Spring at last

It's maple weekend in New York State this first day of spring, and the best way to celebrate it is to find a pancake breakfast. Arnot Forest's maple weekend celebration was today, so I set my alarm, puttered around the house, and then headed out to Schuyler/Tompkins county Rt 13.

It takes a little skill to find a good place to sit where you'll have someone to talk to. The woman taking the money noticed Americancat.net on my coat and then proceeded to tell a great story about how she and her husband were building a new home with heated floors, and how they were nursing their 16 year-old cat along because they had planned those floors for her and they wanted her to survive to enjoy them. The woman in front of me had volunteered with the Chemung SPCA and was familiar with TNR. The table she and her husband sat at was also occupied by three gentleman my age and older who were out together...so that seemed like a good choice for conversation. And it was. The three men were all landowners so natural gas and woodlot management kept breakfast going through a couple of cups of coffee. Then I wandered down to the sugarhouse to pick up a jar of maple butter.

On my way to Ithaca to feed the cats, I swung down Chaffee Creek Road, which always has some bittersweet memories. This was my very first "non-apartment home"--a 14x70' mobile home that two colleagues at Ithaca College had set up in the side yard of the family farmhouse, with the idea that one day his mother would move into it. I rented it for a song until Mark and I bought our first house. The mother decided upon a more active city life in Ithaca, and the mobile home was sold. The entire farm was sold as well, I believe, and different people own it now.

There is now a horse living in what was once my front yard. I'm content with that.

At South Hill, I sang out loud for Gillian. I don't think I mentioned on this blog that Gillian lives! Almost six weeks after we decided she had been hit by a car, Mark noticed her in the bushes, waiting for dinner.

After filling her bowl today, I found her patiently waiting in the parking lot for me to leave.

I stepped quietly around the trash truck as she skirted me and managed to get a closer photo of her.

Someone put a sweatshirt in her feeding station. It was nice that someone cared that she should keep her feet warm and dry.

Then it was home again to salvage some of the afternoon to clean up the mess that winter left behind.

Feral Cat Coalition

One of the oldest feral cat information web pages, the Feral Cat Coalition on the west coast has a web page worth reading, primarily because it is a local group providing resources for their own community, but in a manner that is helpful to other groups who are "on the streets" so to speak.

If you know of other great feral cat pages, please leave the URL and what you know about them in the comments, and I'll highlight them here!

Gearing up for kitten season

The Tompkins County SPCA releases their resources for kitten foster homes, which is a good brush-up for anyone who reads it.

The CATalyst Council

CATalyst Council is a non-profit organization that includes three distinct groups: Veterinary Medicine, Shelter/Animal Welfare, and related Industry entities such as Foundations and Cat Fanciers, the Media, and commercial companies. The Council "intends to make a difference in the way the United States sees and experiences cats." It will be interesting to see where this group takes their mission over time.

They have some great videos that I plan to incorporate in my work. I will be creating a series of email messages to send to new adopters (at, say, one, two, four, and six weeks post-adoption). I would like to include links to videos, and this site has excellent options. Because the Council is directing their information at a range of animal professional, they have done an excellent job of finding a balance in tone and language for their varied audiences. It leans towards more clinical language in some cases, but it is important for owners and rescuers to become familiar with this language.

For example, I think this video on handling a fearful cat at the vet is one every cat owner should see. It certainly is important for the veterinarian to know how to examine a fearful cat. However it is up to the cat owner to bring a crate whose top can be removed, and a towel that smells of home. The cat owner may take the video more seriously when they see it is aimed toward the veterinary community. They will feel (I think?) that they are being included in the exam room experience if they are invited to view these videos.

(Note: The only thing I would disagree with in this video is letting the cat on the floor. In a treatment room that may see many cats throughout the day, it is unlikely the floor is going to be disinfected after each visit. I do like how they have the bench where the owner and veterinarian can sit quietly to begin the exam with the cat).



There are a lot of other videos on the site, and more resources to come! Bookmark this site and join their email list, to check in now and then.

"Porch Kitty..."

...is spayed and declawed!

Feral cat organizations: Neighborhood Cats.org

I'm a huge fan of Neighborhood Cats, perhaps because I've seen Bryan Kortis speak so many times (and maybe because they put my two-door cat shelter in their first manual?). Their goal is to train every person who cares one whit about cats in how to do TNR simply and well, throughout New York City and beyond. When you come through one of Bryan's workshops, you leave wondering why you ever thought it might be complicated, because he stands there with his trap, tells it like it is, hands out his DVDs so you have the info when you leave, and you simply have no excuses.

