Tina

It's been so strange going down to feed without Teddy there. Everyone seems thrown off, especially Tina. She keeps wandering over to the Madonna, insistent for food.

Tina is so sweet, always greeting us.
She is such a matted mess, but will have to wait for the spring for her spa visit.
Yes, I know this isn't a cat, but seriously, is that not the strangest dog you have ever seen? She belongs to one of the boat guys, and was looking for that yummy smelling cat food.
Yesterday was one of the yuckiest feeding days ever, there's no pictures because there weren't any cats out, just me soaking wet. Today it's chilly, my least favourite cat feeding season has begun. At least Teddy goes "home" tomorrow.

Three for three

A couple of weeks ago we noticed that Teddy had a lump under his ear. We decided to keep an eye on it. On Monday Pat and Linda emailed to say that the lump looked bloody, seemed Teddy had been scratching it.

So Anne and I with her husband Gary's help managed to catch Teddy on Wed with a drop trap and off he went to the vet.

Thankfully it seems the mass is benign. The vet removed it and of course Teddy had an ear infection and bad teeth. Teddy is one of the most beloved cats at the colony so we had all that taken care of. He had to have two teeth pulled but after Teddy's overhaul hopefully he should be in great shape.
The vet thinks he is around 8 - 10 years old and he weighs almost 17 pounds! Teddy is recovering at Joanne's until next week, getting her yummy smorgasbord of food. That's three trappings in one week! Tonight I'm trying to get Morris, the last unfixed cat. Zero tolerance, that's my policy on spaying and neutering. So glad Teddy is OK, it feels so odd feeding right now without him, can't wait until the big guy is back in his spot.

A flurry of activity

Sometimes it feels like all I do is cat stuff. Sunday I went trapping again, trying to get the last couple of cats TNRed before the nasty weather. After a few tentative entries and exits into the trap, I caught one of the two cats I was trying to.

Off Bright Eyes went to the vet, where I got a call with odd news. Bright Eyes is female, already spayed and missing teeth. I don't know who spayed her, she only showed up a few months ago. Now she is eartipped so we will know, also got vaccinated, dewormed and deflea-ed. She had a hernia but she has seemed fine so no need to fix that. Back she went on Monday night. I'm sure she thought what a lot of fuss for nothing.

Meanwhile, I've been making more shelters for the cats. I did two last week, two the week before and one more to go. My construction skills are minimal at best so it takes me forever and none of my edges are straight. Thank God for duck tape.

This is our cat Molly doing her cat shelter catalog shot.
And this is Tanner demonstrating that yes, even an overfed cat can fit in this shelter.
Now it looks like Teddy is going to have to go to the vet, he has a big growth under his ear that he has scratched raw. I'm glad I have an understanding boss who likes animals!

The Semi-Socks dilemma

Last night I went trapping and quickly caught Semi-Socks, a tomcat who shows up occasionally on the fringes. Off he went for neutering. When I picked him up the vet remarked that Semi-Socks had a mess of a mouth, with broken teeth.

This is when I wished I could pull out the manual of caring for feral cats, turn to page 38, what to do when one of your ferals requires major dental work including extractions that will probably cost $800 and 10 days of recovery.

How much is too much to spend on one feral cat? I'm sure a majority of our ferals all have terrible teeth but it's not feasible to take them all in, not unless I win a lottery.

After a night of tossing and turning, I pretty much had made up my mind and when I spoke to Joanne, who was recovering him, and discovered he hadn't eaten yet, probably due to being so stressed out in captivity, my mind was made up. I'm going to release Semi-Socks tomorrow. He is the most feral of the bunch and I worry he wouldn't respond well to being inside for so long and all that money and vet work would be for naught. He has been happily eating at the colony. He's a survivor and has managed this far, hopefully he will be OK. I can only do so much.

Before and after

I just had to share these before and after shots of Buddy, the little guy who was rescued a month ago while I was doing a TNR project.

Here he is, with a terrible URI.

And voila, his after shot, looking healthy and happy. He's been neutered, vaccinated, dewormed, had teeth pulled, been on antibiotics, eye drops and eye ointment. We took him in, even though we are maxed out on cats but no way could he go back out.
Buddy is friendly and playful, I swear he is a kitten even though he had bad teeth. He runs pell mell through our house, annoying our staid old cats. He's safe and warm with us while I look for a really good forever home for this special boy.

Enjoying the weather

It's great that November so far has been so warm. I don't have to worry as much about the cats.

