Ready for winter

It's that time again, the trees are almost stripped of their leaves, only a week until it's dark at 5. Time to get our colony ready for the winter.

Last weekend we all got together and did our winter cleanup. With this many hands and my husband, hidden behind the camera, we got a ton of work done in lickety-split time.

We replaced all the straw in the shelters, cleaned up the trailer, made sure there would be plenty of spots for the cats to get out of the inclement weather.

We made some very simple shelters out of heavy duty styrofoam coolers by cutting a hole for entry/exit and putting straw inside. We are fortunate that our location provides many sheltered areas already, containers, old boats even abandoned cars so I don't worry as much as I would if they were living in an open area.

The cats seemed quite disconcerted by all the industry and just wanted for us to feed them.

We also did a cleanup of our feeding spots.

Great news to report, Pumpkin has found a forever home. He'll be heading off on the weekend, I know Connie is happy but will still shed tears. What a long way he has come in just 10 days. He has transformed into a happy playful friendly kitten. He would have lived a rough short life in the cold and wet, often hungry but now he will get to be warm, fed and loved. What could be more satisfying than that.

Population explosion

When I started this blog, I worried that it would become repititious, just feeding the cats. Well, it seems there is something new happening all the time. Last week a small orange kitten was spotted at the colony as well as a new fluffy black cat and a new orange cat. When we fed on Saturday two orange kittens appeared, playing together. I managed to trap one and Connie, my new cat hero, took in little Pumpkin to be socialized.

I went back the next two days to catch the other one but he was nowhere in sight. Tuesday evening Aaffien and I set out on one of our regular trappings and there the other orange kitten was. We set up two traps and within five minutes not only did we get the kitten but we also got a black adult who had not been fixed previously. High fives all around. Spice is now with Connie but seems to have a URI and is much wilder than Pumpkin. I know Connie will persevere though and with Aaffien's help, those two kittens will turn out great (I hope). Socializing feral kittens is not for the faint of heart. I got quite scratched up getting Spice out of the trap. The older they are, the harder it is. The window of socialization is quite small and these are probably ten weeks, still workable, but a few weeks earlier would have made all the difference.
Look how cute Pumpkin is. Scared (his first day in a house) but so adorable. How do you just walk away and let him live out a miserable life?

Here is Basil, the adult we trapped. He has been neutered and will go back to the colony tomorrow.

And this is Pumpkin and Spice. Littermates?

I can only hope that with all the trapping that this is the last of the kittens. We're not sure where the new cats are coming from, perhaps from the recycling plant, but they'll become part of the gang, and we'll care for them as best we can.

Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving

The cats will have a happy Thanksgiving with full bellies thanks to a donation from Global.

Jackson couldn't wait, and decided to go straight to the food source.

I realized that I started this blog a year ago, after I spent Thanksgiving 2009 rescuing a litter four week old kittens and their mother that were living on a boat. I had started feeding occasionally a few months prior but it was as I pulled those tiny kittens out from their hiding place, that I made a committment to care for this colony. There have been times that I have felt weary and burnt out, but we have accomplished a lot and the cats have a better life because of us. That's why I do this. I am thankful that I don't have to do this alone, that I have a wonderful group, that there is now a feral community, that there are caring cat people out there.

Turtle and the elusive tortie

We're still trying to find a home for little Turtle, the kitten found under a pile of tires. Four weeks of fostering, and you would never know he was born feral. He's everything a kitten should be, playful, curious, cute and affectionate. First shots yesterday so he's ready to go. I guarantee you won't be sorry if you adopt him.

But there are already way too many kittens and cats looking for homes so we continue to trap. Finally after months of trying we caught the elusive tortie, the one who would sit by the trap or pull the food out. Apparently she's seven or eight, old for a feral, and was pregnant. We did a spay/abort and she'll be released. I know some people might find that decision controversial, but I believe for ferals it's the only call. It still doesn't feel great. Poor Sally also has bad teeth but it was going to cost too much money to fix them. We've raised a lot of money this year but I'll probably average out to spending about $200 a month on the ferals. Once the trapping is all done then it's just food. Our count for TNR this year is four females, three males TNRed. Huge progress.

Before I caught Sally the tortie, Hank and Sophie couldn't resist the KFC and got themselves trapped. Don't believe the people who say you'll never trap a cat twice, that was Sophie's third time.

I love the high spots cats find to perch on.

Rainy days and Tuesdays

I don't know about you, but I always feel like staying inside on a rainy day. However, there are ferals to be fed so raincoat goes on and out I go. I do notice that the cats are never wet. They are smart enough to find a dry spot and only come out because it's mealtime.

Here's Queenie, trying valiantly to keep her paws dry.


And Teddy, perched under a boat.



We're lucky that there are plenty of spots for the cats to stay out of the rain.

