Making Copies...

This morning, I spent a few hours at All About Animals Rescue, volunteering with about 20 co-workers.  Half of us cleaned kennels and attached tags to feral cat traps, while the rest created trap covers cut from donated bed sheets.  We used a template (about 57" by 32"), and churned out copy after copy of covers.

On Sunday, October 15, All About Animals is having $10 Community Cat Spay & Neuter Blitz, so they will use all of the trap covers they can get!  Cats need to be covered up to remain calm.  We made a huge stack of covers.  

They expect 120 cats, all from TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) situations.

An example of the cat trap covers that we made

This was the final cover, made by yours truly!

All About Animals, in Warren Michigan

The TruCatch traps are roughly 30" by 10" by 8", with a quiet trap door that is activated when the cat steps on the lever plate.  Made from coated-wire; the cat NEVER touches metal.  The fabric cover blocks the view of all of the hubbub going on.  All About Animals loans out dozens and dozens of traps, plus offers low cost spay and neuter operations during the week.  Sweetie and Patty O'Malley were both 'fixed' there, as well as Angels Sammy and Hobo.

All About Animals does important work; I am glad to donate a little bit of time to a great cause...and my office co-workers are too!

Look! It's Hobo!

Hobo!

I visited with Hobo this past weekend; he's the black and white cat whom I TNR'd back in 2009.  He was a constant visitor to our yard for years, but when Sammy and Patty O'Malley joined the crew, Hobo decided to amble down the alley.  I spoke to the guy who is feeding Hobo (whom he calls O.C. for Outside Cat) and four other 'stray' cats, in his backyard.  His house is on the other end of the block from our place, and I guess the cats use the alley as an effective roadway.

The Hubby and I have always loved Hobo, but he's never allowed us to touch him.  Even when he had a handful of burrs stuck in his back fur, he refused any human assistance.  He never slept in the cat shelters that we made, either.  He would accept only food and water.  But I trapped him and got him neutered; he was just about the easiest cat to catch, other than Patty O'Malley who walked into the trap in 30 seconds!

Having offered the guy my services as trapper, I have provided my contact information and that of low cost spay/neuter clinic All About Animals Shelter (website: http://www.allaboutanimalsrescue.org/).  He didn't know how he was going to get all of the cats 'fixed', but now he has a way, and of course I'll assist in whatever way is comfortable for him.

In the end, it was nice to commune with my friend Hobo, and knowing that he's being cared for is wonderful!  I told him that he can venture down the alley back to our house at any time.

The Skinny, The Not-So Skinny, and The Missing

Here's what happened:
Back in March, when I trapped Patty (who had an abscess) and Sweetie (because I went for a two-for-one approach), the vet said that Sweetie's teeth were 'bad'.  The vet was unable to examine her further, because she fought like the feral cat she is!  That word 'bad' has been rattling 'round my head all of these months, plus the fact that Sammy had a such a infected mouth that we helped him over the Rainbow Bridge to end his suffering.

So, I put a plan in place.  We set up the drop trap over the feeding station, and fed Sweetie and Patty there until Wednesday night.  That's when I dropped the trap around them both, and we put them in humane traps.

Patty and Sweetie getting used to the drop trap

Keeping warm in the tent!

Overnight, I put the two trapped cats inside a tent, then covered them with sheets and blankets, to conserve their body heat.

Thursday morning, I drove to All About Animals in Warren, Michigan, so they each could receive a dental cleaning, and Sweetie got a microchip too; Patty was microchipped when he was neutered in 2011.

I waited by the phone all day Thursday, as I had asked the staff to call me if they found anything in either cat that they felt would deserve a trip to a full veterinarian's office.  About 2:30 pm, the phone rang.  The news: Patty came through the procedure just fine, but she wanted me to know that they consider him TOO FAT!  Sweetie, however, was a different story, and my heart jumped in my chest.  Sweetie came through everything just fine with no tooth extractions, because she's missing 19 teeth.  Let me say that again...NINETEEN teeth are missing!  They pretty much did root canal work on her, in six areas where the teeth were gone but the root still there.  My poor Sweetie!

