Dirtbag Tea Party

TNR update

nobody@vox.com(styro) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:43:13 -0400

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.

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Trap Night 2

nobody@vox.com(styro) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:05:51 -0400

Bummer, the colony caretaker had fed the cats before we got there, so none of the cats were hungry enough to check out the snacks in our traps, except one curious little soul.

Going to get fixed at the SPCA!

This one's at the SPCA today, getting "snipped and tipped" and I'll keep the cat overnight to watch for bleeding or bad reactions to the anesthesia, and then I'll release the cat back to its colony on Thursday AM.

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Trap night!

nobody@vox.com(styro) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:39:00 -0400

I am trapping a local feral colony lately. We got four cats TNR'ed last week, and we're hoping for another four this week. Anyway, I thought I would post a little photo journal of what it's like to trap-neuter-return feral cats.

I've got four appointments at the Richmond SPCA tomorrow at 8am. They, like many SPCAs across the country, offer free spay-neuter appointments and rabies shots for feral cats. They are essentially the only reason I'm able to do TNR. Without free surgeries, TNR is too cost-prohibitive. I can't afford to pay for surgeries for these cats. I donate annually to the SPCA as a thank-you for this awesome free service they provide.

So tonight I'll set out my traps. Here are the traps loaded in my borrowed pickup truck, and then another shot of one of the cages with the cover I made for it: a quarter of a sheet with a hole cut in the top for the handle.

Traps with cover

Cat trappin' at your back door!

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More feral kittens, damnit.

nobody@vox.com(styro) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:19:13 -0400

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

Well, I tried for a while to catch their momma, but she continuously eluded my capture and I kept catching Possums and realized she either was too smart for the trap, or she had moved.

I got a phone call today from one of the landscapers saying she'd moved. And she's had another litter of kittens.

Fuck!

I'm going to call my vet and find out what mornings she does spay and neuter appointments, and start trapping again. I am going to have to rehome another set of kittens---hopefully they are small like these guys, because Gus was too feral to be tamed and he is languishing in Rescue, which sucks. Both for him and for the rescue. I should have neutered him and released him.

Cross your fingers that the babies are tiny, people. Because if they're big, they're going to have a crummy life (after I trap and neuter and release them) living in the gutters here where I work. I guess it could be worse, but I just feel bad for feral cats. It is a shitty life.

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