Finally caught him.

Welcome home, Angel. He sure seems happy to be caught.

No, I'm NOT ignoring you...

Really!

I'll be back on tonight. Today I am visiting another feral cat rescue about 2 hours from me. It's a gorgeous day for a drive, and an even more gorgeous day to visit someone ELSE's cats! I'll come home with plenty of cat smells for our cats to wrinkle their noses at.

On the road again....

The first thing...well, maybe the third thing...I saw when I checked into the hotel was a white, longhaired feral cat, sitting on the back steps. I walked up and spoke to him but he did that "feral crouch" and looked ready to bolt, so we didn't pressure him. I saw cats here last year as well. Perhaps I should make some discrete inquiries or look around for bowls to see if anyone is taking care of them. I didn't see an eartip...

Pretty Dustin lobbys for a cat room position...

Dustin loves the cats in the cat room. And they appear to love her. She spends all her time with her little nose glued under the door to hold conversations with Tiger Tom, so I began letting her run with the "big guys" instead of the teenagers.

She loves it in there. So now after Pumpkin/Popcorn goes to her home, there will be only Charlie and Bebe in the middle cat run.

Farewell, Miles....

Miles passed away this morning, after a rapid and steady decline. He showed no signs at all of discomfort, although he disliked receiving fluids, so this last twelve hours I stopped and just spent time with him. It does seem suspicious that he died so quickly at a time when there is a food recall that causes kidney damage, but Miles doesn't eat wet food (loves his Science Diet dry)and he has had indications of kidney problems via his blood tests. He had a wonderful time living with Mark's aunt, and I wish he had gotten to John and Cary's house for a few weeks before he passed over. But he had lots of visitors this past week, and we sat together for quite a bit, just he and I. And there is nothing Miles likes so much as a lap.

I have to say, I actually have never had a cat pass away on his own. Any ill or elderly cats in my life have been so ill or uncomfortable toward the end, I have chosen to have them put down rather than suffer. But Miles showed no signs of suffering at all. I would still have likely have chosen to put him to sleep, but obviously he was ready to go on his own. He was lying in his bed that he was given for Christmas, just as I had left him after our morning time together.

Thanks, Miles. We were graced by your presence, and Colleen loved you dearly while you lived with her. May your pal Gunsmoke have many happy years in his home.

Menu wet cat/dog food recall

I figured I should post the link Thank you to everyone who emailed.

I've got a bunch of cases of Science Diet Savory Cuts canned I'll need to go check out.

Miles gets another home....

 

...and falls ill.
I'll get up early Sat. a.m. to get him in the vet. But suddenly he is not eating much, has a distended belly, and just doesn't have the get up and go he normally does.

Cary and John came to visit, and he struck their hearts. But now he doesn't seem well....

Angel is still out there, and so is the snow...

 

Spencer Community Fair Photos up and running.

 

V

 

 

 

 

Shakespeare is Angel's brother....what a sweetie.

Do you think we can convince Blogger to use Asirra?

I'd far rather pick out cats with Asirra than try to figure out what those letters in the comments section are!

Here's an interesting article on it.

I'll have to take better photos now, in case our Petfinder cats end up on Asirra!

Go for it--Nominate your vet!

I got this in my email today:

Greetings,

I know my colleague has been in touch with you regarding Merial's "Thank Your Vet for a Healthy Pet" contest. I also wanted to let you know that you can visit http://www.thankyourvet.org for additional details and the opportunity to nominate a special vet.

Merial, makers of Frontline and Heartgard, is giving pet owners across the nation the opportunity to honor their favorite veterinarian through the contest. To participate, pet owners should submit a short essay of 300 words or less describing why they believe their vet is the best. The contest runs through May 31, 2007 and the winning vet will be selected at the February 2008 Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas.

I hope your readers (i.e. grateful pet owners) will participate. Please let me know if you need more information or if there is an opportunity to feature this contest in an upcoming feature.

Regards,
Nichole

Nichole Woodcock
Account Executive
Manning, Selvage & Lee
1170 Peachtree Street NE, Ste. 400
Atlanta, GA 30309
404.870-6851

Shakespeare....

From the business expo/community fair, thanks Jim!

These are cats whom are being petted by 12 year old kids and hugged by many passersby...so much for being feral!

Billee was the purrfect ambassador.

No time to write now, but here's a picture that Jim Loomis took today at the community fair:




Well, yeah, she looks a little pissy, but she has been on a halter for almost three hours. YOU put a cat on a halter for three hours and see what her ears tell you....but everytime someone reached out to pet her, she was leanin' right into it (and makin' luv to Shakespeare, even though he cuddled up to visitors and hissed at her).