Why are there so many black feral cats?

It seems that there are a lot of black feral cats, at least in our colony. Almost 10 years ago, not far from where I feed now, I took care of a couple of ferals and they were black. Maybe some of ours are descendents. I always read that black cats are the last to be adopted so I wonder if they are the first to be abandoned, or once they're lost they're hard to find.

Well, little Turtle has had the opposite experience. He's lucky enough to have been plucked from a miserable future. Turtle is being lovingly cared for by Connie and is about six weeks old now, just about recovered from his URI, eating well and gaining weight every day. He'll be ready to go to a forever home in a few weeks. Do you know anyone who deserves such a wonderful kitten in their lives?

That's Maggie passing by in a blur, another black cat. We think Maggie had a home at some point since she was already spayed and is very friendly.

And then there's Jackson, such a character, and as you can tell, he gets his fair share of food.

OK, Jo is a tortieshell and only partially black, but I love the tongue out photo trying to sneak some food.

Another busy week at the plant

Aaffien and I were trapping yesterday. Ultimately, we were unsuccessful even though we tried at three different locations. It's kind of like fishing, some days you catch one, some days you don't. We're down to only a few to catch - selective trapping can be a bit tricky. For the first time we were allowed to put a trap on the recycling company's premises and as you can see we wore the appropriate safety attire and had our trusty KFC bait in hand.

Meanwhile, Connie has been taking care of little Turtle for a week now. He's got some meds to take care of his URI and is starting to feel better. He's eating on his own and is gaining weight every day. Go Turtle!

MC, Hank and Sophie were lined up on the weekend waiting for the catering truck to arrive. I think they know the sound of our car.

Jackson, a typical cat, will find any sunny spot to hang out.

Yes, feral cats clean themselves too.

Just another mealtime.

Just another busy week with the ferals. Although the weather is still lovely, soon we have to think about winter preparations. No punching out from this job.

One cat gets a new home, one cat returns home

It's been quite the busy week at the colonly. On Tuesday I got a call from the recycling company near our colony saying they had found very small kitten and didn't know what to do with it. I called Connie, who has a colony near us, and amazingly, just like that, she said she would foster it. Here's little Turtle at Connie's house.
Isn't he the cutest thing? The vet thinks he's about four weeks old and unfortunately has a URI but Connie will do her best to get him fixed up. He'll need bottle feeding and is really too young to be away from his mom but the good news is that he'll be easy to socialize and will be ready for a home in about a month. Connie is an angel for taking care of this little guy.

Meanwhile, last weekend, we picked up Jo, the six month old, after being spayed, and returned her to the colony. Teddy, the boss of the bunch, approves her release.


It was so sweet to see who we presume is her brother greet her. They played together and Jo seemed overjoyed to see him and be back.

I did a quick count the other day of all the cats we see regularly and it came out to 23 cats that we are taking care of! That's a lot of cats (and a lot of cat food).

Jackson is such a funny guy, always first in to the food.

Mission accomplished

The heat and humidity did not deter us from trying another trapping this week. Luck was with us and within minutes of setting up the trap we caught the cat we wanted. This is Jo, a young female who showed up at the boats about six weeks ago with another kitten, who we presume to be her brother. They are skittish but quickly figured out the food drill and seem to have been accepted by the other cats.


Here is Aaffien with Jo, the best dressed cat trapper you have ever seen.

The vet thinks Jo is about six months old. We got her just in the nick of time, a female can become pregnant as early as five or six months. There has been some debate amongst our group as to whether she could be socialized and adopted. My personal feeling is that it's probably too late, her mother was feral and it would be a tough go. The sad fact, as all cat rescuers know, is that there are not enough homes for all the cats out there, and every day adoptable cats are euthanized. Jo has never know another life and I can take satisfaction in knowing that our actions have prevented more kittens from being born.

A very successful book sale!

On Saturday we had our second book/CD/DVD sale of the summer. We had one in June but we got rained out so since we still had a ton of books we decided to have another sale. Well, this Saturday the weather was beautiful, perfect for people strolling along Queen.

What a fantastic day we had. Lots of cat lovers buying books and many just giving a donation to help us out. Sandi's husband Robbin was a superb salesman.

Here I am on the left (with a cold) next to Sandi, Brenda and Tory. By the end of the day we had raised $740! Money we can put to good use getting the rest of our colony spayed and neutered. How lucky I am to be with this great group, all wanting to make the lives of cats better.

As well, on the weekend, I fed a friend's colony while she was away. Tess didn't care who was feeding, just as long as someone showed up. So there were a couple of days where I fed more than 30 cats. I guess that qualifies me for crazy cat lady status for sure.

A couple of days of rest and recuperation and then it's time to trap again. Watch out kittens, I'm coming for you!