They also have finally done what needs to be done, and that is design the perfect trap and make it affordable. One of their newly designed Tomahawk traps is only $55, and with a divider to help restrain the cat, it's only $69. Given that I spent $79 on a Tomahawk 15 years ago, this is an incredible value, and a great trap.

Their home page is jammed packed full of everything. You can tell from the home page exactly what is there. It is great! I send homeowners who want to help their cats directly to Neighborhood Cats, because it's very clear and straightforward.

I see they now have a news feed up at the very top of the home page. This addition will keep me coming back. They are also on Facebook

So go right now to http://neighborhoodcats.org and make sure you bookmark it for future visits. Their history is worth a read. The final paragraphs sum up the current status of TNR in the animal welfare movement.

When to socialize kittens

It is amazing to look back on the last 15 years. Petfinder is fifteen but so are several other resources that provide us with options we did not have before.

For example, feral cat groups.

This morning when I opened my mail, there was a newsletter from Alley Cat Allies. (alleycat.org). In that newsletter was a link to their page of socializing kittens.

It provides all sorts of information that I had to figure out on my own in the past, for better or worse. Some of it wasn't an option back then. TNR, for example. It was socialization or death for feral kittens 20 years ago. Spay/neuter was rarer, and it was hard enough to get tame cats fixed, let alone wild ones.

ACA has grown up over the years (Well, so have I). I remember how offended I was when they released printed material that discouraged taming kittens, outright. Their understandable reasoning: if you have limited resources, spend it on TNR. If you have limited homes for shy cats (and all of us do), don't get stuck with unadoptable cats who were once shy kittens. They have since learned how to say the same thing without hitting you over the head with it. I have also changed. Twenty years ago, taming kittens was what I did. Nowadays, I don't have time. I can tame them up, but I don't have enough people coming and going to get them used to strangers. I don't have a husband around, getting them used to men. There are kittens I would TNR now, that I might not have 15 years ago, especially if they are in a safe location.

ACA now says that ultimately, the decision to tame or TNR is up to you, and then give you their tools for making that decision.

All groups will have vital resources that will benefit your work, and reading their web pages will help you remember there are other people out there who care about the same things you do.

If you haven't visited the Alley Cat Allies page in a long while, I would suggest a visit to remind yourself of what is there, and see what is new. For example, they have a great series of photos of kittens at various ages.

I'll be posting on other groups throughout this week--not so much to educate you about them, but to remind you they are there before kitten season rolls down upon us.

If it has not already.

On cats. On adoption.

I meant to have a photo here of the very first cat I ever adopted. Unfortunately my printer/scanner/fax seems to feel that being out of ink is good enough reason not to scan electronically. Last I knew, scanning didn't require ink. That, my friends, is how the "Oh my God, it's only $99" printer/scanner companies keep themselves in business.

$27 ink cartridges.

I adopted my first "own cat," Rastus, during my post-graduate year in high school. Yes, you can take post-grad sessions in high school. My friends had all gone off to college. I'd stayed behind for a boyfriend, fool that I was. I got a job--miracle!--at Four Winds Animal Hospital. I had a apartment, HBO, and $60 bucks a week. I worked nights, and during the day, with nothing much to do, I took business classes at the high school--a two mile walk from the clinic. The vice-principal didn't much know what to do with me. They let me roam the halls and come in late. I had no homeroom and no study halls. I took typing, shorthand, and choir.

Working at the hospital, my apartment was sometimes designated as a place for homeless cats to stay. At the time, I was hosting Bernadette, a cat that had belonged to a fired staff member. I wanted, however, a black kitten to replace my family cat, Thomas. I would regularly visit the Chenango County SPCA, which at that time was in Polkville, about a mile from the school. I would walk over after school to check out the kittens. They had plenty of black female kittens. But no black male kittens like Tommy.

One day, I walked over from the school at midday. Once again, there were no black kittens, but there were plenty of other kittens to play with. I opened a cage with a mom cat and a pile of peachy gray kittens. They all came tumbling out, and I frantically pushed them back. One, a fuzzy gray tiger, refused to detach from my sweater.

And so, I had a kitten.

