Answered prayers

In my last post I told you about the mission cats that we rescued and my own mission to find them homes and raise money for Miracle's surgery. Well, with the help of so many people, I can happily report that all my prayers have been answered. All four kittens went to wonderful homes. This is Francis, who went home with one of my co-workers, Greg.

We had a book sale to raise money for Miracle's surgery, and even with the rain, we made over $200. With other donations, we raised enough money to fix her leg so it won't be infected anymore and she will find it easier to get around. Miracle and Miso will be picked up from the vet today after a successful amputation for Miracle and spaying for Miso. The best news of all is that they are going straight to a home. My crazy cat friend Joanne is taking them. She already has a blind cat so why not a three legged cat. Thank you to everyone who helped, who donated money, who adopted, who cared. God bless you all.

Even with all that going on, our ferals still need food and water every day.

Lily and Biff hang out, just being cats.

I haven't seen this orange guy for a long time, he looks like a real feral, skinny and limping, poor thing.

That's enough adoptions for a while. Extremely satisfying, but also tough emotionally. I got very attached to them all after caring for them for the two weeks they were at my office. I'd be a very bad foster parent!

Not feral but still in need of help

A few weeks ago Sandi parked at a mission for sailors that is near our colony and discovered a litter of four kittens with the mother and another cat who was missing a foot. Well of course Cherry Street Cats sprung into action. We discovered these cats were very friendly and being cared for by the priests at the mission. We offered to help and the priests finally agreeed that their location in an isolated industrial location was no place for cats. These cats were destined to be hit by a truck or killed by coyotes or foxes.

Now these cats are safely at my office temporarily and in need of wonderful homes. They are not the slightest bit feral. There are three orange and white kittens and one gray and white. We don't usually get involved in adoptions (that's one upside of ferals, they don't need homes) but we are determined to find these guys home.

This is Miracle, who apparently lost her foot at birth when the umbilical cord got wrapped around it. When we recently had her spayed the vet advised us that her stump was infected and should be amputated so it can heal properly. That was more money than we had so we are having a book sale next week to raise money for her surgery. She also needs a home - she is probably only about six months old and is so sweet. I had a three legged cat for 12 years and he had no problem. Cats don't feel sorry for themselves.

This is Miracle with Miso, the mother of the kittens. We also think Miso may be Miracle's mother. They seem very bonded so we are hoping we can adopt them together. Miso is a lovely cat, very friendly and such a good mother.

This is my mission right now - find good homes for the kittens, for Miracle and Miso, and raise enough money for Miracle's surgery. I'm not usually religious, but I may ask God for a bit of help on this one.

The feral life

It's so frustrating when you hear of people dumping cats, thinking they can care for themselves. The life of a feral cat is hard, scrabbling for food, trying to find shelter, avoiding predators. It's very gratifying to be able to help these cats a bit, at least ensuring they have food, water and shelter and hopefully preventing more from being born and having the cycle continue.

Queenie has learned to forage in dumpsters for food, hence her perpetual dirty state.

I think these guys have learned the sound of the car.

This is one of the black cats that still needs to be trapped and fixed. Aaffien and I did a trapping yesterday but only caught a very annoyed Queenie. Queenie was spayed last year so we just let her out but boy, did she glare at us.

I can't thank Global Pet Foods on the Danforth enough for their generous donations over the last couple of months.

Summer in Cat City

Summer has come early this year, and with it, the flies. The flies are the worst part of feeding ferals in the summer. No sooner do you put down the canned food than the flies are swarming in the bowls. Another month or so and it will be wasps. On the upside, their water doesn't freeze and we don't have to worry about the cats as much. I hate to even say it for fear of jinxing us, but we haven't had any kittens at the colony yet this year. There are still a few more to trap, though, so I will be trying again next week and also getting a lovely little cat at a nearby seamen's mission taken care of.

Here's Teddy, the big boy of the colony, both in size and dominance.

Teddy and Tina heading to the food.

A couple of our unnamed pontoon cats eating. It's sad that they don't have names but I can't tell the black cats or the tortis apart!

22 cats fed!

Last Saturday it felt like all I did was feed cats. My morning started by feeding our five at home, making sure Baxter didn't gobble up everyone else's Wellness. Then out to the yard to feed Charlie, a stray who has been living in our backyard for the last two weeks. Down to the basement to take care of the two 20 year olds we rescued a month ago. Their owner died and they were about to be euthanized so we took them in. They mostly live in the basement for now as we try to integrate them into the household and get their medical issues sorted out.

Off to the boatyard to care for our feral friends. Seven cats at Harry's boat. Here I am preparing their food.

