Dear Diary - more kitties on the way

Greta and her babies are doing great. That's a relive, because my husband just brought me another pregnant one. She is barely a kitten herself. I told you about her in this post in February 20. She is the grown kitten that I was almost able to put into a carrier but she got agitated and broke free from my arms, breaking my good winter coat too...  We had one trap with us and we prioritized to catch the small kitten Oscar, that got adopted immediately trough Org T. Then we stopped trapping as the animal help organizations adoption centers closed. They weren't and aren't even doing TNR. And my house was full of cats, I didn't want to bring in more.

But, I should have better taken her in, because now she is pregnant, and because she is like a teenager, it its a riskier birth. She also may not know how to care for the babies. So, I've left Grata and her babies out of the closet and I put Kiki in the closet.

I don't have to worry much about Greta kittens eating or not making it. But I check on them often as they  can move out of their bedding and I don't want them to get stuck somewhere and get cold. Greta looks after them, and I caught her moving them in her mouth, but she cannot handle six at a time. I cannot tell you cute they are! 

And Kiki, she is shy, but she doesn't look unhappy. I think  outdoor she was chassed by the boys, and they can be aggressive. She is resting and eating for two or more... I think she may have few more weeks to go before she's due, she is not that big.

The rest of the indoor cats are doing fine, and getting along, thanks God! 

The outdoor ones are also fine, my husbands feeds them regularly. The weather is nice, they are happy about that. 

And I'm happy too that we are out of the winter without significant losses.

Dear Diary - taking care of the kittens

As I told you, Greta had six kittens. Just four of them seamed to fit to eat at once. Of course those that were the smallest were always pushed away by their siblings So I found myself having to choose between feeding them myself, from a bottle with kitten milk formula, or going once every hour and moving all the kittens around so all of them had a chance to eat.

Newborn kittens are soo small and soo limp, and their umbilical cord is still raw. So I wanted to avoid having to touch and handle them too much. Feeding from a bottle has the danger of not feeding enough or overfeeding, plus you have to burp them, but the biggest danger is for them to inhale the milk (if too much is coming from the bottle) and damage their lungs.

So I chose to try to rotate all the kittens at the mom nipples. I had to stay on my knees and hold the little ones while they were eating. And they would eat for few minutes and fall asleep, and their brothers would push them away and take their places, and then they would fall asleep. So then I would put back at the nipples the little ones. I was both worried and physically hurting. Theoretically I knew I would have to weight them all every day to see if they indeed gain weight. But after the first two days they seemed to gain similar weight (the starting weight was very different) and I just didn't have the energy to weight them every day, so I developed the "squeeze test", I should patent it, it worked great... I would gently squeeze the kittens belly to be sure they are plump, so full...

An interesting thing I found on the internet, is that each kitten puts its own pheromones on the mom nipple, and each of them goes and eat from that specific nipple all the time. So after the first days, I tried to be aware of which kittens eats on what nipple. They seemed to be only four easily accessible nipples. But, as I kept moving them around, one of the biggest kittens gave up on its nipple and went  underneath its siblings. The place that s/he gave up was just under the back leg of mom, protected.  So one of the little kittens found its safe place to eat. I've tried to put the other little kitten on the nipple near the moms front leg, but it wasn't such a success, s/he was moved as the others were moving. So I had to go to them for the whole week, really once every hour, to be sure everybody is eating and to help the one that was always pushed away.

So it was hard work, but they are all doing fine and getting cuter and cuter!

Dear Diary - the kittens were born

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

Sooo, Greta gave birth.

At first I put her in the closet in the spare bedroom. Moms with kittens seem to enjoy living in a small space, they feel safer. But Greta wasn't a mom yet so she didn't really enjoy to stay in the closet, especially as my other cats went to that room and to the closet door. So I left Greta roam in that whole room, but by herself. She was very happy and very cuddly. I visited her every hour or two.

And at some point in the afternoon I caught her giving birth... in the litter box. Two kittens were born already, one looked fluffy, the other, probably just born, was wet and FULL of litter. I firstly cleaned the baby a little so mom wouldn't lick him with all the litter on... Then I moved them in the closet. The last born still had the amniotic sac attached so I was extra careful to not pull the baby umbilical cord and get him hernia. Usually the mom eats the amniotic sac and cuts the umbilical cord. But with the litter situation going on, I disinfected a scissor and cut it myself. They already were staring to eat, and while I was there she popped out another one! The first two were black and white, the last one white and black. I closed the closet door and let them be so I would rest my back and knees a little...

I checked on her probably every 15 minutes. In less then an hour she had another one, white and black. The bedding was quite soiled at this point, so after she cut the umbilical cord I changed it, I thought she was done... Nope, here came a back one! I waited for mom to clean him and changed the bedding again. I thought that surely she was done. Nope, here came another black one. This one was very tiny, and all the others were already eating so I went to check on him repeatedly, obsessively. I had to see him eating. I actually had to place him myself on her nipples and hold him so the others won't get him on the side.

Greta ate very well before giving birth, now, during birth she hasn't eaten much. A cat that I helped with giving birth a year before, was eating and drinking water continuously. At some point I changed the bedding and put the dirty ones in the washing machine.  I put two types of canned food and some dry food, and I went to sleep! It was almost midnight.

Dear Diary - hanging in there with a pregnant fairy

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

We continue the feeding with no problems during this stay at home time.

We also have no problem in finding food to buy. There were maybe few times that we didn't find specific items, but no biggie. I'm still careful to have a week supply of all the cat food I need in the house, just in case.

And the news... My husband brought home a pregnant cat, He was so regretful he couldn't get the other one that I mentioned in my previous post, and now she has the babies outdoor, I couldn't say no. He said she is friendly but he didn't sound that convincing...You know from my previous post about Lizzy not getting to be friendly enough for adoption, after a whole year, so she lives with us.  She seems happy, just not interacting with us much. The new one is black and white so we named her Greta (after the black and white movie star Greta Garbo). She is soo big, I think she'll explode....  any second now. And I'm relieved that she is actually very friendly!

And that's all we do for now, all we can do for now.

Dear Diary - spay and neuter

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

I'm so terribly worried. As all animal help organizations are closed, we will have absolutely no support. We were having a good rhythm in getting the friendly strays into Org T for adoption. And we were in contact with few organizations to get help with TNR (trap neuter return). Now everything stopped.

What makes is even harder is that the mating season is ongoing. We already saw some pregnant cats. We also saw the males being more aggressive and the young females more scared.

