One Ear is off to the vet

Kat, who feeds the Fast Food Ferals on weekdays, noted to me via email that she had seen One Ear, and he was limping badly.

There are only three cats on the north side of Route 13 nowadays: Vannie, One-Ear, and a new long furred brown-and-white guy. This weekend, Mark and I went to Ithaca College, where he handed off his car to me, and then I drove down to where the cats are fed on Route 13 to set two traps.

The lumber yard had only one vehicle in the parking lot, so I was able to pull the car up to where I could watch the traps. The sun was out, and I'd brought my laptop. I spent half my time working, and the other half sitting with my eyes closed, victim to the cold that just won't go away.

Vannie came out as soon as I walked away, sniffed the trap, glared toward the car, and walked away. I wouldn't have minded getting her for a rabies booster, but I was just as glad that she didn't fill up a trap. One Ear showed up about a half-hour later and walked right in.

It looks like his right rear paw is injured, rather than his leg. That's good. A broken leg on a feral cat probably would have meant euthanasia. An injured paw may just mean antibiotics and some cage rest. We'll let a vet (and an radiograph) decide. In the meantime, he has snorfed up a jar of turkey baby food here in his cage at Wildrun. I can't tell yet if he's actually feral-born or just a shy stray. His "missing ear" is just crumpled up due to ear mite scarring or a past hematoma. He has quite a few mats and will benefit from a good combing while under anesthesia.

At least he'll be off to the vet. Thanks, Kat, for letting us know!

Turn your lights off!

Now!

And computers for good measure. Bye!

Arnot Maple Weekend - tomorrow too!

This is the best six bucks you could spend this weekend on "fun":


We laughed at this. Yes, these signs sum up NYS weather. Next week, if the sun keeps shining, this could well be a wildflower trail once again!






There were a lot more people when we were eating. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture until a low-volume moment.



There were lots of children, all well-behaved, and all cute as sin! We aren't particularly "kid" people. We tend to borrow them once they are old enough to go for hikes or ride horses. Nonetheless, we enjoyed smiling at this crop of small humans, as the parents who chose to bring them out here to a true NY outdoor weekend event.




If you need something fast to do this weekend to give yourself a breather, definitely drive on out to the Arnot Forest. There is a link in the post below.

Wear boots! You might want to tuck an extra few dollars in your wallet to bring home some maple syrup, t-shirt, maple candy, or a temporary tattoo for the kids.

Yeah, yeah, for the kids.



It was a nice way to spend an hour on a Saturday morning.

Arnot Forest Maple Weekend

...is today and tomorrow. We are on our way now, while the cats stay home and lounge in front of the fire on this snowy Saturday.

Rescue Ink

"Coming to an abuser near you.

And they do TNR.

Post note: the comments in the comment section below are meant for Rescue Ink, not Wildrun. I assure you I wasn't on TV the other day. :) I am thinking about getting a tattoo now, though, ya think?

WWF Earth Hour. Turn off your lights tomorrow at 8pm.

I got this email just a moment ago:

This Saturday! Participate with Planet Green in World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour

On Saturday, March 29, Discovery will join forces with World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour campaign to raise awareness about electricity conservation and lowering carbon emissions. The simple act of turning off the lights for one hour will deliver a powerful message about how everyone can positively impact the planet.

As a part of Discovery's global Planet Green initiative, One Discovery Place will turn off its lights on the evening of March 29. Discovery also encourages you to participate by joining millions of people around the world in this effort - by both turning off your office lights and equipment as you leave and going dark at home on Saturday at 8 PM (local time).

To sign up and learn more, please visit www.earthhour.org.

Then I went to earthhour.org and watched this:



We'll be turning off our lights. How about you?

SNOW? What? WHAT!!!!

Tonight
A mixture of snow and rain developing this evening. Snow accumulation of 1 to 4 inches...with the greatest amounts over the higher terrain in the northern portions of the counties. Lows in the lower 30s. Light and variable winds. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.

