Remember a mention of a caretaker who initially would not accept charity, their colony grew, they stopped feeding, the colony became ill and finally we were able to TNR? Well. The last two females were finally trapped this week. It’s been a loooonnnnngggg process, but now all we have left is a few males. Yea!!!
Another positive, though problematic, is that a lot of the “ferals” done last year have become friendly and the caretaker is able to pick them up and pet them. We have taken two of the friendlies, one went for adoption, while the other developed a nervous habit of pulling out her fur. Our foster is working with her, besides this habit she is a loving, happy cat, so we cannot put her back outside, we just have to find the right solution for her so that she can find the right permanent home. We will take others from the colony as soon as we have space for them to transition. (Hint: that means more foster homes.)
We never give up. Even if we appear to have washed our hands of a situation, it remains on our books and if we can work with the people in the future, we will always try. We’ve been contacted a year or many years later when a situation has changed or there are new cats and we do our best to resolve things for the cats.
Can You Take This Cat?
I’ve said before, Feral Fixers often takes care of those cats that would fall thru the cracks.
A family brought us a cat that was obviously a stray, completely emaciated. She is a front paw declaw, no chip. I gave them no guarantees that she would survive, but she is currently in a foster home, gaining weight. We named her Sunny and it will take weeks for her to be completely healthy, but with the volume of cats out there, where was she going to go for this care?
We have Grand. While in his trap, he gave me the “look.” I scratched his head thru the trap and he meowed at me. He was covered in mats, big as my fist, there wasn’t time to shave him when he was neutered, so when nibbling away at the mats with a scissors wasn’t doing the job, we shaved him. We discovered at the same time that he had a pretty bad molar and sent him for a dental. At the same time he was tested and is FIV positive. Besides the bad mouth (typical in FIV+ cats), he’s a really tough, healthy guy. His name in his colony was Grandpa, they have been feeding him for over 9 years. It’s time for him to come inside. He is using the litterbox faithfully – what a strange concept! – although sometimes it just isn’t big enough and things go over the edge! Food is his very favorite thing. At mealtime he stands and kneads and meows and isn’t happy til he’s had at least two servings. Through this all, although he’s shy and contact is somewhat overwhelming, he has never done anything that could be interpreted as retaliatory or nasty. He is just the sweetest cat. He needs a foster home to continue to learn what being a friendly is all about and he needs a home that either has no other cats or has another FIV+ cat that he can be a buddy to. We’re two weeks in, so soon the male smell will be a lot less and he won’t offend noses! Please pass on this information to any and all you might think could help this guy, but we will be very picky about who gets the opportunity to care for him!
T-Bone joined a colony that is being fed by one of our volunteers. Obviously previously owned, no chip. He is one of the longest cats! He has been in my garage for 4 days, went for neuter today. He growls a lot but I think it has most to do with those hormones, so we are treating him as a friendly. He was very thin and had several enormous ticks which we removed. Just to be on the safe side, we are treating him with antibiotics. This is the treatment for any effects the ticks may have had, visit this website for further information: http://uk.merial.com/pet_owners/cats/ticks.asp, although this information is based in the UK, it applies here as well. Be careful in your selection of products to prevent ticks, here is info from HSUS: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/flea_tick_OTC_pet_products.html
Friendlies All Over The Place
Due in large part to the economy, more and more friendlies are appearing outside. We knew this was going to happen, but didn’t everyone in Rescue hope it wouldn’t? It is very sad because these cats don’t find a Good Samaritan as quickly as the people who abandon them fantasize they will and they end up starving, sick and injured before they can be rescued. Some shelters have intervention programs for people who need to surrender their animals for financial reasons – they support them with medical care and food to keep them in the household. They try to arrange low or no-cost spay/neuter. And finally, if all else fails, they take them into their adoption program when they have room. But still, people are not finding these limited resources before the cat ends up outside.
We do our part, taking in, rehabilitating and trying to find a shelter to adopt those friendlies that we encounter. We can only do this with your continued generosity. We’ve been able to do dozens of cats this year so far with no likelihood of a donation from the caretaker and I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be secure enough from the donations we receive to be able to do that. Food, garbage bags, paper plates, newspaper, and of course, money! Before the next litter, before the kittens already born turn feral, your donations go far beyond their dollar amount – they are priceless! And I will say again,
Thank you! We Can’t Do This Without You!!!