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.