I still have the receipt. "$3. Gray Kitten." It was 1980. I won't share the name of the person in my family who nicknamed by black family cat "Thomas Rastus." The nickname was racist, and I had NO CLUE. I named my little gray kitten Rastus, after my old cat Tommy, and for at least five years I had no idea why people gave me odd looks when I introduced them to my gray tiger cat. I believe I had graduated from college before someone made a racist comment using that name, and the light went on.

Rastus lived with me at the animal hospital and followed me around as I cleaned the clinic. After I went to college, he stayed at the hospital during the college semester, and came with me in the summer. I sent money to Dr. Briggs for boarding him, and at Christmas he gave it all back to me. Rastus grew fatter and fatter in the care of my replacement, to a point of no return. He slimmed down some when he was in my care, but nothing was going to shrink that huge swagbelly back down to normal.

My senior year in college, I had an apartment on campus. I smuggled Rastus in. My roommate Leslie also adopted a kitten, and we had a wonderful year together.

It was after I graduated and took a position as an ACO with the Tompkins County SPCA that Rastus's long-suffering role as a foster dad began. The first month of my job I adopted a kitten, Bramble. She pestered Rastus so awfully that I adopted a second kitten, Spot, to keep her company.

My first rescue was a week-old kitten. A woman had found the kitten in the yard, and she had no money for KMR. I knew if I took the kitten to the SPCA, he would be euthanized, so I kept him to raise him to adoption age. I stopped at the pet store to pick up a can of KMR and emptied my wallet. It was $13. I made $125 a week. The next day I took my guitar to Ithaca Guitar Works and sold it to pay for more. When he was eight weeks old I took him into the SPCA and went out on the road to work so I wouldn't see who adopted him. What if they weren't "good enough?" It's not like I would have a say in the matter. I still have the little note, on a tiny sheet of memo paper, that the adopters left me, thanking me for saving his life.

I can't remember the name of that kitten. He was the last kitten I took to the SPCA. From then on, I found homes for them myself.

Rastus ministered to the kitten while we had him. He washed him. He slept with him. He smacked him. He suffered being crawled over. And so it began with a steady progression of kittens. Rastus didn't much like them, but he put up with them because I asked him to.

My photo album is full of photos of Rastus with kitten after kitten, from the early years when his fur was glossy, to his older years when it was dull. He helped me with at least fifty feral kittens rescued from Ithaca College when I began working there in 1988.

Rastus's passing from cancer is a story in itself, and a painful one, ending in the suicide (a half-year afterward) of the veterinarian who did not want to put him down---a woman who could not stand that she could not save every pet in her care.

When the house was quiet with his loss, I sat and thought about the seventeen years we had been together. I was no longer the person I had been when he stuck to my sweater like a burr. And now I am no longer the person I was back when Rastus died.

I measure the progression of myself in the lifespan of cats.

Now there is Ivan. Ivan, a kitten I rescued in a rainstorm on Bald Hill Road, who bit me and won himself a ten-day quarantine and a place in my home forever. He is himself starting to go dull in his fur at age twelve. In my historical heart, Ivan is Rastus. And after Ivan passes (hopefully many years from now) there will be another cat, who will also mesh in my memory into that first special friend I adopted from the Chenango County SPCA so very long ago.

The Chenango County SPCA as I knew it was bulldozed for highway improvements. They are now the Chenango SPCA. They now have a beautiful shelter and a gracious big cat room with a huge cat tree that is a map of Chenango County (you must visit it one day, if you have not). The Tompkins County SPCA now no longer euthanizes one-week-old kittens. Times change. We all learn. We all suffer. We all grow.

Time moves on. But the soul of an adopted or rescued pet remains a living memory. Sadly, their lives are shorter than ours. But there will always be another, and another, and there will always be love.

Free adoption tag on Adopt The Internet Day.

Tell your friends. If they are one of the first 200 ADOPTERS to let Rockin Doggie know they adopted a pet today, they can get a great adoption charm free! I seriously want one, but alas, the last thing I need is to adopt another dog. Molly would love it. The cats would despair :)

Thank you, RockinDoggie!

(BTW my blog posts are Facebookable and Tweetable by clicking the icons below to share this easily).

Your homework and mine. Write about your adoption experience...

Today is Adopt the Internet Day and the launch of Petfinder's fifteen birthday.

15 years ago, if you wanted to adopt a pet, you had to look up your shelter in the phone book, and find out what hours they happened to be open. Some people found the sheer number of pets, the sights, the sounds, the smells, overwhelming, and would not go--even though they knew it was the right thing to do. They "would want to take them all home"--and ended up saving none.

