by Jackie Dale

My lazy mornings with a cup of coffee have become a distant memory. I have lost a couple of pounds because I’m too busy to eat. When I do have time, I’m too tired! My days have become a blurry haze of cleaning and feeding kittens. Sometimes it seems like I barely get done with everything before I have to start all over. Sometimes I will get all done with an enclosure, only to have the cat flip the litter box over. Some of the cats go into playpens on the lawn until it starts to get warm. That gives me time to clean each of the enclosures as well as refill food and water bowls. Once the cats are brought back in, then I clean and ready the playpens for the next day. In this heat, chores must be completed by noon. The outdoor enclosures have fans and overhead misters for cooling. In addition, the cats are provided with frozen gel pads covered with wet towels.

I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning litters boxes. Endless, endless scooping. Sweeping up litter. It’s all part of the process, but it can consume a lot of time. But I also like my home to smell nice too. That means litter boxes must be cleaned often. And never skimp on the litter if at all possible. Cheaper litter tends to do very little to contain odors. I use non-clumping for the outside enclosures. I put in just enough to last one day and then dump the whole thing. My brick patio was collecting the scoopable litter in the cracks. The plain clay litter is easier to clean as it doesn’t hide in the cracks. I just use a small leaf blower to quickly clean up messes.

I did do some trapping before it got too insanely hot. Since I am only issued six trapper vouchers at a time, I try to spread them out so everyone waiting for TNR gets some help. Then I circle back around later when I have more vouchers. One lady had several cats to be trapped but I told her I could only use three vouchers right now for her project. Trapping went really easy. One cat walked right into the trap while I was still there. The roasted chicken bait was simply too irresistible to pass up.

After many, many attempts to trap an elusive mom at a local educational institution, I finally caught her. In her time at the school, she had produced numerous litters of kittens. Her legacy as a mother has now come to an end. When I released her she ran off like she had been shot out of a cannon. Mission accomplished!

A friend of a friend contacted me about taking a kitten. My friend had once reluctantly asked me to take a kitten from this person, which I did. My friend was surprised when this person contacted me directly about taking another kitten. Plus another friend in common also contacted me asking me to take this same kitten. No pressure there. At least the kitten came with a $100 donation to pay for the kitten’s spay. And the kitten is friendly and healthy. Carlotta is doing well.

Then I trapped two different times for a couple I met at the vet. As soon as people find out what I do, they invariably have some sort of cat issue that requires my particular set of skills. I trapped for them twice already, two cats on each occasion. I believe I need to do one more trapping for these people.

Another lady in that same town requested my help in catching some cats behind a strip mall. I have trapped at this location many times. The fact that behind this mall they built a development has only compounded the problem of roaming unfixed cats. This particular day I was also trapping at the couple’s house. We set traps at the mall and while my friend watched them, I went across town to set traps at the home. I caught three cats at the mall and two at the home. I put four of the traps in the roomy backseat, stacking two of them. The 5th one had to ride at a bit of an angle in the front seat. I have seen people put cats into the trunk of their car, but to me, that just seems to be a bad idea. The cat survived the ride unscathed.

Then a happy, happy day! The rescue had some room and five of my older kittens were able to move on to a new chapter. You would think that I would have some relief now. But alas, it was not to be. Seven kittens had to come back from foster care. Yeah, so much for the break.

When I was preparing to go to the rescue, I got a call about a kitten. I had to listen to the requisite tale of woe before agreeing to take the kitten. Then they wanted me to drive an hour to pick it up! “Um, no,” I said. Barring any special circumstances, if I agree to take on the care of a kitten, I kind of think THEY SHOULD BRING IT TO ME. I’m busy too. I have a few tales of woe myself. Finally I suggested that I could pick it up the following day on the way back from the rescue since it would be on the way. We met at a Costco near the freeway and little Chopper is doing fine!

I have helped an elderly lady many times over the years with TNR, rescuing kittens, etc. She had rescued a pair of sister kittens and the cats have been living in a pretty small cage for almost 10 months. She said she would let them out for a bit during the day for exercise, but I told her that I would try to help, again. I still have two of the cats I PREVIOUSLY took, FROM THAT SAME CAGE. In the upper portion of that cage is the cat of her grandkid. I told her the first thing she should do is to have her grandkid come and get their cat. This person has taken extreme advantage of this poor lady and I told her as much. We agreed that I would then remove the cage completely. No more rescuing cats. This woman’s apartment is teeny tiny. And I am not exaggerating. It is miniscule. She already owns a couple of cats and two dogs. Enough is enough.

So anyway, I showed up at her apartment with carriers the day after the trip to the rescue, because now I had some room. One of the sisters is pretty friendly, the other one is not so much. Not aggressively so, just reticent to be touched. I had that one’s ear tipped. She will most likely be released in my yard while I hope to eventually send her sister to rescue. At the moment they are both crouched in my spare bathtub, confused and scared. It has only been a few days, so hopefully they will settle in soon.

DONATIONS ARE ALWAYS GREATLY APPRECIATED!! All these cats eat TONS of food. Donations also help maintain a fund to pay for people who don’t have the money to pay. 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. Thank You!!

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.