They call me the cat broker

Two more rescues this week.  A colony caretaker I know volunteers at the food bank and a guy came in looking for food for his cat and her seven kittens.  The caretaker offered assistance and it became apparent this guy couldn't afford these cats but didn't have the wherewithal to surrender them to THS.  She contacted me and on Monday evening we went to his apartment.  By then there were only two kittens, the story was that the other five had gone to his sister on the farm.  Who knows what the real story was, but nevertheless mama cat and her two babies needed somewhere to go so into the carrier they went.  He also had two un-neutered males hence the kittens.  Unfortunately he can't afford to get them fixed either, ah the endless cycle, well it stops here for these three.  The amazing Connie took them in and it looks like TCR will take them on.  Luckily it's still not kitten season.  Poor cats are timid but they will be fine, the mama is tiny.  Connie named the black kitten Frances Jane after her beloved feral FJ who just recently disappeared.

Lily, Frances Jane, and mom 

My other rescue in which I was really just a middleman was a pregnant cat found outside in the west end.  This lovely lady was found with a collar and a leash! but her home could not be found and when the people who found her took her to the vet to check for a microchip it was discovered she was very pregnant and about to give birth.   I was in contact with them and thankfully found a foster home through ACR.  Kathy has taken her in and she will get settled before the kittens come.

At least these cats are on their journey to new forever homes.  Kitten season is looming, and I'm back to trapping next week, taking on a colony of six or seven in Scarborough.  It's a race against nature to beat the onslaught of kittens.

Adoptions galore!

I love being able to post about cats finding homes and the last few days have been full of adoptions for cats whose rescues I have been involved in.

Jimmy, the six month old tabby, found a home through Toronto Cat Rescue, after just a few weeks in a foster home.  The two abandoned and injured cats who I took to THS have found homes as well.  Jerry, the adult with the neck wounds got adopted this weekend and so did the kitten with the injured eye.  As you can see from the picture, it had to be removed, but cats manage fine with one eye, we've had two one-eyed cats.  It only took two days for this guy to get a home, 10 months old, one eye and a polydactyl, who can resist.  I remain very grateful to THS for caring for them.

Frankie, the one eye kitten, but extra toes to make up for it

And after much searching, I can happily report that Buddy and Holly, the laundry room cats have found a home with a lovely older woman in Huntsville, thanks to the article about them in the Toronto Star.  Jennifer worked so hard, fostering and advocating for them, but now they are safe and will be well loved.  Buddy is very friendly, and healthy now that he has had his dental (thanks to everyone who contributed!).  Holly remains very skittish but hopefully she will warm up over time.  At least she has her BFF Buddy and will never be chased or harassed again.

Holly, formerly Princess

Buddy

Now that's a good news day! I guess I may as well confess that Ernie the other polydactyl kitten has a home too, mine.  I am such a foster failure.  I swore no more but I fell hard for Ernie, he truly is a charmer, I love his morning snuggles, and it feels like he has always been part of our family.

February is the longest month

Sometimes February feels like the longest month of the year, slogging through the cold and snow.  We spent the weekend doing the usual, mostly feeding cats.  Everything just takes longer with cold fingers and the big parka.  Here's a whole bunch of photos from the feeds.  We feed two other colonies sometimes too, so with our cats at home, it's over 30 cats a day.

Chester, Lionel and Pebbles at the dumpster feeding station

Two cats from another spot we feed

Chester is part of the gang now

Tibbs picking her way through the snow

Grey guys from another colony

Semi-Socks, who moved down the street to a nearby colony

Ernie is one of the bright spots of February.  He's so cuddly and those paws!

And I can't forget about the wonderful Show Us Your Heart campaign by Global Pet Foods, look at all those hearts, so many generous people out there.

OK, so maybe February isn't so bad.

Snow day

Well my tough ferals survived the storm although they are clearly not happy about the amount of snow, nor am I.  Thankfully Lesley and Anne got a head start and did a bunch of shovelling before we got there.  It's a big territory and most hadn't been plowed so the cats found any spots they could.

Lionel and Pebbles sun themselves on a dumpster

Lionel uses a path

Socks finds the feeding spot

Pseudo and Jet on a bare patch

It's too much for me!

And I had to share this cute picture of Ernie, what a doll he is (look at those paws!) although I'm worried about him, his belly is distended so we are off to the vet this afternoon along with one of our other cats who is having trouble walking.  I can't stand it when they are sick, they are my babies, all of them.

The orange and white adult with the neck wounds is up for adoption, apparently they were caused by severe fleas and ear mites, poor cat.  Jerry is very friendly so hopefully he will find a home soon.

To the victors go the spoils

My cats love it when we come home from feeding the ferals, they get to lick the empty cans!

There's a big snowstorm forecasting for this evening, all I can think of is all the shovelling at the yard and hoping my ferals all find a sheltered spot.  I am weary of winter at this point.

Buddy the laundry room cat had his major dental yesterday and is doing well.  Time is ticking away and he and his super shy companion still don't have anywhere to go at the end of February.

My foster Ernie (Ernest Hemingway), is doing well, tearing around the house.  He is an absolute doll.  He is going to be a hard one to give up, I've always wanted a polydactyl.  For generations, there have been polydactyl cats living at Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West (hence the name), when we went to Key West last winter we visited twice, mostly for the cats.  I've been told the injured ones are doing well, thankfully, hopefully they will be up for adoption soon.