Cali, Biff, Teddy, Tina and Jackson wait impatiently to be fed.

Then off to the pontoon where we saw another seven: MC, Queenie, Socks, 2 black cats, 2 tortishells, and this new orange cat. I have no idea where he came from, I've seen him twice in the week, but never before.

Socks sits by a dumpster waiting for us to leave.

Queenie gets a scritch, she has become so friendly.

So that was my Saturday, very much like my Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, you get the idea.

The cat(s) came back

Arrow is back! It's been a couple of months since anyone has seen her. There is always the worry of illness or accident but there she was on the weekend. Who knows what she has been up to.

Jackson is another one who we haven't seen for weeks. He was a little skittish but still eager to eat.

Arrow and Cali enjoying their Friskies.

Biff in a patch of sunlight.

MC waiting for us on the stairs. I swear she can recognize the car.

If only I could tell the black cats apart. I think this is one that hasn't been fixed yet. He (or she) is waiting for us to leave to eat.

Spring slump

Strangely, even though the weather has been lovely, I see fewer cats when I go down to feed than I did in the winter. I have a few theories, perhaps there is more other food available, they are just roaming more, or the activity in the boatyard is causing them to hide during the day.

Still, there are mouths to feed, and I'm sure some cats show up after we leave, so somebody goes down every day.
Here are the regulars at Harry's boat, Tina, Teddy and Biff.

And the pontoon regulars, MC and Queenie. Sometimes I think MC just sits there all day waiting for us to show up.

Teddy, taking care of some grooming, after his meal.

Poor Biff, you can still hear him breathe. I wish I could do something for him. Vets have two week antibiotic shots now (how fantastic is that! those of you who have tried to pill a cat will understand my excitement) but the trick would be to trap him. Those cats are never hungry enough to go in a trap so we'll just have to hope he heals himself.

There's not just cats who live at the boatyard

I've neglected to mention that in addition to the feral cats who live at the boatyard, there is Harry, an actual biped, who lives there year round. It is Harry's boat that the cats live under and where we store our supplies. It's hard to know what is true and what is myth about Harry. He lives on a boat that has never, nor will ever, been on the water. He seems to have lived there for many years, without running water, but he does have a heat source and keeps up on the news. He's sixty-three and must have some form of income, because I've seen him with cigarettes and a disposable camera.

He's quite the character, calls all the men Johnny and speaks to the ladies in a sing song voice so we'll bring him something, which we do. Every week I bring him a care package of soups and some other treats. He's not shy about telling me what he needs, this winter it was a coat and a backpack, and he's clear about what kind of cookies he likes. When I brought him a winter coat he complained that it was the wrong size so I've learned to do what I can for him but not to become his personal shopper.

On Sunday he was very excited, just having come back from Toronto Island on his bike, with a huge bag of cans.

This is the tortishell who we very rarely see and who unfortunately hasn't been spayed yet. We can't get anywhere near her - just hope I can trap her before she has kittens.

Another weekend at the yard

After almost a week away from feeding we were happy to get back and see our feral friends. The boatyard is busy now, people readying their vessels for the water. Clayton, whose stray cats we were feeding, is back from Jamaica, laden with rum and hot sauce. It still seems unclear as to whether we are still feeding Minsky and Ziggy or if Clayton is now. Apparently Ziggy's real name is Clyde.

Here I am with Jackson and Tina, saying hurry up and open the can.

Even feral cats like to bask in the sun.

Over at the pontoon, MC seems overwhelmed by the food choices.

Stumpy, who stills needs to be fixed (check out his intact ears), doesn't have the same problem. He (or she?) is happy to dig right in.

Oddly, we see less cats now that the weather is nice but I think that's just because of the increased activity.

Sam goes home

Well, it turns out that the black cat we caught was male so his name is Sam. Two days after he was trapped and neutered I picked him up at the vet and returned him to the place he knows as home. He raced out of the carrier as soon as I opened it. They always return to where the food is, though.

Poor Biff has had a cold for pretty much the whole winter. Hopefully the warmer weather will help him heal. I was happy to see him eating.

Here is MC looking around for her buddy Queenie. The yard has been much busier in the last week. With the weather warming up, people are preparing their boats for the season. The cats are certainly more skittish as a result.

Finally Queenie shows up, dirty, as usual but MC is just happy to see her.

I have to say a huge thank you to Global Pet Food on the Danforth. They've been incredibly generous with donations.

So in the last six weeks that's one female spayed and two males neutered, and many kittens prevented from being born into a harsh life. Time for a short break to replenish my bank account. Apparently it looks as though there will be a free spay/neuter clinic for ferals that may open as soon as this summer. How wonderful would that be! I'm crossing my fingers.