Sunday, February 28, 2010

Tomorrow is my Birthday

I hadn't kept track of the date. I thought today was my birthday but it's tomorrow. I don't have any plans except to take cats to the clinic, if I catch them tonight, and pick them up in the evening.

I suppose everyone wants to feel special on one day. Maybe not. I wish I could spend time with my family, but that isn't going to happen. I haven't heard from one brother for ages. They're too busy with their jobs and their families and I understand that, but boy it sure gets lonely. I just wish so much I had a family of my own.

Getting sucked into the mental health system at a young age made that an impossibility. Unless I had wanted to be one of the unwed single welfare moms out there, and that I would never do. I always had low self esteem as a result of my childhood and my father's behavior, so I stayed mostly away from men. For a long long time, I could not even kiss a man because I would see and even smell my father.

If a woman has low self-esteem, creating an equal relationship with another human being, especially a man, if one has been abused, is very very difficult. Getting sucked into the mental system, labeled faulty, and with being in the system, and on disability, assuming the life long poverty that goes with that, and the lowest scum of the earth social status, sure didn't help self esteem issues any, or my prospects of developing a loving equal stable relationship with a man.

Now I'm old and will never have a family. Not much I can do about it now. I've also been isolated so much of life I am eccentric and have few people skills as a result.

Sure is a heartache for me, but I have to just understand that's the way it is.

I'd love to have a bunch of girlfriends to go out with to some pub, raise some pints, laugh it up and make jokes about getting old and all that. But I don't have such friends, so that's just the way it is.

I don't like going out to eat. My younger brother and his wife do. He's been by twice in the last few years and we've gone to Red Robin, a restuarant I just can't stand. I don't like it because it has zero atmosphere and the food is like trough eating: high fat and high sugar, as much as you can stuff down.

If I was to spend money to eat out, I'd sure want to have some sort of experience, and not just waste money on lard and sugar. Like going somewhere with atmosphere.

I don't know how I would describe "atmosphere". I think pubs, at least some, have atmosphere. I don't know why I think that. About the only pubs I've been to are the McMinnamin chain. Keni, Poppa's president, and I used to go to the one at Rock Creek for a lunch break when working hard and dirty at the nursery, Recycled Gardens. I have good memories of those lunches. Maybe it was only about three times. I think her husband played there once. He is in a rock band and they're good!

We had a couple of volunteer parties at Recycled Gardens with a band. Usually Keni's husbands' band would close the night out and they were THE BEST. I remember a bunch of us volunteers danced for hours in the nursery to the band beneath the stars one year. Now that was a good time. I had to sleep in my car an hour to recover before driving all the way back home to Corvallis. Recycled Gardens has been closed for three years now. Poppa used to make its money selling recycled plants to prevent unwanted pets at Recycled Gardens.

Tomorrow is my Birthday

I hadn't kept track of the date. I thought today was my birthday but it's tomorrow. I don't have any plans except to take cats to the clinic, if I catch them tonight, and pick them up in the evening.

I suppose everyone wants to feel special on one day. Maybe not. I wish I could spend time with my family, but that isn't going to happen. I haven't heard from one brother for ages. They're too busy with their jobs and their families and I understand that, but boy it sure gets lonely. I just wish so much I had a family of my own.

Getting sucked into the mental health system at a young age made that an impossibility. Unless I had wanted to be one of the unwed single welfare moms out there, and that I would never do. I always had low self esteem as a result of my childhood and my father's behavior, so I stayed mostly away from men. For a long long time, I could not even kiss a man because I would see and even smell my father.

If a woman has low self-esteem, creating an equal relationship with another human being, especially a man, if one has been abused, is very very difficult. Getting sucked into the mental system, labeled faulty, and with being in the system, and on disability, assuming the life long poverty that goes with that, and the lowest scum of the earth social status, sure didn't help self esteem issues any, or my prospects of developing a loving equal stable relationship with a man.

Now I'm old and will never have a family. Not much I can do about it now. I've also been isolated so much of life I am eccentric and have few people skills as a result.

Sure is a heartache for me, but I have to just understand that's the way it is.

I'd love to have a bunch of girlfriends to go out with to some pub, raise some pints, laugh it up and make jokes about getting old and all that. But I don't have such friends, so that's just the way it is.

I don't like going out to eat. My younger brother and his wife do. He's been by twice in the last few years and we've gone to Red Robin, a restuarant I just can't stand. I don't like it because it has zero atmosphere and the food is like trough eating: high fat and high sugar, as much as you can stuff down.

If I was to spend money to eat out, I'd sure want to have some sort of experience, and not just waste money on lard and sugar. Like going somewhere with atmosphere.

I don't know how I would describe "atmosphere". I think pubs, at least some, have atmosphere. I don't know why I think that. About the only pubs I've been to are the McMinnamin chain. Keni, Poppa's president, and I used to go to the one at Rock Creek for a lunch break when working hard and dirty at the nursery, Recycled Gardens. I have good memories of those lunches. Maybe it was only about three times. I think her husband played there once. He is in a rock band and they're good!

We had a couple of volunteer parties at Recycled Gardens with a band. Usually Keni's husbands' band would close the night out and they were THE BEST. I remember a bunch of us volunteers danced for hours in the nursery to the band beneath the stars one year. Now that was a good time. I had to sleep in my car an hour to recover before driving all the way back home to Corvallis. Recycled Gardens has been closed for three years now. Poppa used to make its money selling recycled plants to prevent unwanted pets at Recycled Gardens.

Cat Stats for February 2010

I took in 38 cats to be fixed in February.

Numbers By sex:

24 males. 12 Females. 2 of the females were pregnant. One was in heat. One prev. neutered male.

Numbers by temperament:

20 were feral. 18 were tame.

Numbers by County:

12 came from Benton County. 26 were from Linn.

Numbers by City:

3 from Adair. 3 from Corvallis. 6 from rural Benton. 26 from Albany.

Rehoming/Special:
Rehomed one of the three Corvallis cats (Cassiopia. from homeless camp, have the other two here, Peter and James, awaiting placement.
All three Adair cats were rehomed. One, Big Ben, awaits placement, is in foster in Portland. Three of the Albany cats were rehomed by caretaker of colony, after they were fixed. Another Albany cat from trailer park colony is here, getting eye treatment. His ultimate fate unknown, likely will have to return.

Total rehomed or in foster of the 38 fixed
as a result of getting caught and fixed: 9

And one, Crusty, the inflamed eye abandoned trailer park male in limbo.


I have begun keeping records on out of pocket expenses paid for rescued cats and cats I take in at vet clinics.

In January, although I have not reviewed all records, I paid $76.69 for a long term antibiotic injection for one of the Venell seed cats with a severe urinary tract infection. The vet had called, stating it was medically necessary.

I also paid out $31.98 for two tubes of Profender back of neck dewormer to treat two rescued cats here I cannot handle easily enough to pill.

