A home for Henry!

Well the weekend was a little busier in the cat department than I would have wanted but it was all worth it. On Saturday we picked up Mo from the vet and returned him, all neutered and with an antibiotic injection to help his injury heal. Jo, his sister, was so happy to see him, she wouldn't let him out of her sight.

On Sunday I got a call from a couple who were interested in Henry. They sounded lovely and had three rescued cats, one of whom was just rescued from an area near our colony.

The problem was we couldn't find Henry. Then on Monday I heard from a feeder nearby who thought he had spotted Henry and when we went down there he was, he would have had to cross a large parking lot and a street to get to his new location. In further conversations, it sounded like maybe Henry had been going back and forth between two locations, totally dangerous.

I put Henry in a carrier, well, he actually walked in, I called the couple and they came to meet Henry. In true Henry fashion, he was happy to have them pat him and rolled over on his side for them. Best of all, they took him home that very day! I cried when they told me, no more worrying about Henry, no more having to feel so badly every time I lifted him out of the car. It seemed clear Henry really wanted to go home.

Henry seems to be doing well, has already sat in their lap. Soon he will be introduced to their other cats and I'm just crossing my fingers and paws that all goes well and Henry is in his forever home. I couldn't wish for nicer people to take him. I'm overjoyed we got him out of there, especially because we're missing two cats, Tibbs hasn't been seen for weeks and Clayton told us that Clyde, his orange cat, has been gone for a week. It's a hard life and not one I would wish for any cat but my prayers have been answered and at least Henry doesn't have to endure the cold, the rain or the hunger again.

Finally!

When I saw Mo last Sunday I noticed he had some kind of wound on his neck so for the next three nights Aaffien and I trudged out in the rain, trying to get him. We had tried last year repeatedly to trap him to get him neutered to no avail. Finally on Wednesday night, thanks to sardines, Luvs treats, and patience, we managed to nab him.

After the Ollie experience, we were on pins and needles yesterday, worried that the call from the vet would bring bad news but all turned out well. Mo's injury was an old one that was already healing so they neutered him and gave him an antibiotic shot.

I've been exhausted this week and when I did the math I figured out why. In the last two months between my colony and the other extra curricular cat projects I've been involved in I've trapped 8 adults, got them spayed and neutered, and 8 kittens, who all went to homes. No wonder I'm feeling a bit crispy around the edges. Nothing a four day weekend won't take care of. Some cat feeding, some gardening, and a bit of wine are in my immediate future.

Ollie - RIP

Today I have sad news. We made the difficult decision to euthanize Ollie.

Last night we were trying to trap Mo, who has a wound on his neck, but we caught Ollie instead. Ollie is only seen occasionally but also had an injury on his side and was unneutered so we were happy to get him.

The vet started his phone call saying he didn't have good news. Poor Ollie's left chest wall was infected from a chronic abcess and he was in bad shape, dehydrated, underweight, with nasty teeth. The vet placed him at at least 8 years of age and recommended some blood work. Well, the news only got worse, FIV positive, anemic, high white blood cell count and on close examination the wound showed to be very deep and filled with pus. With all that going on, there was a very good chance Ollie wouldn't be able to recover so we made the agonizing decision to euthanize him.

And yes, I cried. He may have just been a feral cat, but he was a feral cat that I felt responsible for, who most assuredly had a hard life. Feral cats only exist because of irresponsible pet owners who don't spay and neuter. It's one of the reasons I spend so much time and money spaying and neutering and making sure the kittens get out and find homes, because I know what the other option is for these cats, and it's not pretty. So excuse me if I sound upset but poor Ollie was never loved, was never patted and I can only be happy that he had a humane end to his suffering.

How do they find me?

Last week I was out for a walk in my neighbourhood, minding my own business, when I noticed three little kittens and the momma cat in the yard of a very run down house. For a moment, I contemplated just walking away, but of course I couldn't do that, so I sighed and knocked on the door of the house.