Last week we took to be spayed Lizzy, Petra and one from outdoors. Lizzy, we took in when she was very very pregnant, she is the mom of Anthracite, Brave Heart, Bennie, Peaches and Little Lizzy. It's a long story. I'll tell you now shortly, that she wasn't friendly enough to enjoy to be touched, but she also wasn't making any trouble in the house and she seemed very happy in the house. We haven't taken her earlier to be spayed because there is no unfixed male around the house to get her pregnant and we didn't want to stress her with the surgery. But then she got in heat, and she was very vocal and we were afraid that the neighbors will eventual complain. The good think about that in heat period was that she was friendlier, so I was able to pet her and hold her. 

Petra is the sister of my first baby kitten saved, Maya. And there is one more sister, Mimi, that we got in with her baby Tzompi, during the winter. We always wanted to adopt the whole Mayas family, but it finally happened because Mimi had the baby, after having another litter that hasn't make it. 

One from outdoor was Cookie, she is a beautiful black brown with a little white long hair one. We suspected she was a little pregnant. All the animal care organization spay the pregnant cats, even the very pregnant ones. We are against spaying the very pregnant ones, but we agree with spaying the ones that don't really show much belly. Cookie was friendly outdoor but we couldn't put her in a carrier. We had to trap her. 

I don't know how to handle the recovery from spay/ neuter surgery for unfriendly cats in an apartment. I mean I don't have the space. The truly feral ones should be kept in the trap as they recover and they eat and pee and poo there. I understand people use their garages, but we don't have one.

Cookie, I was sure I can handle in the house for few days, I put her in the empty room. The plan was to see if she is friendly enough for adoption. And I was prepared to put her back if she was not...  Lizzy, took more then a year to get friendlish, I don't even think they are ready now for adoption. Mimi seams to be the same, she was very protective of her daughter Tzompi. Petra meanwhile had no worries but to allow us to spoil her. Anyway  I cannot keep more cats  for months in the house to maybe...  acclimatize. I want to have that room (and closet) to help others. But, Cookie is friendly, so she is in, please don't count how many I have in... now I really need the shelters to open to take some off my hands.

My husband wanted to bring one of the pregnant ones that was very friendly, home, I said OK, I still have a closet empty. But he couldn't get her. It seems that as they get closer of the due date they get more cautious. And then, she wasn't pregnant anymore. And...we had some usually cold days for this time of the year to "help" the kittens.

Dear Diary - the coronavirus lockdown

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

This are very very strange times. This week, slowly, everything closed. The law was that gatherings over 500 people are illegal, but many institutions closed voluntarily to play it safe and they closed even if they weren't serving 500 people. Then the law changed and made illegal the gathering over 250 people. The restaurants were asked to close with the exception of serving take out and deliveries. The fashion stores closed. There is a recommendation for social distancing.

The food stores are open and will stay open of course, but there were rumors of people buying all they could find. It is not clear if pet stores could eventually close. So I made a shopping trip on Tuesday to buy basics for 2 weeks: flour, rice, pasta, pasta and tomato sauce, oil, all kind of beans and... cat food of course, lots of it, because we feed lots of outdoor cats. I forgot the litter and I sent my husband to buy it later. I found everything I wanted, but truthfully, not in my regular store and not the brands that I usually use.

We confirmed on Wednesday that Org A. was still doing the spay/neuter for 3 cats the next day. Later we received an e-mail that they are closing. We called again and they said they are closing from Friday, so they can still help us. In fact they said to also bring the cats scheduled for the next week. We decided it's over our head to nurse 6 cats from surgery. We also have just 3 carriers. We got that done, but as per now, they'll be close for one whole month.

Today it was announced a complete lockdown, or shelter in place. All non essential businesses are closed. My heart was shivering at the idea that we will not be able to feed the strays. But it is allowed, at least for now. My husband business, is also considered essential, for now, so he is able to move around. He says that there is absolutely no traffic, and the stores are relatively empty. On some stores the security lets in a certain number of people, as people get out, others get in. Everybody is keeping 6 feet distance. I keep asking my husband to get everything he needs from a store for few days so he won't keep going into them.

And me, I'm stuck in the house for a week now, with at least two more weeks to go, as my activities are in the artsy side and considered non essential.

Dear diary - the coronavirus is slowing us down

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

Strange times are happening... Around the world there is a very contagious flu that spreads aggressively and kills aggressively. My area is just starting to have the first cases. In an effort to stop the spreading, the school closed and gatherings of more then 500 people were made illegal. That means that all entertainments venues, music, dance, sport competitions, closed.

On Thursday my husband stopped the Org T. to  borrow trap. he saw a very pregnant cat, friendly too.  Hagrid, new name Tuber, former name Phoenix, the one the I last took for adoption there, was on the floor. Not even in a cage, but walking around proudly! He is gonna get adopted so quickly, I just know it! My husband also postponed the appointment for admission for adoption for Happy and Sunny because both me and him were busy on the time of the appointment. Also Sunny hasn't made any progress.

Saturday, my husband stopped by Org T to visit Hagrid and to make another appointment. First the bestest news! Hagrid got adopted!  Now, the very bad news. They said they'll just care for the cats they have, they won't work with the public anymore, so no appointments for adoption, and no spaying/ neutering also. They are still welcoming people that want to adopt, but by appointment only. At least, now, Sunny will have the time to come around.

I have 3 appointments this week, and 3 appointments next week for spay/ neuter with Org A. I hope at least they will continue doing this, because the cats outside are starting to get pregnant...

Dear Diary - the kittens trough the winter

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

I was telling you that while feeding the outdoor cats, my husband still sees kittens outside. Few months old kittens. Some of them, somehow, made it trough the winter.

Two of them seem to be the same age as Tesla and Volta, around 5- 6 months and they are at the same location, they could be siblings. At that location my husband goes twice a day as he goes that way anyway. So they were well feed all winter long and they had access to shelter in a garage. They are still shy and I think the chance for them to get friendly enough to be put for adoption is closing.

Two of them, at another location, were smaller, around 2 months old and last seen a month ago. They were in a garage but the owner of the garage was determined to cut their access. My husband asked permission to get into the garage and get them and he did, but he couldn't find them. They were either hidden either gone already. He still went few days to look after them but he didn't see them or their mom. He left food and found it untouched.