In February, although I have not reviewed all records, I paid out $39.84 for accurax earmite treatment and ear cleaning for Peter and James, the two homeless camp teen feral boys, who were severely infested and $12.28 on Cassie, the homeless camp tame female teen, for a rabies vaccine.

I also paid $19.00 for antibiotic eyedrops to treat Crusty, the white trailer park abandoned male with inflamed eyes.

A donation from the man who adopted Cassie paid back the amount I paid for her rabies vaccine, but was not quite enough to cover a distemper vaccine ($5), worming ($5), flea and earmite treatment ($10) that I also gave her. Her spay, $49, had to be covered entirely by Poppa Inc.

A donation by the trailer park caregiver covered the eye drops for Crusty and she added some beyond that to the gift card account at the vet clinic which helps cover such costs, if there is anything in the account. I rarely have donations in that gift card account, unfortunately.

Financial problems arise for me when cats I take in for people, to merely be fixed, turn up with expensive health issues that cannot be overlooked. Most caregivers will contribute nothing.

The other challenge for me is maintenance costs on rescued cats here, while they await homes. This includes cat litter, cat food, shots, worming, flea and earmite treatment, etc. and takes up most of my own money and time. I do not routinely get any donations of cat food or litter to help me maintain the rescued cats here.

Except for Jeanne, from Baltimore, who sends a case or two of Fancy Feast each month. The cats here have come to know what that means, when the doorbell rings and the delivery man hands me that little box. They are not patient about waiting on me to get that open and then open the cans, one to each small plate. The box lasts one day. And they love it. It's a big happy day for the cats here when that box arrives.

Jeanne, Sam still wants to come live with you. He says, "Jody doesn't give me Fancy Feast, but you do!"

I'm always scrambling here, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. I have to get vaccines again, and vaccinate Peter and James, since I had to bring them back from the seed warehouse. They'll have to have rabies too now.

Crusty will have to have a three-way vaccination, too, at the least, since he will be here at least five more days for the duration of antibiotic treatment. Then what for him, I don't know. None of these things are cheap, that's for sure, or free, like a lot of people seem to think.

I got three cats fixed for someone a couple of weeks ago and the vet made a note the cats had tapeworms, which is the result of swallowing an infected flea. I told her that and that she would need to worm the cats, for common types of cat worms, round and tape. I told her she would likely have to worm the cats for roundworms three times, two weeks apart, too, and I told her the least expensive way to treat fleas on cats. She had tried using over the counter crap brands and was outraged that they not only did not work, but that products that don't work would even be sold. She had a good point.

But two weeks later she called again, wanting the same information again, and really, I believe,wanting me to provide her the medications necessary. She was understanding when I explained I live on the same amount of money she does, and cannot afford to provide such things for people. I told her that her cats also need vaccinated and to save her money and get them in to see a local vet to get all these things taken care of.

Getting a pet is a responsiblity. It doesn't matter if a person is poor or well off, getting a pet, like having a child, should be something carefully thought out and planned and if a person cannot afford a pet or a child, or for other reasons, will not provide them what they need, they shouldn't get one.

Cat Stats for February 2010

I took in 38 cats to be fixed in February.

Numbers By sex:

24 males. 12 Females. 2 of the females were pregnant. One was in heat. One prev. neutered male.

Numbers by temperament:

20 were feral. 18 were tame.

Numbers by County:

12 came from Benton County. 26 were from Linn.

Numbers by City:

3 from Adair. 3 from Corvallis. 6 from rural Benton. 26 from Albany.

Rehoming/Special:
Rehomed one of the three Corvallis cats (Cassiopia. from homeless camp, have the other two here, Peter and James, awaiting placement.
All three Adair cats were rehomed. One, Big Ben, awaits placement, is in foster in Portland. Three of the Albany cats were rehomed by caretaker of colony, after they were fixed. Another Albany cat from trailer park colony is here, getting eye treatment. His ultimate fate unknown, likely will have to return.

Total rehomed or in foster of the 38 fixed
as a result of getting caught and fixed: 9

And one, Crusty, the inflamed eye abandoned trailer park male in limbo.


I have begun keeping records on out of pocket expenses paid for rescued cats and cats I take in at vet clinics.

In January, although I have not reviewed all records, I paid $76.69 for a long term antibiotic injection for one of the Venell seed cats with a severe urinary tract infection. The vet had called, stating it was medically necessary.

I also paid out $31.98 for two tubes of Profender back of neck dewormer to treat two rescued cats here I cannot handle easily enough to pill.

In February, although I have not reviewed all records, I paid out $39.84 for accurax earmite treatment and ear cleaning for Peter and James, the two homeless camp teen feral boys, who were severely infested and $12.28 on Cassie, the homeless camp tame female teen, for a rabies vaccine.

I also paid $19.00 for antibiotic eyedrops to treat Crusty, the white trailer park abandoned male with inflamed eyes.

A donation from the man who adopted Cassie paid back the amount I paid for her rabies vaccine, but was not quite enough to cover a distemper vaccine ($5), worming ($5), flea and earmite treatment ($10) that I also gave her. Her spay, $49, had to be covered entirely by Poppa Inc.

A donation by the trailer park caregiver covered the eye drops for Crusty and she added some beyond that to the gift card account at the vet clinic which helps cover such costs, if there is anything in the account. I rarely have donations in that gift card account, unfortunately.

Financial problems arise for me when cats I take in for people, to merely be fixed, turn up with expensive health issues that cannot be overlooked. Most caregivers will contribute nothing.

The other challenge for me is maintenance costs on rescued cats here, while they await homes. This includes cat litter, cat food, shots, worming, flea and earmite treatment, etc. and takes up most of my own money and time. I do not routinely get any donations of cat food or litter to help me maintain the rescued cats here.

Except for Jeanne, from Baltimore, who sends a case or two of Fancy Feast each month. The cats here have come to know what that means, when the doorbell rings and the delivery man hands me that little box. They are not patient about waiting on me to get that open and then open the cans, one to each small plate. The box lasts one day. And they love it. It's a big happy day for the cats here when that box arrives.

Jeanne, Sam still wants to come live with you. He says, "Jody doesn't give me Fancy Feast, but you do!"

I'm always scrambling here, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. I have to get vaccines again, and vaccinate Peter and James, since I had to bring them back from the seed warehouse. They'll have to have rabies too now.

Crusty will have to have a three-way vaccination, too, at the least, since he will be here at least five more days for the duration of antibiotic treatment. Then what for him, I don't know. None of these things are cheap, that's for sure, or free, like a lot of people seem to think.

I got three cats fixed for someone a couple of weeks ago and the vet made a note the cats had tapeworms, which is the result of swallowing an infected flea. I told her that and that she would need to worm the cats, for common types of cat worms, round and tape. I told her she would likely have to worm the cats for roundworms three times, two weeks apart, too, and I told her the least expensive way to treat fleas on cats. She had tried using over the counter crap brands and was outraged that they not only did not work, but that products that don't work would even be sold. She had a good point.