An elderly lady answered and when I asked about the kittens she said oh would you like them? She was going to sell the house and these cats were just living in her yard uncared for. A few days later Aaffien and I managed to trap all the kittens and the mom in under 15 minutes. Aaffien took the kittens for a few days and tonight they are going to a TCR foster home where I'm sure in a few weeks they will go to forever homes. I got Momma spayed and will be releasing her tomorrow, she seems too feral for adoption. I'm hoping to find a well meaning neighbour to feed her or I guess it will be part of my route.

There must be so many instances of this happening all over the city right now, unwanted kittens being born. Knowing what would happen to them if they weren't caught, socialized and adopted, there was no way I could walk away.

I really need to find a cheaper hobby than cat rescue, I realized this week after buying food for my cats, the ferals and the kittens plus paying the vet bills for the kittens and mom. I guess it's still cheaper than having kids or gambling.

Health problems for Hank?

We've been worried about Hank lately. He didn't seem to be eating much and his fur is not looking good. When he was neutered last year the vet ballparked his age around 8 and he did have bad teeth. Last week we considered taking him to the vet but this weekend he seemed better and was eating. Poor Hank may be just old. It was certainly a harsh winter and he has endured many of those. Here he is enjoying a feast of Whiskas with MC and a UBC.

On Saturday as we were leaving this very furtive looking tabby appeared. Another new cat! Henry chased him away from the food unfortunately. I hope he sticks around, there's enough food for everyone.

More happy updates, one more gray cat was caught and relocated to the barn. He will be confined for a couple of weeks then released to join his other two buddies, who have been seen living in this hayloft so the relocation was successful.

And two more of the porch kittens were adopted (4 out of 5 have been adopted), leaving just Bella to find a home. I'm sure it won't take long, everyone loves a cute kitten. I'm crossing my fingers to have a kitten free colony this year. Now that would be a real success.

Happy endings

A few weeks ago we caught the three kittens from under the porch near Brenda's house and they went to a wonderful foster home, two have already been adopted. After that, mama Daisy moved the remaining two kittens. We searched under every porch to no avail. Finally, last week, they emerged and we sprang into action. It's easier said than done to catch kittens and it took three tries before we caught them.

Here are they are, the holdouts, aren't they cute. They are probably about 9 weeks old now. Aaffien took them for a few days to do intensive socializing and then they went to the same foster home as the others. Since they were out on their own longer, they will take a bit more work but in a few weeks they will be ready to go to their forever homes, and with faces like that, it shouldn't take long for them to be snapped up. Thank you Dawna for taking them in, and thank you Toronto Cat Rescue for all your help with these cats and kittens.

We also trapped Daisy, the mother, and Beau, the presumed father, and got them spayed and neutered so that Daisy won't have to raise any more kittens under a porch. The wonderful person on the street who was feeding them has agreed to continue to do so and will provide them a shelter as well so they can be snug and warm.

So that mission is complete with happy endings all around.

I couldn't resist throwing in this picture of Reggie (formerly Pumpkin), one of our feral kittens from last year, in his new home. He has grown to be a very handsome and loved cat.

Whenever I feel tired I remind myself of all the happy endings.

Field Guide Part 2

Here is part 2 of the field guide to our cats: I used a picture of Mo in part 1 but I thought this one showed his chocolate colouring so much better. Ollie is a very shy cat who is only seen intermittently.

And then there's the handsome Jackson, our resident eating machine. He enjoys his food and a good pat.

This is either Socks or Semi-Socks. We think there were or are two black and white cats who we only see from afar.

Issac is another shy guy.

Henry is a newcomer, he showed up last fall and based on his behaviour, seems like he was someone's pet at one point. He's neutered now thankfully (he's a sprayer!) and allows me to pat him. He is still sorting out his place in the colony.

We can only distinguish Lionel from all the other black cats by the bump on the base of his tail.

And this is Minky, Clyde's companion, who lives at Clayton's.

That's everyone. the kit and kaboodle. So depending how many black cats there actually are, and that number could vary between 2 and 4 (I think) we have somewhere between 22 and 24 or 25 cats at our colony. Quite the crowd. Can you imagine how many there would be if we hadn't done all that spaying and neutering and adopting out of kittens?

To the rescue!

I have two happy rescue stories to report. Sunday night we went to the unnamed wildlife habitat to try to trap and relocate another cat. We managed to trap a fluffy orange cat who reportedly had been out there for 12 years and was somewhat friendly.