The other two kittens that we were aware of, were in the 3rd colony we found, the colony near the knight S.  These kittens were 5-6 month old too and relatively friendly, so we decided to bring them in the house, keep them for few days so they relax a little and then take them to Org T. to get adopted. My husband had just one carrier with him and was able to get one of them.  He was afraid to open the carrier to put the second one in, because we did that before and the cat in the carrier escaped. That colony has a caregiver, the knight S, that gives them food and lets them in the garage on the really cold times. He does good. he just doesn't spay/ neuter them and he was saying that he knows and accepts that the majority of the kittens will perish. But when we made him aware of the possibility of spay/ neuter and adoption for some of them, he was happy to adjust. My husband called the knight S. and let him know that he took one of the kittens and will come next day for the other one. He went the next day, and the next, and the next but he couldn't find the other kitten.  So, my husband called and asked S. if he saw the second kitten and S. said that he put the second one in the garage. Why? So my husband went to get the kitten and S. asked if he can "borrow" 30 bucks. That's why... It is not a wealthy neighborhood, people are needy, on the other hand we are not rich either, we stretch what money we can to feed and spay/neuter the cats. This kind of spending surprised us emotionally even more as the spending per se.

The other problem now was that the brothers (yes they are boys) lost the connection between them. The first one was already adjusted in the house, and so happy that we had to name him Lolo (because he is very very pretty, we first thought he was a girl, so it was Lola, then changed into Lolo) . The second one, from what S. said, was very unhappy without his brother, plus was locked into the garage, and as he came into the house he went straight under the bad. We caught him few times, hold him and pet him. He was very very sweet, we named him Sunny. And I made appointment for them with Org T. for adoption for  last Friday. But come Friday, I couldn't catch him...  I called and canceled and I've made another appointment for next Friday! Fingers crossed...

Dear Diary - the adoptions will slow down

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

I'll start with the bad news, so I get it out of my chest. I work with Org T to get the friendly stray adopted, and I've got into a good rhythm. My husband pays attention to which outdoor cats are friendly and which need urgent care (like hurt and sick ones, pregnant, kitties). Then we bring them (not all, we prioritize somehow) in our house for few weeks to really relax, get them the urgent medical attention if they need it, and them take them to Org T. It is heartbreaking to choose which one we'll help. In the past we saw how healthy cats disappeared, were attacked, poisoned. Every single one that is outdoor is not safe. But I cannot take into my house more then one or two at a time because I have to keep them separated from my cats. The outdoor ones have flees, warms, upper respiratory infection, viruses. And last year we learned that lesson again, the hard way...

At my last appointment at Org T, I found out that their veterinarian is leaving and until they'll hire a new one, they won't be able to take in cats that need medical attention.  The procedure that came up was dental. Many, maybe half the cats I took to them had gingivitis. And I have no way of knowing which one from outdoors need medical attention. I can take two cats in the house, but if I cannot take them to Org T, we'll be stuck. I have to stop doing this adoption thing for a while.

At least the cold weather is gone, so the alley cats have it easier at least from that point of view. And my husband keeps up with the regular feeding.

Now, all the good news! I took last week for adoption at Org T the kitten Oscar and the big boy Hagrid. They both got in and Oscar got adopted already. And Hagrid is on the adoption floor. I haven't gone yet to check him out, I am just too busy. But I saw online that they changed his name to Tuber, it is the first time it's happening. I take it as a good sign that somebody payed attention to him and thought this name better represents him... and hopefully that person will keep helping him.

Dear Diary - first time trapping

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

I wrote on the last Diary post what I've done two weeks ago, until Saturday morning. But the week was not done... I had to go south just for half hour but it would have been an hour drive each way. As it was passing close to the colonies, my husband offered to drive me as he wanted to go that way himself. And both of us being there, we planned to try to trap the young kitten that we kept seeing.

It wasn't easy. This is a very shy kitten that comes last from a garage to eat, and runs back into the garage at the smallest noise. We spread food around so the other cats were busy eating and not trying to go in the trap themselves and we put food in the trap and the trap very close to the cats entry/exit into the garage. The trap open door wouldn't allow the trap to touch the garage, so the little one got out and avoided the trap and went to eat with the others. We brought in the big guns... the fish, yes we came prepared, with different kinds of fish cans and I even brought the can opener! We put the fish can in the trap but now all the cats wanted to go there. We kept scarring them away, but the little one was getting spooked too. It took a while of dancing, but somehow he got in. The trap door closed with a bang and he got so scared and started to jump around in the trap. It was very sad, really. We put the trap in the trunk of the car and cover it, that supposedly will help the cats calm down. While waiting I tried to pick up a friendly grown kitten but it started to get agitated just as I was getting to the carrier. My everyday coat got like 5 holes in it. As we were driving the little one kept fighting to get out of the trap, and managed to spread some fish into my car trunk. Yeap, the car still smells. The inconveniences of cat trapping...

We fed everybody, but quickly so we can get home asap. The little one was calm now. Home, we put him in the closet, with dry and wet food, water, litter box, clean towel... and a box, so he can hide and feel safe. And he did hide in the box at first, but ate soon enough and he kept eating and eating and... eating. He was back into hiding as soon as we open the closet door. It took him few days to trust us, and few more days to get friendly, but now, he's favorite place is on my lap. He is around 4 months old, he seemed smaller because he was skinny. We called him Oscar as we found him around when the Academy Awards were happening and he is very stylishly dressed up in black and white. I've let him roam free few times but he hid. So he's back in the closet. I want be able to find him quickly, because he has an appointment for admission for adoption at Org T for tomorrow, Friday!

I'll also take Hagrid to the appointment, again, if you remember he was refused at the first appointment, but he was literally just few hours in the house, and he was scared... For now, I've treated his head wound and finished the antibiotics, and also was able to put the mites medication in his ears. I told you I've put on his skin the flee medication after we came from the veterinarian. He stays by himself in a room because he tested FIV positive I cannot mix him with my other cats. And because I kept giving him medication, I'm not his favorite person, but he loooves my husband. I feel he's kind of lonely...but not unhappy, don't worry. And he eats all day long, and he's looking so much better. I play with him few times a day, and my husband also. Anyhow, I think Org T can do better for him from now on then we can. Hopefully they'll accept him. They do accept FIV positive cats, other shelters don't.

Now, the bestest news! At Org T, Genie got adopted as soon as she came from her foster home (they kept her a little in foster because she was crying and they, as us, weren't sure if it's fear or she was hurting from being attacked outdoors). And, drum rolls!!! Hope and Oki got adopted... together! I'm so happy! I was very worried for Oki, he wasn't relaxing in the shelter. They were let out from the cage into the room, but he was still hiding. At least people could see him. My husband visited them twice last week, myself just on Saturday morning, and they've got adopted Saturday afternoon. I'm sure he'll have now few more weeks/ months of stress, but he has his sister and he'll come around eventually.

