Lots of trapping and no camera

I went to the west end last night to trap and forgot my camera.  I didn't expect to have much luck since last time I didn't get anybody, so I decided to switch it up and try an evening.  Well, boom, boom, within 20 minutes, two cats in two traps.  We then set up the drop trap hoping to get one of the calico females or the tabby guy whose injuries didn't heal.  After an hour no luck so I went into the shed of horrors to see if I could find any kittens.  Immediately I found two tiny kittens, one calico and one black.  Unsure of what to  do as they seemed very young I called around and tracked down Heather and emailed her this terrible photo from my phone.

She estimated the kittens to only be 2.5 weeks so they would have to be left with the mother.  As hard as it was, I put them back, I am sure one of the calicos is the mom, she just sat there staring at me.  Now I just have to hope I can grab them again in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, as all this was going on, we noticed that Hippo (the injured one) had gone under the drop trap  so we got him too!  What a night.  Off to Joanne's to drop them all off.

This morning I took Hippo to the vet to see what they can do for him, the other two will go to the THS tonight to be spayed/neutered.  On my way back from the vet this morning I witnessed a tiny kitten run across the road and get hit by a car.  A few people stopped but he was dead.  Not a good way to start the day but it reminds me why I do all this.

More tomorrow on how everyone is doing.

Letting one out, trying to get one in

This weekend Mr Tabby, aka Boots, who was trapped ten days ago, and had paws that were red and raw, went back to the THS for a recheck and hooray, thanks to Joanne's care, he was all healed so out we went.

 It didn't take much coaxing to get him out of the carrier, look at him go.

Last week, at a location near our colony, we saw a dilute tortie, who we are calling Cherry.  This weekend, she was there again.  Since this colouring is always female, and I had a trap in the car, we gave it a shot, but no luck.

Thankfully it seems someone is feeding her but I will definitely need to try again to get her.  The last thing we need down there is kittens.

Backyard rescue

BB looking in our back door

OK, I hate the new blogger format so excuse me if it doesn't look the way I want it.  Last week, a little black cat showed up at our back door so of course we fed it.  I swear there must be some kind of stray cat underground that tells them to come to our house.  The poor little cat was ravenous.  She came back the next few nights and on the third night let me pat her.  It was if a switch went off and after that she refused to leave the deck, much to the frustration of our outdoor cat, Charlie.  What to do?  We really have too many cats although I desperately wanted to keep her she was so friendly but clearly a stray.  After all, I'm supposed to be a cat rescuer, not a cat hoarder.  I recently met a neighbour who was looking for help with another (not friendly) stray.  I asked her if she would temporarily take BB in and miraculously she said yes, I am constantly amazed at the kindness of animal lovers.  BB was overjoyed to be inside and was immediately friendly.  I took her to the vet today and she has just been spayed, and it was apparent she had previously had kittens.  We will never know BB's story but it has a happy ending.  Monique is going to keep her!  Lucky BB.

We named her BB because of her bottle brush tail.

BB inside out of the cold

What a day

Yesterday reminded me of the days when I used to work in film. I got up at 5:30 a.m. and with the welcome company of Joanne we arrived at the Weston and Rogers Road colony at 7 a.m. As soon as we set the traps the cats scattered. So frustrating. We spent two hours waiting with no luck and no sign of the remaining kitten(s). There are still at least four females there to spay, but what can you do, except keep trying. Since I had the spots, later that afternoon, after working most of the day, I went down to a nearby colony where the caretaker told me he had some new cats so I thought why not trap.

Well, the first cat I caught within about 10 minutes was our very own Semi-Socks. Guess he's not really ours, but theirs. No wonder I only see him every few weeks. I hate that he is crossing a busy road. He was certainly happy to be released.