Well, this lucky guy is now in a home, after having been checked over by a vet and had his teeth cleaned. Turns out he is FIV positive but amazingly healthy otherwise and his new mom doesn't care, she had given him sanctuary for the rest of his days. He went home last night and maybe it was just the pain meds, but he was snuggled beside his new person purring away.

Back at our colony, we were concerned because Tina hadn't been seen for a few days and she always shows up for meals. Jo, who is part of her group, seems ill and hasn't really been eating so we were concerned something was up with Tina too. Steve and I headed down last evening, peering with a flashlight into every shelter, wandering through the boatyard calling her name.

Suddenly I heard insistent meowing and found Tina looking out the window of a boat. Somehow she had gotten trapped inside. I clambered aboard. Luckily the door wasn't locked and I freed poor hungry Tina. We cleaned up a lot of cat hair and a bit of poo, hopefully the boat owner won't know what was up. Check out the name of the boat!
Tina was thankful to get something to eat after 3 days. She must have so stressed out in there.
I slept much better last night, having solved the Tina mystery.

A field guide to the cats

Steve just got a fantastic new camera with a long lens and took lots of shots of the cats on the weekend. It's great to be able to see their faces close up. This isn't all the cats but most of them so I figured I would share all these photos as kind of a field guide to the Cherry Street cats colony. This is Biff who lives at Harry's boat. Poor Biff has a cold every winter. And here's the handsome Teddy, the patriarch at Harry's. Teddy is a huge cat but the last few months has become very friendly.

Clyde lives over at Clayton's trailer with Minky and we feed them in the winter while Clayton, who works at the boatyard, is in Jamaica.

Pebbles and a UBC hang out a lot together over by the Madonna boat. Pebbles is very skittish.

Tina lives at Harry's. We think the poor thing is blind in one eye. Right now she looks pretty rough with all her mats but she is a beauty, always one of the first to eat.

Tibbs had a couple of litters of kittens a few years ago but we caught her and her kittens in October of 2009 and she was spayed and returned. She keeps her distance.

Arrow keeps company with Pebbles and Tibbs mid-yard. She also is very shy but frequently around at feeding time. I have a special spot where I put food for her.

Jo is one of the newest members of the group at Harry's. She and her brother Mo showed up last year when they were about 4 or 5 months old. They must have been born to a cat in another area but amazingly were accepted by Teddy and the gang. Thankfully we caught Jo and had her spayed before she could get pregnant.

Now Mo on the other hand has been impossible to trap. He's just not food motivated and in fact I've never seen him eat. We haven't given up but thank God he's male.

Over to Hank's Haven we go, where Hank hangs out with his gang. Hank is an older guy, probably around 8 years old.

This is one of the UBCs (there are 2 or 3 or more - we're not really sure).

Sally is Hank's gal pal. I'm sure she was responsible for many of the cats at the colony but finally last year after many attempts we were able to trap her. The vet thinks she is around 8 as well. She and Hank are quite content to just hang out and wait for food to show up.

And here's our beautiful MC, twice we've tried to socialize her to no avail. Guess this is her home, she seems quite happy these days, and always up for a pat and some Whiskas.

That's the gang minus a few. I'm still amazed how much affection I feel for all of them.

A happy ending for two

I'm glad to be able to report a happy ending for the two grey cats we trapped last week. A home at a barn was found for them, a barn with other rescued cats and horses, with sheep and chickens, even wild mustangs.

Lynne and Sharon greeted my husband and the cats warmly when they arrived at the Red Barn. True ferals, Jerry and Georgette didn't make a sound on the way up or once they arrived.

This is the cats' new home, snug and safe. They will stay inside for a few weeks to get used to their new environment then they will be able to roam the farm or sit on the lower barn roof, basking in the sun. The cats were frightened and went straight from their carriers into the little shelters but I'm sure they will adjust.

That's Frankie, the one cat welcoming committee.

I don't know, it looks pretty idyllic to me. Where's my room?

Thank you Lynne and Sharon, for giving sanctuary to these cats with nowhere to go. I've met some truly wonderful people during this cat rescue journey.