My husband continued with the feeding, a little more then usually, because we had 3 cold days and nights, so we feel the cats should have enough food, and hopefully then, they won't roam around too much and can stay sheltered.

As I suspected, it is bitter sweet to write this blog, because while I'm happy I'm helping so many of the alley cats, the more of them I see, the more pain I see. And I do get attached to every single one I bring in the house, but I have to give them up so I can help others. It is painful to let them go, even if I know they'll be fine.

Dear Diary - visiting our cats in the shelter

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

I told you the last time I have visited Oki and Hope at Org T was last Saturday. Hope started to come out but Oki was still very stressed. My husband visited  them on Tuesday and he was really upset of  the luck of progress. I was telling you that they are set on the floor, in a big cage in a room with few other cats that roam free. That would be just until they acclimate to the room. But it's already 2 weeks and we haven't seen much progress. That is, I think, because they are set on the floor, you would have to sit on your knees to get to them when they are hiding. And Oki is hiding. I suspect nobody really gets to work with him.

Oki has just one eye, we found him as a kitten with one eye popped out. He is very friendly but he was shy even when in our house, cautious or maybe even afraid of the other cats. I do want them to be happy, they are not happy now, locked in the cage. I have to help them relax and show themselves to people so they will get adopted. All the other cats I took there got adopted in a week, Lily and Coco in 10 days. Coco was very shy too, but I visited them 3 times a week and I know the shelter staff helped them too. Oki will get there, but he needs more help then he got.

So Wednesday, as I was 20 minutes away of Org T, I decided to go to cheer them up. That would have bean 20 minutes to get there, 20 minutes there and 20 minutes back to where I was, total an hour. But my husband told me that he has business that way anyway, so he went, and I decided to go wash my car in this time I suddenly had. To bad it snowed few hours later and the outside of the car is dirty again. It's really a struggle these days to prioritize the time I spend between my needs and the cats needs. I know I have to take care of me first, so I can be strong and able to help the cats. But many times the cat situation seams to be a life or death situation, so how can I not choose their lives first... That would be the life of the kittens that are still out. Kittens are all friendly, or get friendly in days to weeks. Org T. takes all the kittens that reached 2 ponds. We just have to catch them, but I saw while feeding them, that there is no real chance to catch them, unless they stumble by sheer luck in your hands.... So I want to try to trap them... We haven't tried trapping yet, but we'll have to start doing it for the TNR of the ferals anyway. That was the other reason I wanted to go to Org T, to borrow a trap. They lend them for colonies caretakers  free, for 2 weeks. My husband picked one up, but he says he would like me to go with him, for moral support, or hardware support... Now, when going to feed them, we'll have to find the extra time to wait around, to actually use it. And I've already committed my time all day Sunday to help by volunteering for something else, so we cannot even count on that time.

I went Thursday to visit Oki and Hope, as I didn't go the previous day. I think Oki is slightly better, Hope is really warming up, purring and coming out on her own. I also visited the kittens that I raised from 4 weeks old and I had a strong bond with them, Misty and Sharky and they were just put on the floor. They were doing very well, definitely happy to see me but also quite busy playing and running around. They'll forget me soon enough... I, on the other hand, will never forget them and I'll miss them. I'm sad but happy too, I just want them to be happy.  I didn't get to see Rocky, the kitten that we found starving and with a broken leg, because he had just left with his new family. He was on the floor just that day, yes, he was that cute! His leg was not broken after all, just dislocated, so he was good as new.

I've told you that we've tried and we are still trying to find other people and organization that would help us help the cats. And one of the contacts that we've made in the summer , the founder of Org C, came trough with help for two cats. It all happened Friday. Firstly she sent us with Hagrid (former Phoenix to their veterinarian). Secondly, she found a foster mom for a cat that we were monitoring and feeding, and knew that was friendly and also very pregnant calico, let's call her Happy, and we just didn't have a place to take her in, besides the closet. We ultimately would have taken her in the closet, but now, she got a better place. My husband literally just grabbed the cat, put her in the carrier, and took her to the foster lady where she relaxed and got very comfortable immediately, showing all her tricks, including her belly... up... Org C. will take care of her and her babies when they'll be born, and find homes for them. I'll update you about her when I'll have updates.

Now Hagrid... ooops. The vet sent me home with a bag full of medication. I was suspecting he'll need medication but I was hoping the vet will actually give him most of it. Firstly, the bloody ear and forehead, was a bite, not a scratched ear infection. It is slightly infected so I have to give him liquid medication (antibiotics) with a syringe in his mouth twice a day and also clean the wound with a solution. It's not easy, he is a strong guy that doesn't understand what I'm doing, but he is not aggressive at all, so, I'm doing it, but takes me a little time... Then, he has ear mites, I have to put something in his ears... I haven't tried yet, I thought to give him few days for ear the wound to heal, so I can hold him while pouring the solution in the ears... Then, I've got dewormer both a pill and liquid. I'll wait with that, probably until I finish with the antibiotics for the ear. Then, they gave me a solution to put on the fur, called Revolution that kills flees. I've used it before, and I know that it actually kills ear mites and round worms too. Probably it's not treating those 100%, that's why the vet gave me more medicine, but at last for the next days surely they'll make him feel better. They also did the test for FIV and Feline Leukemia (the vet took blood while he was awake and a good boy), and unfortunately he came back positive for FIV. Still it is great he doesn't have the Leukemia... Between the two bads, FIV is better. Org T. does take FIV positive cats, but there is a waiting list, and I suspect they'll want him more relaxed than he is right now. So, I'm gonna foster him for a while.

Saturday, I went to the Org T as every Saturday, I do something close by each week. The shelter staff said that both Hope and Oki came out on their own, they said that we definitely helped a lot by visiting every day... I was so exited, and I saw myself the Hope is doing really well, but Oki is still stressed, better, but not good yet. I just hope that Hope will not be adopted and Oki left behind on his own. I so hope they'll get adopted together, as all the other cats that we took there, were. That includes the kittens Misty and Sharky, that I just saw on Thursday. They've got adopted on Friday, they've stayed on the adoption floor one day only...

And the week is not even done, but I'm running out of space here... I'll tell you more next time....