Cats have 30 teeth; I looked it up on the internet.  She is missing most of her teeth!

Cat teeth are fragile, the veterinarian said.  They cannot chew on thick or dense material, like dogs chew on a rawhide, because their teeth will crack. Sweetie was living pretty rough until she joined our family, I guess!  Patty is missing seven teeth, which isn't a good record either.  

Sweetie's dental notes

Patty's dental notes

Thursday night was one of the loneliest of my life.  I had to restrain myself from looking out the windows, because although my brain knew Patty and Sweetie were being held overnight at All About Animals, my habit of searching for them outside is deeply engrained!

Friday morning, I drove in the dark to pick up my feral friends.  While waiting for the staff to assist, I met Mush, the office cat:

Mush

Mush knew a cat-lover, and he was all over me to the delight of the other patient parents who waited with me.  Mush kept staring at a puppy, which made the dog paralyzed with fright!  After a very short time, Patty and Sweetie were brought out for me to take away.

Now, you'd think I was a nervous wreck from all of this, and you'd be correct!  But not as nervous as I was when I let them out of their cages on the deck.  A fierce wind was blowing...a bit rainy...and the two of them had been trapped, manhandled, poked, prodded, and taken from familiar ground for days!  Unsurprising though, Patty stepped out of his trap and came over to head butt me.  My Patty!  I almost cried with joy.  Sweetie was very skittish, and would not accept any pets.  I put the traps away in the barn, and put out a half-a-can of food for each.  Patty ate like nothing had happened, but Sweetie seemed a bit uncomfortable and she shied away after a few mouthfuls.  Understandable!

Later on, I put out some home-cooked turkey, made with love by The Hubby, and nutritional yeast sprinkled over the top, and voila!

The moral of the story:

Much less kibble for Patty and Sweetie!  Only wet food from now on, at least until it gets too cold when wet food freezes.  Patty needs to lose weight, and both of them should chew on soft foods.  In the back of my mind, I am thinking that Sweetie's coughing/sneezing fits could have been caused by her bad mouth, and the veterinarian agreed with me, although she really didn't know if the fits could be caused by other issues (lungworm, heartworm, etc.)  Will wait and see.  

It's amazing that I've now trapped each of them multiple times using my 'drop trap as feeding station' bit, and yet they still love me!  Guess they can feel my love for them...?

P.S. All About Animals is a fantastic resource for the TNR (trap-neuter-return) community in Metro Detroit, plus they offer low-cost health exams, tests and vaccines for pet dogs and cats.  Without their resources, I would not be able to help my outside cat friends.  Please consider a donation to aid their cause.  Go here for more information: http://www.allaboutanimalsrescue.org/.  In gratitude, I've volunteered multiple times at TNR classes, feral cat building classes, donated items for auction, and even washed walls and floors when they moved to their current location!  I carry their cards in my purse and car, to hand out to anyone who has a pet.

P.S.S. My heart goes out to the people of France.  If we can learn to love our animal friends, we can surely learn to love our fellow humans.  Let us all work toward love and peace, for every single living thing on our planet.  

My 2015 Cat Resolutions

Angel and her catnip toy

Chucky chillin'

Sweetie at the food bowl

Patty, with cute turned up to 11

Wild Bill Russell

Sammy ?-2014

My 2015 Cat Resolutions

For Angel and Chuck:

1) I resolve to put quality in our time together; toy play with Angel, and one-on-one with Chuck.

2) I resolve to finish the transition to wheat litter, in hopes that it reduces Chuck's intestinal issues.

3) I resolve to allow solutions to cat problems to grow organically with time, rather than jump to conclusions, or react with panic, or feel pressure to fix it NOW.

4) I resolve to find a new veterinarian, preferably a holistic practitioner.

For the 'o' cats:

1) I resolve to take both Sweetie and Patty in for veterinary check-ups in the Spring.  No more wishy-washy 'should I, shouldn't I?' about this.  Can't do it now, because we have no electricity for a heater in the barn as holding area, and it's too cold out now.

2) I resolve to TNR the elusive Wild Bill Russell.  

3) I resolve to put Sammy's heart-shaped container in a place that I can see daily.