Friday
Rain and snow becoming all snow during the morning... then mostly cloudy with a chance of snow showers in the afternoon. Total snow accumulation of 2 to 5 inches...with the greatest amounts over the higher terrain in the northern portions of the counties. Highs in the upper 30s. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.


Drat!!!! I want spring!

Cat agility. No, really.

Sad and sobering visit home

Today Mark and I drove to Greene to have dinner with our families for Easter at The Baron's Inn. We arrived 20 minutes early. I suggested we drive into the village and down the lane along the river to my family's old home.



We had driven down a few years ago as well, so I knew she had fallen into disrepair. I expected this time to find she had been bulldozed. However, there she was. She had progressed from "disrepair" to "rotting." She has perhaps reached the point of no return.

She was beautiful once. She is even, in her way, beautiful now.


You could buy her, and the failed factory they built across the driveway from her. This photo is from the factory's photo album.

There she sits with just our memories.

Happy Easter

We received this from Donna this morning. Thanks, Donna!

Everyone have a wonderful (hopefully sunny) day!

It's a hit. Thanks, Cary!

If it'll hold Wings, it'll hold anyone!

I find things funny when it's late at night.

Purloined from Stuff On My Cat.

Definitely an instrument of torture

At least it's assembled, and you didn't have to hear the swearing. Mark finally took pity on me and helped at one point where I was literally whining. Yes, whining. That's what having a cold for two solid weeks does to me.

The house kitties get to check it out for an hour, and then I'll be taking it out to the cat facility. In the snow. Yes, more SNOW!



Thank you, Cary! It will be fun to see what the facility cats make of this. How long before it's over on it's side, because they think it's more fun that way? I'm not certain it was made to handle 4-8 rambunctious cats at a time. We'll see!

Blog present for the cats...

I think it's a gift.



Then again, perhaps it's an instrument of torture. I'll let you know shortly.



Nick likes it, and it's not even assembled yet.

"New" tables for the cage room

Recently these two 22-year old Steelcase tables found their way to us (versus being turned into metal bits). They weigh a ton, which is why they survived to be 22 years old. Mark helped me take them up to the second floor and reassemble them on Sunday morning.



Instead of two plastic folding tables, one on each side of the room, we have room for four cages all along one side. This opens up the room quite a bit. If we need more cages, we can always reinstall a folding table.

The folding tables will go downstairs and replace the dining room table that is on the first floor. We'll sell that at a spring garage sale or give it away. Anyone need an indestructible dark-wood kitchen/dining room table with a removable leaf?

I gave up on the refrigerator. I seldom use it, and it is just one more thing to clean (and clean around). I'll use the refrigerator in the house for Clavamox and kitten formula. I hauled that downstairs and Mark has staked a claim on the cart that previously bore it. That's just as well, because the shy cats always hid beneath it and it was so difficult to get them out.

So here is the new and improved cage room:




It's looking a little sterile. I think a cat tree with sleeping levels on that back wall where the white desk-like thing is would be a good addition. When the cage cats are at liberty they would have something besides just the tops of the cages and the chair to lie on.

Improvement? This was what it looked like two Christmases ago when we were still using sawhorses and the walls had not been painted by friends.



With Ebu adopted there are only five cats in this room (jubilation!). There are six cats total in the three cat runs, and seven cats in the cat room. Eighteen cats, total. Wow, we having fewer than 20 cats! It's been a long time coming.

Dr. Shakespeare will be coming out in two weeks to give the entire clan a once-over and vaccinations. This is always an adventure, because some of the long-termers are not amenable to being picked up. This is where that high-tech cat restraint device -- the towel -- comes in handy. That, and a lot of patience.

Ebu gets a home!

Today Ebu was chosen by a family to be part of their home. He will be off to the vet's office to have his healthy pet check, and then will be going to his new home for good.



Tonight I tucked everyone else away so I could spend some goodbye time with just Ebu. And lo, shy Kitty Corn (who is never caged) came down right away to join in the play.