Dear Diary - feeding the colonies

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

I was telling you that last week I had a bad cold/ flu, and I fell behind with everything. This week I had no choice but put most of my effort into running errands, cooking and cleaning. There wasn't much time for the cats. But, wait... I had to make time.  My husband  caught the flu too, and he was feeling as badly as I was feeling last week. So badly, that he considered not going to feed the alley cats the third day in a row...

So,  last Sunday I offered to go with him. We left home at 4 pm and we went firstly north side at one of the newest found colony, where we know there is a kitten in a garage, plus few adults (these are mostly black cats, very unusual). These, he was feeding usually every day, as he goes that way anyway.

Then we went south. This is still a bad neighborhood. At the first stop came four cats, then another two. My husband seemed happy with the head count, the regulars were there. He gave each of them a can of wet food and left dry food behind too. We didn't put water this time, there were puddles all around. A man stopped by, he knows my husband feeds the cats, they've talked before, and now he was curious about me... He said he feeds them sometimes, gives them his fries, and puts them water. Water definitely helps, fries not that much. But he cannot afford more.

On the next stop, my husband said that there used to come 10 cats, and now comes nobody. He saw once a new cat that was aggressive towards the regulars. He might have displaced them... We waited, we shook the dry food, we call that the bell call to dinner. Nobody came. We left two cans of wet food and dry food, just in case.

It started to get dark. We made three more stops and again my husband was happy with whom he saw. On the last spot there were many coming. As my husband was busy feeding to the left I saw small shadows to the right, grown kittens, and I went and put them food myself. My husband said that they are part of another colony, at the other end of the ally (just 100 yards), but they must have been very hungry to come to this colony. We went and put food for the colony at the end of the alley  too. We came back to the first end of the alley so I could see the kitten, it is small, around 3 months old. He/ she wouldn't stay to be touched, it was in and out a garage. Luckily now the weather is mild, if the kitten has enough food, it has a good chance to make it. My husband will try to go there every day

We got home just before 8 and we fed our home colony, they are spoiled, we feed them twice a day... And because they don't have to go search for food, or search for partners to mate with because they are all spayed/neutered, they are a stable and happy colony for few years, no disappearances. After we got home, my husband said that he was feeling much better!

So we went to all the colonies except two, one that my husband fed in the morning and one we know somebody feeds quite enough, especially in the weekend. All in all we saw around 40 cats so more then half of what we know are around. It took 4 hours and around $30, well plus the food that he left in the morning, plus the feeding of our indoor cats, and the litter... And he feeds the outdoor ones at least every second day, more if he knows there are kittens around. The first time I realized to how much time and money we spend per month with the alley cats I was shocked. And the following month we had to use a veterinarian too, so it was really painful for our wallet. And spaying/ neutering that we do to all the cats we bring in the house costs too. TNR will cost too. I realized that we've cut a lot from the entertaining and vacations, so that works out in balancing the money, but... not our lives. On the other hand, if the cats have a heaven, I'm absolutely sure both me and my husband will have a good spot in it, and that's priceless, right?

Dear Diary - struggling with a sick stray

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

I was sick all week long with a cold/ flu. It made me feel exhausted. I also couldn't eat much. I've fell behind with everything, cleaning, cooking, laundry, groceries...

Hagrid (formerly known as Phoenix but we decided that he has the personality of the Harry Potter professor) was supposed to have his neuter surgery on Wednesday at the Org T. They've called on Monday and left a message to call back to confirm the reschedule for Thursday. But they never pick up the phone! I've left a message and my husband drove there on Wednesday to be sure we are on the list. 

I'll open a parenthesis here...  Org T. has two services, intake for adoption and TNR, and they just work with strays, not home cats, or they take cats from other shelters. I'm quite happy with their process of admission for adoption of stray cats, they say they'll accept all friendly cats. They took in most of the cats I brought them with the exception of one and Phoenix, that was very stressed when I took him for the appointment. But I'm confused with Org T TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) program. Theoretically, I know that all animal help organizations are trying to help as much as they can the ferals brought in for spay/ neuter, while they are under anesthesia. When ferals are awake they are hard or impossible to handle. Org T says they have to stick with their TNR package and not provide any extra help because of luck of time. But what is their TNR package? They have no written info on their web site or at their location. I honestly have the feeling that they make it up... different people give different information.

Now, back to Hagrid, when I've scheduled him for TNR, the person that made the appointment said they'll reassess for friendliness, and if friendly, they'll accept him in the shelter. More then that, their web site says that each cat brought in for TNR is assessed for friendliness and if friendly, it is admitted in the shelter for adoption. When I got there on Thursday they said they'll do just TNR, that would mean no treatment of the ear.. And they would clip his ear. And they won't asses for friendliness. So I took him back home without the surgery.

Open parenthesis again... The lady kept saying that that is their policy... It is the third time I had this conversation with them... I had to put a big effort to not them ALL I think about their policies. Firstly, where are they written? Secondly, aren't they supposed to help the cats?  But as all I want is to help the cats, I cannot afford to fight with them a fight that cannot be won. It's just that my time is limited, and I wasn't feeling good, and I went there for nothing...

Back to poor Hagrid... he  is still not solved. I moved him from the closet in a room but he's at the door all the time, scratching. He smells the other cats, he wants out. But firstly he has to be tested to be sure he has no contagious viruses, and whenever out he has to be supervised. Of course he has to be neuter and the ear cleaned and treated.

I have tree options:
1. try again to have him admitted for adoption by Org T. He is friendly, but he is not social, I'm not sure if they would accept him so soon after they refused him, especially as I refused the TNR.  And he would have to be kept in hospital for few weeks for neutering and treatment of the ear, when he wouldn't progress in socialization.
2. try another organization for neutering and treatment. We used to work with Org P, but not TNR, we just took in the cats as household pets. They did treat as much as they could, including giving them long therm antibiotics, giving us antibiotics to give them if we thought we could, cleaning the ears, fleece medication, testing for viruses. But for household pets they schedule the surgeries and the waiting time is two months. We never tried TNR, I asked and they said they usually take them as walk ins, unless they are really really swamped. And I would really like his ear not to be cut... I never had that question for them. If I call, the person that answered doesn't know this stuff. So, I'll have to take the time to go there and see if they'll be flexible. There is also the Org A. They helped us majorly with four cats not long ago, but we were sent there by a big animal activist that sent us to the management. We lost that contact, she sent us another contact, but again we'll have to actually go there and see. I took the time and I did go, again, on all organizations web sites. They all mention TNR but it is hidden deeply somewhere in their web site and gives NO real information and no schedule.... The biggest buttons are donate, volunteer and adopt... Of course,TNR is not pretty...
3. the third option would be to just go to the doctor. But I really think it's stressful for him to put him under anesthesia for ear cleaning and then again for neutering. To pay for anesthesia and ear cleaning it would be around $300 I think and for both ear cleaning and neutering together over, $500. It's too much for us.