But two weeks later she called again, wanting the same information again, and really, I believe,wanting me to provide her the medications necessary. She was understanding when I explained I live on the same amount of money she does, and cannot afford to provide such things for people. I told her that her cats also need vaccinated and to save her money and get them in to see a local vet to get all these things taken care of.

Getting a pet is a responsiblity. It doesn't matter if a person is poor or well off, getting a pet, like having a child, should be something carefully thought out and planned and if a person cannot afford a pet or a child, or for other reasons, will not provide them what they need, they shouldn't get one.

Photos of the Two Sprite Old Couple Colony Cats Fixed Friday



Photos of the two boys fixed Friday from the Sprite Oldies colony. The orange tabby is the second full on orange tabby fixed from there. I also took in an orange tabby tux to be fixed from there--five boys in all so far. There are still five to catch. This is one of two tabbies, one long hair, one short hair, left to catch at the trailer park colony.

Photos of the Two Sprite Old Couple Colony Cats Fixed Friday



Photos of the two boys fixed Friday from the Sprite Oldies colony. The orange tabby is the second full on orange tabby fixed from there. I also took in an orange tabby tux to be fixed from there--five boys in all so far. There are still five to catch. This is one of two tabbies, one long hair, one short hair, left to catch at the trailer park colony.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Plea from FBI over Info on the Nine Middle East Men Seen Photographing Detroit Dam

Click the post title to go to the local paper story. I posted something about this, from the crime log, awhile back. Now there is another story in the local paper. The FBI is asking the public for help in finding these men, photographed by a security worker at the Detroit Dam. Apparently the nine men were photographing the dam and access roads. This might be very very important to locate these people.

Spread the word.

When I posted about this before, a lot of people e-mailed making jokes about why in the world terrorists would target struggling rural Oregon, especially a remote dam like Detroit or Foster. If Foster failed it would likely flood Lebanon and lot of grass fields, but not much else. And Detroit is so far out, I don't know exactly where that water would go. Lebanon and this area in general is full of poor people and grass seed fields. Destroying poor people's homes or grass seed farms would scarcely make any point at all, even to the United States.

But it is weird to think there might be members of a terror cell living in the mid valley here. Very unsettling. I hope the FBI gets to the bottom of this.

Plea from FBI over Info on the Nine Middle East Men Seen Photographing Detroit Dam

Click the post title to go to the local paper story. I posted something about this, from the crime log, awhile back. Now there is another story in the local paper. The FBI is asking the public for help in finding these men, photographed by a security worker at the Detroit Dam. Apparently the nine men were photographing the dam and access roads. This might be very very important to locate these people.

Spread the word.

When I posted about this before, a lot of people e-mailed making jokes about why in the world terrorists would target struggling rural Oregon, especially a remote dam like Detroit or Foster. If Foster failed it would likely flood Lebanon and lot of grass fields, but not much else. And Detroit is so far out, I don't know exactly where that water would go. Lebanon and this area in general is full of poor people and grass seed fields. Destroying poor people's homes or grass seed farms would scarcely make any point at all, even to the United States.

But it is weird to think there might be members of a terror cell living in the mid valley here. Very unsettling. I hope the FBI gets to the bottom of this.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Reprieve!

I got a reprieve. I had resigned myself to taking the tabby tux male, caught by the Sprite Old couple, clear to Portland if I had to, to be fixed today. I didn't want him in a trap in my garage all weekend. I figured I could return the three males fixed yesterday from that street this morning and make sure the old couple understood this time I have no more appointments until next week.

But the amazing 86 year old man, had risen at 6:00 a.m. and reset the trap. He caught another orange male. These are unbelievable 86 year olds who would put most younger folks to shame. I have trouble getting 20 year olds off the couch to participate in getting their own cats fixed!

I returned the two males from the trailer park. The woman was just headed out to work, cup of coffee in hand, and looked tired. She said "Whose cats are those?" I thought she was joking since she herself had trapped the tabby and had him in her shed. Then I realized she was just as tired out as I am. I said "These are the two trapped two days ago here, remember? You kept the tabby in your shed overnight?" Then I said, "I have to return the white one. I have no place for him." I was referring to tabby on white male, neutered Tuesday, with the messed up eyes. I've had him in the spare bedroom with Bling and Martha, treating his eyes daily. He's tame and I wish I did have somewhere for him, but I don't.

She said "OK, return him." Then she was off. She commutes to work in Keizer and works very very long hours there. I have no cause to complain over my own exhaustion.

I then headed over to the Sprite Old couple colony, to release the three boys from there fixed yesterday, and pick up the latest male they caught, another big orange boy. I closed the trap and fed the cats still there, advising the couple that I had no more appointments until next week.

Then I headed off to Portland with the brown tabby tux male and the freshly caught orange male. I stopped at Ankeny Hill, pulled off and tried calling Countryside, just in case they could possibly work them in. They said "Bring them." I was so happy I wanted to hug them. I called the Portland clinic and told them I found a vet closer and they were happy for me.

After leaving the boys at the clinic, I went out to the seed warehouse, where Peter and James are in containment. I fed them and talked to them awhile. The seed farmer was there, said I could come anytime. He's a nice guy.

So I can kick back now, get ready to help KATA relocate their cats, pick up the boys later on when they are fixed, and I'm really looking forward to some sleep this weekend, humbled however, when I see so many people working such incredibly long hours just trying to survive, like the trailer park woman. I wish I could relocate more of those cats for her. Maybe after they are all fixed, I can find some more barn homes. Right now, getting them fixed is the most important thing.

Reprieve!

I got a reprieve. I had resigned myself to taking the tabby tux male, caught by the Sprite Old couple, clear to Portland if I had to, to be fixed today. I didn't want him in a trap in my garage all weekend. I figured I could return the three males fixed yesterday from that street this morning and make sure the old couple understood this time I have no more appointments until next week.

But the amazing 86 year old man, had risen at 6:00 a.m. and reset the trap. He caught another orange male. These are unbelievable 86 year olds who would put most younger folks to shame. I have trouble getting 20 year olds off the couch to participate in getting their own cats fixed!

I returned the two males from the trailer park. The woman was just headed out to work, cup of coffee in hand, and looked tired. She said "Whose cats are those?" I thought she was joking since she herself had trapped the tabby and had him in her shed. Then I realized she was just as tired out as I am. I said "These are the two trapped two days ago here, remember? You kept the tabby in your shed overnight?" Then I said, "I have to return the white one. I have no place for him." I was referring to tabby on white male, neutered Tuesday, with the messed up eyes. I've had him in the spare bedroom with Bling and Martha, treating his eyes daily. He's tame and I wish I did have somewhere for him, but I don't.

She said "OK, return him." Then she was off. She commutes to work in Keizer and works very very long hours there. I have no cause to complain over my own exhaustion.

