Before and after

A couple of weeks ago Biff was looking like this.

This weekend, after her visit to the vet, Biffy (adding a Y to reflect her amended gender) looked like this.  So much better, I hope it continues, and that the antibiotic has some long lasting effects for our old girl.  Thankfully things have settled down at Harry's too, I was able to pat Teddy again, first time in weeks.

 Over at Hank's the heat was causing some friction between Pseudo and Jet.

 Let's hope this after bite doesn't turn into an abcess, silly cats to be fighting.

Sam reappeared on the weekend, hooray, don't know where he had been, and he returned friendlier, I was able to give him a quick pat.

We had a big yard sale on the weekend, it was a lot of work, but a success.  All our vet bills are paid off and we have some put aside for the next one.

At the west end colony Maria managed to just trap one male, the females still elude us.  That after effect  will be more kittens although thankfully there has been a lull there in kittens.

This week's update

Here are a couple of pictures of the cute kittens I rescued about 10 days ago and that Lynn is fostering.

Chester, the black male, is funny, he is very growly, but they are all becoming tamer, it just takes a lot of handling and a lot of attention.

Ruby and Emma

Growly Chester

I released Miss Boots at the Portlands Tuesday but Jackie called yesterday to say she has discovered kittens down there, oh no, off to take a look.  More trapping at the west end and the kittens above's mom this weekend.

Yesterday we managed to trap Biff and took him to the vet this morning.  Well, first of all, Biff is female, already spayed (which we knew).  Biff or Biffalina is older, maybe 12, and amazingly, doesn't need all her teeth out, just some tartar, but I was mostly worried about Biff's congestion so we are just doing a shot of Convenia, which hopefully will help, and Revolution and Profender.  I will overnight Biffy at the vet's, she can enjoy the AC and go home tomorrow.  After Tina, I was so nervous taking Biff in, I was almost in tears with worry, I just couldn't stand to lose another, so I feel very relieved.   As it is, Sam, a black male, has not been seen for more than two weeks so I am very concerned about him.

Bright Eyes (yes, I can tell all the black cats apart)

Hank enjoying the mat Sandi put down

No sugarcoating

This may be a controversial post but when it comes to my moral compass for cat rescue I am sure of its direction and know that although the decision I made was heartbreaking it was the right one.

Jackie has been feeding a couple of cats in the Portlands and I went down to check out the situation.  One of the cats looked pregnant to me so we thought let's try to trap her.  And trap her we did, very easily.  Once I got her in the trap I could tell her nipples were prominent so then I was worrying she was nursing.  Only one thing to do, take her to the vet and find out.

It turned out she was very pregnant, and the vet did a spay abort.  Wait, I can hear the voices of dissent but here's the thing, she is very feral, if she had the kittens, we would have to hope that first of all, we could trap her again and spay her and secondly that we could trap the kittens at the magical socialization age or at least trap them and TNR, all of those things very problematic.  Every day in shelters kittens and adult cats are euthanized due to lack of homes.  It's a harsh reality and making those harsh decisions is part of dealing with feral cats.  

Miss Boots in the trap

Back at the colony, Biff has been having URI symptoms again.  He has had this chronic problem for a while, hopefully some warm dry weather will clear things up.

After such a grim post, here's a bit of comic relief.  This is what I woke up to the other morning.  Remember, this is Buddy, when we adopted him last year the vet said he was five years old, yeah right, what five year old cat shreds toilet paper, we adopted a kitten with really bad teeth.

More kittens!

I opened up my email Friday and there was one with the subject "Urgent situation with stray cat and kittens".  I thought oh no, but read it anyway.  Someone had discovered a cat in an overgrown backyard with a litter of kittens and needed help.

Thankfully Lynn offered to foster them so I decided that I would catch them.  Funnily enough, I left a cat rescue fundraiser (at Lynn's) Saturday night to go get the kittens.  Dusk is best, and there they were, hungry.  I grabbed one kitten, then another, trying to stay out of mom's way, she took a swipe at me.  The last shy one I got with a kitten trap, and back to Lynn's I went with six week old kittens.

It was too quick to take pictures, there's a grey one, a black one, and a black and white one.  Now I have to go back, trap the mom and get her spayed before she wanders off and gets pregnant again.

Nothing feels better than saving kittens from living a life on the streets!

Why I don't foster

We've resisted fostering kittens and after having one for a night I'm reminded of why - we get too attached.  This little guy was caught by Maria and needed to stay with us until he could be moved to a foster home.  I've been holding little Baby Bob since he is scared and already I can't imagine finding a home good enough for him.  I'm glad he's moving on tonight.  I so admire people who foster.

Baby Bob - just six weeks old

Things are topsy turvy at Harry's section of the yard, there are guys working on a boat where the cats normally eat, poor Teddy has been eating at a different spot, and it's sad there with only four cats, no Jackson or Tina.

 We've been feeding under the boat for now where it's a bit quieter, and at least dry.

 Things at the dumpster are unchanged thankfully, a full house here, as many as eight cats.

 And over at Hank's all is ducky, the cats like all the boat cradles that are piled up.

A typical Saturday night at our house, no wonder nobody wants to come for dinner.  Perhaps cats as centerpieces will catch on.

My real job...