Helping the alley cats unfortunately is not easy or fair. For now, Hagrid (Phoenix) is safe, his ear infection doesn't seam to be life threatening. The worse case scenario would be to wait few more weeks and take him for admission to Org T. It's making myself sad to think he is in pain, but he is already better then he was outdoors, in cold with no food, and the ear does look better, he's not scratching anymore. To spend the $500 bucks at this point is not a choice, at this point we go to the regular vet just for life threatening situations. I do plan to start working towards TNR anyway, so it is in my plan to go to Org P and Org A anyway, I'm only limited by the lack of time.

Now, the good news! While I was at Org T, I found out that Lily and Coco got adopted, together!

I visited Oki and Hope  on the adoption floor and cheered them up a bit. Hope is starting to relax, Oki not yet. They are in a big cage, down on the floor and you would have to stay on your knees to get to them, I'm not sure how many of the staff or volunteers do that. I visited them again on Saturday, same story.

Rocky and Genie  and  Misty and Sharky  are all still in hospital, but all doing well. Rocky has the leg stable, I couldn't find out if it was broken or what else. Genie was under observation as they thought she may be in pain (I know she was bitten few months ago). She used to cry when she was with me in the house, but just when she saw cats, when she was just with me, she wasn't crying even if I touched her and press a little. Misty and Sharky has to be spayed, oh how I miss them, they were my bottle babies.

My husband feeds the colonies, as usually. He is worried that he haven't seen many of them. He is still looking for kittens to take in the house for few weeks, then to Org T, but was still not able to catch any of them.

That' s it for this last week.

Dear Diary - more appointments for assessment for adoption

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.

This week I was giving all the time I had to Rocky, I told you about him in the previous Diary post. We found him skin and bones, starved. Home, he was eating well. At first I gave him water by syringe, but then I started to add it to the food. It was very important to have him hydrated for all organs to function well, but also so he won't get constipated. I had to wait almost 2 days for him to poop... I was getting worried. Then he actually slowed down with the eating, of course, his digestive system was getting adjusted. Was I worried? Of course... Meanwhile I was trying to hold him and pet him as much as I could so he would feel some love and safety. At some point he started to cry, and I've got worried, again, that maybe he his stomach, intestines hurt as I touch him. It wasn't that. He was scared by the other cats... even when they were at the end of the room. It took few day for him to get an eating and pooping rhythm, and he also started relaxing his fear. I  set him in a carrier, but left the door open when I was close enough to save him if in trouble, and he started to come out, more and more. He is very sweet, definitely friendly but still recovering so I was really skeptical about him being accepted for adoption. I really really hoped, because as I told you, his front left leg looks bent, it would be a huge expense for me to help him with that.

I was also trying to spend quality time with Misty and Sharky , that I had for few months and love them dearly. I also feel they love me back, they answer to their names, and behave like I'm their mother. Very painfully to let go, only I know I saved them from dying of starvation and they'll have a chance to a good life. But I will never see them again, and I will not actually know how their lives will be.

The other newcomer, also hurt (bloody ear infection), Phoenix/ Hagrid, is still in the entry closet. He is the sweetest boy, but he doesn't feel that well and he's an adult not neutered, so he gets excited by the smell of my other cats, and I suspect getting bored in there. If I knew he'll be in the house so long I would have put him in a room. But now, as he is scheduled for surgery for neutering and cleaning the ears for next Wednesday, I decided not to move him and give him more stress. I'll let him recover in the closet and then move him.

Friday, I took Misty, Sharky and Rocky to Org T. for admission for adoption, as planed. And they all got in! I was soo happy especially for Rocky as I know he will get better medical care than I would have been able to give him.

I went on the adoption floor to cheer up Coco and Lily and I was very happy that Coco was so much more relaxed. The shelter staff said that she started to relax even with them. And they let me know that Oki and Hope just got moved from the clinic on the adoption floor. So I went to cheer them up too. Well, they were desperate, hiding beneath their bedding , but Coco was the same at first, so I hold my sadness and worry. As I was there for couple of hours, I went to them three times. They were a little better with each visit, but not relaxed. It's gonna take few days to weeks.

The feeding went as usually. My husband was happy to see a beautiful blue main coon that he hasn't seen in a while. Meanwhile in our second colony  few were coughing and some were no show. We are definitely worried for them. My husband is looking actively now for who is truly friendly so we can take them to Org T for adoption and for kittens. There were four colonies where he knew there were kittens, at three of them he still sees them. They are in broken down garages and they don't come out long enough for him to grab them. He'll keep trying...

And that's all that happen this week with the cats. Myself, I've got a bad cold/ flu. I'm definitely tired, besides day by day life, the cats are really adding a lot. And as you see I'm doing a lot for them these days.

Opinions and Resources: What are feral cats?

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats.

Alley cats are generally called feral cats. But among the alley cats are also stray cats and even house pets that live indoor/outdoor.

I like how the difference between the stray cats and feral cats is explained here. In short, it is the friendliness towards people (strays are friendly, ferals are not). That web site also emphasize that is often hard to tell them apart, as stray cats behavior looks feral when they are scared, and they are scared... With regular feeding I find that the stray ones start to relax in few months. I share this, because I know many people think that all outdoor cats are feral, and in my experience this is far from the truth. In my experience, in the colonies I've looked after, at least half of the cats are friendly. That web site also tells you the appropriate action one should take when handling the alley cats (find homes for strays and kittens, and TNR- Trap Neuter Return - the true ferals). I'll write posts about my experience with both getting the stray cats adopted and the TNR process. I will say now, that I do agree with everything the web site I shared say, but I don't  how to practically implement this when I look over 75 alley cats. I find myself in the position of helping one cat at a time...

Read this only if you are in a moment when you can handle the straight truth about the alley cats hard lives, told by PETA.