They would get their next pet from the newspaper classifieds, from folks who did not yet realize that not spaying and neutering their pets, and allowing them to have "just one litter," was killing lost and homeless pets in our shelters.

If you decide to add a pet to your life now, you can start looking right from your desk at work, or your laptop in the morning. Even if you don't mind visiting a shelter to "browse," you can find your shelter's hours easily, or the times when a local adoption group will have their pets at Petco or Petsmart for you to visit. This new exposure for homeless pets has helped save millions of lives. It has put one shelter in touch with another to move pets from overfull shelters to shelters with space. It has enabled foster groups to assist shelters as well. It has enabled new foster groups to start up, knowing they have a place to feature the pets they rescue and care for.

Even if you rescued your pet off "the street," you helped a shelter by keeping that pet out of the shelter system and giving them room for another pet in need.

To celebrate the changes yesterday and today, and the changes we may experience tomorrow, please post a story today about your adopted pet, so your readers will keep adoption in mind.

And I'd really love it if you would link to the Adopt The Internet day page! Let me know in the comments when you post!

Animals help, and need help, in Japan.

AP Photo

Post Note: Serbian Animals In Need blog has a very comprehensive list of links to assist animals in this triple disaster in Japan.

Also, The Daily Tail

In the aftermath of the incredible multiple disasters in Japan, animals are both helping, and need help there. Canine search teams are prepared to head out..Unfortunately, existing restrictions on import of animals to Japan have resulted in roadblocks.

While the death toll here grows by the hour, U.S. officials said they are working with the Japanese to expedite approval of dog teams from Virginia and California now on their way to Japan to avoid similar bureaucratic snafus. The 150 American rescuers and their 12 dogs trained to find survivors will arrive in Japan today.

World Vets is also mobilizing to assist animals in need in Japan. I've placed their fundraising widget in the column to the right if you are able to give.

Healthy Pets & People reminds us to be prepared--for our pets' sake--in case disaster strikes our own lives. There is also disaster preparedness information on Petfinder's disaster page.

Go to the Blogpaws blog for more links.

Run like a rabbit and go! Adopt-the-Internet Day, March 15

I know I have shelter and rescue bloggers who visit here daily. This is a great opportunity to get extra web traffic and help find more homes for homeless pets. If you know of a shelter/rescue who blogs, please pass this on!

In honor of Petfinder.com's 15th birthday year they have named Tuesday March 15, Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet Day. It's a day devoted to spreading the word about pet adoption, so people think adoption when they decide to bring a pet into their lives.

It is basically a takeover of the Internet from now through March 15 (and beyond?) so the web is buzzing about adoption everywhere you look.

Petfinder is hosting a blog hop and asking websites and bloggers everywhere to talk about pet adoption. You or the organizations you adopted a pet from can be on there if you--or they--have a blog.

So you don't have a blog? If you have a Facebook page or Twitter account you can also participate.

Petfinder will be including a "linky" on their landing page on March 15 where you can add your post links. They will also be sharing your links all day on Twitter and will be promoting the landing page with the links on Facebook all day. They have over 100k followers on Facebook and over 11k on Twitter. That's a lot of people finding your post and learning about adoption from you.

Here is the landing page: http://www.petfinder.com/info/adopt-the-internet  You can find badges to post on your blog or website, and more.

So...all you have to do is post just once between March 1 and March 14th about Adopt the Internet Day. That shouldn't be hard, since almost everyone here has adopted or rescued a pet and has a story to tell. ;)

Then, on March 15th--the big day--devote at least one blog post to the subject of pet adoption. You can write about what it means to you, share your own adoption story, tell your readers why adoption is so important.

You can also feature one of the shelter and rescue-nominated Adopt-the-Internet All-Star Adoptable pets at http://www.petfinder.com/adopt-the-internet-2011/gallery I believe Tiger Tom is in there, but I haven't clicked all 400-some pets yet.

Petfinder also has a giveaway for people who pledge to tell one friend about pet adoption. They have ways to share on social media and more. I'll send more information about that in a later post tonight.

Even ICanHasCheezburger is involved. You can caption adoptable pets!

Send me a link to your post--one now to spread the word, and another on March 15 to share your words on adoption--and I'll add it below. I'll also repost the list to get as much traffic as possible to everyone who participates. That will be happening all over the internet. Thanks!