I then headed over to the Sprite Old couple colony, to release the three boys from there fixed yesterday, and pick up the latest male they caught, another big orange boy. I closed the trap and fed the cats still there, advising the couple that I had no more appointments until next week.

Then I headed off to Portland with the brown tabby tux male and the freshly caught orange male. I stopped at Ankeny Hill, pulled off and tried calling Countryside, just in case they could possibly work them in. They said "Bring them." I was so happy I wanted to hug them. I called the Portland clinic and told them I found a vet closer and they were happy for me.

After leaving the boys at the clinic, I went out to the seed warehouse, where Peter and James are in containment. I fed them and talked to them awhile. The seed farmer was there, said I could come anytime. He's a nice guy.

So I can kick back now, get ready to help KATA relocate their cats, pick up the boys later on when they are fixed, and I'm really looking forward to some sleep this weekend, humbled however, when I see so many people working such incredibly long hours just trying to survive, like the trailer park woman. I wish I could relocate more of those cats for her. Maybe after they are all fixed, I can find some more barn homes. Right now, getting them fixed is the most important thing.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Exhaustion Beyond Exhaustion

The old couple are still trapping. I forgot to tell them to close the traps. So they call me tonight, and say they've caught the mother cat, who is a torti. I go over, but it's a brown tabby tux male in the trap. I point this out to them. They peer and peer at the cat, still convinced it's the torti.

I went down to say hi to the man I trapped 45 cats for, three years ago. I called the whole street, "The Street of Nightmares" and just visiting it again brings back horrible memories, like of sitting out in my car with a piece of rebar, waiting on a long hair golden retriever, who had killed 17 cats right in the old man's yard.

It's going on again. Of the 30 or so he had last time I was out there, he has only ten. Dogs again, free roaming vicious dogs. The area is known for them. It's like two junkyard streets and the rentals out there draw in druggees and alcoholics. I am exhausted beyond exhausted and going back to that street just brings up nightmares of the past. I told the old man to tell a neighbor who hands out my number to stop it, that I"m not coming back to that area, because it's like being in a never ending horror movie, like zombie land, where people are dead but don't know it, where nothing alive is respected or cherished and it just brings back nightmares of animal abuse and neglect like you wouldn't believe.

I'm supposed to help KATA relocate all those cats tomorrow. Actually I'm just showing them where the warehouse is, and loaning two cages. They can do the rest. I am dead on my feet. I have to return those five males tomorrow and find somewhere to get this latest male fixed, so I don't have him sitting in my garage all weekend. My big birthday weekend, of trying to recuperate from utter exhaustion.

Exhaustion Beyond Exhaustion

The old couple are still trapping. I forgot to tell them to close the traps. So they call me tonight, and say they've caught the mother cat, who is a torti. I go over, but it's a brown tabby tux male in the trap. I point this out to them. They peer and peer at the cat, still convinced it's the torti.

I went down to say hi to the man I trapped 45 cats for, three years ago. I called the whole street, "The Street of Nightmares" and just visiting it again brings back horrible memories, like of sitting out in my car with a piece of rebar, waiting on a long hair golden retriever, who had killed 17 cats right in the old man's yard.

It's going on again. Of the 30 or so he had last time I was out there, he has only ten. Dogs again, free roaming vicious dogs. The area is known for them. It's like two junkyard streets and the rentals out there draw in druggees and alcoholics. I am exhausted beyond exhausted and going back to that street just brings up nightmares of the past. I told the old man to tell a neighbor who hands out my number to stop it, that I"m not coming back to that area, because it's like being in a never ending horror movie, like zombie land, where people are dead but don't know it, where nothing alive is respected or cherished and it just brings back nightmares of animal abuse and neglect like you wouldn't believe.

I'm supposed to help KATA relocate all those cats tomorrow. Actually I'm just showing them where the warehouse is, and loaning two cages. They can do the rest. I am dead on my feet. I have to return those five males tomorrow and find somewhere to get this latest male fixed, so I don't have him sitting in my garage all weekend. My big birthday weekend, of trying to recuperate from utter exhaustion.

Five Cats, More Big Boys, Being Fixed Today. 12 Big Boys Fixed This Week!

This is the black tux stray from the trailer park colony, fixed last Tuesday, whom the caretaker took with three other boys she was feeding to a friend of hers" rural garage, where they will stay and once released, be fed. I hope it works out for those boys, because it is terribly stressful on cats to be relocated and often, it doesn't work out well in the end.
This is the brown tabby from the trailer park Big Boys colony who might be the in heat female. Not sure. The cat is so schizoid and scared. She has skinned her face fur on the trap mesh trying to get out. Update: Nope, this one is also a boy. Unbelievable! Have now trapped NINE mature boys at that trailer.
This is the brown tabby again, being fixed today, cat number nine fixed from the Big Boys trailer park colony. There are still two tabbies to catch there.
The latest big boy catch at the Big Boys trailer park colony: Big male number 8.
The Lynx Point, on the prowl after having dinner there, where I have been helping the people who feed the cats get them all fixed.



Already, I've taken in seven big boys from the trailer park Big Boys' colony. Today, another big boy goes in from that colony, plus a tabby the caretaker trapped and believes to be the in heat female.

She trapped the poor kitty very late at night. I could not come get her being way too exhausted, so she put the cat in the trap, covered, in her shed. Apparently this terrified the poor cat who is likely claustrophobic, so when I picked the cat up yesterday morning, she or he had turned schizoid and would charge me from the confines of the trap if I got close. Consequently, I could not even get water to her. So I added it to wet food and dropped it through the mesh. Last night, she was so distressed, I took to using catnip and Feliway to try to calm her. I hope she makes to through surgery ok. In the photo I took of her, from a distance, I see she's skinned her face fur in trying to exit the trap on the mesh.

The other cat from the Big Boys colony is a massive Lynx Pt. Siamese who has been around since I helped the old woman next door get cats fixed, before she died. There were two, a long hair and a short hair. I got the long hair Siamese fixed before the old woman died, but not this guy. Now he is getting done.

Then I caught three Big Boys out at the Sprite Oldies colony, as I have dubbed the small group of cats fed by some sprite 86 year olds. They are sharp mentally, and physically (for being almost 90). They're amazing, in fact. This colony started when a neighbor man, with an unfixed female, died. She was turned loose on the neighborhood unfixed and produced five kittens who now are about to become reproducing adults themselves. Then three bigger males roamed into the group, which numbers nine cats in all. The first three, all big boys, are being fixed right now.Orange tux male, being fixed today, from Sprite Oldies colony.
Orange tabby male, from Sprite Oldies, being fixed today.
Black and white male, from Sprite Oldies, being fixed today. I almost thought this guy was already neutered, since I have taken about 70 cats in to be fixed from that short street before. The cat looks like he has a right eartip, but closer inspection revealed it had been torn in fighting. And he has balls, but very small balls.

