The dangers of dental floss

Last weekend Oliver wasn't eating and was vomiting, at first I didn't worry because occasionally that will happen and the cat recovers but when day two came and he still wasn't well I was worried and then Steve mentioned that he had seen Oliver digging in the bathroom garbage.

Thankfully one of our vets was open Sunday and he took an x-ray and sure enough his intestines were bunched up indicating he had swallowed something.  They sedated Ollie and found dental floss under his tongue!  As the vet explained, sometimes when you release it the floss or string or whatever can then pass through but not necessarily and there was a chance he would need emergency surgery.  Needless to say, we were extremely upset.  We took him home and watched him every minute, thankfully there was no more vomiting and he perked up and started eating.  I think we are now almost at the point where we can stop being concerned that it's probably passed through but he could have died and/or had to have very expensive surgery.  I felt like the worst cat mom ever, now our floss is secured.  Our little sweet boy is only three so I hope to have many more years with him.  

So be careful, you never know what a cat will get into!

Oliver and Blinky

Oliver and Apollo

Odds and sods of kittens

Even though summer is winding down the kittens keep coming!  This week's trapping provided us with an odd assortment of kittens, one cute tabby before the cops were called and Lesley was ordered off the property, a cute little orange guy from a colony in a residential neighbourhood and older black kittens from an autobody shop.

We also trapped two females that we were trying to get for quite a while so it was a good week!  Well not as much for Lesley since she has the black kittens in her living room and they have liquid diarrhea!

Furever homes for these lucky cats!

We had some great news recently, we found wonderful homes for three of our special rescues.  Licorice and Hershey were living in a barn, so were so friendly we couldn't leave them behind and Hershey has a birth defect to her paw, it hasn't prevented her from playing though.  We figured out Licorice is her mother and they are so cute together.  A lovely couple adopted them and they will have a great life with them!

 And of course you remember little Frankie?  At one time in danger of dying from an infection due to wounds on his legs, he made a full recovery and just last week Jess drove all the way from Brantford to adopt him, he's been making up for lost time, playing like a fiend.

I'm over the moon happy for these three fantastic cats and I wish them a long and happy life!  This is the great part of cat rescue.

Our wobbly girl

Our latest big job has been a large group of cats in a laneway behind an apartment building.  They are fed by residents but don't seem to have homes so we came in and caught eight in one night, another eight or so to go.  One of them is this adorable white cat who has mild CH, she is a delight and so doesn't belong on the street!  Meet Annabelle!

My ferals in July

I don't post much about the colony because thankfully for the most part things are stable but I thought I would share some pictures taken last weekend, I still feed at least three days a week, I love these cats as much as the ones in my home!

Mystery

MC

Stubby

Jet

Tibbs

Tiny kitten in danger!

Yesterday we got an email about a tiny kitten who was living at a busy construction site at King and Yonge.  He had been crying and people were feeding him but nobody was able to catch him.  Cranes were coming in, materials moved around and the woman who contacted me worried that his life was in danger.

I rushed down yesterday evening and set up my kitten trap inside the fencing where he was used to being fed.  We waited and waited no kitten, what a busy corner!  Then just as dark was falling I saw a black blob go towards the trap.  We stood across the street holding our breaths and then I heard the snap of the trap!  We had him.  Just a tiny black kitten, maybe 8 or 9 weeks old, now safe!  He's scared of course but will be fine in a few days or so.  It was a great save!

Good news updates

Good news to report all around!  We caught the last kitten, she's the one on the right, isn't she a stunner!  They definitely need some taming but they are young enough to be socialized and find homes.

And little Frankie with the wounds seems to be on the mend, he had a couple of bad days last week but he's on a stronger antibiotic now and his wounds are healing up and he's getting around better. That face!  I can't bear how cute he is....

2 pigeons, 2 adults and 5 kittens!

Yesterday was a busy trapping today, back at two locations we've been to before.  At our Donlands spot we found out that there were four kittens, and we managed to trap two of them.  That seems to be our average these days, get two kittens and then have trouble getting the other two, sigh.

Then we were down off Queen trying to get a couple of adults and a litter of kittens, we had never seen them before but restaurant staff were feeding them.  For the first time ever, I trapped pigeons! Guess they like cat food, sigh.  After we release them and Lesley shooed them away, we did trap the momma cat, but no sign of the kittens.

We went back around 9 just as the light was fading and there were kittens all right.  Quickly we trapped three but we were unable to get the fourth.  It was heartbreaking to leave one behind but it was too scared to come out.  So that's five kittens!  Probably all around 8 - 10 weeks old, great news but now we have to place them!  And of course get the ones we didn't get.

Tiny wounded kitten rescued!

I'm sure it seemed like a good idea, she wanted a kitten, and here was a cute one for sale on kijiji for $75, so she took it home, thought it was 9 weeks old, went to the store, bought food, a brush, shampoo, kitty earwipes, and then discovered it had wounds on its legs and was having trouble walking.

Having no money to take the kitten to a vet, she posted the kitten on kijiji, saying she needed vet attention.  So what did I do when I saw this, you know the answer, I got in the car (and with Susan as my bodyguard) drove to Jane and Finch to get the kitten.  The girl came out with this darling baby in a little bed.  An hour's drive and $50 later I had myself a kitten but one who first of all was not 9 weeks all, and secondly desperately needed medical attention.

We took her immediately to our vet and she only weighed 500 grams, I could feel all her ribs and she has two infected wounds on the joints of the inside of both her back legs.  I wish I knew how this happened or maybe I don't want to know.  At least she is safe and is on pain meds and antibiotics, and one of the vet techs took her home for the night to monitor her.

More of our cats!

I couldn't resist sharing these pics Joanne sent me, she is fostering these two adorable kittens we trapped at Leslie and Finch.  The other two and the mom have eluded us, they disappeared after we rescued these two but are back now eating at their spot, if only they knew what a wonderful life could await them.  Let's take bets as to how long after posting these boys will be adopted!

And then there's Minnie, sigh, rescued from a unsavoury rooming house situation.  She hid for the first five days at Susan's then became friendly.  We just moved her to a new foster who she promptly bit.  Seems like it's a case of overstimulation, let's hope we can sort her out, she's a nice cat but who knows how she was treated before.

Happy Canada Day!  It's a good country for cats, thankfully we have lots of resources and caring people here!