When I last left off in November, I was in the midst of fast and furious trapping. By the time I finished up the TNR project at the apartment complex, I had trapped and fixed 16 cats! That required numerous trips, 30 minutes each way. However, the satisfaction of completing this project made it well worth it.
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.
I start this column with a story that is just unbelievable! So it is a busy morning because several cats are leaving and going to rescue. There is the usual bump in the road–– one of the candidates has diarrhea and must be bumped and another cat chosen. Now I have to find that cat’s paperwork. So I’m also rushing around scooping boxes and filling water/food bowls because I’ll be gone all day.
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.
With the onset of triple digit heat, I have shifted into my summer mode. This consists of getting up by 5:30 a.m. to get started on cat chores. Some groups of kittens go into playpens on the lawn to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Meanwhile I clean the pens inside and have them prepared for their return once it begins to get hot. Then I clean and prepare the outside playpens for the next day.
My month of taking it easy has been anything but relaxing. Although I did not have any TNR projects, there was no shortage of cat-related jobs. A friend called and said that she and her husband had found a lone kitten in the street, sitting next to its dead mother’s body. The kitten was crying piteously and there was no way she could just leave it there.
As we are thrust into the chaos of kitten season, I continue to get calls and texts every single day from people needing help with kittens. However, I can’t help everyone. There is only one of me. Everyone has an excuse why they can’t step up to the plate, and everyone thinks that their reasons are the most valid.
This past month I have been focusing largely on TNR before the doctor leaves on her vacation in mid-May. I had a list and began with an elderly lady in the next town over. I had TNRed several cats for her the previous year and needed to round up the stragglers. The woman’s backyard was severely overgrown so a volunteer from her church was kind enough to come over and clean it up so that I could trap.
I left off my last column with an incoming cat from a winery a few miles from my home. The 10- pound male cat was incredibly beat-up and smelled REALLY bad. It was, of course, the unmistakable smell of hormone-charged urine. Obviously, the dude, now named, Cotton, needed to have outside accommodations. Even then the smell was permeating the entire area.
As I ended last month’s column, my friend Janice and I were trapping the cats at the home of our departed friend. Bobby, the large male cat with the injured tail has settled in nicely at his new home. He was kept in a large enclosure on my friend’s porch for three weeks before she opened the door. Bobby is a very lucky cat with a wonderful new home. The two black cats, a brother and sister, are living in my yard where they seem to be very happy.
