittens are living. I also need to go buy some wormer, I keep forgetting that. I should've bought some at the vet, but I guess the OTC stuff will work in a pinch like this.
I'm feeling relieved that this saga is almost over. Momcat is spayed, she's alive and bright eyed and fine. I know where the kittens are, and how many she's had. I went from feeling really sad about this whole endeavor to feeling pretty confident and reassured, which is, I guess, ultimately why I keep doing this.
Quoth the A-Team, I love it when a plan comes together.
