This week I trapped 3 little kittens at one time in my magical trap! They are at our Catlandia home in a big crate, eating 200 times a day and getting hungrier the more they eat! They have fleas, sneezing, runny noses, parasites no doubt, shiny wet eyes, and need a lot of calories. They are going to be stunning cats one day soon. Two are blue eyed siamese kitties and one is a long haired gray tabby. But there is a 4th kitten. I tried to trap him for the past 2 nights, and today I saw him in the light of day for the first time. I'll be trying again tomorrow night.
These kittens need vet care and all of Catlandia relies on donations so please click this link and donate if you can. Thank you. Also if you are a great foster mom or dad and want to help in that way, send and email...see our contact page for that information. http://www.youcaring.com/other/saving-one-feral-cat-colony/170297 Today Little Grey really came out loud and proud into the mix of feral family members and new friends. He has been hiding out most of the days in 3 places in the living room and really only coming out to eat, drink, pee, poop, stretch, and sit & observe for short periods of time late at night. While this might not seem ideal, it is him getting the lay of the land and finding his place in it and developing trust in all of us here. And just getting used to the big changes in his life. I have no doubts that Little Grey is on the path to relaxing and enjoying life here with all of the rest of us. Some good news for dear Guiseppe. Guiseppe is a feral cat from the colony that I trapped and brought home due to the dangerous and unstable situation we face in the park. Guiseppe is by far the most feral feral in the home. He is the one who has been in a crate for weeks. Although popular wisdom says it often takes months in a crate to calm a cat like this, I am utterly unable to keep a cat in a crate for a prolonged period of time. Of all the dire situations and trying circumstances we are dealing with here, Guiseppe staying in this crate is the one that causes me the most personal angst. This weekend I zipped Guiseppe into the soft carrier that is in his crate, and brought him out into the livingroom where the rest of his rehomed colony family members were lying around, eating, or sleeping. Then I cleaned his crate thoroughly and set it back up not in the bedroom where it has been, but in the middle of the livingroom where the colony cats are currently hanging out most of the time. He has a sheet as a crate cover, and his crate is elevated about 8 inches off the ground. After being in the new place, and late in the evening, I removed the sheet from the front only of the crate. This is only after I heard him come out of the carrier and use the litter box and eat some food. Soon Guiseppe was up in the front corner watching the other cats and observing the room. Its quite busy these days in terms of kitties-per-square-inch, but otherwise fairly quiet and calm. Guiseppe was very engaged and not as frightened or jumpy as usual. Right now, he is asleep in his carrier in his crate , sheet off the front since last night, with me here at my table writing just 5 feet away in front of him. That is a big step in the right direction. Catlandia took in 2 homeless cats a couple of days ago quite unexpectedly. We really intended only to take in the colony members while we are in such a small space and relying entirely on small donations from individuals. But these 2 cats needed us and so now they are here. They are far from feral, and have never even been outside. They have a lot of mojo! They prowl and stalk and swagger! They are delightful. both of these cats have, for some reason, taken right away to interacting with Guiseppe and with lying on top of his crate, or at the side of his crate. Very interesting. This weekend 5 or so volunteers are coming to Catlandia to help repair and improve the existing cattery. We also hope to build a second cattery, and put together a dog kennel that was donated. When these things are done, Guiseppe's days in the crate are over. Yes! Finally. He will be able to do into a cattery that is quite secure and safe for him even as he takes the first hours or days or weeks to test it for weaknesses so he can make an escape. If Guiseppe cannot be made happy then, I will revisit the idea of attempting to rehome him as a barn cat, or even returning him to the park. I want him to be safe but I also do not want him to be miserable. If you can spare any dollars for us now, that money will go into a building fund to be used this coming Saturday. We would like to purchase plywood, fencing, hardware such as staples and screws and large stakes to keep diggers inside. Here is the link to our donations page. The funds donated previously have been used for basic care items but for right now incoming funds will be used to repair and improve catteries. https://www.youcaring.com/GPKs Thank you for caring about the GPKs feral cats, the ones still in the park, and the ones now calling Catlandia home. Today at the colony home, I saw the new fence posts sunk into the ground for the new fence. The owner came to speak with me and she has noticed how many less kitties there are. She is okay with all that I am doing at this time. Look at my beautiful Papi. He looks so different now since he was neutered, then lost much of his fur, and then grew it back without the Tom Cheeks. Who can say why he wanted to look like a a kitten again but he does. I brought my trap and almost got Russell, first, and then Angel, twice. both boys foiled my best efforts and I left enpty-handed. Well, except for the two strangers in carriers in my back seat given to me in a Walmart parking lot today. And that is Another Story. Then comes a strange man. Big balls dangling. I'm glad to see him if only so he can get used to me and maybe get in my time machine that will take him forward to Neuter O'Clock. He is gorgeous. And dangerous to unaltered girl cats and to himself and to pretty much everyone til he gets what he needs. Every kitty of the colony was there today and we spent about an hour and a half together. They were remarkably relaxed, and chilling and some looked to be having a good time. This makes me very happy.