The last few weeks it has felt like I have two jobs and when I added up the hours I have spent on cat rescue it equals the amount of time I spend at my office.  One pays me money but isn't particularly satisfying, the other is rewarding, but costs money and time, and can be emotionally draining.  A little overwhelmed, I've done some outsourcing.  I met a wonderful woman at the THS clinic who lives in the west end, and god bless her, she went right out there this week and set out kitten traps and she and Maria caught two more.  I am so thankful for her help.  The cat rescue community is so amazing.

In my hood, I took this neighbourhood stray in to the vet to get neutered.  He is tame and needs a home.   A few people are feeding him but nobody yet is willing to take him in.  We just have too many and Charlie, our indoor/outdoor cat, is not a fan.

I also took Connie's fosters in to the vet for a deworming.  Are they not the cutest things you have ever seen?

So far 11 kittens have been rescued from Maria's colony, and newborn kittens were discovered this week, it's not even close to over, still four females to trap.  We took two more males in this week, one with a tooth that had to be pulled, and the poor cat with the wire around him was finally released after way too much time at the vet.

I almost forgot, I took a female cat in to be spayed, that a marginal guy owns, and Caitlin has the kittens.  That's all since last weekend.  If you work in cat rescue, warm weather does not signal patios and vacations, it means kittens, too many.  At least the 11 will be spared a hard life.  We will get all the females, it's just persistence and perseverance.

My tribute to Tina

Thursday night I was tired beyond tired and collapsed on the sofa.  The last two weeks with Tina had been heart wrenching and I was drained.  Then Maria from the west end colony called to say she saw more kittens in the shed so Friday morning I got up and went off to check out the situation.

I walked in and there they were, three little ones playing.  They scattered but I put out food and stayed motionless and slowly they returned.  I caught the little grey one and a few minutes later the orange one (who bit me).  The last grey one was too elusive and I left with these guys.

They have gone off to a foster home, two more lives saved from a life on the streets.  I still have to find the remaining one, and Pixie and Bear's sibling too.  That is nine kittens now rescued from this colony this year, five females spayed, can you imagine how huge the population would be if nothing had been done.  Still more elusive females to trap but we will persevere.

I'm sure Tina would be happy that these two will have a loving home.  It was so strange feeding yesterday without her there.

The saddest post of all

This morning Sandi and I went to the vet to be with Tina while she was euthanized.  It was time to end her suffering.  She had compound medical issues and just wasn't recovering.  A bone infection, a URI, fluid in her lungs and abdomen, low temp, a weak heart, still not eating, there was no coming back for our beloved girl.

Tina in her glory days

It has been a gruelling two weeks, first trying to trap her and then trying to save her.  Jackson's loss was sudden and tragic, but Tina has been way harder, watching her just a shadow of her former self, hoping against hope she would rebound.  We love all the ferals but the ones we can pat, who meet you with recognition, are harder to lose.  Tina would come to greet us, always hungry, happy for a bit of attention.  She lived in the best part of the yard, with a trailer, lots of shelter and safety.  We saw her every day we fed.  Last year I remember how upsetting it was when she didn't show up for days.  We searched everywhere and finally found her trapped inside a boat, it was only because she was in a window meowing that we found her.

It is devastating to lose Tina and Jackson in a six month period.  That's the thing with feral colonies, the goal is to TNR them all and ultimately the colony will cease to exist.  What they don't talk about in the literature about TNR is the emotional connection you develop with these cats and how you deal with the death of them all.  There are still 19 cats left and I will have to lose them all but I know their lives have been better for our involvement.

Rest easy, sweet Tina, and I will see you on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.

The longest long weekend

I know everyone else is sad that the long weekend is over but I am relieved.  With Tina at home, not eating, just lying in her carrier, all I could do was wish for Tuesday morning for the vet to reopen.

We took her in to the vet first thing, and he had a look at her.  She let him examine her, it is still shocking to see her bony shaved body.  She was extremely dehydrated and I remain concerned about her ability to recover, whether or not she has cancer.  If she does, it is an easy decision, but in the meantime, as we wait for the biopsy results, I worry she is suffering, and I just can't imagine her getting better enough to live outside again.

These are the difficult decisions you deal with in feral care, what to do when they are old, when to let go, it's hard to apply the same standards as you would with your own cat, but we love the ferals, especially Tina, just the same.

So, because everyone loves her so much, we are going to give her a little longer, to see if being on fluids and other meds will help.

It was a tough weekend, very emotional.  We've had to euthanize many of our own cats over the years and none have looked as sick as Tina did.

I hope I'm proven wrong and she recovers.

Wow, this is a stupid hobby I've chosen, I'm getting pretty crispy around the edges, there just has been so much going on the last two months.

Tina update

Well, Tina had her dental surgery, but the vet suspects cancer and did a biopsy that will take about a week to process.  In the meantime, since it was a long weekend, she came home to our house yesterday.  I don't usually do recovery but we hoped that familiar voices might help.

Honestly, she's in a sad state.  Huddled in her carrier all shaved.  The worst of it though is that apparently she got some inflammation from the tube in her throat and she keeps drooling and making terrible gurgling sounds.  It's horrible to see.  She didn't eat overnight.  Surprisingly I can actually wipe her chin.

I'm not feeling particularly optimistic this morning but Tina is tough old girl and she may turn it around yet.  Tina is everyone's favourite cat.  I guess the moral is, if there is one, that there is no good end for a feral cat.  At least five little kittens that we rescued this week won't have to live like Tina has.