Another first - kittens born in a trap

Some of you may remember me blogging about cats and kittens in Rosedale that I've been trying to help in the last couple of years.  A female I was trying to get last year disappeared from her usual feeding spot.  Through a cat connection, I discovered she had moved down the street.

Val, who fed her all winter, was happy to help with getting her trapped and spayed so last weekend I took her a trap and thankfully caught her without much trouble.  Val suspected Princess was pregnant, at this time of year, pretty much all unspayed females are pregnant or have had kittens.

I did the usual show up at THS at 630 yesterday morning and left her to be spayed.  My phone rang at 1230 and it was THS telling me that Princess gave birth to kittens while in the trap waiting to be spayed.  A first for me even with all the cats I've trapped.  I had a moment of panic, what to do, couldn't put her back outside, but it's challenging with a feral mom and kittens, they have to be confined and it's stressful for the mom and tricky getting access to the kittens.  Mom has to stay with the kittens until they are weaned and then be spayed.

Thankfully Raven, who does recovery, stepped up and agreed to take the little family in for now.

I was happy to hear that the kittens made it through their first night!  Guess kitten season is really here.  Welcome to the world little ones, you will have homes and momma won't have any more kittens.

Teach a woman to trap

What's the old saying, give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.  Well, in my world, it's extremely satisfying teaching someone to trap. Everyone thinks trapping is some mysterious skill, well it's not, it's equipment, patience, luck and timing mostly.  Karen feeds at a nearby colony and she reached out when a cat who has remained unneutered showed up with a wound.  We went out Tuesday evening to try to trap him but no cat.

I wasn't available the next day so I showed her how to set up the trap, and with this colony a stick and string was needed, all the other cats were keen to go in of course.  Wed morning she went at the normal feeding time (this is important) and fed the other cats, no Frankie.  Finally he showed up and in he went after a bit of hesitation.  Karen told me her heart was pounding as she waited for him to get far enough in.  Boom, she pulled the string and she had him.

Since he had a wound we decided to take him directly to a vet instead of the TNR clinic.  Karen was so excited, her first solo trapping and she got the cat!  Frankie has been neutered but needed to have his canines removed so he's recovering at Raven's now.

Spring has sprung and I have a list of cats to trap, most are holdovers from last year, got to get to work.

Frankie in the trap

Here are two of my beautiful boys at home.  I put this new bed down when I came in the house with it, but now it's the most popular spot in the whole place so I guess it's staying put.  Such a cat thing.

Buddy and Oliver

I got up the other morning and went downstairs to scoop the boxes and honest to god this is what I found, a heart in the litter.

First kittens of the year!

You know what spring means?  Yes wonderful warmth for sure but it also means the return of kitten season.  Denise called me to say she met a guy who lives near her who had a mom and kittens that he couldn't keep so Tania, Denise and I went to see them yesterday.

The guy (I don't even know his name) let us into the enclosed porch of his house, we could barely fit there was so much junk and he brought in a plastic storage tub.  Inside was a beautiful brown and white tabby and three little kittens.  The more he talked the sketchier the story got, did he rescue them or was she just his unspayed cat, he had 16 cats at one point, they knew him at THS (and not in a good way).  The cats seemed a bit skittish, but who wouldn't be in a storage tub, but all looked healthy, so we just said we will take them and got out of there.  I always know it's not a good situation when the cats don't even have names. Tania took them to her place and then thankfully Michelle agreed to foster them.  Turns out Mom is super friendly and of course the kittens are beyond cute.

Two gorgeous girls needing homes

I'm so happy that spring seems to be here, the only downside is the winter quiet yard will soon be filled with grumpy boat owners complaining about cats.  Lily seems just fine and totally back to normal after her dental, it must feel so much better not to be in pain.

Kitten season is just around the corner so I must get back to TNRing.  Two of last year's kittens still need homes, they were rescued just as winter was approaching, they were probably a bit too old, and have been taking a lot of work and time to be socialized.  Six months old, still shy but just about ready for adoption by a patient home.  Such pretty kittens!  Joanne is working her magic with them.

Clara

Cassie

A happy Siamese update

Today I can post a happy story thankfully.  You may remember Siam, the young Siamese Andrea and I rescued a few weeks ago who was living behind a rooming house.  Well he got adopted the first day of the adoptathon by two young women with another cat.  His new name is Pamuk doesn't he look happy!  Doted upon by two people, a regular food source, a warm bed...

I was so delighted to get this update, it makes it easier to get through the hard times of this cat stuff.

One night of warmth

Today did not turn out to be a good day.  Feeding at the colony was brutal, down by the lake the wind was whipping the snow around, the clanging of the masts of the boats deafening.  I could barely close the car door, but I still saw many of the cats, my heart breaks for them.

I hit my head on a boat and wondered if I had passed out how long it would be before I died of hypothermia, there's not a lot of people there right now to find me.

I went to see Semi-Socks and John and I agreed that he was in bad shape, the very fact that he let John pick him up and put him in a carrier was a bad sign.  Off I drove through a rush hour mini snow squall to the vet.

Semi let the vet examine him without any resistance, and boy, was he in terrible condition.  Painfully thin, dehydrated.  Too far gone to be saved was the verdict, so I bore witness and patted Semi while he crossed over.

I'm so glad the kind men at the shop brought him in last night and gave him a box and a pillow, at least for one night he knew warmth and comfort.

RIP Semi-Socks.

Please let it end soon!

I am really so done with winter at this point, tired of being cold, of trudging through the snow to feed, fingers burning with pain, but mostly I worry about the cats.  I can go in and get warm, they can't.  They all came out Sunday since it was a bit warmer and filled their bellies, but it's supposed to be frigid until the end of the week, I think I will leave Lily and Floppy in until then.