When you think about that one trailer, feeding so far nine boys, and now with it being fighting season, no wonder the woman was at her wits end with the pee marking and screaming night fights going on. So five of the nine males have now been relocated. There are two tabbies left to catch. Who wants to bet on whether either one will be an intact female?

There was a male going at a younger short hair brown tabby, you know, happily trying to mate. It was the pretty boy orange, the long hair male, before he was neutered, on a flirty little brown tabby short hair. But was it a girl brown tabby?

I tried to net them as they mated, because it is the easiest time, but someone walked up to stare, and the cats moved off. Is that little tabby going to be a boy tabby, or a girl tabby, I wonder, because don't think the big boys care one way or another when they have the urge. There is only one short hair brown tabby left to catch. So we will see soon.

I can't forget the four brothers last year, at 33 cat trailer, taking turns on one another, then rolling on their sides in ecstasy, kneading, like a female in heat. I was astonished to see such openly gay behavior among the cats, but I don't know why I would be. Probably because the religious right tries so hard to ingrain in our species' minds that males on males and females on females is one big Satan Jesus issue, when it's really a biological one.

Nonetheless, as I stared, transfixed, at the four brothers, I couldn't help but blurt out, mockingly, "Do you know all you boys are going to hell?"

Five Cats, More Big Boys, Being Fixed Today. 12 Big Boys Fixed This Week!

This is the black tux stray from the trailer park colony, fixed last Tuesday, whom the caretaker took with three other boys she was feeding to a friend of hers" rural garage, where they will stay and once released, be fed. I hope it works out for those boys, because it is terribly stressful on cats to be relocated and often, it doesn't work out well in the end.
This is the brown tabby from the trailer park Big Boys colony who might be the in heat female. Not sure. The cat is so schizoid and scared. She has skinned her face fur on the trap mesh trying to get out. Update: Nope, this one is also a boy. Unbelievable! Have now trapped NINE mature boys at that trailer.
This is the brown tabby again, being fixed today, cat number nine fixed from the Big Boys trailer park colony. There are still two tabbies to catch there.
The latest big boy catch at the Big Boys trailer park colony: Big male number 8.
The Lynx Point, on the prowl after having dinner there, where I have been helping the people who feed the cats get them all fixed.



Already, I've taken in seven big boys from the trailer park Big Boys' colony. Today, another big boy goes in from that colony, plus a tabby the caretaker trapped and believes to be the in heat female.

She trapped the poor kitty very late at night. I could not come get her being way too exhausted, so she put the cat in the trap, covered, in her shed. Apparently this terrified the poor cat who is likely claustrophobic, so when I picked the cat up yesterday morning, she or he had turned schizoid and would charge me from the confines of the trap if I got close. Consequently, I could not even get water to her. So I added it to wet food and dropped it through the mesh. Last night, she was so distressed, I took to using catnip and Feliway to try to calm her. I hope she makes to through surgery ok. In the photo I took of her, from a distance, I see she's skinned her face fur in trying to exit the trap on the mesh.

The other cat from the Big Boys colony is a massive Lynx Pt. Siamese who has been around since I helped the old woman next door get cats fixed, before she died. There were two, a long hair and a short hair. I got the long hair Siamese fixed before the old woman died, but not this guy. Now he is getting done.

Then I caught three Big Boys out at the Sprite Oldies colony, as I have dubbed the small group of cats fed by some sprite 86 year olds. They are sharp mentally, and physically (for being almost 90). They're amazing, in fact. This colony started when a neighbor man, with an unfixed female, died. She was turned loose on the neighborhood unfixed and produced five kittens who now are about to become reproducing adults themselves. Then three bigger males roamed into the group, which numbers nine cats in all. The first three, all big boys, are being fixed right now.Orange tux male, being fixed today, from Sprite Oldies colony.
Orange tabby male, from Sprite Oldies, being fixed today.
Black and white male, from Sprite Oldies, being fixed today. I almost thought this guy was already neutered, since I have taken about 70 cats in to be fixed from that short street before. The cat looks like he has a right eartip, but closer inspection revealed it had been torn in fighting. And he has balls, but very small balls.

When you think about that one trailer, feeding so far nine boys, and now with it being fighting season, no wonder the woman was at her wits end with the pee marking and screaming night fights going on. So five of the nine males have now been relocated. There are two tabbies left to catch. Who wants to bet on whether either one will be an intact female?

There was a male going at a younger short hair brown tabby, you know, happily trying to mate. It was the pretty boy orange, the long hair male, before he was neutered, on a flirty little brown tabby short hair. But was it a girl brown tabby?

I tried to net them as they mated, because it is the easiest time, but someone walked up to stare, and the cats moved off. Is that little tabby going to be a boy tabby, or a girl tabby, I wonder, because don't think the big boys care one way or another when they have the urge. There is only one short hair brown tabby left to catch. So we will see soon.

I can't forget the four brothers last year, at 33 cat trailer, taking turns on one another, then rolling on their sides in ecstasy, kneading, like a female in heat. I was astonished to see such openly gay behavior among the cats, but I don't know why I would be. Probably because the religious right tries so hard to ingrain in our species' minds that males on males and females on females is one big Satan Jesus issue, when it's really a biological one.

Nonetheless, as I stared, transfixed, at the four brothers, I couldn't help but blurt out, mockingly, "Do you know all you boys are going to hell?"

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Out of My Mind Exhausted

It's catching up to me. First, I never recovered from trapsing around the homeless camp, after the three not yet fixed teens and others to relocate to a barn home. Fast track onto that, settling in the five camp cats, until they could be relocated.

Today, I did take the two younger boys, James and Peter, to the warehouse they will now call home. I hope it works out for them. Martha and Bling remain here, as I decided why return them, when I will have to relocate them eventually, and probably sooner rather than later. They may go to a barn home in two weeks. Maybe less. I just have to catch two more of the adults.

I found one of the three teens a home, after she was fixed.

Then add on the trailer park situation, which turned into a nightmare of huge males, who would fight and pee on everything. I trapped 8 in the end, one of them already fixed from a year ago. The person feeding had a friend who offered to take some of them on as barn cats. She had a garage set up to contain them.

We dutifully hauled all 8 into the garage, way out somewhere, late last night, only to discover three were tame. We decided to return them to the park. They're probably not owned, no way to tell if they have no id, because abandonment rates are so high in Albany.

But they're back on home turf. The fourth cat, the male with the bad eyes, is here, for now, because he needs eye treatment. In the meantime, they trapped another brown tabby, this one an in heat young female. And when I returned the three boys this morning, I saw the long hair female, another short hair young tabby and a huge Siamese male. Three more to catch there.

Then, I got involved with an older couple feeding six strays, plus some roam in males, on the same street where Brambles comes from, where I trapped over 70 cats, well a lot of them were owned and tame and not trapped, just hauled off with owner approval to be fixed.

I've only trapped two so far there, both big roam in males, and none of the six primaries.

