by Jackie Dale
The last couple of months have been a whirlwind of cat work. The vet reminded us trappers that her annual winter vacation was coming up. She would be gone during December and January. I still had lots of people asking for help getting their cats fixed. Three feral cats for one lady, two community cats for another. Trapping at a home where I was, one-by-one, chipping away at the stray cats in the neighborhood. Now with a deadline, I needed to really ramp up my TNR work.
Vanilla got adopted
People frequently ask me, “So how many cats do you have now?” I usually just smile and say, “It is impolite to ask a cat rescue person how many cats they have.” I honestly don’t even want to know the actual number. I estimate about 15-20 resident cats. Some are inside only. Some are feral and/or just outside only. I have a couple of friendly cats who simply will not come inside the house. And there are a handful of inside/outside cats. The property is spacious and completely fenced in. The cats select where they want to be and will then use the feeding area there. We have the front yard cats, side yard cats, and backyard cats. Each area has its own feeding station. Then there are the cats who hang near the outskirts of the property. Those are generally the ones we can never touch. If they need medical attention, they have to be trapped. My husband is a huge help with whatever I need, such as running to Walmart for cat supplies. And he rarely complains about the inconvenience. Over the summer I had a big popup kennel right in the middle of the living room. No complaints. Thank goodness he loves cats too!
I accepted another tiny black kitten. This one needed to be bottle fed. Named Pitch, the little guy seemed to have no end of poop issues. A visit to the vet determined the kitten had no rectal reflex which meant he could not hold in his poop. The vet says nothing can be done and recommends euthanasia. The kitten is so sweet I am having a very difficult time with this. These are the times my heart just breaks.
So I try to keep my mind off of the sad stuff by throwing myself into the much needed TNR. Many trips back and forth to the vet clinic, the paperwork, the cleaning of carriers and traps and delivering cats back makes for some very long days. Lots of Red Bull and Cheetos to keep up the speed!
Rescued kitten
I received a call from yet another resident at an apartment complex in Kingsburg. They had approximately 12-15 cats needing to be TNRed. After getting permission from the manager, I proceeded to trap. Four cats the first night. I caught all four within an hour as the first trapping is always the easiest. The next trapping netted three. I left a trap and a carrier with a resident who was able to get two more. This resident, a former neighbor of mine, told me about a big black cat that belonged to a man in the complex. She said the cat was bullying the other cats and was most likely fathering most of the kittens. She is probably right in that an alpha male like this is going to keep all other male cats out of his territory.
Linmar TNR Cat #14
So we contacted the man about getting his cat fixed and he not only agreed, but he would pay for his cat. I was glad to hear this because this is a low-income complex and there was no one to foot the bill. By posting on Facebook, I was able to get sponsors for nine of the cats. That only leaves two without sponsors, but I was then contacted by a small group who does TNR in Kingsburg. They told me that Kingsburg has a fund to pay for TNR in the town and they would reimburse my uncompensated expenses. That is the kind of progressive thinking that would be of great benefit to all towns.
Meanwhile, BC’s (Black Cat) owner proceeded to claim that his black cat was not a bully as the other residents were claiming. In addition, he was certain that his cat was not doing any impregnating. So as we are standing there I watch his cat stroll by, stop suddenly, zero in on a nearby cat and then take off after it like he was shot out of a cannon. As his cat chases this other cat across the lawn, I look around to notice that the bulk of the cats I am trapping are black. I just sigh, (lots of sighing in rescue work!), and tell the man that after the surgery his cat will eventually be depleted of all hormones and should become somewhat calmer. Not to mention he will smell so much better. When he brought his 15-lb cat to me, he had stuffed it into a tiny carrier with a big crack in it. I returned his cat in a carrier of appropriate size and told him to keep it. I have at least one more cat I must catch, a definite female. I’m not sure how many cats are left to do simply because getting an accurate count is hard. So many of the cats are black, it’s usually dark when I’m there, and they are always moving.
My personal vet contacted me several times this past month about kittens brought in by animal control. I try to take what I can, but occasionally I have to say no. I did say yes to a sweet healthy girl who was the same size as a boy kitten I had, and he needed some company anyway. They are such wonderful buddies now. Then they said they had a little kitten with a mild URI and could I take? Since it was only one, I said okay, I would pick it up the next morning. When I arrived they asked if I had got their text? I had not seen the text telling me the kitten had crashed during the night, and they were going to euthanize.
Kitten brought back from the brink
The rescue took one cat from me last week but told me absolutely no more cats until after Thanksgiving. The facility has termites and will be tented over the holiday so they want most if not all of the cats gone. The good news is after that, they are really going to need cats, and I will be ready!
DONATIONS ARE ALWAYS GREATLY APPRECIATED!! Donations are essential to help pay for expenses when people want to do the right thing but don’t have the money. If you would like to contribute, 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!!
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There are far too many mouthy warriors ready to complain but refuse to step up. As socially irresponsible as that unneutered tom! I am glad you managed to rescue ‘Brink’! Will try to donate a little.