Monday, November 28, 2011

Amazing Cat Rescue Story! But GRAPHIC!

This is such a heartwarming story!  I saw it on LOLCats website and had to re-post.  The kitty is so lucky that the doctor decided to work on him rather than just euthanize the little guy.


The vets and vet tech think the cat was trying to get shelter in a car and then was cut by the fan blade....so sad, but such a happy ending!    


Warning though:  the video is graphic showing the kitten injury.  



Saturday, November 5, 2011

Kitty #10! A small update...just some pics :)


I haven't updated in so long, and I can't even remember whether this was a boy or a girl, but this was 
the next cat I had fixed!! 



Thursday, July 28, 2011

SCRAPPY!! Kitty #9

The next cat I caught was this guy, and I named him Scrappy.  He had been hobbling around on three legs and there was a big gash on one of his legs, so I really wanted to get him some medical help as well.  He looked like he was on the wrong end of a fight...poor guy.  In the pic below, you can see his bloody wound.   




When I took him to the SPCA, they just cleaned up his leg but didn't give him any antibiotics or anything because they didn't have any of the long-lasting stuff and it's not like I can administer meds to him everyday. 

Scrappy has quite a personality.  Despite the fact that he's a gimp, the security guards tell me that they still see Scrappy trying to pick fights with other cats.  I don't think this guy will ever learn, but hopefully the neutering will calm down those hormones and make him a more mellow cat.   

He hisses as soon as he sees people and he's a sucker for food!  Even now, when I'm out at the school feeding the cats, he'll walk up to me hissing when I'm putting down the food.  He just struts towards me like he's not scared, yet he's hissing while I'm the one giving him food!!  Crazy guy.  Here's a short clip to show a little of his "personality" :)


It's actually been over a month since I took Scrappy into the vet and I'm happy to say he's walking around better.  His leg still looks like it hasn't fully healed, but at least he's not hobbling around on three feet anymore.  I just hope he doesn't try to pick anymore fights!     

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Cats #8 and 8 1/2??

So again, it's been a while since I updated but at the beginning of April, I caught and fixed cat #8, which was the last of the four orange kitties I had been trying to fix.  This one was a male if I recall correctly.  Here he is:

   I was happy to be able to get all these four orange ones fixed. 

The next cat is one of my favorites.  He's definitely not very shy.  Whenever I pull up to the parking lot where I feed them, he comes right up to my car.  I brought tuna a couple times and he would follow me around, about 10-15 feet behind me, stalking me to the different feeding areas to try to get some more tuna.  Now, every time I pull up, I think he's expecting to get some tuna from me!  Anyway, I caught him one night and took him to get fixed the next day.  When I picked him up in the afternoon, they told me he had already been fixed!!  His ear doesn't even look like it has been marked so I was surprised.  This is why he's cat #8 1/2.  He's a cute tuxedo cat.  Here are a couple pics:



Right after I released this guy, I put out some leftover tuna I'd been feeding him in my garage.  Usually the cats run away for their life but this one just walked a few feet away, turned around and looked at me like he was waiting for food!

I have more cats to update about...stay tuned readers, if I have any ;)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Cats #5, 6, and 7

It's been a while since I updated, but since the last post, I've caught and fixed three cats!  I had to take a couple weeks off because of rain and because one week I was sick.  After the two weeks off, the first one I caught was a female and the girl at the SPCA thinks she was actually pregnant, but they can still be spayed if they're pregnant apparently.  Here she is: 


The next one was one of the four little orange ones (my favorites, but shhh, don't tell the others!).  This one was the first boy of the little orangies so far.  I thought I would have trouble getting him because when I pulled up in my car to their area, he came out right away towards my car and watched me while I was putting the newspaper and food in the trap.  Then I set the trap and set it where I usually put their food and went to my car to wait it out.  Right as I was texting my husband that I was waiting to catch a cat, I heard the trap snap!  I think that little guy sniffed around it for about 30 seconds before he went in for the food.  Here he is:





Lucky cat #7 was a black cat again, which turned out to be a male.  I have to say, I much prefer catching females to males because the females don't stink!  Two of the males I've caught have sprayed or peed in the cage and when I take them in my car to release them, my car reeks for a couple days!!  They have some strong smelling liquids in them!!  Oh well, it's worth it.  Here are a couple pics of the last guy: 


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Cats, cats, and more cats

I just wanted to post a few pictures of some of the cats during the daylight to show how many there are living on the campus.  Everytime I go there, I feel like there are all these eyes on me.....probably because there are: 



Here are some pics that show the little orange ones. 



So far, I've caught 2 of the 4 younger orange kitties.  The other 2 are proving harder to catch!  Probably because they've watched the others go in the trap and won't fall for the same thing.  We'll see though. 

Lastly, here's a pic of one of the orange kitties I got before.  I can tell by its right ear, which has a V notched into it: 


Happy to see they're doing well :)

Ferals #3 and #4

Last week was a busy week.  I caught one cat on Tuesday night and took what turned out to be a "her" to get spayed.  This time I had caught a black kitty. 