And then, if that was not enough, a few days ago, my own cat, Electra, began having massive problems with her jaw. Her tongue out to the side and by yesterday, puss was oozing from her chin. She was in severe pain. I took her in today and turned out there was infection all around the wire holding her jaw together from where she broke it last March. The infection had finally erupted outward through her skin and so the wire had to be removed and the infection cleaned up. She's home, on pain meds and antibiotics. I was up half last night with her, before I took her in this morning. NOt much sleep last night.

I've been dozing in my car, when trapping, and even at the vet clinic, while waiting for cats to be done. My shoulder is swollen and the nerve inflamed, or pinched, down my right arm again. Pain warps my judgement tonight. I'm going to bed early.

I've got three cats caught for tomorrow, two from Marilyn St. and the tabby in heat from the trailer park. And if that's all I take, that's just fine. I'll still have six to catch on Marilyn and three at the park, but sometimes, old cat trappers need a break.

Especially when that old fart cat trappers' birthday is just a couple days off. No plans, however. That big fun party never materialized. I'll probably celebrate scrunched up on the four foot love seat snoring away.

But jeanne from Balimore bought me a new havahart live trap, which is coming in the mail and I am very very grateful and excited! Woohooo!

Out of My Mind Exhausted

It's catching up to me. First, I never recovered from trapsing around the homeless camp, after the three not yet fixed teens and others to relocate to a barn home. Fast track onto that, settling in the five camp cats, until they could be relocated.

Today, I did take the two younger boys, James and Peter, to the warehouse they will now call home. I hope it works out for them. Martha and Bling remain here, as I decided why return them, when I will have to relocate them eventually, and probably sooner rather than later. They may go to a barn home in two weeks. Maybe less. I just have to catch two more of the adults.

I found one of the three teens a home, after she was fixed.

Then add on the trailer park situation, which turned into a nightmare of huge males, who would fight and pee on everything. I trapped 8 in the end, one of them already fixed from a year ago. The person feeding had a friend who offered to take some of them on as barn cats. She had a garage set up to contain them.

We dutifully hauled all 8 into the garage, way out somewhere, late last night, only to discover three were tame. We decided to return them to the park. They're probably not owned, no way to tell if they have no id, because abandonment rates are so high in Albany.

But they're back on home turf. The fourth cat, the male with the bad eyes, is here, for now, because he needs eye treatment. In the meantime, they trapped another brown tabby, this one an in heat young female. And when I returned the three boys this morning, I saw the long hair female, another short hair young tabby and a huge Siamese male. Three more to catch there.

Then, I got involved with an older couple feeding six strays, plus some roam in males, on the same street where Brambles comes from, where I trapped over 70 cats, well a lot of them were owned and tame and not trapped, just hauled off with owner approval to be fixed.

I've only trapped two so far there, both big roam in males, and none of the six primaries.

And then, if that was not enough, a few days ago, my own cat, Electra, began having massive problems with her jaw. Her tongue out to the side and by yesterday, puss was oozing from her chin. She was in severe pain. I took her in today and turned out there was infection all around the wire holding her jaw together from where she broke it last March. The infection had finally erupted outward through her skin and so the wire had to be removed and the infection cleaned up. She's home, on pain meds and antibiotics. I was up half last night with her, before I took her in this morning. NOt much sleep last night.

I've been dozing in my car, when trapping, and even at the vet clinic, while waiting for cats to be done. My shoulder is swollen and the nerve inflamed, or pinched, down my right arm again. Pain warps my judgement tonight. I'm going to bed early.

I've got three cats caught for tomorrow, two from Marilyn St. and the tabby in heat from the trailer park. And if that's all I take, that's just fine. I'll still have six to catch on Marilyn and three at the park, but sometimes, old cat trappers need a break.

Especially when that old fart cat trappers' birthday is just a couple days off. No plans, however. That big fun party never materialized. I'll probably celebrate scrunched up on the four foot love seat snoring away.

But jeanne from Balimore bought me a new havahart live trap, which is coming in the mail and I am very very grateful and excited! Woohooo!

OMG! Another Male at the Big Boys Colony

We relocated four of the big boys tonight, the ones she knew were ones she fed and strays. The others will be released back at the park. We discovered the other three, two orange cats and a black one, are tame. The tabby on white needs treatment for his eye infection. The original colony caretaker will do that.

If the three tame ones show up again, she's going to try to get them into SafeHaven. Good for her.

We thought we had caught all but the in heat female. She had decided to keep the Momma cat, the one I got fixed a year ago October, for her neighbor, who then died.

It seems every unfixed male in Albany is showing up at her trailer. She is so fed up she's about to boil over. The fighting and spray marking has been going on for a month now, all over that one unfixed female who still needs caught.

She is mad as hell at irresponsible pet owners too. Good for her! That's rightful rage.

Anyhow, unfixed male number 8 got in a trap I had loaned her late tonight. Unfixed big boy number 8. No females yet, just a whole lot of big fighting spray marking boys. I told her, "don't be upset, think of the good all this has done for the cats and for that neighborhood, even though that neighborhood is not a very responsible one and immensely ungrateful." I also told her "Good for us for getting this done." And it's true. It needed done.

Some people sit on their asses, get cats, let them breed and then complain about everything on earth. Other people take action and solve problems others create. The world is a much kinder better place because of the latter group. Yay for us!

OMG! Another Male at the Big Boys Colony

We relocated four of the big boys tonight, the ones she knew were ones she fed and strays. The others will be released back at the park. We discovered the other three, two orange cats and a black one, are tame. The tabby on white needs treatment for his eye infection. The original colony caretaker will do that.

If the three tame ones show up again, she's going to try to get them into SafeHaven. Good for her.

We thought we had caught all but the in heat female. She had decided to keep the Momma cat, the one I got fixed a year ago October, for her neighbor, who then died.

It seems every unfixed male in Albany is showing up at her trailer. She is so fed up she's about to boil over. The fighting and spray marking has been going on for a month now, all over that one unfixed female who still needs caught.

She is mad as hell at irresponsible pet owners too. Good for her! That's rightful rage.

Anyhow, unfixed male number 8 got in a trap I had loaned her late tonight. Unfixed big boy number 8. No females yet, just a whole lot of big fighting spray marking boys. I told her, "don't be upset, think of the good all this has done for the cats and for that neighborhood, even though that neighborhood is not a very responsible one and immensely ungrateful." I also told her "Good for us for getting this done." And it's true. It needed done.

Some people sit on their asses, get cats, let them breed and then complain about everything on earth. Other people take action and solve problems others create. The world is a much kinder better place because of the latter group. Yay for us!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Caught Last Male at Big Boy Colony

I caught the last male out there at the trailer park. Now, the only one left to catch is the in heat female. Seven big boys were fixed today. The 8th male, fixed in 2008, is in my garage, too. All 8 will be leaving tonight, for their new garage home, which is next to a barn. I hope their containment time up there, does not include a lot of fighting, amongst these former brothers turned rivals, for the one unfixed female in the area.

