by Jackie Dale

Unamusing Anecdotes

My month had an upsetting beginning because of a post on social media about an abandoned mother cat and five newborn kittens. The post led me to believe that the family had been dumped near a school located not far from my home. The temperature that day was around 110° so of course I was deeply concerned for the welfare of the cats. I arrived at the school to find the kittens ensconced in a cabinet that had been temporarily moved into an outdoor hallway. I scooped up the kittens and used one of them to “bait” the trap. It only took about 45 minutes to catch the mother cat. She is currently taking care of her brood in a large kennel in my living room.

I had informed the school personnel that I would eventually fix the mom and return her to the school. Two separate people told me that the mother cat had in fact, been hanging around the school for at least 2-3 months. I felt deceived in that this one person had led me to believe that the cat had just shown up that day. The simple truth was that they did nothing about the cat until she had kittens, and then they expected a total stranger to swoop in and save the day.

Here is the kicker….The woman at the school texted me the following day asking how the kittens were doing. In the very next sentence she told me that if I returned the cat, they would re-trap it and have it euthanized. When I asked why, she said it couldn’t stay because some children may be allergic. I pointed out that the cat had been at the school for some time now without any apparent ill effects thus far. I mentioned how I did not appreciate their underhanded tactics in getting me to remove the cat and kittens. I also pointed out how another school had me come in and trap several cats, fix and then return them. They appreciated the gopher control but did not want to deal with kittens. The new school did not care, so I am once again stuck with another feral cat who will likely end up living in my yard. I could have returned the cat anyway. Even if you know what you’re doing, which they don’t, I know that trying to re-trap a feral cat is not likely to be successful. But I chose not to return her to a now hostile environment.

Another distressing post on social media caught my attention. A woman had found a newborn kitten in her driveway and at only 11 o’clock in the morning, the temperatures were already well into triple digits. The woman was seeking someone to come and get the kitten or she was going to “put it back where she found it and let nature take its course.” I was horrified that someone could actually put a helpless creature in a situation that practically guaranteed its death! I told her I would pick it up immediately. Even though the home was HUGE, no donation was forthcoming. She just handed me the kitten and said “thanks.” When I commented on the post that I thought the way the woman handled the situation was pretty despicable, one of her friends commented that, and I paraphrase: It is okay to lie and mislead people in order to get what you want. I commented that “it was good that you would make such a statement in a public forum because now people will know what kind of a person you really are.”

Current Goings-On
The apartment complex where I’m working a TNR project is ongoing slowly due to extreme heat. The mother cat abandoned her two remaining kittens, so we brought them to my house and gave them to another feral mom here. She has been taking excellent care of all four kittens. The kittens are now eating on their own and even using the litter box. Mom has already been fixed and will be returned to the complex soon. Trapping will continue as weather permits.

I sent seven teenagers to the rescue this month. What a relief! When kittens are approaching five months they become so rambunctious! They have the energy and self-control of a bunch of caffeinated toddlers. They were an exhausting bunch, but my job was done, and it was time for them to go.

Three kittens arrived after being found in a garbage dumpster. The level to which humans will sink is just disgusting. The sociopathy is truly alarming. How can there be so little feeling for another living creature? One of the kittens passed away and the other two, being bottle-fed by me, are doing great.

I went to pick up two gorgeous abandoned older kittens but by the time I got there only one could be found. The white kitten was beautiful and friendly and went to rescue shortly thereafter.

A fluffy male kitten arrived and was soon joined by a similar size fluffy Siamese kitten. A perfect roommate. Then a single tuxedo kitten needed a place to go and I had a space available.

It Was Like a Horror Movie
I attempted to trap at a local strip mall one evening and discovered some water roaches, you know, those GIANT ones, around the feeding station. I got my bug spray out and started spraying the area. I heard what sounded like an animal or person rustling in the leaves under the bushes. It turned out to be the sound of a freaking MILLION of these gross bugs running for cover with some of them running towards me. I literally ran screaming from the area, jumped in my car and cancelled all plans to trap there that night. I was incredibly creeped out by the sheer number of bugs and will plan accordingly on my next attempt. Lots more bug spray!

An Amusing Anecdote
One of my yoga students approached me one day asking if I could give some advice. She had a cat that had disappeared about a year prior. She felt that the cat may have left because her other cat was always bullying it. So one day, the cat suddenly reappears. She wanted advice on how to reintroduce the cat back into the household. In the meantime, she took the somewhat disheveled cat to the vet and spent a big chunk of change getting the cat checked out and vaccinated. So a couple of weeks passed and my friend’s husband returns from a business trip. He takes one look at the cat and proclaims; “That’s not our cat.” He produced some pictures from his phone. It was true. Although similar looking, it was in fact, not the same cat.

The cats were just not getting along. The in-house bully obviously still wanted to be the only cat. So my friend asked about getting the cat into rescue since it was friendly. I started to plan to get the cat to the vet to verify whether or not the cat was fixed. My friend decided to post the cat on Facebook. A woman who said she rarely even looked at social media pages, happened to be looking that day. It is unclear if she went on to search for her missing cat but lo and behold, the woman sees her. I couldn’t help but laugh when she told me that the cat, a 14 year old cat, actually lived right next door. This is a good lesson in why posting a FLYER of your missing animal right outside your home can be a very useful tool in locating your wayward pet.

DONATIONS ARE ALWAYS GREATLY APPRECIATED!! I can’t operate without them. If you would like to make a donation, I have a PayPal account jackiejoy@hotmail[dot]com You can also support the post office and send donations/supplies via good old snail mail to Jackie Dale P O Box 1859, Reedley, CA 93654.

You can check out more animal rescue articles in KRL’s animal rescue section! Join our Pets Facebook group to help keep up with our pet articles.

Jackie Dale is a freelance writer who lives in Reedley with her husband of 27 years, Frank, and their 2 children. A former ballerina, Jackie now teaches yoga and fitness classes privately and at local area gyms in addition to her cat related duties.