by Jackie Dale

Due to the fact that I’m filled to the brim with kittens, it has been a somewhat slow month. I have been helping people get cats fixed and doing TNR as well. I will set traps at various locations and hope for the best. Some locations make trapping difficult, and it is often slow going. I trapped for one family that I had previously helped with several cats. They found themselves the recipient of a dumped pregnant cat. She had kittens in their backyard, and now the family of the elderly resident wanted all the kittens fixed and the mom too as she was pregnant again. That project went smoothly and I have one male cat left to trap.

Trapping at a local apartment complex took a horrifying turn. I had trapped two kittens in one trap and one of the kittens somehow managed to squeeze its head between the side of the cage and the door. However, now the kitten was trapped and could not go forward and it could not go back. Trying to open the trap door was not an option as it was strangling the kitten. Luckily I had brought a friend with me that evening. We stood the trap on its end, each grabbed a side and pulled as hard as we could while a nearby resident twisted the trap door to one side. The kitten fell back into the trap, shaken but uninjured. Unfortunately, during the melee the other kitten was able to run out of the trap. The trap is ruined but it was a small price to pay to save the kitten.

The local animal control officer asked if I could take in one kitten, and I said sure. To my horror, I could tell right off the bat we had a problem. The kitten was infested with ringworm. This meant isolation, fungal baths, and both oral and topical medications. Now named Yoda, the orange kitten has responded splendidly to the treatment. I am very vigilant about ringworm, screening every cat who comes in with a Woods lamp and conducting weekly screenings as well. This sort of thing is going to happen and nipping it in the bud is essential.

A local resident called to say they had a feral mom in their bathroom along with a baby kitten. The resident was able to maneuver the mom cat into a carrier, and I took her home. She was fixed the next day, and the kitten of course remained with me. Chuckie is old enough to be without his mom and he’s doing great.

I resumed trapping at the golf course to get the kittens of the mom I had already trapped and fixed. I was surprised to see that they were quite a bit smaller than I had anticipated. I ended up trapping four of the six kittens. But since they are too small to fix, I’m taking care of them.

In the past 17 days, I’ve trapped and/or fixed 17 cats! Not a bad average if I do say so myself. I’m trying my best to get as much done as I can before the vet leaves for her annual two-month holiday in the Philippines. Once she is gone, I’m dead in the water as far as fixing cats are concerned. That will be my vacation too, so to speak. I will no doubt still have kittens, but I will not be doing any trapping. Until then, it’s trap, trap, and trap some more.

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.

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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.