This one was really subdued compared to the others. 

The next one I caught was on Thursday night.  When I took it to the SPCA the next day, it was full of ferals!  They were overloaded that day and I was turned away with a feral cat in my backseat.  I really didn't want to release it without having it fixed because odds are that I wouldn't be able to catch it again.  I called a few local vets to see if they worked with ferals and I found one that is around the corner from my house.  Luckily they had an opening and they offer a discounted rate for spaying/neutering ferals.  I dropped this one off, and it was actually a boy!


It's so hard to tell them apart.  There are SO many black cats at the school.  The vet notched his ear and I tried to get a picture up close: 


You can see the little V taken off the right ear so that people can tell this one's been fixed already.  When this one was done recovering, I took a quick video of me releasing it.  I think releasing them is my favorite part because they always run away and seem happy to get back to their home. 

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Feral #2 Fixed

So it turned out this kitty was a girl, again!  She was much more mellow after her surgery and really didn't make a peep the whole way home or even the rest of the day.  I did leave some tuna in her cage and I noticed she ate it later in the evening, which was good.  I had already decided that I would release her Thursday night, which means I had kept her for about two days - same as the previous kitty.  Here's a picture of her just before I released her. 


She sure was excited to get back to her brothers and sisters! 

One night last week when I was feeding the cats, the security guard told me that a lady who works at the school contacted a local Humane Society and they might come out to help trap and spay/neuter some cats, which would be awesome.  In the meantime, I'll keep on with what I'm doing and prevent some more little kittens from running wild!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Feral Cat #2

Last night I went to attempt to catch another cat.  There are a ton of black cats at the school and I was thinking I'd get one of them this time, but after 45 minutes of waiting, no luck.  I decided to try my luck again in the area where the little orange ones hang out and before you know it, I had another one.  I checked the ear to make sure it wasn't the same kitty as last week, which it wasn't, so I took it home to the garage.  It's a sibling of the one from last week.  They all look the same! 




This morning I took it off to the SPCA to get fixed.  Thankfully there are programs that spay/neuter feral cats for free.  I'll head back there later today to pick it up, and I'll find out if it's a boy or girl.  Hopefully it's a boy so I can release him sooner.  I hate to keep them in the cage for very long. 

Day of Surgery

Early in the morning, I took the cat to the SPCA to get fixed.  Turns out it was a girl :)  So she was spayed and they make a little V-cutout on the right ear so that it serves as a marker that this particular cat has been spayed/neutered, just in case I were to catch her again.  The only bad thing about it being a girl is that she requires a longer recovery period of 3 days, whereas a male can be released after 24 hours.  Here are a couple pics of her after the surgery:  




I put a little shoebox lid in the cage with some kitty litter for her to use, but I don't think she really understands the point of it because unfortunately she sat on the first water bowl I put in there, and then proceeded to sit on the kitty litter :(  Her tail and but had kitty litter stuck all over it!  Anyway, I didn't really want to keep her for 3 whole days because it seemed like a long time, and I had read online that you shouldn't keep feral cats for more than 48 hours because it increases their stress.  After I finished my class on Thursday night, I decided I wanted to release her because she had started eating again and she seemed alert.  I also wanted to release her when her siblings would be around, and they usually come out at night.  

So, I took her back over to the school and put out some food to coax the other little ones out.  Soon enough they came, so I got her from the car and reunited her with her little family :)  

One down, lots more to go!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Caught one!

So last night after I finished class, I headed over to the school with my trap and stinky tuna all ready to go.  When I got there, I noticed that someone had just fed the cats because their food containers were full.  I got worried that I wouldn't get one because they wouldn't be hungry.  But, you know what they say about cats - they're curious creatures!  After I set out the trap, I saw two of the little orange kitties very cautiously eyeing the trap.  I put a burlap cover on it so it wasn't some scary metal looking thing.  For a few minutes, they just walked around the outside of the trap, sniffing, pawing at the burlap, trying to figure out how to get the delicious tuna dish!  Finally, after only about five minutes, one of the little orangies fearlessly walked into the trap while his sibling watched....and BAM!  The door closed behind the kitty, who then proceeded to freak out and try to claw its way out.  I felt bad for the poor thing, but this is the right thing to do.  I took the kitty home and it spent the night in the garage.

Bright and early, we headed to the SPCA for its appointment.  Luckily, the local SPCA fixes feral cats for free so I only have to put in the time and effort, which I have a lot more of lately, so it works out well.

My first blog!

I've decided to start a blog about my adventures in trapping, neutering, and releasing some feral cats that live at a school nearby my house.  I first noticed these cats over a year ago because the school is part of my running route.  Over the past year, it seems as though the colony of cats has grown, and will continue to grow unless someone starts to get these animals fixed....and this is where I come in apparently.  After seeing a group of young, cute, orange tabby cats, I knew I couldn't ignore the problem the same way the school administration is doing.  To make a long story short, I finally got my hands on a humane trap, thanks to my sister who has experience trapping feral cats.  With the humane trap in hand, as well as some stinky tuna food, I am ready to begin my "fixing feral felines" project!