DFW Rescue
Examiner.com
Yahoo Contributor Network
Petfinder Blog (of course)
A Canine Opines
Dogtime.com

Not boothing at Community Showcase, but will visit

Between traveling to NJ, and a quick trip I need to take to Syracuse, I've decided not to have a booth at the Community Showcase, although I will stop by to visit. I need the time open on Sunday for people to visit here who definitely want to adopt, and with Saturday taken up with other things, I need every Sunday hour I can get. (Alice, maybe you could give me a ring when you leave Light On The Hill and we could meet at the Showcase for a walkabout? I'll email you).

Trying to decide if I should go to the Community Business Showcase

The last few years I have gone to the Spencer Community Business Showcase. So many people go, but I'm always surprised how few people I know, myself. Last year was fun because more friends visited. I did also get an adoption from it--not that day, but later.

Arthur was last year's poster kitty. Alas, he is still here. I thought this year I would take Portia, given how friendly she is. Arthur was a little nervous last year. Portia probably wouldn't mind being carted around the room in my arms.

Will any local folks come by and say hi? It really is fun to walk through. I may take the pop-up nylon cage, instead of hauling along the heavy metal one. But I haven't yet decided if I will go.

It is Sunday March 6.

Old friends at the vet

Now and then I run into old friends when I take new cats into Cornerstone Veterinary Hospital.

Two weeks ago I ran into Schubert and Tuck, who were in for their yearly checkup. (Were they both in that crate? Can you believe I can't recall if it was Schubert or both of them now? Gettin' old...)

And when I was in this past week, Dr. Armao let me know I had just missed Shakespeare. Apparently he is doing great!

I wonder what percentage of clients at Cornerstone are Wildrun or Lucky Day Rescue cats?

If I lived with Maru...

I would be laughing so hard I would get nothing done.

Sir Morgan gets his "Proceed to New Home" card

A mere two weeks after posting a video for Sir Morgan, he found a home. It looks like it's time to get more cute video for the rest of the cats! Poor Morgan has been here over a year, stuck in a cage at night to keep him from constantly grazing from the big shared food bowl and because he sometimes copped an attitude with other male cats. Now he's off to a home where he will be the one-and-only, and someone is home all day to fuss over him, too!

Cutest pink nose ever -- Sir Morgan

Zootie amuses the household

Tyler torments Molly...and Molly thinks it's great

Poor Molly. Tyler is the only cat who will play with her. It's like the kid on the schoolyard who thinks the bully really likes her when he pushes her.

At least I'm warm inside

Molly was on the porch during all of this, just staring and quivering. I was amazed she was as quiet as she was. But it was finally one small woof that sent them running away.

Next week it should be in the 40s, so hopefully it will melt off some of the snow, making it easier for them to get around.

Snow

Making felted cat toys

Now and then I run across things on the internet that I just have to play with. Usually I experiment once with them, and that's it. A few weeks ago I saw this neat way to make felted cat toys. I figured I'd try it out when some wool came my way. I mentioned it at a "girl's night out" and one of my friends, who has a sheep farm, said "Oh, don't buy it, I'll bring some next time!"

And she did. :) In beautiful dyed colors, yet. Friends are good.

I may ask her if I can buy a big bag of anything extra she may have, so I can make a bunch, before the novelty wears off. I tried infusing them in catnip tea, but they just smell like wet wool to me. I can snip open the hole where I inserted the bell in the wiffle ball and funnel catnip in, then sew them closed again, however.

About the only thing that grows well on this property is catnip (and the deer don't eat it!) I'm thinking of planting a quarter acre of it this summer, to sell or give to folks who make cat toys. Believe it or not, there are a lot of them. I grew two rows of it about 5 years ago and while drying and cleaning it was a pain, it was nice to have bags and bags of catnip!

Trying to get creative. Kittens not cooperating.

The best way to come up with ideas for good photos is to steal them from other groups. :) I was on Petfinder and noticed one group using a heart Valentine pillow to help their cats standout. Yesterday I was shopping, and lo-and-behold, Valentine's "stuff" was on sale, 50% off, and here was a blanket and pillow combo. I set them up on a chair in the den, hoping Tyler and Zootie would curl up on it at some point so I could get a photo without subjecting them to a forced session.

Well, I got MY cats...

The kittens prefer their new handmade-with-love blankies.

Espie checks in

I love getting photos of Espie. Espie was rescued by Valarie and Craig. She was preggers, but I was traveling to Colorado, I think, and by the time I got back, Espie was packing kittens instead of a big belly. Espie's kittens all got great homes, but Espie's wonderful personality was stuck here at Wildrun until Donna and Tim, who care for the cats while I travel, finally decided they just couldn't leave her behind.

