As promised, I have updates from my west end trapping project. I have good news and bad news on a couple of fronts. Don't people always want the good news first?
The good news is that the vet stitched up Hippo's wounds on his side from the wire that haven't healed, and hopefully after 10 days inside (with a cone, poor cat) he will be OK. The bad news is the vet bill.
 |
| Hippo on this way to the vet |
The two other cats that were trapped Tuesday night went to the THS clinic last night. The good news is they are both female so now won't have more kittens. The bad news, they are both nursing moms. Now that brings up a problem that somehow thankfully I have never had to deal with before. The protocol is to release a nursing mom as soon as possible so they can get back to their kittens (they can still nurse) so I had to take them back first thing this morning. There was no way to feel good about this scenario. I took mothers away from their kittens for 36 hours jeopardizing them and took mothers back with not enough recovery, putting their health at risk, but it was still the right decision. With feral cats, there is no ideal, they live a crappy life, and the mandate must be to stop the reproductive cycle by TNRing, adopting out the kittens, and doing the best you can for the existing ferals by providing food, shelter, and vet care if injured.
This is where these poor cats live - an old shed full of rotting garbage with holes in the roof. This is why I do what I do.
My non cat rescuer friends think I'm crazy to do all this - they really don't understand, and sometimes, like this morning, I wonder why I do as well, but it's fleeting, and I pick myself back up and remind myself of the good news, like the fact that the two kittens rescued from this site a month ago now have loving homes. And I'm lucky I have support, my husband who listens to me incessantly talking about cats, Connie who fosters and lets me keep cats in the garage, Joanne who does all the recovery, Karen and Heather from TCR who are so fantastic, and the volunteers at the THS clinics. Hanna and Jo the vets and the volunteers are there three times a month. Without the clinic it would simply be impossible financially for caretakers to TNR. Thanks for listening, I feel better already.
You don't have to explain anything...you do what you do and that's that. There are times I wish I didn't care about ferals and homeless cats at the shelter but there is no changing me. I have to live with it. I hope the two moms will be ok after their surgery. Hopefully the kittens are getting older now and will not be on her so much. I hope there is a way to see how they are recovering. Thanks for all that you do. Deb
ReplyDeleteOh I absolutely get what you do. Feral cats are just our discarded cats, left to fend for themselves. Thankfully you and the people you mentioned here are doing something about it.
ReplyDelete