September stats - subtitle too busy to blog

September feels like it went by in a blur, and when I recount all the cat stuff that happened I realize why. Just this week I helped some neighbours TNR four cats from the same litter, around six months old. The people on the street feed them and provide shelter, now thankfully there won't be any more kittens (they got the mom spayed previously). The one below has a cloudy eye but she's fine. Reggie (a girl) has two sisters and a brother. Think of all the kittens that combo could have produced!

I helped another neighbour get a momma cat spayed and found her kitten, Annie Sparkles, a fabulous home with Connie. Connie was fostering her and fell in love. Don't worry, she's only allowed out supervised. I think I might be getting a reputation out there as a cat rescuer.
And then there was Hank, who was not looking well, trapped and discovered he had a mouthful of rotten teeth. After two weeks of recovery and a very large vet bill Hank has returned to his clan, much healthier.
There is just the usual daily feeding too, it takes 15 minutes to get there, an hour to feed at all the locations, 15 minutes to get home, and another 15 minutes to wash all the dishes.
Whew, maybe it's better not to list it all out. October means it's time to get the colony ready for winter, cleaning up and replacing all the straw in the shelters. At least today I made time to go to yoga (after I fed the colony and returned some traps). I have to remember to take care of myself too.

While I was sleeping...

Last week I was away on what was a much needed vacation (I didn't realize how badly I needed a break until I had it). Thankfully we have a great team to take care of the cats because it turned out to be a busy week. A TV show shot for 2 days at Harry's right where the cats hang out. We were unable to feed them during that time and I'm sure they were all hiding anyway.

Although of course I worried, things got moved out and back, the cats came back, and best of all, the area was powerwashed.

After two weeks inside, Hank was released back to the colony last week. I'm sure he was grateful to be out of that little space but his surgery and recovery time served him well, Hank looks great, and is eating. Bizarrely, even though he has no teeth, he goes straight for the hard food.
Hopefully all that will buy Hank a few more years with us - he must feel so much better without all those rotten teeth.
Sally seemed very happy to see her buddy come home.
Benji, a new orange and white guy, is being sighted occasionally so hopefully he too will become one of the colony.

Adorable feral cats

Even feral cats can be adorable. Here is MC and a UBC rubbing heads.

Who is who? I don't know, that's why we call them UBCs.
Socks is very happy now that he doesn't have sore teeth.
OK, this isn't a cute photo but I'm pleased to report that I saw Stubby (the one who had his injured tail amputated, hence the name) on the weekend. He waits for us to leave to come and eat.
This will be my next poster shot. How pathetic is that. This really is the reality of these cats' lives but luckily cats don't feel sorry for themselves.

Whew!

I'm sick with a cold so just a short post to report on some good news.

The porch kitten from the previous post has found a home! She tamed very quickly and is going to a wonderful forever home on the weekend.

And Bruno, my neighbourhood stray, has a foster home. At least he is safe and warm and off the streets for now.

Hank, our orange feral, who went in to the vet's last week, had to have all teeth pulled. We were very worried because he didn't eat for the first 3 nights after his surgery. We moved him into a recovery home, and Joanne prepared him very tasty meals and now he is eating. What a relief. Thank you, Joanne, for taking such good care of our Hankie.

So some stress relief for me and lots of good news for cats. Back to bed. Cute feral pictures to follow in the next day or two.

So much for not much happening

Well I went from not much happening to full on craziness.

This cute kitten was living outside on a neighbour's porch with the mother until last weekend. When I found out what was going on I offered to find a home for the kitten and get the mom spayed.
Annie Sparkles is at Connie's right now, getting lots of love. She is about 11 weeks old and needs a home. Next week I will take the mother in to the vet and the neighbour has said she will continue to feed her.

At our colony Hank has not been looking good, barely eating and something strange going on around his mouth. With the help of a drop trap (I forgot to take pictures, too much going on) we managed to trap him and take him in to the vet.

Poor Hank's mouth was full of rotten teeth so we decided to go ahead and have almost all of them pulled out. I can't believe how much the bill is going to be but we all love Hank and if we recovers well then he could live happily for a few more years. It's so hard to know what the right decision is in these circumstances, I don't have the space here to describe how agonizing the decision making process can be.

I've also gotten myself involved in a mini mass trapping, more on that later, and next week I may have some good Bruno news to report. That is of course if I don't collapse from exhaustion first.