I share the opinion of this organization, that ""feral" is a behavioral characteristic, not a biological one", so they didn't evolve genetically to be feral, they regressed behaviorally from being domesticated. They are not wild life, as some cities classifies them. Why it matters? From a legal point of view, it is illegal to feed wild life. My city considers feral cats as wild life, but has am ordinance setting condition in which is legal to feed them, as I mentioned in the Introduction. From an ethical point of view, to me, the feral cats existence and their pain, is the result of human behavior, people leave their un-spayed/un-neutered cats outdoors, or pets get lost, or kicked out, so I see it as a responsibility of humans to fix the problem. 

Do I help them because I feel responsible as a human? I don't think so. I've red psychological studies that humans are feeling happy when helping. And it's true, it makes me happy to help them, but, on the other hand, I feel a lot of pain and sadness about their situation, I actually feel more pain then happiness. And I've felt overwhelmed, burned out...  In the end, I think I feel less pain helping them, then knowing how they live and doing nothing.

Dear diary - about the appointments for acceptance for adoption

Read the Introduction, to get the general picture of my interaction with the alley cats, and the Summary, to put the stories on a timeline.   

Feeding was done as usually, by my husband. He goes every second day at the further away colonies, but once a day where he knows there are kittens as they really need the food. The colony near our place is spoiled and gets food and back scratches twice a day.

This last Friday, as every Friday this month I've had an appointment with Org T, for assessment of some cats for admission for adoption. I'll write a post explaining their process of getting the cats in for adoption, soon.

As I said in the Introduction I was able at the end of last year, to get into the Org T non kill adoption  shelter some cats that I was fostering in my spare rooms. It felt good to have those rooms squeaky clean and be able to use them for their intended purpose (my art studio and spare bedroom). But I also thought, thinking at the experience of last spring when I've got in many sick kittens, that I better take them in now, healthy, then later sick...

You know for sure the idea "Build it and they'll come" from the movie Field of dreams... It was something like that. My husband was worried for few weeks now because a young friendly female (under a year), that was always scared of the older cats in the colony anyhow, had her back hurt, some fur missing, so probably bitten, then he haven't seen her for few weeks. So when he saw her, he got her home and became our Genie .  Then, at the newest colony, as he got to be able to touch the cats, he realized a big friendly teddy bear had a terrible ear infection (blood and puss coming out). He also has an damaged eye, it's all white. Poor guy. My husband went looking for him every day, but he came just Friday morning. Once home, we named him Phoenix that later was reborn into Hagrid.

Friday afternoon I took them both to Org T, and the girl, Genie got in, Phoenix/ Hagrid didn't. He wasn't considered friendly. And of course, being brought in just that morning, then put in the car, plus he is not feeling good, plus he has all the testosterone from not being fixed he was scared. So they've made an appointment for him in two weeks for TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release). I was sad that he has to endure the pain of his hurt ear two more weeks, I cannot afford to pay the regular vet the few hundreds of dollars they would want to put him under anesthesia and clean his ears, plus Org T is gonna do it anyway while neutering him. And being put under anesthesia for both procedures so close one to another would be stressful too.  On the other hand, two weeks in the house will make him relax enough to be friendly and be admitted for adoption, because he is friendly with us. Otherwise, don't worry, I'll foster him and try to  admit him again in few months. It's just that with TNR they also clip the ear, it's standard procedure... And he'll take room in my house and I won't be able to bring somebody else in.

While being at Org T, I went to visit the cats that I have brought in. Lily and Coco (mom and daughter) are there from two week ago, Coco is very shy, and visiting helps her relax. Then I've got to the kitten room, only it was all empty. Volta and Tesla (sisters) got adopted together. So I've decided to make appointment for next Friday Misty and Sharky (other siblings that I've got home as babies. I didn't want to bring them in until Volta and Tesla got a home, because all of them are black (black beauties that is). I didn't want them to compete with each other because Misty and Sharky are way more friendly then Tesla and Volta because they stayed with me longer. While at Org T. I've also inquired about Oki and Hope, two siblings I've brought in two weeks before, but they were still on the clinic floor, not on the adoption floor.

And this is not all that happened this week... On Thursday I've got a picture in a text from my husband, with a starved kitten discovered next to his dead brother, in a building in construction. They were locked in and it seams nobody entered there in few weeks. The guys that found him ran and bought some food from a convenience store, and my husband ran to pick him up. It got home late Thursday. We asked the guy that found him to name him and he said Rocky. He was really just skin and bones... Our vet was closed already, otherwise I would have splurged and gotten him to the vet. He ate again and I gave him water with a syringe. We've decided to pray for the best and not take him to emergency room, damn money. He made it... But we realized he was hurt at the left front paw. It didn't seam broken, maybe an old injury that healed badly or maybe rickets from being malnourished. Being at Org T the next day I asked if they would take him in hurt like that, They said yes if friendly. So I added him on the appointment for next Friday.

And that is all that happened this week...

Summary

Introduction
Chapter I a - The first fairies I encountered Princess, Bobcat and Magic (2008)
Chapter I b- The loss of Magic
Chapter I c - The fairy Princess
Chapter I d - New fairies MiuMiu, Moto, Miki (2011)

Chapter I e - MiuMiu runway show and exit
Chapter II  - My first colony (1st Co.) Leona - the one true feral, Tawny, Angel and  (2014-2017)

                 - Jack, Rasputin and Johnny Five

                 - The newcomers Yoffy,  Max and Rosie

                 - The Tortoise Boy, and few more newcomers (update 2017-2020)                 

Chapter III a- The second colony of fairies - Maya Co (2nd). (2017-2018)
Chapter III b - The baby fairy Maya
Chapter III c - The good mother Lily and her babies (Simba, Pongo, Milo and Coco) (2018)
Chapter III d - The colony near the knight S - S Co (3rd). (2018)
Chapter III e - Winter trouble for the young fairies Gheisha, Liam and  Marie (2018)
Chapter III f - A colony in each back alley of the neighbor kingdom (2018)
Chapter III g - Early spring Hope and Ocki (2019)
Chapter III h - After winter tally and goodbye to outdoor Miki (2019)
Chapter IV a - Searching for allies (organizations that TNR and help with adoptions)
Chapter IV b - Marriages for Blue, Thar, Rusty, Bunny
Chapter IV c - The hardship of exotic Samantha, spay and neuter for 1st Co.
Chapter IV d - The happy samurai Garfield
Chapter IV e - The pregnant fairy Lizzy, the additions Anthracite, Brave Heart, Beanie, Peaches and                              Little L
Chapter IV f - The aunt turned mother for Dandelion and Azalea
Chapter IV g -The midsummer nightmare and goodbyes to Chip, Foxy, Dreamy, Little L
Chapter IV h - Happily ever after lives for Ozy, Teddy, Didi, Fatoush and Azalea
Chapter IV i - Three orphaned black baby fairies, Misty, Sharky and Raven
Chapter IV j - Dark energy Volta and Tesla 
Chapter IV k - No ears Nemo
Chapter IV l - The end of the year 2019 headcount, from 3 to 10 colonies,
Chapter IV m - More fairies moved away to live happily ever after, Peaches, Dandelion, Milo, Pongo, Lily, Coco, Ocki and Hope (end of 2019, beginning of 2020)
Chapter IV n - Overwhelmed guardian but regrouping