See you at the Community Business Showcase?

Billee and Shakespeare will be lobbying for homes at the Spencer/VanEtten Community Business Showcase today (Sunday). It's at the Spencer Van Etten high school between Spencer and Van Etten and runs from 1-4pm. Stop by and help fill up the place. They only had two spots left (and I took one) so it sounds like there will be a lot of businesses and organizations there!

Fuzzy photo of a fuzzy

Here's Wings enjoying his new snugglie! Sorry for the quality of the shot.

Our cats have finally exceeded me on the internet

I may have a blog, but Zephyr (now Chaos) has his own MySpace page.

Way to go, Chaos (and family)!

Forty-nine cats in one month. 49 cats!

Holy flea bites!

Presents!

What did georg send us?

Cool! More of those little snugglies from her anonymous friend! Jack checks one out before they go out to the cat facility.

Ditzy claimed the black one for her own and I didn't have the heart to take it away. So the black one will stay in the house, and the others will go out to the adoptables in the cat facility!

Thanks! We LoooOOOOve these! I'll post pictures of them from the cat facility later. Actually, you can see one in Espie's cage in the post below.

Trained Cats

Cats are darned smart. They know the daily schedule...and their cages. Most of the cats will return to their own home nests if I open the door or clap my hands. Here's Dude, after hopping right up into his neatened cage.

Dustin is a true lady, and when she can tell it's time for the youngsters to go back in their runs, she's waiting at the door (as Persephone waits inside her run for her turn to rule the roost with Leo, Wings, and Ben).

Tubby little multi-toed Espie doesn't quite have the oomph to jump into her cage on her own, but waits beneath it for someone to give her a boost.

Catstration Game

I'm not quite sure I like the style, but definitely agree with the message.

Geographic versus local

While checking out the feral cat news as Barb's pre-set search at Cats In the News, I found this article, that contains the following quote concerning TNR:

The numbers charted so far show little reduction in the number of feral cats in large geographic areas, but they do show a reduction in smaller areas where TNR programs operate in conjunction with aggressive adoption and education programs.

In my experience, this is true. Until regulations and affordable spay/neuter are pervasive enough that all pet outlets (pet stores, shelters, rescue groups, "pet" breeders) are required to spay/neuter all pets before sale/adoption, and pet owners, even the lousy ones, can get a pet fixed for under $100, the overall number of cats is going to be minimally impacted.

However, TNR can solve problems in local areas. My fast food strip, for example. The Lockwood colony where one woman was stuck in her home for years caring for kittens that were born to drop off cats, and now has just four adult outdoor cats and no kittens for the last three years. Etc.

In this manner (they won't like to hear this), feral cat management via spay/neuter is a lot like the profession of wildlife control. Nuisance wildlife control doesn't impact larger animal populations. Going over to Oak Street and getting paid $400 to take care of a squirrel problem at Mrs. Jones' house does not impact the greater population of gray squirrels. But it does get the gray squirrels out of Mrs. Jones' house. Now, if you just trap the squirrels and dispose of them, but leave the holes in the house, Mrs. Jones is going to continue to have a gray squirrel problem. If you fix the holes, Mrs. Jones' squirrel problem is probably solved.

Ditto with TNR. If you just go by a place and set traps for cats and walk away, chances are good that cat problem won't be solved come spring. There will be more kittens. If you have an ongoing program in place and all cats are neutered and new cats are attended to, chances are good the problem in that location (unneutered cats, kittens being born, and an increasing population) will be solved.

This can be vital to local animal shelters. I doubt the SPCA in the county where my fast food ferals are is getting complaints about freezing cats and kittens at Burger King/McDonalds/Arbys etc, as they used to in the past. They no longer have to go down there and catch a cat or two to make people feel like they are "doing something." It's one less (big) thing for them to worry about, and they can concentrate on other things.

Now my trapper friends will likely say "Yes, but you could just get rid of those cats faster if you trapped them and just put them down." To which I say "And how many of you go back monthly to make sure no new cats show up?" They don't, of course, because no one's paying them.

The animal shelter that offers "trap and remove" doesn't go back, either. They don't have the staff or time.

Only someone dedicated to "caring" for cats will go out there every damned day to notice when a new cat shows up, and attend to it, either by finding her a home, or getting her fixed. Which is the magic key that makes TNR work.