The past month has been difficult. The sheer number of kittens needing help is overwhelming. There is a meme making the rounds that says: “It’s rude to ask a rescuer how many cats they have during kitten season.” When people ask me that question, I just sigh, shrug my shoulders, and say, “I don’t know.” In reality, the numbers for the past month have hovered around 23-27 kittens and cats.
In terms of heat, the past month has been exceptionally brutally here in the Central Valley. When the temperatures started climbing up to as high as 114°, it became an issue for my cats in outside cages. I had to make room inside for as many of the cats as I could. At the hottest part of several days, I put four of the cats each in a carrier and lined them up on my couch. At least they stayed cool during the extreme heat of the afternoon. I kept up this routine of musical cats for several weeks. The outside feral cats would lounge in the bushes where we would water everything down for them to keep it cool as possible.
It has been a long month that seems to be passing in slow motion. Rescues are still full and not accepting cats or kittens due largely in part to the record number of owner surrenders. Lots of people adopted pets during the pandemic, but with life returning to normal, shortsightedness reveals itself. Such shallow thinking that one would adopt a pet without the intention of keeping it for life. Pets should never be a whim. Or a temporary distraction.
Shrimp is a very special kitty that has touched so many lives (human). Shrimp is a beautiful orange tabby boy now four years old. Shrimp has been CCSPCA shelter office cat since he was just a kitten and was dumped at the shelter. Staff fell very much in love with Shrimp at the time he came into the shelter. The shelter's past office shelter cat on the adoption side of the shelter had passed away about three months before Shrimp came into the shelter.
Since last month, things have not slowed down one bit. If anything, the pace has picked up until things really started to get crazy. Every kitten season, I traditionally lose five pounds because I’m either too busy or too tired to eat. With approximately twenty-two kittens and several adults here this month, it takes about two hours to feed and clean up after everyone. Then some of the kittens are moved into outside play tents for fresh air and sunshine.
The past month has been a virtual whirlwind of cats and kittens. Almost every single day I receive a call or text regarding some cat-related issue. Around the middle of March, I took in two females: one adult and one about six months old. Both turned out to be pregnant. Just by looking at them, neither appeared to be pregnant, so I was surprised by the news.
Our little Zubbe was rescued from CCSPCA, a high-kill shelter. When we pulled Zubbe from the shelter she was dragging her back legs, plus she was very sick with a URI (urinary tract infection). Her poor body was so cold and had become very dehydrated. I honestly was losing hope in considering pulling Zubbe due to her many health issues. Well, I did, and after many visits to our rescue vet and the assurances giving me hope for Zubbe’s well being, I brought her to the rescue.
The past month and a half has been like a vacation. I have not been taking many cats, and I must say, I really needed the break. With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, settling my father’s estate, and the vet being on vacation, it just seemed like the right time to pull back a bit. Not to say that I didn’t stay busy! I continued to TNR right up until the vet left on December 22. A very nice couple in Clovis hired me to trap the three cats living on their large property.
Since this will be my last column for the year of 2021, I went through my notebook to compile some statistics. I try my best to log in everything I do, but I may forget once in a while. However, the numbers are pretty accurate. Drumroll please!
Did you miss me? I didn’t write a column last month because my personal life has been in chaos.
For the past few months, I have been caring for a dear friend of over 25 years. She was diagnosed with stage four cancer and was basically in hospice. She also has an adult son who is autistic. She needed a lot of help and her family members were some distance away. Even though I was a little slow because of my foot, I spent a lot of time helping her.