It's amazing how much better Hank must feel after having all those rotten teeth out, look at him climbing up on a boat. I wish I could take them all in for an overhaul.

Pebbles and Arrow are sunning themselves on a toasty dumpster.
Are these two buddies, or what?
Morris is around most days and seems happy for the regular food.
And Tibbs is definitely fattening up for the winter, I love it when the cats are nice and plump.
I know this weather won't last so I've been making shelters in my spare? time, cutting and gluing styrofoam, so they have warm places for those inevitable chilly days but for now enjoy the sun.

Poor little Benji

There are still a few stragglers in the colony to be fixed, so I went out trapping yesterday in the cold drizzle. Within ten to fifteen minutes I had caught one of the ones I wanted, an orange and white cat we call Benji. Benji is a newcomer and shows up occasionally. In the trap Benji looked small and not in the best shape.

As I was finishing my dinner, I got a call from the THS clinic. Turns out Benji was female, with missing and infected teeth, and most importantly riddled with mammary tumours. With a heavy heart, I agreed to the vet's recommendation to euthanize Benji so that she didn't get released just to die a horrible death during the winter. That's the fourth one we've lost in 2011, the seventh since last fall. It doesn't get any easier. Worst of all, I know I have to go through it twenty-one more times. Poor little Benji, at least she's not suffering anymore.

I love to show off the cats

Our cats are getting so much media coverage these days. City TV came down and shot some footage. I love to show our guys off. Tina, Teddy and Jackson made me proud.

http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/video/163658

This is a picture of Buddy just a week after being rescued. He looks like an entirely different cat, and must feel so much better.

I think all the ferals are beautiful. I've come to develop so much affection for each and every one of them.
It makes me happy when I feed them and I know that at least their bellies are full.

I hope all this coverage of feral cats raises awareness and people take care of the cats in their neighbourhood or donate to the great organizations trying to solve the problem.

And need I say it, but my hope would be that everyone spays or neuters their cats. That day may still be a ways off. I'm excited that we have made it through this year with NO kittens, all the work getting them spayed and neutered has paid off.

Buddy needs help

Last week I was helping to TNR five cats in the west end. Well, it turns out two of them are tame. One of them, a sweet little white female, kept purring and rubbing against the bars of her recovery cage at Joanne's. It was clear we couldn't return her outdoors. Only six pounds, she had a URI and was matted and dirty. Lisa Marie, a woman I met through this blog actually, and who does a lot of fostering, very kindly offered to take her. She is now safely inside and I am sure will find a wonderful home. You can read about her on Lisa Marie's blog:

http://catfosterparent.blogspot.com/2011/10/fixing-whats-broken.html

And then there's Buddy, the last to be caught, I can't say trapped, because he walked right into the carrier and as you can see was very happy to be cuddled.

When Buddy was taken to the THS clinic to be neutered, it was discovered that not only did he have a nasty URI (that's why there is all the black discharge around his eyes) but that he is at least a few years old (even though he's only six pounds too) and has a mouthful of rotten teeth. Poor Buddy is off to another vet tomorrow for dental extractions and then to a foster home. Dental surgery is not cheap, as those of you who have cats who have had dental work know. I'm hoping some of my readers many be able to make a donation to help pay for his surgery.
He is a sweet cat who has a second chance to have a wonderful life. If you can help, please go to Toronto Cat Rescue's website and just specify that it's for Buddy's dental surgery - you'll get a tax receipt and everything.

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s62994

A very catty week

I have to start with exciting news, The Toronto Star was doing an article on feral cats and came down and photographed our guys. Check the story out:

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1069871--controlling-the-cat-colonie

In between that and being sick with yet another cold, I got involved with another group of cats in sorry need of help. A woman has been feeding 5 or more cats for a while and there were two kittens that Heather kindly took in. All the cats have URIs, you can see this guy's nasty looking eyes.

We trapped four cats this week and they were all female. It was a fantastic team effort. This may be my blog but I don't do any of this alone. TCR helped with the kittens, took care of two of the spays, two were done at the THS clinic, Connie stored them at her garage for a while, Joanne is doing recovery, Arlene is helping with shelters for these cats...there is a legion of cat lovers out there and I am proud to be a part of it. Four females = a ton of potential kittens.
Now they are all spayed and received an antibiotic shot so they should start feeling better very soon. The orange guy should be neutered on Sunday and their caretaker is going to take a TNR course and build them some shelters.
Oh, and we did a clean up at Hank's, restuffing the shelters and making the feeding station more waterproof.
Now it's all tidy and ready for winter.