Abandoned

How could anyone abandon their cats outside in this weather?  Well somebody did.

A caring woman in Scarborough at first found two kittens outside her house and discovered that a neighbour had just moved and abandoned their cats outside.  After finding the kittens, more cats appeared, two of them injured.  Thankfully she managed to get them inside.  One poor cat is still out there somewhere.  I went out on Friday to see if I could help and discovered these cats in terrible shape, one kitten with a eye crusted closed and an adult with a terrible neck injury.  Knowing the vet bills would be in the thousands, I appealed to the Humane Society, and bless them, they agreed to take them in and treat them.  I wanted to take care of them myself but their vet bills would have bankrupted me.  I know they will be well cared for and once recovered find good homes.  The cats are totally docile and friendly but clearly severely neglected.  It was so upsetting.  All the cats are polydactyls funnily enough, I just hope they will be ok.

Kitten with an eye injury

Adult with a horrible neck wound

I also brought home one of the kittens to foster (she already had found a home for one).  This guy is healthy, well relatively, just had fleas, ear mites, and worms.  Now that those have been dealt with he's a happy friendly four month old kitten.

We're calling him Ernest Hemingway due to the extra toes.

So that was my day off (well day off from my job that pays me).

I'm very excited to announce that Global Pet Foods is supporting us with their Show Us Your Heart campaign, stores get to choose rescues to support and Donna with stores on the Danforth, the Beach, York Mills and Lower Jarvis has chosen Cherry Street.  Those donations make all the difference, and as always I thank Global and Donna for her support.

There are lots of nasty people out there like the ones who abandoned these cats but there are also lots of people and organizations trying to help cats so I will try to focus on the good and at least these ones are safe now.

It's still winter

What a tease the warmer days are and then back to the cold.  The cats seem to be managing, on Sunday we saw all 18 cats in the colony, those are my favourite days, when we see them all and I know they are all safe and have food in their bellies.  Even though I hate the winter, I do like that it's relatively quiet down there, in the winter we pretty much have the yard all to ourselves.  Some of the cats are making themselves at home on the boats being stored, just have to hope they get out of them before the owners take them away, I always worry about that.

Bright Eyes waiting for us to leave

Arrow looking nice and plump

Morris seems to be part of the dumpster gang now

Steve and I are feeding four days a week right now, it's great to see the cats, but it eats up a lot of time.  The whole process, prepping the food and bowls, loading the car, getting there, feeding, coming home, doing the dishes, it's at least two hours but I cannot imagine not feeding them, they are my babies too.

Brrr

Thankfully the temperatures are moderating a bit this weekend, feeding the last few days has not been fun.  I'm sure the cats just come out and eat and then head back to their spot, wherever that is, we have shelters, and some use boats or other structures I'm sure.

Pebbles and Lionel

MC in the feeding station

Morris finds a sunny spot to dine 

It's been a year since Jackson tragically drowned, that was so devastating.  Every day I see my cats eating and alive I'm grateful.  I wish I could protect them and keep them safe but all I can do is make sure they are fed, have water, shelter and vet care when needed, and most importantly, prevent more from having to live the feral life.

Tabby #3 and the deep freeze

This is Katie, the three month old that Connie has been fostering.  Connie was crying when I picked Katie up this morning.  She's off to be spayed and then she will be up for adoption.  I guarantee she won't last the weekend.

I've been so worried about the ferals in this weather but when I fed today most of the cats were there.  Best of all, Minky has reappeared and Socks was on the ground, back to their usual routine.  And I saw Chester, first time since he was released a week ago.  The floppy eared black cat was also at the dumpster, I only see him once in a blue moon.  Somehow they are surviving.  We have lots of shelters and there are other spots for them to huddle in.  If only I could figure out how to keep the canned food and water from freezing.  Luckily most of the cats come as soon as we arrive.  We all use a clicker to announce our presence, it really helps, especially in this weather.

Tabby #2

This is the second tabby rescued this week.  I'm calling him Jimmy for now, he's a six month old male found outside in Hamilton.  He's a real sweetheart but doesn't seem fond of other cats so I'll be moving him to another foster home.  In our house Buddy is the greeter of new cats, and if you don't get along with Buddy, you won't get along with anybody.  I'm sure Jimmy will find a wonderful home.  I'm thankful he's not outside anymore.

It's going to be a brutally cold week and I'm worried about my ferals of course.  I did discover three of them curled up together in the cabin of a boat so they found shelter.

Then there's an odd thing going on, it seems Socks may be stuck in a boat.  I can see him up there and he meows but won't or can't come down.  It looks jumpable so I don't know what's up.  We climbed up on the boat but I couldn't get to where Socks was.  I keep worrying he's trying to tell us something.  I guess today we will try to build a plank for him.  It's never easy plus some drunk guy was yelling at us about the cats.  I'm just trying to keep these poor cats alive.

Chester was released on Wednesday, no sign of him since, sigh, just hope he's lying low and hasn't run off.

I went to Scarborough to check out Jessica's little colony of momma, 4 older kittens and another cat, they will all need to be TNRed in the spring, and it seems there are more at an apartment building nearby.

Many thanks to Carol and Janice for donating for Buddy's dental (not my Buddy, the other laundry room Buddy).