Fixing and removing 8 massive males from one small area will sure quiet that area down at night and reduce the territory marking. Going to be an entirely diferent hood now.

I was headed up to Countryside to pick up the six boys whom they'd just neutered and stopped to check the trap at the trailer park. That is when I found the last big boy inside it, the black and white. I slept in my car outside the vet clinic while he was neutered, then brought all seven home.

I have given them food and am just waiting for their former caretaker to get off work. Then we will make the trek with them to their new home. That's because too, I need the traps back for trapping in the morning. They are all full and then some.

Caught Last Male at Big Boy Colony

I caught the last male out there at the trailer park. Now, the only one left to catch is the in heat female. Seven big boys were fixed today. The 8th male, fixed in 2008, is in my garage, too. All 8 will be leaving tonight, for their new garage home, which is next to a barn. I hope their containment time up there, does not include a lot of fighting, amongst these former brothers turned rivals, for the one unfixed female in the area.

Fixing and removing 8 massive males from one small area will sure quiet that area down at night and reduce the territory marking. Going to be an entirely diferent hood now.

I was headed up to Countryside to pick up the six boys whom they'd just neutered and stopped to check the trap at the trailer park. That is when I found the last big boy inside it, the black and white. I slept in my car outside the vet clinic while he was neutered, then brought all seven home.

I have given them food and am just waiting for their former caretaker to get off work. Then we will make the trek with them to their new home. That's because too, I need the traps back for trapping in the morning. They are all full and then some.

Monday, February 22, 2010

The Trailer Park Colony

There are two year old tabby males. One has white around his mouth while the other is a tabby tux.


This male has a URI going on.
One of the two year old tabbies, before I caught him.
Bad Eyes male.

The tabby on the porch again. I caught this one too.
This is the short orange and he has a fight wound on his forehead.
The long hair orange male, desperately trying to mate with the two tabby boys mom, who is in heat and now caught. This guy is the short hair orange male's brother, but they fight.
I got this black tux fixed in 2008, for the old woman, who died just after Thanksgiving.
Black male I caught.

Update: I've actually now caught 8 of the 9 cats who will be fixed and relocated, although one is already fixed. The ninth cat needing caught is a big limping major male. I caught all the rest, the two orange tabbies, the two younger tabbies, the black male, the tabby on white male and the already fixed black tux male. The caregivers just called to say the in heat female is in one of my traps now too, leaving only the black and white. The woman who has fed these cats found them all a barn home to go to, and is keeping the eartipped tabby on white female, whom I got fixed for her former neighbor in 2008, the old woman who died.

UPDATE UpDATE: So I go over to pick up the female and walk up on the porch to the trap and she lurches, blasting at the trap and is gone. I stare, unbelieving! The door is hanging half down. This was my worst trap, a poorly designed weak collapsible Harbor Freight sold trap. I hate them.

Number one, if you get one, you have to immediately take the door off and move it so it hinges farther forward. The problem is when the trap springs, the slant part of the door and vertical part allow enough space at the floor of the trap, so if a cat blasts at the front, it can sometimes get it's head under the edge of those two pieces and the trap floor, but not its body. This flaw has killed cats. They choke to death or break their necks. In so doing, to fix that flaw, you have to move the wire connecting the slant and vertical door pieces. The trap also really needs some circumference support, major, like a welded pieced of heavy gauge wire all the way around near the front and the back. I believe that is what happened tonight, that the cat blasted the side of the trap, throwing it off square, which slipped the door to one side and she bent the thin wire piece on top, that drops down to prevent the vertical piece of the door from thrusting forward and then flopping loose.

It's crap and I never like to use it, but the rest of my traps were already full. I have given away two of my traps to gp getter people who will use them big time. My brother borrowed one trap I had, one that was found after washing into the mud bank of a creek after a flood. It was damaged but fixable. And it had been there a long time. The property owner, whom I'd helped with cats, gave it to me. Anyhow, my brother borrowed it to catch a stray down around his house, but never returned it.

Then I crushed one of my beloved tomahawk transfer traps when I caught it with the edge of one tire. Tomahawk transfer traps are the best. Havaharts are second best. Tru catch are a distant third. LIttle Giants are crapola!!!! I don't like them at all, because they are awkwardly sized and the handle is not centered so that carrying them is a nightmare. They are big and heavy. The trigger plate is narrow and steep. You set them by propping the straight end of the heavy metal wire that slants up from the trigger plate into basically an eye hook that swings down, swinging up a lever that holds up the door. The straight end of the trigger plate wire often slips in this arrangement. I sometimes wrap that end with a piece of tape to give it a little friction and stick. I hate Little Giant traps.

Harbor Freight sold collapsibles are the worst, flimsy, cheap and poorly built. That's why they are cheap and tempting to purchase. Tru catches aren't that great either. I also refer to them as "ring drop" traps. The problem with them is the trigger plate is wide leaving very little space behind it for bait. And the door opens up and out, sticking out, when set, horizontal and even with the top of the trap. If a cat raises up under that door, or sniffs it, the cat springs the trap without being in the trap. They are particularly ineffective for bigger sized cats. So I stick with Tomahawks, if I have them and Havaharts as second best.

Here is my original post: I was only able to trap three of what appears to be ten cats being fed at the trailer park. A neighbor gave me a good description of all ten. This is a big boy colony, although there is one already fixed female, whom I got fixed a year ago October, when fixing cats for the woman who then died, just after Thanksgiving. I took in then 12 or 14 of the cats, but could not take in the four adults still there, two of them fixed. I had been promised help in finding the ones I took in homes, from the family, and donations. I got neither. It was too much to take in even more.

A neighbor began feeding the two left, unbeknownst to me, and then more strays who showed up. Now she has a barn home for the cats, mostly males, if I can catch them all and get them fixed. The two I got fixed before are still there. I caught one of them today, plus two other males, the black and a white with tabby, whose eyes are bad.

But there are two huge major males, both severely beat up from fighting. One is a short hair orange tabby and the other a black and white, with a limp, who is very dominant. Then there is a fluffy orange male I saw the black and white tear after, despite his leg injury.

There is the already fixed tabby on white female, whom I got fixed over a year ago. She is pretty much tame now. And the only unfixed female, a long hair tabby, with two year old sub dominant boys trailing her, her own kittens. So these four, plus the three major males, are the seven left needing caught. I just got word I caught one of hte orange ones, in one trap I left set. Now I'm down to six needing caught and that's better than seven.

The vet will love me tomorrow, bringing in all big boys. At the most, if I'm lucky, I'll have one female.

I visited the seed warehouse offering a home for a whole colony of cats to control the rodent issue. It's a great home actually, and the man who owns it---stellar, not a loud mouth, not an impulsive person, but a studied calm soft spoken intelligent man. I was sOoooooo impressed.

