Wednesday miscellanea

It's been kind of a funny week, not too much happening but a couple of good things to report.

Pat and Linda, the lovely people who adopted our Henry, have joined our group and will be feeding once a week. I'm grateful for more support. These guys are waiting every day, rain or shine, and we can't let them down.

Carol, a friend of Sandi's, generously made a donation towards Stubby and Socks vet bills. Thank you Carol! We haven't been seeing poor Stubby, I can only hope he is coming later to eat.

This is Morris, one of the newcomers, who is being seen more frequently.
The gang at Hank's get along so well, I love when they rub against each other.
Hank knows the importance of proper hygiene.
I've taken Bruno, my neighbourhood guy, in to be neutered, although I am heartbroken that I have to return him to the streets. When I awake at 5 a.m. thinking have I done all I can for him, I must repeat, I cannot save them all - he is better off than he was but I know it will be small consolation to me when I have to open that carrier on Friday and let him back outside.

Socks and Stubby go home

After 10 long days of recovery at the vet's we picked up Stubby and Socks to take them back to the yard. Stubby is the new orange guy with the injured tail who had to have it amputated.

Poor thing was so scared that he was shaking in the carrier.

Even after we opened the carrier it took him about 5 minutes before he would venture out, then he ran for it. He's such a cute guy.
Socks showed no hesitation in flying out of his carrier. He was neutered and had 5 rotted teeth removed. I did see them both the next day so hopefully they will stick around, available food is usually a pretty good motivator.
The gang at Hank's thankfully seem to be accepting of the two new orange cats. Usually ferals will not allow new cats to join their group.
I find these two pictures kind of heartbreaking, MC and Hank resting on whatever is available, sadly not a nice soft cat bed like my spoiled guys at home have.

Keep on trucking

I have to admit that I was feeling pretty depressed last night. I found a foster home to take Bruno, the cute grey and white tabby neighbourhood stray and I had his neuter all booked, but at the last minute the foster home changed their mind and I had to go tell Bruno that he had to hang on a little longer until I found him somewhere to go.

Then this lovely photo of Reggie arrived in my inbox. Reggie was a kitten who was rescued last year from our colony, now very much loved.

I had to remind myself that in the last year I've had a hand in rescuing and finding homes for more than 20 cats. I felt better after that. I will continue to try to find a spot for Bruno. I so want to take him home but we really have too many and it would be too much stress for the residents.

There are lots of homeless cats, sometimes it feels endless, but I can only do what I can do. My co-worker decided to take in an abandoned cat so today I spent more than four hours in the car driving him back and forth to the vet but well worth it for another cat to be off the street.

I'm happy to get back to feeding the colony today, it's been a week since I've seen them and I miss them. Socks will be going back tomorrow and possibly Stubby too. No time to feel down!

Whew - what a week

What a crazy few days. Last week we saw a new orange cat, then realized its poor tail was just a bloody stump. Who knows how Stubby got hurt. We tried for a few days before we were lucky enough to trap him. I don't have any pictures but he was bleeding all over the car.

He had to have his tail amputated but he should be OK in about 10 days, although he is FIV positive. Good thing Stubby found us. I think he got injured in the recycling plant, it's such a dangerous spot where our cats are.

As we were trying to get Stubby, I also managed to grab MC. She had the worst mats I have ever seen. Those are actually mats on her back end, they were like wings.

She spent the night at the vet's and got all her nasty mats shaved off. Here is her after shot.
We also trapped a black and white cat, Socks, who was neutered and had 5 rotting teeth removed. He will also have an extended stay at the vet until his mouth heals up. I thought there was only one black and white cat but I saw one today so guess we will call him Semi-Socks.
This is my poor car, filled to the brim with cats in carriers and traps.
I've been at the yard nine days straight, feeding and trapping, driving back and forth to the vet, putting up posters for my stray guy Bruno so tonight I am beat. We're going away this weekend for the first time this summer. It will seem odd not to be at the yard, amongst the flies and garbage, hope I can adjust.

My mini-colony

I seem to have acquired a new mini-colony in my neighbourhood.