We've got mad insomnia here at Catlandia. I was so moved by Guiseppe's unhappiness that at 3am I began rearranging the bedroom and his crate to give him better views and better ability to interact with other kitties here. I am going to be working on this all week til we get it right. But as of now, he is in front of the window and at window height. He can see what is outside and feel the sun and the moon on his face through the glass. But back to Little Grey! He ate a good meal and came out to hang out. Today Little Grey went to the doctor. Since he is a feral soul, I had to bring him in a trap rather than in a carrier. No problem! I wrapped a small blanket around the trap, put a soft pair of fuzzy pajama bottoms in the bottom, and secured the whole thing. I put a little Chill Pill essential oil on top. This is lavender and chamomile, both soothing to kitties. I put one squirt of Feliway spray inside. And I sprayed inside and out with Mimulus flower essence mixed with water. Mimulus is great for calming fears and anxieties. I put this trap close to where Little Grey has been hanging out, and let him get a bit used to it. Then I constructed a highway from him to the opening at one end of the crate blocking all exits, and then ushered him in. It went very well and so he did not have a bad experience getting in the trap. I got him in there a couple of hours before the appointment, so he could get relaxed in there, and also in case of any difficulties in getting him in. We went to Pleasure Island Animal Hospital to see Dr. Ked Cottrell. He checked Little Grey out by asking questions and by a visual exam so Little Grey could stay in the trap and stay calm. He admired Little Grey's beauty, of course, and how peacefully he conducted himself during this exam. He was able to hear poor Grey's wheezing for himself. And when I described Grey's eye issues, the doc said that the membrane coming over so much of the eye was a sign of parasites. I was so surprised but glad because this explained it and made much sense. Treatment for today included a shot of antibiotics, a shot of steroids (one shot with both medicines in it) and 2 oral treatments for 3 kinds of worms to be taken over the next 2 weeks. The doc says that Grey should feel markedly better in 7-10 days. When he does feel better, we can come back and get a little more done. The cost of all of this? We were quoted, as you can see, $99,999,999.00! Sure he's happy charging those kinds of prices! Oh good grief!
My dear helpful people, we could not have done this without you. Thank you so much. And we'll keep reporting in on how Little Grey is doing and on his treatment plans. It is a daunting task, to trap feral cats and bring them into the home with hopes of habilitating them. You put them in big dog crates, with hidey holes, litter boxes, food, and water inside, and various kinds of draping over the crate that you can have on, off, or a little on and a little off. They are scared, disoriented. They suffer. You hope you are doing the right thing and that This Will Work. You took them from their home, but only because of the danger there.
Tonight I had a few beautiful moments with Guiseppe and Little Grey. I opened Little Grey's crate and enticed him out with food. He came out of his hidey hole bed, stretched as I scratched and petted him, and came to the edge of the big crate and I fed him there. Then he went back inside his hidey hole. He thought about it. About coming out into the big ole scary bedroom. Cavernous space. Too much space. He considered it. And made a decision not to come out. I respect that. While I sat with Little Grey, Guiseppe watched me closely. He does that. Tonight, and not for the first time, I attempted to make a connection with him by using the Slow Blink. This is a communication device for human to cat to human, introduced by Anitra Frazier in her book The Natural Cat, and then popularized by Jackson Galaxy in his TV show My Cat From Hell. He calls it the Cat I Love You. You look softly at the cat, feeling your love for her or him, and you close your eyes for a second, or two, or three, and open them. You say, in your heart, " I" when you first look, you say "love" when you close your eyes, you say "you" when you reopen them. You do this over and over, gently, never forcing anything, until the cat responds in kind with a blink or sometimes just a peaceful look away. Guiseppe blinked. We did this several times. We had this conversation in which Guiseppe agreed to put a little trust in me after all. And I really appreciate it. So much. He gave me what I needed tonight. And so did dear Little Grey. Yesterday when I went to feed the colony, I saw the New Kitty. One thing you never want to say when you are dealing with a feral cat colony that you are trying to rehome is "there's a new kitty." This is a beautiful young man cat with a big pair of jingle bells. He is on my shit list, too, because yesterday I also saw, for the first time, A New Kitten. The other thing you never want to say when you are dealing with a colony is "A New Kitten." The kitten ran away the instant he saw me. I followed him til he went under a series of bushes. This really is terrible news. The entire GPKs colony has been spayed and neutered. This new kitten means at least one mama, daddy, and kitten need to TNR. This leads us to another sticky wicket. These new cats are in the colony home ground because of a phenomenon known as the Vacuum Effect. This law of feral cats says that when you trap and kill feral cats, or otherwise remove them, and there is a place with ample food available, other feral cats will come. Unaltered cats. And this is what is happening here. I'm working to remove the colony cats from this unstable and volatile situation, and in the process opening up space to future colony members, or just eaters. This means that we are putting out a bit too much food. We will remedy that. There are many cats and colonies in this area. We just want to clear out this one space. It is not going to be easy. And now with at least 3 unaltered cats in the area, things are looking stickier and stickier. |
Catlandia Jones aka Roxanne
I moved to the south 11 years ago and was drafted into the cat care biz by one cat after another. Now I am a dedicated and passionate feral cat defender. Archives
April 2015
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