But, since I have only two adults from the homeless camp, who don't seem to like one another, I offered the home to KATA for dead Nickis cats. BEcause they all know one another and it is a great option for those cats, who have been in confinement with KATA awaiting an option for several months now, after Nicki, who fed them, died. The two young homeless camp boys will join them and I will return the two big adults for now. KATA promised to help me relocate that colony, when it becomes necessary, since I am giving them this great barn home. I am actually thrilled to help them with those Nicki cats. I know they have struggled to find them a placement.

It always works better if a group who is related, who has lived together, can be relocated all together.

So anyhow, Bling and Martha will go home, while Peter and James, the teens just fixed from the camps, who have no friends or close bonds there yet, will join the Foster dislocated cats at the seed warehouse. Three out of the homeless camps is a good victory for now.

The Trailer Park Colony

There are two year old tabby males. One has white around his mouth while the other is a tabby tux.


This male has a URI going on.
One of the two year old tabbies, before I caught him.
Bad Eyes male.

The tabby on the porch again. I caught this one too.
This is the short orange and he has a fight wound on his forehead.
The long hair orange male, desperately trying to mate with the two tabby boys mom, who is in heat and now caught. This guy is the short hair orange male's brother, but they fight.
I got this black tux fixed in 2008, for the old woman, who died just after Thanksgiving.
Black male I caught.

Update: I've actually now caught 8 of the 9 cats who will be fixed and relocated, although one is already fixed. The ninth cat needing caught is a big limping major male. I caught all the rest, the two orange tabbies, the two younger tabbies, the black male, the tabby on white male and the already fixed black tux male. The caregivers just called to say the in heat female is in one of my traps now too, leaving only the black and white. The woman who has fed these cats found them all a barn home to go to, and is keeping the eartipped tabby on white female, whom I got fixed for her former neighbor in 2008, the old woman who died.

UPDATE UpDATE: So I go over to pick up the female and walk up on the porch to the trap and she lurches, blasting at the trap and is gone. I stare, unbelieving! The door is hanging half down. This was my worst trap, a poorly designed weak collapsible Harbor Freight sold trap. I hate them.

Number one, if you get one, you have to immediately take the door off and move it so it hinges farther forward. The problem is when the trap springs, the slant part of the door and vertical part allow enough space at the floor of the trap, so if a cat blasts at the front, it can sometimes get it's head under the edge of those two pieces and the trap floor, but not its body. This flaw has killed cats. They choke to death or break their necks. In so doing, to fix that flaw, you have to move the wire connecting the slant and vertical door pieces. The trap also really needs some circumference support, major, like a welded pieced of heavy gauge wire all the way around near the front and the back. I believe that is what happened tonight, that the cat blasted the side of the trap, throwing it off square, which slipped the door to one side and she bent the thin wire piece on top, that drops down to prevent the vertical piece of the door from thrusting forward and then flopping loose.

It's crap and I never like to use it, but the rest of my traps were already full. I have given away two of my traps to gp getter people who will use them big time. My brother borrowed one trap I had, one that was found after washing into the mud bank of a creek after a flood. It was damaged but fixable. And it had been there a long time. The property owner, whom I'd helped with cats, gave it to me. Anyhow, my brother borrowed it to catch a stray down around his house, but never returned it.

Then I crushed one of my beloved tomahawk transfer traps when I caught it with the edge of one tire. Tomahawk transfer traps are the best. Havaharts are second best. Tru catch are a distant third. LIttle Giants are crapola!!!! I don't like them at all, because they are awkwardly sized and the handle is not centered so that carrying them is a nightmare. They are big and heavy. The trigger plate is narrow and steep. You set them by propping the straight end of the heavy metal wire that slants up from the trigger plate into basically an eye hook that swings down, swinging up a lever that holds up the door. The straight end of the trigger plate wire often slips in this arrangement. I sometimes wrap that end with a piece of tape to give it a little friction and stick. I hate Little Giant traps.

Harbor Freight sold collapsibles are the worst, flimsy, cheap and poorly built. That's why they are cheap and tempting to purchase. Tru catches aren't that great either. I also refer to them as "ring drop" traps. The problem with them is the trigger plate is wide leaving very little space behind it for bait. And the door opens up and out, sticking out, when set, horizontal and even with the top of the trap. If a cat raises up under that door, or sniffs it, the cat springs the trap without being in the trap. They are particularly ineffective for bigger sized cats. So I stick with Tomahawks, if I have them and Havaharts as second best.

Here is my original post: I was only able to trap three of what appears to be ten cats being fed at the trailer park. A neighbor gave me a good description of all ten. This is a big boy colony, although there is one already fixed female, whom I got fixed a year ago October, when fixing cats for the woman who then died, just after Thanksgiving. I took in then 12 or 14 of the cats, but could not take in the four adults still there, two of them fixed. I had been promised help in finding the ones I took in homes, from the family, and donations. I got neither. It was too much to take in even more.

A neighbor began feeding the two left, unbeknownst to me, and then more strays who showed up. Now she has a barn home for the cats, mostly males, if I can catch them all and get them fixed. The two I got fixed before are still there. I caught one of them today, plus two other males, the black and a white with tabby, whose eyes are bad.

But there are two huge major males, both severely beat up from fighting. One is a short hair orange tabby and the other a black and white, with a limp, who is very dominant. Then there is a fluffy orange male I saw the black and white tear after, despite his leg injury.

There is the already fixed tabby on white female, whom I got fixed over a year ago. She is pretty much tame now. And the only unfixed female, a long hair tabby, with two year old sub dominant boys trailing her, her own kittens. So these four, plus the three major males, are the seven left needing caught. I just got word I caught one of hte orange ones, in one trap I left set. Now I'm down to six needing caught and that's better than seven.

The vet will love me tomorrow, bringing in all big boys. At the most, if I'm lucky, I'll have one female.

I visited the seed warehouse offering a home for a whole colony of cats to control the rodent issue. It's a great home actually, and the man who owns it---stellar, not a loud mouth, not an impulsive person, but a studied calm soft spoken intelligent man. I was sOoooooo impressed.

But, since I have only two adults from the homeless camp, who don't seem to like one another, I offered the home to KATA for dead Nickis cats. BEcause they all know one another and it is a great option for those cats, who have been in confinement with KATA awaiting an option for several months now, after Nicki, who fed them, died. The two young homeless camp boys will join them and I will return the two big adults for now. KATA promised to help me relocate that colony, when it becomes necessary, since I am giving them this great barn home. I am actually thrilled to help them with those Nicki cats. I know they have struggled to find them a placement.

It always works better if a group who is related, who has lived together, can be relocated all together.

So anyhow, Bling and Martha will go home, while Peter and James, the teens just fixed from the camps, who have no friends or close bonds there yet, will join the Foster dislocated cats at the seed warehouse. Three out of the homeless camps is a good victory for now.

Dog in the Road

 I went to get groceries yesterday morning fairly early. I was expecting visitors, brief ones, pop in and out, so I wanted to get done with ...