Ebu was a bit shy with a family of four, and he was especially surprised to discover that humans come in smaller sizes, but he did let the boy pet him when he (Ebu) was up on a counter and could look down on his new friend.

And it must be meant to be. The first three letters of his new family's license plate? "EBU"...just like ours.

One big surprise was that Espie LOVED the boy. So it appears she would do fine in a household with children. In fact, had she lobbied just a little harder, she might have stolen Ebu's home away from him.

Sooner or later her home will come. She puts a smile on the face of everyone who meets her.

Way to go, Ebu!

An evening with the cats

Late this evening I finally replaced the carpet on the climbing wall in the cat facility. Pulling down the old carpet was a drag. Watching the cats zoom up the new carpet made it all worth it. A new laser pointer provided encouragement.

Believe it or not, the chubbies, Wings and Dustin, were the first ones to try it out.



I haven't had a laser pointer up in the cat facility for over a year, I think. They were thrilled with the novelty.



I also got out some other special toys. Ebu and the youngsters enjoyed the cloth tunnel.



Perci was absolutely enthralled by the laser pointer. Check out those eyes!



It was the first time in a long while that I just sat and played with the gang. It was 1:15 am before I tucked them in and came in to the house.

Maestro is right at home!

It looks like Maestro is settled in quite nicely in his new home. It's always a load off my mind when I see that an adopted feline (especially a shy cat)is doing just fine without me!

For the second time in a week, we've received video instead of photos from a foster/adoptive home. The only challenge in posting video rather than pictures is the wait involved as the file uploads. As Cary found when placing video on my Petfinder site, it helps to close down other programs you may have running, if you are posting very large videos.

So much for the "shy kittens!" Maestro and Marimba (now "Cosmo") must have inherited some pretty friendly genes from their parents. Even though they were rescued when they were past the seven-weeks-of-age socialization stage, they certainly seem to be blissfully happy in their new human homes.

So, is Maestro still "Maestro?" Or does he have a new name?

Meant to blog Pedigree for a long while

And I think I should tonight.

Do have tissues available.

Opening the mail.

I opened the mail today. The physical. And the virtual.

The virtual mail held calls for help. There is a cat in a ceiling in Ithaca. And a pregnant cat on the streets of Waverly.

The physical mail held two cards. One in my home mailbox, with a check for $150 from Maestro's rescuer (Maetro's kind adopter, see what your choice has wrought?) and one in my Wildrun P.O. Box for $200 from Shakespeare's adopter.

$350 which will do cats much good. It will cover our vet account balance, with a generous amount left over.

Not to mention that someone (Amazon knows who?) donated $100 (two $50 donations) this last month via this blog's Amazon.com donation button.

So, Waverly folks, set your traps with abandon! Get your pregnant kitty and also Orange Juice, and let me know if you need traps, since I picked one more up from the NSYWMA conference.

Donations are like stars from the sky for me. I regard each one with appreciative surprise and amazement. For so many years, we didn't even ask for adoption fees, and every single dollar came out-of-pocket. For, what...15 years?

I will always remember our first donation. We decided that we would fix all the cats on the fast food strip in Ithaca in 2002. I made this seemingly absurd announcement at work, and Nancy J. of Ithaca College walked into my tiny closet of an office and handed me a check for $600. 12 years of nothing, to one moment of everything.

Stars from the sky.

Most of this past two years of generosity I must attribute to this weblog. When speaking at a conference last week, I asked for a show of hands and only one person had a blog for their shelter. Look what our small 100 reader blog has done for our small rescue. It has provided volunteers, donations, adoptions, and help (resources and info from our commenters). Imagine what a good 1000-reader blog would do for a small humane society? Please encourage your shelter to invite their community into their day-to-day work with a blog!

Let your readers be stars from the sky. Even those who cannot afford to give dollars nonetheless visit, listen, and gives one more tick on your stats, which makes you sigh with relief that Somebody Cares.

It's gotten to the point that we aren't the only ones rescuing cats on this blog.

You are.

Thank you!