Chapter IV o - Two baby girls: sweet orphan Candy and cute Tzompi , plus her mom Mimi and the aunt Petra
Chapter IV p - In dire need to be saved, the too young Genie, chased by too many suitors and a fair but broken gift (named Rocky for the win) from a knight from far away and 
Chapter IV r - The wounded Hagrid from the new found colony (the 11th) and the pregnant Happy calico

Chapter IV s - The young and Oh so pretty Oscar, Lolo and Sunny

Chapter V a - Beginning of  the pandemic, stay at home order (March 2020)

Chapter V b - Saving the Cookie 

Chapter V c - Two pregnant ladies: Greta and Kiki and... 9 babies

Chapter V d - Feeding the strays, summer losses, lots of stray babies, no help in sight 

Chapter V e - The brave mom that was stuck in a building with 3 babies, help for Daisy and Lilah

Chapter V f - Two toddler boys: Toto and Vasi

Chapter V g - New baby sloppy Joe, aka Sammy

Chapter V h - The summer baby: Snowball that melt the heart of a princess and left with Cookie

Chapter V i - Black beauty Marylin married very well

Chapter V j - Two sickly babies: Mowgly and Pumpkin

Chapter V k - Private adoptions: Petra

Chapter V l - More private adoptions: Yoffy and Marie

Chapter V m - The sensitive Cava

Chapter V n -  The adventure of saving the stranded again mom with 4 young fairies

Chapter VI a - We've got new allies to help when we needed it the most TNR (January 2021)

Chapter VI b - The broken leg Gray got into a foster

Chapter VI c - The 3 sheltered in a broken car kitties move to a palace

Chapter VI d - The happy go lucky Billy Bob,  Bobby, for short

--- to be continued ---

Introduction

An alley cat life is nothing of a fairy tale. I've chosen to take a playful tone, and to allude to fairy tales calling the cats "fairies with tails" and the blog "Fairy Tails", to tell you about the "happily ever after" stories and  also the sad stories, then leave the sadness  in a far away land and in a forgotten time.

So, I help the alley cats. In my city, alley cats are considered wild life and it is illegal to feed wild life. However, the city and animal care organizations came up with a plan that became an ordinance. You can legally feed them if you register them as a colony, and yourself as a colony caretaker, and follow the rules they've set. The rules are that you stay with them as they eat and you clean the leftover food so no other animals (mostly rats) are attracted by that food. Also you do your best to neuter/ spay them and to find homes for the friendly ones and the kittens.

I inherited my first colony from a neighbor that moved away. This colony is stable. All the six cats are spayed and know their way around, and the neighbors know them. In the last four years there were just few newcomers. Two were friendly and got adopted and two stayed around just for few days and were in very bad shape so I suspect they perished.

The two year ago my husband had a project in a transitional, up and coming neighborhood, and saw few cats several days in a row. One day he found a lost kitten around 3-4 weeks, and brought her home. We later found that her mom died. I nursed this kitten, and my husband started to go regularly to feed this colony. He counted thirteen cats. There was a local man feeding them just enough for them to stay alive, and they had shelter in a broken down garage. They were looking good. As the summer months passed, few new kittens appeared and then... disappeared. And as the winter came he saw how half of them got sick. The majority of them recovered, three disappeared.

Driving regularly tough that neighborhood he found cats on every single alley.

With spring came more kittens. Knowing from the previous year that they probably won't make it on their own, he tried to catch them... unsuccessfully. Then some got sick and got too weak to run. He brought them home. He continued feeding the outdoor ones, and then during the summer he got home few more kittens and few adults cats that were friendly, some sick. The majority made it, few didn't. Some of them got adopted by our friends. As we looked to spayed/ neuter the adults ones, we found  animal care organizations that subsidized this surgery, bringing it to just around $50. That was a big relief, because we payed the regular veterinarian for all the other issues they were having. So we were helping few cats, by bringing them indoor, but what about all the others (many)  that were outdoors? I mean we were and are still feeding them...

We realized that we are in over our head, and we started to contact all organizations we could think off. We've learn that the bigger the organizations are, the more inefficient they've got. They all have a set of rules and wouldn't stray from them. Their big push is to TNR. Trap, Neuter and Release back.  This make total sense for the true feral cats, as you stop them for multiplying. The friendly ones should be adopted but this is limited by the space in shelters.

We started to work with one organization, Org T. For TNR they would even send somebody to trap the cats. My unhappiness is that they spay even the really pregnant cats (on the other hand we saw with our own eyes the kittens rarely make it to become adults), and also, after the surgery they keep the cats in for just one day. If complications would arise after surgery and the cat was back outdoor, then what? We did TNR few and they were released after a day and they were fine, but it was mild spring weather, I would still be cautious to use them in summer or winter. The situation is even more complicated as we don't live in that neighborhood. I'm looking into other organizations policies now, to hopefully start doing TNR systematically.

I am very happy that after few months of learning their ways, I'm able now to work with Org T, towards adopting the friendly cats. I'm trying to give them healthy and already spayed/ neutered cats, and two at a time. that are friendly to each other. If two of them go in together, and stay in the same cage, they sooth each other. I found that this is a recipe for them to get adopted quickly. If they are sick or need spay/neuter surgery they need to stay in their hospital first, isolated, and they occupy the precious space, but also get stressed and then harder to get adopted.

We registered the colonies trough Org T. They asked at the end of last year to count all the cats in the colonies. It came to 75. This is where we are at. I'll keep you updated with what will come, and the new cats I'll meet, but I'll also share the "tales" of the cats I've met along my way.

At this point I think I'll have three categories of posts:
- Tales of the fairies I get to know better that are gonna be "chapters" in the overall story (see the next post "Summary") but I feel I can write the tale only when I have the ending... that "and they lived happily ever after"
- Diary kind of entries of what happens in the present
- Opinions and resources, so I can put together what information and thoughts I've got along the way.