Merry Christmas from the crazy cat world

Thankfully the snow prince kittens are doing much better now, and we've added this adorable guy to the mix!  His name is still up for grabs, maybe MacGregor or Mittens?  I looked in his ears tonight though and they are full of black stuff.  I'm hoping it's ear wax rather than ear mites, these were supposed to be easy kittens but they are costing a fortune!

Twig is taking it easy over the holidays, me not so much, crazy busy catsitting and of course feeding the feral colonies.  Homeless cats still need to be fed on Christmas Day!  We've been battling URI at our house, and Twig with her delicate system was hit hard but she is on meds and doing much better.

Maggie came from the colony and has been with us for five years.  When she stopped eating I thought it was the same URI going around but I took her to the vet and ran bloodwork since she's older.  Unfortunately her results showed anemia, we ruled out a few causes, and still don't know what it causing it, but our vet suspects lymphoma sadly.  For now, we are trying steroids to see if that helps.  I'm not sure Maggie would be a good candidate for chemo, I've never even been able to clip her nails.  It's certainly not the news I wanted to get on Christmas Eve....

And we were worried about Pseudo (who may very well be Maggie's brother, don't they look alike), he didn't show up for four days which is highly unusual, but we wandered around today calling his name and he finally appeared.

Merry Christmas to all and I thank you for your support!  Time for some sleep, it's 12 hour days for me this week, all cats all the time!

The snow princes

Last weekend Susan and I rescued these three beautiful kittens, they seemed healthy and social and we thought perfect, an easy rescue, get them vetted and they will be snapped up!  Well in rescue it's rarely that easy.  It started well, we had them seen by our favourite vet, vaccinated, dewormed and examined, all appeared well and good but then they just didn't eat much this week, and when we took them to the vet yesterday two has lost weight.  Kittens should not be losing weight!  But we have no idea what is going on.  We are waiting on a fecal test to see if maybe it's giardia.   Fingers crossed they perk up soon, they are truly lovely kittens!

Frosty

Blizzard

Flurry

Sick kittens sleeping

What do the cats know?

It's certainly feeling like winter now, and the cats know it too, they are all eating like crazy and are nice and fat.  This is Sadie and Misty, they live at the industrial spot where Betty came from, the wind really whips off the lake there.  Sadie will let me pat her if she's hungry....

My displaced colony is adjusting, thankfully, to their new feeding spot, and after lots of canvassing, we have two neighbours who have allowed us to place shelters in their parking areas and the cats are using them.  It's not as ideal as their previous spot and the really annoying thing is the work hasn't started yet!

We had some sad news this week, we took Moon, the cat who showed up at Connie's colony to the vet, and he tested positive for FELV and FIV, he hadn't seemed very well while he was at Susan's. The best decision unfortunately was to send him to the Rainbow Bridge, but it hit all of us hard.

In good news, though, one of Michelle's fosters, Maggie, got adopted last weekend, and the senior cats Susan has been fostering since the summer are going to their new home on Sunday.

I'm dealing with URI going around my household, oh the joys of medicating cats!

Last trapping before winter and a colony loses its home

There is a never a quiet week in this racket.  Lesley and I went out Monday for our last trapping before winter hits, we managed to get an older orange kitten and two six month old females.  Time to put away the traps and focus on getting everyone through the cold weather.

Morris, who moved down the street to be on his own, is clearly putting on his winter weight!

But this week had true heartbreak, we found out that one of the colonies we have been feeding, is losing their home.  For the last few years we have fed the six ferals in an abandoned yard, we had a feeding station and shelters all set up.  Just this week we were told that the site will be developed any day.  Sadly many nearby residents are very hostile to the cats, and we've only been able to place two shelters in a driveway and feed in front of a garage.  I cried today when I had to remove their shelters from the yard, and we went back at dark to find them still huddled there.  Sometimes I truly can't bear people's lack of compassion.  I don't know what else to do for them, we've canvassed the neighbourhood and relocation isn't a good option.  This is where my Gary Cooper is from, thank god we got him out before last winter, but he was the only friendly one, now he sleeps on a heated bed.  I can't even think about the others being cold, I had nightmares last night.