And now she is spoiled rotten, and has many friends, both canine and feline.

More beds for orphans

georg dropped a hint that a present would be arriving at the P.O. Box. The weather has keep me at home. I've been chained to the computer during the day, and it has been too cold to go out and chip ice after dark.

Today at around 2:00 pm, with the sun streaming down, I announced via IM that I just had to deal with the snow on my car and in the drive.

I hadn't had a chance to check work mail all week either, so once the car was unburied, I zipped out to the post office. There indeed, inside my PO Box, was one of the magic keys to one of the package-keeper mailboxes. I opened it up, and there was a squishy brown paper wrapped package. Early Valentine's Day!

There was also a reminder in both PO Boxes that it was time to pay rental, so I stopped at the window to pay, and to pick up whatever warranted the yellow "signature needed" card that had also been in my PO Box. When she saw my card she said "Oh you have a package!" I insisted I'd already gotten it. She said "No, you have a BIG package." And out she came with a huge box!

When I came home, I opened up the packages and dived into many many beautiful cat blankets. As usual, my house cat perked up their ears and came over. At 3:00 in the afternoon, they are a little snoozy. True to fickle cat-ness, Ivan chose to nap on the bag...

...and Tyler chose to get IN the other.

As you can see, they are like Me and Mini-Me, which is why Tyler needs to find a home--before I resolve to keep him. Luckily Ivan had picked up those vibes, and has begun to get a little pissy with Tyler. This is good. I am intent on keeping peace in my household, and Ivan is the king. What Ivan wants, Ivan gets.

I'm looking forward to taking the box of blankets out to the cat facility where they will be properly appreciated by the cats for whom they were intended. I'm going to wait until the sun is up so I can get some video of them.

Thank you, Handmade House in NJ, and georg in Endicott, NY!

Zootie finds his niche

Zootie spent his first two days exploring the house and growling all the while. He wanted everyone to like him, but he wasn't sure. He'd headbutt the dog...and growl. Try to play with Tyler...growling. Tyler took it in stride. Nellie, the matriarch, gave him quite a smack. She wasn't having any of it.

After 48 hours, the growling faded away and and he acts like he never left. He curls up in my elbow while I work, and runs around with a plastic bottle top in his mouth (video on that later). The first two nights he was content to stay in the boarding rooms. The third night he howled mournfully. The fourth night, I put him and Tyler together for the night, and that's how it has remained. They seem happy enough with all the beds and toys to themselves.

Can I get a photo of him with his beautiful eyes open? No--he blinks at the flash.

He's happy and healthy, and ready to go live with someone else!

Zootie returns

Zootie's family emailed to say that it just wasn't working out. Zootie wasn't bonding with the family (who has two very active young boys) and he would not let them pet him. He interacted with the other cat in the household, but not with them. So absolutely, we will take him back. We have a "no questions asked" clause for our cats. Of course, I do ask some questions. "Is he using the litterbox," etc. I was assured he does use the box, although apparently he doesn't cover his handiwork.

I was concerned about getting back a kitten who was really shy, after four months in another household. But Zootie has been very affectionate since his arrival here, and lets me carry him around. He immediately comes to me when I walk into the room, and rubs around my legs. Perhaps, having grown up in a quiet household with a woman, he just doesn't know what to make of men and normal active boys.

So we'll just need to find him a quiet home with a woman. He is quite cautious of the cats outside the door to his room, and hissed at Myssie, his sister. Over time, I'm sure he'll get used to them. I'll keep him restricted for a few days until he is more comfortable.

Greene colony continued

I received an update from the folks in Greene who are TNRing their cats. "George" was picture-perfect in the pre-baiting stage. They fed him in the trap up until the night before the vet appointment.

George apparently was quickly caught at the appointed time and made it safely to the vet, where it was discovered "Georgie" was in fact "Georgie-Girl." We know how that goes!

Please note the perfect use of two slit pillowcases to cover the trap. This beats the heck of out bundling the trap up in an ungainly sheet (although a sheet is still good if you need to house the cat overnight and want to be sure he/she doesn't pull the cover off). These nice neat covers make things a lot less cumbersome on you, the vet, and don't take up 1/3 of a load of laundry afterward.

...and then moved successfully into the feral cat den I lent them (they already had everything else they needed).