Another 10 minutes later I caught another of John's newcomers, a brown tabby who was limping. We rushed off to the THS clinic. I returned at 9 p.m. to find that they had had a busy evening so about an hour later Tabby went into surgery. The vets called me in to show me why he was limping, his back paws were totally red and raw. Poor thing. They cleaned him up and gave him an antibiotic shot. We'll recover him for 10 days and hope that he heals up. It was 11:30 p.m. before I finally got home, and after scooping litter boxes midnight before my head hit the pillow. That's when I thought why do I do this, but then Connie sent me a cute video of the kittens (one of whom has already found a home) and I remind myself that's why.

My own bucket of bricks

How do you know when you've crossed the line and become a crazy cat rescuer? When you buy your own drop trap and get your own bucket of bricks to keep it weighted down. Well, here I am, with my very own Tomahawk drop trap and proud of it.

Maybe I will use it on Morris, the only cat from our colony that I still have not trapped. Luckily, you can tell from his jowls that he's a tom cat and since there aren't any unspayed females at Cherry Street it doesn't have to be the top of my long list (I still have lots to do at the west end colony but good news the orange and white kitten has found a home).
MC was enjoying the balmy if a bit damp weather yesterday.
I am now very well equipped, two really good TruCatch live traps, a drop trap and a transfer cage. I feel like a true trapping pro now, just wish the job paid instead of costing me money.

Mid-week miscellany

This time of year is really perfect for feeding the ferals. It's not too cold but not hot enough for flies and wasps. The canned food doesn't freeze nor does it spoil if it sits for a bit. It's pleasant being outside, and too soon for the garbage to smell.

Tina is such a sweetie, and really doesn't like to wait for her food.

The dumpster kitties are all buddies, and I love seeing them all hanging out together.
This guy showed up on Saturday, have never seen him before and chances are, I will never see him again. It's frustrating when new cats show up and then are never seen again, there's lots of food for everyone.
He really has that classic outdoor tom look with his chewed up ears. Bet he has some stories to tell.

A Happy Easter for two kittens

Last Wednesday I returned to the west end for more trapping. After a frustrating hour we only managed to trap one male. To top it off, my heart sank when I saw kittens in the shed. I knew we needed to get them out so I assembled my fantastic kitten rescue team.

Joanne and I headed back on Saturday and the little tabby was just hanging out in the shed and I managed to just grab him. The orange and white guy was more elusive but the smell of Fancy Feast lured him out and boom, another one into the carrier. I caught sight of another tabby but by that time the cats were all spooked and we called it a day, happy that two little lives had been saved. Connie is fostering these cuties and they will be ready for homes in a few weeks.

I still have lots of work to do at that colony and it has certainly become more challenging and time consuming than I anticipated, but it's worth it knowing that at least these two won't have to live like that.

It's cute black cat photo day

As it was (thankfully) a quiet weekend at the yard, I'm featuring some cute cat photos that Steve took.

Bruno has scored big time!

Here's a happy update on a cat who was living rough in the neighbourhood last year. Bruno was clearly a stray who had been a pet at one time but had been on his own for a while. After feeding him for months, I found him a foster home. Last September, Terry and Laird kindly agreed to take him in. He wasn't the best guest at first. Although he was fairly tame, he initially had some aggression issues. They were unbelievably patient and he finally settled down.

By January they had decided that he was theirs, so lucky Bruno has a forever home.
As you can see from this picture, he is clearly well fed and well loved.

My batting average is on the rise

Yesterday I returned to the colony at Weston and Rogers Rd to continue trapping.

I'm happy to report that it turned out to be a 4 for 4 trapping day. The first 3 were pretty easy, the last one took about 20 minutes but we caught a young black and white female at the end.
So out of this batch there was one female, and three males. Oddly, one male was already neutered. He must have been someone's cat who has joined the colony. A couple had URIs, their noses all congested, so they got antibiotic shots.
Unfortunately there were a few we knew were female that we didn't get but I'll just keep trapping. It makes for a long day, up at 6 a.m., trapping, working, feeding my ferals, transporting, home at 10 p.m. but it's worth it. Those two females would have probably had at least two litters each this year.