Please help Betty get the surgery she desperately needs

If you read my blog you've seen the pictures of Betty, the pretty dilute tortie I recently rescued. Although she is under two years of age, she has a stomatitis, a painful condition, and will need multiple extractions to get the disease under control.  I've started a fundraising campaign for her surgery, it's expensive and she needs help to live a long and happy life.  If you can help at all it would be greatly appreciated.  https://www.youcaring.com/robin-sarafinchan-511622.  

We rescued another friendly cat from there, Winston, who is doing well and will soon be up for adoption and Connie and I are going today to get a friendly tortie who has been climbing into her van.  It's clearly not a safe spot, we have been missing seeing the black and white who showed up every day, and finally we found a city worker who told us she had been hit by a truck and killed. Every cat we can get out is a good thing.

RIP Muffin

Outlaws again

Well thankfully there isn't much rush hour at 630 in the morning, Lesley, Jackie and I went to Jane and Finch to trap the other day and but using a stick and string got some of the younger cats that we think can be socialized.  We met a feeder who didn't want us to get them fixed or find them homes, what an odd thing.  In fact, she was quite argumentative and has been calling the Toronto Humane Society and Animal Services to report that we stole her cats.  Oh, some people!

Sunny day!

I've never been a fan of winter and with feeding feral cats I hate it even more but this winter has been such a gift.  Not too cold, no snow or ice to contend with, everyone is happier.  I feel for the northeast right now, there are many posts about caretakers worried about their cats in the blizzard, I certainly know how that feels.  I'll take this!

One of the laneway colonies I feed

A road trip

From where I live going to Jane and Finch counts as a road trip.  Lesley and I don't usually do the west end but we couldn't resist an email about abandoned cats.  Turns out they aren't abandoned or at least not recently but fourteen cats live on a cul de sac by a ravine, I'm sure at one point someone moved from the apartment building next door and left a cat or cats behind next thing you know you have a colony.  We met two of the feeders and oddly got a bit of pushback about helping the cats, I think some may be able to be socialized, they were all swirling around our feet, at the very least they must be fixed or 14 will become 40 very quickly.  We will trap a few next week and see what they are like and go from there.  Just have to avoid rush hour on the 401! 

We've got some gastrointestinal thing going around our cats at home, I hate it when they are sick and won't eat.  More and more medicating!

RIP Pretty Penny

Last week Penny didn't come to the fence to eat so I checked her shelter, she was in it but ran out. There was a bit of vomit so I cleaned it up and hoped it wasn't a big deal.  On Tuesday she didn't come to eat but I saw her face in the shelter and thought it was just too cold.  Today was my turn to feed but no Penny and yesterday's food was uneaten.  Now I was worried.  Rightly so, because I found Penny dead in her shelter.  I cried and cried.  I've been beating myself up, thinking I should have tried to get her to a vet maybe, but it's so hard to know when they are actually sick, they hide it so well.  This is the first time I've found one of them dead.

Penny was only three years old, she had a hard life, she ended up at Animal Services, unadoptable, so I relocated her to the colony along with three others two years ago.  Penny was always a loner, she spent last winter in an abandoned car.  I would have wished for a better life for her but I hope I did the best I could.  I will miss her sweet face.  The colony shrinks and shrinks, sigh.

No more cold for the lucky few

It was a cold day to feed, thankfully the snowed had stopped but the wind whips off the lake at the yard, it's quite the desolate spot in  winter.  Most of the cats showed up but a few decided to stay in where it's warm.

Lucky Winston, last week's rescue, will never have to be cold again I'm thrilled to report.  Within 24 hours he was sitting on a lap, guess he's not feral.  Yesterday we trapped another cat from the white cat colony who was so friendly we just put it in the trap, so she too is safe.  Unfortunately she snap tested FIV+ which might make her a bit harder to adopt.  Betty and I went to see the dental specialist yesterday, we have some meds to try but we are looking at more extractions.  She's turning into quite the pricey cat!  But seeing her curled up happily asleep inside on a cold day is priceless.

1st trap of 2016

At our new portlands colony a big black male cat with massive tom cheeks and the bits at the back to match has appeared recently.  Connie encouraged me to trap him so we could prevent kittens from being born to the females who still need to be spayed. Since it was mild this week, we went out yesterday.

Winston is an interesting cat, he looks very rough but we aren't sure he's all that feral.  He was almost in Connie's van the other day and has let us both touch him.  In fact, when we went to trap him, he ran over and walked into the trap as soon as we put food in.

I got a call from the clinic today saying he had a large abcess on his cheek, they fixed it up as best they could, poor guy is covered in scabs too, clearly he's not the best fighter.  Due to his wound and not being sure he is feral, I managed to convince Michelle to take him in for a few days to let him heal and see if he's tame.  I'm not sure yet what I owe her for this favour!

Winter arrives

I guess we've been spoiled this winter it felt like such a shock yesterday and today.  It was the first time for frozen water and leftover frozen canned food.  Today it was a bit milder and sunny and almost all the cats came out.  Water seemed to be their priority, how I wish we had an electrical source to use one of those heated water bowls, I just use bigger bowls and hope they have a bit of time to drink before it freezes.

Jet and MC head straight for the water

All the leftover frozen food

You may remember Marvin, who was rescued a few weeks ago.  I took him to the Toronto Humane Society yesterday, I always feel a bit sad doing that, but Jackie went by today to see him and there was so much interest that they expected him to get adopted before they closed tonight.  How great is that!  Can you imagine him out in this weather?  I love looking at the rescued cats curled up inside on a chilly night, and worry about my feral friends who can't have that same luxury.