After a week or more of rest in a warm, sheltered, indoor location in her cage, Georgie-Girl will be freed back outside the house, to face a kitten-free spring!

And then it will be Shadow's turn:

Rather than housing and adopting out cats, this is really what I would like to do: Create a spay/neuter fund that would finance spay/neuter for people like this, have an equipment bank to lent traps, cages, and dens to the public, and provide training.

It's just a 501(c)(3) away...

(note: Why not just kill the cats? Ecocatwoman has a great post this morning summarizing why this hasn't worked. And she blogged TWO HOURS before I did this morning. She is far more productive on a Saturday morning than I am!

Girl Bob gets a home

Her new owner was searching for a play-and-snuggle-buddy for her active 10-year-old cat who recently lost his feline friend to kidney disease.

I think Girl Bob has the snuggling part down pretty well, don't you? Here she is practicing with Tyler:

Because Girl Bob is so tiny, I'm taking her to the vet for a pre-adoption vet visit. She was checked quickly before she was spayed, but I think a good listening-to is in order.

I've received a bunch of inquiries on Tyler. Some have been gift requests. Tyler is complex enough that he really needs to be specifically chosen. He was very charming with Kim, who adopted Girl Bob, after being quite nervous around the couple who came by earlier in the weekend. Somewhere out there is the right home for him.

Folks who want to learn

Every now and then I get a wonderful and rare email. The person won't be wanting to adopt a cat from me. They won't be wanting me to take a cat from me. They won't be wanting me to fix any cats for them.

They will have feral cats of their own that appeared one day, the way feral cats do. They will already have taken some good steps to care for them. They will have already realized they need to fix the cats before spring arrives. They will have already been wise enough to look for help online. That's how they usually find me.

You want me to do ANYTHING for you? Just send me a photo like this:

Her name is Shadow.

I lend you anything I own if you have already taken steps to get your porch cats safe and warm. These kitties are from Greene NY, my very first hometown, where I lived until I was 4. Their caretakers were already well on the way the TNRing them. I sent them to the Neighborhood Cats page to buy one of their special "cat trap and isolator" packages and told them I'd be happy to lend them a feral cat den.

They came out on Sunday and brought their new trap (so shipping must really be fast!) It was the first time I'd seen the trap, and I'm very happy with it and will continue to recommend it. The flat hand-guard needs to be removed, because the edges are too sharp and a frantic cat, or a mistakenly caught raccoon, could shred their paws on it (been there, done that, in my nuisance wildlife control days). With the hand-guard removed, it is important to keep gloves on. I miss some of the older traps that used to just have extra wire bars as a hard-guard, so the animal could not reach through. Or the hand-guard should be thicker and the edges smoothed.

Other than that, it's a beautiful trap. I still like that the Safeguard traps I own are a bit wider than the Tomahawk. A plastic double food bowl does not fit easily in the Tomahawk, and it does in the Safeguard. But the wider pan, and the easy back door lock, more than make up for overall width in the new Tomahawk. If you buy the kit, you also get an isolator (which I need to start calling a "trap divider", which nowadays is required equipment for safe and humane feral cat handling. The price for the kit is very affordable for what you get. Previously I steered people away from Tomahawk traps because they were quite expensive. You could get two nice wide Safeguards for the cost of one Tomahawk trap. Not any more!

I may still buy the Safeguards myself (maybe) but for a new trapper, the Tomahawk is a beautiful thing, especially that wide trip pan that a cat is less likely to step over, and that easy-as-pie backdoor latch.

We talked about getting the cat out of the trap and into the den, and into the cage. They already had a wire cage so did not need to borrow the one I have. We visited the cats upstairs. It was a joy to talk to people who obviously cared about their cats because it was simply the right thing to do.

This kitten is so beautiful he almost doesn't look real!

Once these cats are fixed, there will be no growing population of kittens next spring, and no hungry mother cat catching birds or whatever she can get her paws on to feed her litter.

That's what it's all about.

Girl Bob video

...and me babytalking. Must. Stop. This.

Faith, with a cameo by Arthur, and Morgaine

I'm not sure why it is slightly greyed out. It looks bright and clear on the camcorder.



The mewing in the background is not Faith, it is Cinnabon, who was very distressed that I was paying attention to someone else than her. Unfortunately we never got to hear Faith's cute little chirpy voice.

Here is little Morgaine with her pretty sunny face:

Baby, it's cold out there...

