5 posts tagged “cat rescue”

I just agreed to foster and tame 8 kittens.

In breaking news, I have lost my damn mind.

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. 

This is not my cat

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.

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.

Cat rescue is such a heartbreaking job.  Especially if you love kittycats like I do.  It is very physically hard work, there is a lot involved with finding the colony, setting the trap, and most importantly, checking it really frequently to see if it worked.  Then, it's emotionally difficult when you do trap anybody, because the reality is:  you still have to find a rescue organization who will take the babies, and you have to find a vet who has an early morning spay appointment, or who is kind and caring enough to make room for you.  If I can't find a spay appointment for Friday, I'm not sure what I'll do.  Try to make an appointment for saturday?  Take her to (don't say it) Animal Control and have her euthanized?  Let her loose again, unspayed?  She'll never get in a trap again if I do the latter, so it's almost more humane to have her euthanized, although... none of the solutions are great.  I have to hope for pity and kindness and understanding.  And then I will probably have to shell out a hundred and fifty bucks or so.

I caught the momma cat tonight, but she is wild and full of fear.  I feel sad for her babies, because I have no idea where they are, and I'm sure they are terrified and alone and ... alone.  I have to catch them too, or the feral cat colony will keep growing.  I feel sad for momma cat; in a terrible cage, no food or water (in case they can spay her tomorrow, no food or water before surgery), unfamiliar place, terrifying car ride, awful human carrying her in the cage, setting her up on two chairs in the basement.  More of a crawlspace, really, but keeping her off the floor keeps her dry and out of her own poo if she has to go, and there is a door to the space so she is safe from any predators, and it is dark and cool and mercifully quiet down there.

I feel like a monster, doing this.  It is so heartwrenching every time.  The cats don't understand.  I AM THE ENEMY!   I know that having her spayed and releasing her is not a happy-fuzzy-feel-good ending, but it is the best life she can have at this point.  Better than having endless litters of kittens and being hungry all the time. Or dead.

I know I am doing the right thing, but man, it breaks my heart. I weep for the feral cats of the world.  I do my best, my friends, and I know my best is not enough.  I love kitties too much.  I hope momma cat forgives me. 

Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me.

Remember when I rescued Fatbutt and her brothers, Coal and Gus, AKA the "Gutter Gang?"