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 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 - 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.

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...