For friends and family:

1) I resolve to assist The Paw Project, Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs, Best Friends Animal Society, Paws for the Cause, All About Animals Spay and Neuter Clinic and others in as many ways as I can!

2) I resolve to encourage all cat-loving people that I meet to give 100% of themselves to their feline family members.

For myself:

1) I resolve to work on my own health, so I can offer positive vibes and attitude to the hubby, my people and cat families, and to my co-workers.  This includes physical exercise and mental relaxation.  2015 is my year for joy, humor, and growth!  

2) I resolve to re-establish electricity to the barn, by sweetly encouraging the hubby to GET IT DONE.

Relaxed Patty

Patty, photobombing Sweetie...again

Patty's skin is better; he is no longer scratching so hard that he's making sores.  All this from changing his food.  I couldn't be happier, and much appreciation to M & P for helping me choose Plan B's (and for sending supplies!) if the food switch didn't work.

Look at these cuties:

Awwww, right?

Stunning photo

These last two photos were sent by my co-worker, who has a field across the street from her home, and she's discovered a mother cat and three kittens living there.  She and I are planning a TNR project, utilizing All About Animals Rescue.  However, before that, she and her family are trying to find adopters for the kittens.  You KNOW I would be first in line for that little black one, if we weren't already caring for four cats now. But...you never know...!  The mama cat is all black, and the third kitten is whitish beige. We don't know if they are male or female, but an expedition of discovery is set for this afternoon.

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!  Michigan is having such lovely weather, I'm heading outside and don't plan on coming back in until nightfall!  All week at the office, I dream of being OUT; so I'm gonna do it. 

Cutie Cat Photos

Feral kitten near co-workers home

We are planning our trapping expedition to rescue this little one, his two siblings and the mama kitty in a few weeks.  The kittens are too young to try now.  I will borrow a few more humane traps from All About Animals Rescue in Warren, Michigan, then we will try to catch all of them for TNR.  My co-worker will feed them, since they live in the field across the street from her home.  We thought we had a barn where we could work on socializing them, but that deal fell through.  I will post more photos soon; maybe we can get them a home yet!  

Tonya

 Miss T. looks splendid in her new do!  Florida gets pretty hot, ya know.  She had a few mats in her fur, so a trip to the vet's office for a check-up netted her a spa day.  And she's healthy too...yay!

Sweetie Toes

Tried to capture the bits of white fur on Sweeties's back legs.  Look at those hooks!  She is just beginning to get used to me getting close to her with my phone.

I'm just chillaxin'; it wasn't me!

A nameless someone has peed over the side of the litter box recently. Just sayin'! 

Don't look at me; I'm too cute to pee over the side!

 Yes, my Angel...you are too cute!  And you have no shame either...

Dig that crazy nail polish...

Patty wants petting no matter what, no matter where, no matter when.

Who am I to deny him?

Chillin'

Sammy hiding under a hosta plant

Patty enjoying a post-lunch stretch

Chuck trying hard to fit in the Friskies box

Mommy & Kitten

The temps warmed up nicely today, and the 'o' cats hid in the shade and did not eat as much food.  Mia seems to be somewhat sneezy too.  I add L-Lysine to their food to boost their respiratory health.  The pollen count has been really high recently too, so every living thing is bothered.

Notice the last photo: I spied three kittens playing on the cement stairs at a house I walk by nightly.  When approached, the kittens retreat and hide.  Hmm, not like house cat kittens.  I drove by at lunch today, and there they were again; two black kittens and a black and white one.  No adult cat around.  I screwed up my courage and knocked on the door of the house!  A nice woman came to the door (at least I was wearing my work clothes!) and I asked if the kittens belonged to her.  She was astounded; said she doesn't have a cat and she knew nothing about any.  We both walked away, and the kittens came out of the bushes!  I gave her the Paws for the Cause Feral Cat Rescue contact information, as well as a card for All About Animals.  Gave her my cell phone # too (shh, don't tell the hubby!) in case she needed some help.  Let's hope she calls.  The photo is from this evening, while walking past.  Mommy cat is beautiful, and her little ones are very squee.