A few months ago I was out for a walk and spotted a litter of kittens living in a sorely neglected yard. I knocked on the door and the elderly lady said "would you like them", the mother cats and kittens were living in the yard and she was planning to sell the house. Aaffien and I trapped them, the kittens went off to foster homes, the mom got spayed and returned. The next door neighbour thankfully agreed to help feed. I've been going up most days to feed Suzie the black cat and then Bruno, who I'm sure was the father, appeared too.
The house has been sold and is now under construction so every night I sneak in the yard and feed these two. Suzie (the black one on the right) is pretty feral but Bruno has turned out to be a sweetie.
He's very chatty and friendly and I desperately want to find him a home. No, not my home, I'm past cat capacity but he needs somewhere to live before the winter and before the new owners move in. He is so nice!
Know anyone who would give him a foster or forever home? I would get him neutered, vaccinated, dewormed, all fixed up and provide food and litter. How can you resist that cute face? Tonight he tried to follow me home:(

Updates

Hard to believe that just six months ago Maggie was sleeping under a garbage truck. She is beside me on the sofa playing with a crinkle ball as I type this. Every day she gets braver and braver even venturing upstairs to sleep on the bed. We have another former feral, Pebbles, at our home, who is also black. We rescued her 10 years ago as a kitten, and not knowing enough about socialization, didn't do a good job but she turned into a lovely cat. Funnily enough, the two former ferals don't really get along.

Another happy update, Marty is one of the three gray cats that were trapped in the wildlife habitat not to be named and relocated to a barn. All three have stuck around and have a much better life now.
Mo has been missing for two weeks now, that's six down since the fall. It's sad to see our numbers diminish. I can't imagine it when there's only a couple left.
No shortage of flies, though.
I should get the cats to do a Friskies commercial.

Summer in the City

It's July in Toronto and that means it's hot and at the yard, that it's stinky and filled with flies.

Jo is just taking it easy on a toasty afternoon. I have seen her crossing to the grassy area, though, and the bird remains I have found make me think that she goes out early to hunt. Her brother Mo has been missing for the last five or six days - hopefully he is just on a hunting trip.
Oh, Jo found enough energy to groom herself.

Biff says it's too hot to get up and eat.

Hank and Sally are best buddies, I haven't ever seen them apart.

Jackson, Teddy and Tina think that it's never too hot to eat.

And Pebbles knows he has to get it before the flies and raccoons. I'm sure we are keeping a group of raccoons very well fed but not much can be done to prevent that.

We've put up fly strips around the feeding stations in a valiant yet ultimately futile attempt to keep the swarms away. Oh well, in a few months we'll be trying to figure out how to keep water from freezing. I'll take the flies any day.

Behind in my blog

I'm a bit behind here. First I was away, then I came back sick. Only now am I feeling better and have unpacked and semi caught up. Speaking of semi, We call this black and white cat Semi-Socks, because there used to be two black and white cats, now I think there is only this one, who I'm pretty sure is a male.
While I was sick the rest of the group had an amazing fundraising yard sale. Sandi, Aaffien, Brenda, Tory, Anne and Connie all worked so hard. I hated not being a part of it. The great news is we raised a pretty good sum of money that we can use for vet bills. They add up so quickly. There are still a couple of males to neuter and you never know when a cat, like poor Ollie, will get sick or injured. I'm so fortunate to be part of a great group who all love these cats.

A slow news week

I am pleased to report that the last couple of weeks have been business as usual at the colony. Feeding, watering, fending off flies, clambering over boat trailers to get to the feeding station.

Hank is looking better these days, I think he's just old.

This is Morris, a new cat who we see occasionally. He stays way back. It's a shame the other cats can't be more welcoming, there's more than enough food for everyone.

Mo has a funny patch now on his back but it seems to be clearing up. I'm sure I couldn't get him back in that trap anyway.

Henry is apparently content in his new home and Maggie sat beside me on the sofa last night. Since last fall we've had 5 cats die/disappear (still no sign of Clyde) and Henry and Maggie have been adopted so it feels like our numbers are dwindling. I usually see about 15 cats now. At one point it was 20. I feel sad when I think that someday there will be none even though I know that is the point of all the spaying/neutering/adoptions. Feeding them is a burden, but a burden I enjoy and I feel an attachment to all of them. It's kind of like having braces in my 30's, don't regret it but wouldn't necessarily do it again.

Maggie has a home too

It's time to reveal my secret. Maggie, one of the cats from the colony, has been living with us since February. I didn't want to say anything until I was sure it would work out. Her first stay didn't go well, but I felt so guilt ridden seeing her down there in the snow living under a garbage truck I decided to try again.

Sometimes patience (lots of it!) pays off and she is part of our family now. She is still skittish and there are occasional skirmishes with the other cats but I can pat her and she happily plays with toys and as you can see she sits on the sofa.

After almost a month without seeing Tibbs, she reappeared at Harry's on the weekend, looking a bit thin but fine otherwise. Wonder where she was.

Just a couple of scratching shots. Hope they don't have fleas. I apply Revolution to the cats I can touch.
And yes, even feral cats do cute things.