The weather is especially hard on the older cats.  Three years ago we had an occasional visitor to our colony, Semi-Socks, I trapped him and had him neutered.  His mouth then was a mess but I didn't have the money for his dental and he was so feral that I worried he wouldn't manage being inside for the two weeks necessary.  He moved down the street to another smaller colony where I feed on weekends.

On Sunday a strange thing happened, he came up to us and let me pat him.  I could see then that he was very thin and looked so old but he ate.  John the feeder contacted me yesterday to say that he was able to pick Semi up and bring him inside to the shop.  Amazing.  They put him in a box with a pillow and he ate and drank some water.  Sadly I believe he's dying to allow this kind of connection, but at least he's warm now.  John and I have to decide whether a vet should intervene or if we should leave him be for now, he doesn't appear to be in distress.  I hate this part of it every time.

Semi-Socks in 2011

Semi-Socks this weekend

Thanks to kind donations from Monique and Jack I was able to restock my cat food shelf.  I feed less ferals than some people but with one colony of 15 cats four days a week and another colony of 12 cats two days a week, I go through a lot of food.  There was a rumour of 30 cents a tin Friskies at Canadian Tire but it was just that, but their prices for pet food are still pretty good.

If you had told me 20 years ago I would be using a gross porta potty in an industrial yard while feeding feral cats in the dead of winter, I would have run screaming but here I am, this is my life.

Off now to load up the car to feed two colonies today, it takes me about six trips to lug all the dishes, food and big jugs of water.  I'm sick of my boots and big coat and hat hair, oh well February is almost over.

Winter warrior

It was a brutally cold weekend, I worried all the time about my ferals surviving but for the most part they seem to be hanging in there, thank god for the sun.  Jet's leg seems much better now and I saw everyone at some point.  Penny has been missing from her car for six days now, I can only hope that she has found a warmer spot.

This is me looking very unglamorous, bundled up ready to feed.  After five winters of doing this I've learned that you need the gear, warm boots, a big coat, mitts and a hat are essential.  I even prepared the canned food at home and put it in containers so I wouldn't have to take my mitts off to open cans. There is tons of frozen food though, and water bowls splitting in the cold.  At least Lily and Floppy are warm inside for now.  Not a bad week to miss out on.

Bundled up!

 In honour of Family Day here are some pictures of my family...

Pebbles

Bunny

Apollo

Scooter and Oliver helping me bake

Good news, Siam went to an adoptathon this weekend and no surprise, got adopted!

February must be take your feral cat to the vet month

Did someone deem February take your feral cat to the vet month and forget to tell me?  It certainly feels like it.  Two weeks ago I trapped Jet with an injured leg and took him in.  Last weekend I noticed Lily having problems with her mouth so I set out on Tuesday to trap her.  It took literally about two minutes to get her, I wasn't surprised, when we were trying to trap Teddy last spring she went in every single time.  Since I was on a roll, I decided to try for Floppy too our recent unneutered male.  Bam, he walked straight in.  Off to the vet we went.

 It turned out Floppy needed three teeth extracted as well as being neutered.

Poor Lily had severe peridontal disease, and ended up having five teeth extracted.  Both of them will be in for about a week or so which, with this weather, is a bit of a blessing.  My wonderful friends at Annex Cat Rescue have offered to help with the mounting bills but if anybody could make a donation it would be greatly appreciated.  You can make it directly to Annex Cat Rescue http://annexcatrescue.ca/donate/ and get a tax receipt, just make sure to say it's for Cherry Street Cats.

Lily

I released Jet after two weeks in but I was dismayed today to hear from Michelle that he is still not putting any weight on his leg.  He was supposed to be all healed up.  And Penny wasn't in her car the last two days.  This horrible cold is so worrying.  I just pray for all the cats to survive.

I was recently contacted by someone living nearby who has been feeding a cat for months and of course in this weather wanted to help, pretty sure the cat wasn't feral, just scared.  I dropped off a trap and she quickly trapped the cat she had been calling Kobo.  At the clinic last night it was discovered that Kobo was female and already spayed at a TNR clinic a year ago.  Most strangely, the cat was released more than 20 km from where she has been living.  We suspect she is tameable so Susan has agreed to foster her.

Kobo now Koko

The first time ever I saw your face

I was going through old emails and found these wonderful first pictures of some of our beloved cats before they came to live with us.

Ernie was one of three abandoned cats found outside in Scarborough two Februaries ago.  The woman who found them was considering keeping Ernie but thankfully she didn't.  Ernie is such a delight, the last few mornings he has been getting under the covers and snuggling with me.

Ernie before he was Ernie 

And this is a picture of baby Baxter before we met him ten years ago.   He was at a vet who did adoptions and as soon as we saw that face we loved him.  He developed a prolapsed anus before we were supposed to bring him home but we told them it didn't matter what happened we still wanted him.  Thankfully it healed up and he's been a lovely boy, he's now our second oldest.

Baby Baxter

Who can forget Blinky, he was originally named Pirate by his first foster.  He was turned into a vet with a ruptured eyeball but he manages just fine with one eye.

I hate winter but the best part of it is staying in and getting to spend lots of time with my babies.

Updates: Jake the cat rescued from Hamilton a few weeks ago was adopted, he had to have a toe amputated due to an infection, poor cat was outside for months.  Jet is still at the vet, hope he can head back soon.  Lily seems to have a dental issue so I will be trapping her today and trying to get the unneutered male too.  Two kittens spayed, going from Susan's to Joanne's, Siam going to a TCR adoptathon, the Siameezer going to THS, a cat going to the StreetCats clinic, feeding, lots of catsitting clients, the days are a blur!

I woke up this morning with only one cat on the bed!  Steve had closed the bedroom door, I slept well but hated waking up not covered in cats.