Once again I apologize for doing 99.9999% of my writing about all of this on our Facebook page called "Catlandia." When I write here it is seldom seen, but I do hope to change that in the near future with some help from a class I will take.
I hardly know where to start in describing the changes that have come over the colony cats and their home. Let's start with a little (shaky) video I made over a year ago and just saw again today for the first time since then. Almost every cat you see in this video is now at the Catlandia sanctuary. Mommy is not (and trying to think who else is in this little clip). Watch this and keep in mind that now the fence is changed, Jupiter the Horrible is guarding the yard adjacent to the park and has actually caused a few of the remaining cats to find other places to sleep and nap and stay, and that right now there are only 1-10 cats in this area that I and the other two colony caregivers even see anymore. When I first came to this place there were more than 25. In this clip you see how bonded and beautiful they are. These days only the shyest cats remain, and there is no tail entwining or head booping. But take a look at how it was. (Though the subject of the clip is Papi, he doesn't make an appearance at all. He had just spent 3 weeks with me in an XL dog crate, getting treatment for an URI and then getting neutered. This is when I brought him back to the park for release. )
I hardly know where to start in describing the changes that have come over the colony cats and their home. Let's start with a little (shaky) video I made over a year ago and just saw again today for the first time since then. Almost every cat you see in this video is now at the Catlandia sanctuary. Mommy is not (and trying to think who else is in this little clip). Watch this and keep in mind that now the fence is changed, Jupiter the Horrible is guarding the yard adjacent to the park and has actually caused a few of the remaining cats to find other places to sleep and nap and stay, and that right now there are only 1-10 cats in this area that I and the other two colony caregivers even see anymore. When I first came to this place there were more than 25. In this clip you see how bonded and beautiful they are. These days only the shyest cats remain, and there is no tail entwining or head booping. But take a look at how it was. (Though the subject of the clip is Papi, he doesn't make an appearance at all. He had just spent 3 weeks with me in an XL dog crate, getting treatment for an URI and then getting neutered. This is when I brought him back to the park for release. )
I shot another clip after this of Papi coming out, but it is pretty shaky. One day an awesome camera I will have! And steady hands! Papi did come out and run into that back yard behind the fence that was his safe space for so long.
Seeing this video made me nostalgic. They had so many members, the beautiful park, and it was almost perfect, but it was not. It was, and still is, some level of dangerous that I am never sure about. They were threatened with death, and so I trapped those I could trap, and left the rest there in hopes that their smaller numbers would make them less of a target. I know for a fact that that part worked. The smaller number of cats was noticed and it did make a difference. But over time some of the changes there have not been so welcome or good.
An unaltered male cat came from dog knows where and chased the GPK cats out of the yard. Joshua (who was never a colony member but a lonely one who ate with the colony cats every day) is now in a bush on the side of the parking lot with a frenemy I recently met and now call Atreyu. There is a not-nice guy who owns a house on the other side of the bushes, with no fence separation. He and I got into a shouting match about these cats a couple of months ago, and the colony's former caregiver told me a scary story about him and cats that I cannot confirm or repeat. Figuring out where to put a feeding station in this thin strip of bushes on a hillside has proven vexing.
Joshua is the one I used to call Little Yella (when I didn't know sex of cats and there were lots of cats to get to know I used descriptives). Atreyu is a tipped man with long black fur.
Not a lot of room to work. Its steep, and shallow.
I placed a feeding station in
there but took it out when I saw that either it would be seen or it would be too hard to get to for filling with food and water daily for me and the other caregivers. So, to wrap this epic chapter up (sry) I left this and next time I came could only find one bowl. The thinking (ouch) continues on this one.
there but took it out when I saw that either it would be seen or it would be too hard to get to for filling with food and water daily for me and the other caregivers. So, to wrap this epic chapter up (sry) I left this and next time I came could only find one bowl. The thinking (ouch) continues on this one.
So back to the main group.
Here are photos from last August. (and Joshua is there, eating with the group. )
Here are photos from last August. (and Joshua is there, eating with the group. )
Kitties used to lounge around before and after meals in this little area. But no more. Never. They come to eat, and then they run off in different directions. They don't even all come at one time and eat together. What can I do? What can we do? I will neuter Jupiter. One day. He doesn't come to eat every day, and he will not get in a trap, and I live 17 miles away, so this won't be easy, but I hope to borrow a drop trap and work some magic. What else? I also hope to have more land one day, cat-fence it in, and have a large and wonderful space for the cats in my care. And then come back here and get the cats I can get and bring them in. That is my hope and dream. But what else, for now? And what else, in case I don't get land? That is what I am trying to work out in my head. How to bring a sense of community, safety, security, and belonging to these cats. How to make their park space Feel Good Again. Suggestions welcome! It takes a village to help feral cats, and it takes a village to brainstorm brilliant ideas sometimes too. Peace to all, and thank you for caring about these cats.