Here Jackie and I are just a few weeks ago, getting the cats all set up for winter, I hope somehow they can survive without this....

A Sweetie update

Sometimes the world is amazing!  Thanks to a few generous donors, we were able to raise the money to cover Sweetie's vet bill!  Her dental went well, she had all but two teeth removed, she is eating and has gone to Michelle's for recovery and assessment.  Here's hoping she's friendly and doesn't have to go back outside!

Saving Sweetie

Cynthia is a fellow rescuer who feeds cats in her yard.  This year a new cat joined her gang, but Cynthia noticed the tabby she called Sweetie getting thin, and because she was a bit friendly, took her to THS for medical help and possible adoption.  But they told her that Sweetie should be euthanized due to severe periodontal disease.  Cynthia couldn't accept that and took her home.  She reached out for help and I offered to take her to my favourite vet.  Today we all looked in her mouth and yes it was a mess but no reason for her to die.  She's had a full dental and hopefully will recover well and be able to be socialized but now I have a dental bill to cover.  I could really use some help, donations would be greatly appreciated!

https://www.youcaring.com/robinsarafinchan-699064

Dumped?

Connie called me the other day to say she spotted a new cat at her colony.  Well her colony is around the corner from ours, and there are no houses even remotely close, so chances are this poor cat was a dump.  It happens at feral colonies, people see a feeding station and know cats are being fed.  This little guy thankfully stuck around and Connie was able to easily trap him.  He's stashed at Susan's for now.  He's a funny little guy, clearly not feral, but wary, no wonder though, he's skinny and covered with scabs, who knows what his story is.  We will get him vetted and go from there but he's safe.  

A six adoption week!

It was a banner week for adoptions at Michelle's.  She was away so I was doing meet and greets for the kittens.  Meet and greets are not my favourite thing, I'm fussy and am always looking for the perfect home, I try to stay out of the adoptions but the two adopters I dealt with I had no hesitation giving them our babies!

First it was a lovely man named Patrick who took Vincent and Toulouse home, then a fantastic couple, Kat and Ben came, who were interested in Spot and Freida.  The ever charming Jackson was there too, and I got an email the very next morning saying they wanted all three!  Really this was the best case scenario, two of the kittens going together, and the other three getting to spend their lives with each other.  Kat and Ben had their two nine year old cats die in a two month span so they deserve these three bundles of love.  There were some tears from Michelle and I yesterday, these kittens are the sweetest and have been with Michelle since August, and I've spent way more time with them than I usually do with fosters.

And to top it off one more piece of great news, Kahlua got adopted!  She is one of the cats from Haliburton that has been with Michelle since June, and the one who moved to a new fosters, escaped and was found.  Thankfully she has gone to an apartment!

I'm sure we will fill up the space at Michelle's soon enough!

MC goes home

Just about two weeks ago, while I was trying to catch Hank, I noticed that MC seemed to be having a bit of trouble eating, so I managed to easily scoop her up and get her to the vet.  She had a mouthful of rotten abcessed teeth so out they all came.  MC is estimated to be around 10 but otherwise seems healthy.  She's not the most feral, we've been able to pat her briefly, but not tame enough to be happy inside so I returned her to the colony yesterday.  She meowed the whole way back there in the car and rushed out of the carrier.

 I had to tell her the sad news about her friend Hank, though, poor MC liked him.  Many years ago she was best friends with a little calico who got hit by a truck, I just hope Pseudo, Floppy and Jet will be nice to her.  We have a little shrine in the trailer with ashes of some of the cats who we have lost.

Here is Mystery, one of my other customers at a nearby location.   She found a newspaper to sit on and bask in the sun.  Now that's a well fed cat!

This will cheer us up

I'm posting some cute pictures to cheer me up after the loss of Hank.  I fed yesterday and it was so strange without him and no MC either (she's still recovering at the vet).  Betsy sent me these pictures of her kittens, it must be so much fun watching them grow up, but if I did that I would keep them all LOL.  I'm so glad these kittens weren't born outside!