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.
I spent most of November in a mad rush to get all my remaining cats fixed before the doctor left for winter vacation. In addition, I had several people contact me about getting their cats fixed so the rush was very real.
There was no column last month since there was not a lot going on. I was and still am, quite full of cats and kittens. I did not do much trapping either as I was so busy caring for the current load of felines.
I had two kittens die from FIP.
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.
It has been a long, hot, frustrating month in the cat world. It seems like this year is one of the worst as far as kittens are concerned. They are simply everywhere! Every day I get multiple calls or messages from people asking me to help with or take on kittens.
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 started the month with a transport of four of my kittens to rescue. Since my specialty is supplying the rescue with cats aged five months and up, I was pleased and surprised when they agreed to take the litter of four kittens from Firebaugh. I can only assume it was because the kittens were not only very healthy AND super cute, but they were incredibly well socialized.
This has been a month where I have spent a majority of my time at home taking care of many kittens and also a handful of adults as well. Due to a staffing shortage at the vets, there have been fewer appointments available so I have had to curtail some of my TNR work for the time being. It is just as well since the kittens keep me hopping.
