(As rants go, that could have been much worse. Thanks for listening.)
Today has been long and eventful. And not nearly over yet. I need 36 hours in a day
anymore. Truly. And I believe that that must mean I am on a right path. This path has great trials, and has given me a great heart. I really am on a path of great merit. It is an honor and pleasure to be a feral & community cat defender.
Now on to The Big Day!
Which started yesterday. No, Monday. When I fed the GPKs colony cats and set 2 traps in a neighborhood in Carolina Beach for 2 cats who need TNR. I stopped by my clinic pharmacy and who is bopping down the street to the beat of John Travolta's Stayin Alive but the cutest tiny tuxedo man I've ever seen. Wearing a flea collar! Strange, right? Well, I call him to me on the sidewalk and he comes right up, friendly, innocent, trusting. I pick him up and see that there is a phone number scrawled on the flea collar. I call it.
Lisa answers my call. She found him walking around the area, and had been trying to find his guardians for a week. He wouldn't stay in the house so she wrote her phone number on his flea collar.
I happened to notice his balls. Hey, I am all about getting cats out of the baby making business. So when Lisa met up with us a few moments later, I had a plan.
When Lisa saw the kitty, snug in my arms, she walked right up to him and cupped her hand around his ear, gave him some scratches, looked into his eyes, and said, "I love you so much." She said she was very attached to him and would like to keep him. I said I would get him neutered the next day, and then bring him to her. She was grateful for the help.
Here's the boy himself. I call him Monkey, but his name is Felix. This is him after neutering hanging out in the Catlandia cattery. He loves to be outdoors and Lisa is going to have to be diligent inside and safe.
Today I took Felix to Lisa. I made Felix a cute little hidey hole bed with his name on it and lots of hearts, cuz he is all love. He even got one of Roberta's Mats for Cats, because, well, he's wonderful and deserves it.
Here he is with Lisa, his new guardian:
Lisa has another cat named Felip who is a gorgeous 14 year old panther. And he looks so much like Handsome, the GPK who is thought to be dead now. They both have large strong noses that I think are so cool looking. Here is Felip:
Lisa told me about some cats in her apartment complex area who had been dumped after a woman living nearby had been told by management that she had too many cats and must "get rid of them." All I know is that she took them outside, and there they were. Some are gone, some maybe taken in by kind strangers, but some are left to themselves out there now.
I asked to meet them. We took some food and went to their little eating area. There is a low dry creek bed there and lot of debris dammed up, and 2 cats came out of the cave formed by the dam. They ate for us. Twins, looks like. One tipped, one not.
The one not tipped look very pregnant to me. Cats sometimes look preggers when they've not, so I needed to find out for sure so I would know how to proceed. Lisa helped me get her into a trap, and I got her in the car. I asked Lisa to bring the cats a bowl of water, and to look for ear tips when she sees them over the next few days. She asked me to call and let her know what we are going to do with this little one.
Here is her tipped sister. They call both of these girl cats Toby. So I'll be advocating for better names asap. But here is Toby I:
Meanwhile here comes her twin (Toby II) Mrs Mommy.
At the vet's 2 techs eye-balled her but couldn't tell. She was making herself small in the trap, so it was just impossible. They decided to get Dr Cottrell to come in, but while we waited for him (they were squeezing us in between appointments) I worked my magic and got her to let me feel all over her. And oh my gee. Those babes are kicking the snot out of her! One youngin is way up in her back trying to kick his way out. Poor darling! So I then brought her home. Fixed up a little area in the bathroom for her. A little box to hide in with blankets in the bottom. She's in there decompressing now.
The Plan: see if there is an experienced mama-baby cat caregiver who would like ot take them in for 6 weeks. Then kittens get adopted out and mama returns to me for spay/rabies. Then what? Well, I have to step up my A Game. A for Adoption. Look out, cuz I Got This! (Also.....HEELLLPPPPP!!!!!!)