Brrrrrr! It's really cold out there. The banner arrived yesterday. It is smaller than I expected, but still quite visible. I'll order a larger one the next time I need to do a VistaPrint order. The large banners aren't "free"--the small ones are.  I wanted to attach this a bit closer to the road, but the ground there isn't even enough to use a ladder, and I'm quite careful with ladders. I don't want to be one of those "found frozen in the snow" stories in the local news.

We had visitors yesterday, but Tyler was wary of the gentleman. I think I need to be clearer on my pet profiles that people will need to sit quietly with my cats for ten minutes before trying to pick them up. If a kitten or cat gets grabbed before they are comfortable with the situation, they aren't likely to let themselves get grabbed again. I need to do a better job of conveying this to visitors. Their current cat is a real mush-ball, so I think they will be happier with an outgoing cat/kitten of more traditional background. So Tyler is still here with me, but is very welcome.

The light was good this morning (as good as it can get in the cat facility) so I spent some time taking video. It's faster to take than it is to upload to YouTube via my tiny netbook (about 50 minutes for a long video). Once I've learned to cut and edit the videos, this time will go down, but I'm not there yet--not due to lack of aptitude, but due to lack of time. In other words, I haven't even tried.

So once Faith's video is done chugging along, I'll post a link here.

Stay warm!

Longfellow and Wiggles find a wonderful home

A few weeks ago, I posted that Longfellow was off to a new home in NYC. Well, sadly, that home fell through. The adopters found a cat closer to home, and while we are always happy when any homeless cat is adopted, it was a disappointment. There had been lots of preparations for the the trip (the vet visit, the new tires "just in case" a snowstorm hit, the borrowed GPS, the new camcorder to be sure the adopters had more than just photos and emails to view, etc.).

All of these are investments I needed to make anyway. I probably wouldn't have lumped them all together, but the camcorder is getting me increased inquiries on my other kittens, the new tires are like Velcro in the snow, and Longfellow was due for his vet visit anyway.

It seems like there is almost always a reason "things happen." Because not only has Longfellow been adopted into a new local home, his sister Wiggles has as well!

Renee and her family had adopted a totally feral cat from me for their barn about six years ago (I believe?), and given him a wonderful life (ongoing vet care, a new barn cat buddy, a new barn when they moved). Renee has periodically sent updates--even a photo of her hugging a cat I had been certain was forever unhuggable. They were now looking for a pair of kittens upon the passing of their beloved house cat.

They came to visit, and while the kittens were charming, it was Wiggles who pulled out all the stops, drawing brother Longfellow along with her. She climbed right into laps, purring loudly and gazing soulfully into their eyes.

Guess what?

Today Renee sent photos of Longfellow and Wiggles, now Comet and Halley, well-settled into a beautiful home where they are now the one-and-onlys.  Just like every cat deserves. A home of their very own.

"They slept with us the very first night and have been pretty much every night since.  Once in awhile I hear one of them raising heck with the toys in the living room.  Usually it is Comet, but last night it was Halley because Comet was sleeping next to me!

Our favorite game has been to take the feathers they have torn off toys and put them on the forced air vents on the floor when the heat is running.  The feathers fly up and look like moths.  It is great fun for all of us and the feathers are getting "recycled"!  I expect great things from them when we get moths in the house next summer"

I have to say, the first evening they were gone, it was a bit of a shock when I shook the treat bag, and only my five pet cats came running out. Some readers may shake their heads at five, but for years I had seven pets cats. Two passed away, and Longfellow and Wiggles got house privileges to maintain the status quo. Five cats may seem like a lot, but seven is pretty much a swarm!

When only five cats fit quietly around two plates in my kitchen, it seemed downright quiet around here. In bed that night....I had no cats! None of my oldsters was willing to brave the cold and come up to keep me company!

Ivan has since realized he will have no competition upstairs (and remembers there is an electric blanket) so he has finally started joining me. Toward morning, Nellie comes up as well. 

I will miss Longfellow and Wiggles. I have to say I got a bit weepy-eyed when their photos arrived. But there could not be a better home for them. I could not have written a fairy tale that ends this well.

It's not like we can't find kittens who would like to fill the vacancy...

Right?

Right?

By the way, handsome grey Tyler has a visitor tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for him!

Tyler and Girl Bob videos

No music, no commentary, nothing amazing, just young cats!

Tyler, examining the distractions in the Great Room:



Tinsel-ball soccer with Girl Bob:

How is your back, Gretchen?

The ceiling in Room One is done! Thank you, Gretchen!