Wore Myself Out

Getting old, I am.

I thought was doing ok with the time change, getting to bed at 8:00, really 9:00 by the old time, on Saturday night, with the cats for the clinic long in hand. But I didn't sleep well. Too much caffeine.

Nonetheless, I dropped off the cats at the clinic and came home. I was going to sleep, but someone I know was volunteering and said she got off her shift at 1:00 and would I like to hike up Bald HIll. Of course I would! I haven't been up Bald Hill in ages, only a couple times since moving out of Corvallis.

So I went back at 1:00 and we walked the paved path from the Fairground out, then cut right to the old barn, then went up the hill from there. I am seriously out of shape and really didn't think I'd make it, without frequent stops, but I got a second wind and it wasn't a problem.

I then remained at the clinic until I could leave with my cats, joking around with Leah, the tech, whom I've known like forever.

We reminisced about clinics of the past, like the Eugene one, where Julie from Brownsville showed up in the cage cleaning area out back, near days' end, with beer. We all joined in kicking back. Then Leah came back. She said she'd wondered why all the volunteers were heading out to cage cleaning.

"So what's going on out here?" she asks.

"Nothing," I said, trying to push the beer bottle under my chair with my foot. But it fell over and I instinctively reached to save it.

"Nothing huh?" she says. After that, she made a new rule, she said, telling the story to another tech on the van there Sunday-"No alcohol at clinics."

I told her "I used to go to Eugene clinics just to net loose cats." She laughed. The Eugene clinics were notorious for volunteers who blatantly refused to follow procedure. Unclipped trap backs were common as were cats arriving in unsecured and bizarre cages. They'd get loose. I'd try to track them down and net them.

They were a fun group though and cared deeply about cats.

It was after that, the Never Ending Colony worker called, wanted back up, said she'd trapped a second kitten, but there were cats all over the parking lot. She wanted me to watch her trap, the trap I gave her, when she pledged to finish the colony.

I told her I'd have to take these seven cats home first. I did and about an hour and a half later, headed back to Corvallis to the Never Ending Colony. I sat there over half the night, in a freezing car, tired out. In the end, I drop trapped an unknown brown tabby. I was squinting through a fogged up raindrop shrouded windshield across a parking lot trying to see if it was a fixed cat or an unfixed one under that drop trap. It's not that easy.

At about the same time I trapped the big gray and white already neutered tame male. I made sure he was neutered, in my car, before letting him go his way.

I came home after that, with the brown tabby, and had to do neglected chores. I went to bed, but set the alarm for two hours later. Because the Millersburg main feeder, who won't communicate with me, but only by proxy, through an older couple, told them she saw two more black and whites where she feeds either Saturday or Sunday morning.

The delay in information bothered me, because if I had known there were more, I'd have kept trapping. I trapped the other five Friday night. I could have trapped Saturday morning, Saturday night, even Sunday morning. So I went over really early to set traps. Like 5:00 a.m. I saw one black and white one, then the tame neutered male. I caught nothing. I was so tired by this morning at 9:30, when I finally got home from there, and also had returned the wrecking yard cat and the barn female.

I had to sleep, so I did, all day long. I got up only a few hours ago. I have five cats lined up from one street, the street I've been working in Albany, for the clinic trip, where the brown tabby also will be fixed. That has been fulfilling to clean up that street. Down to the kittens of a feral mom, four of whom were taken in as bottle babes or slightly older, to be tamed so they could find homes. They couldn't find one, who is still alive but living wild, with his now fixed mother. I have to catch that one. Then, as far as the cat woman of that street knows, all the strays and owned cats on the street will be fixed. She's a really nice woman and was so happy Poppa and the Albany cat grant and myself could make this happen.

I think this time around it's been about 28 cats fixed along those three blocks. That woman works hard to tame the strays and find them homes, once fixed.

Orange tux guy, Marco, saved from death at Heartland, by coming here, who already had the ear tip, he's going along with me and will stay down there. They have some place to take him. I'm happy about that. He has been in my bathroom and while he does fine in there, uses the litter box, eats ok, he is totally feral. I do handle him, but most people couldn't. I'm so grateful for their help.

The Snipped clinic is still looking for a permanent vet to replace the one who quit. They've had lots of interest in the job but not just any vet will do, has to be one very very good at spay neuter surgeries. It has to be frustrating for Tamara to still be looking. I hope they find the right match soon.

Photos

The previously spayed sweet and vocal girl I took to the FCCO clinic yesterday, found in an Albany wrecking yard.

Wrecking yard girl again.This girl was trapped in a barn on the edge of Albany. She's lactating and I know she had two very chubby kittens five weeks ago.
Barn girl again.
This is the unknown light brown tabby I drop trapped middle of the night last night at the Never Ending Colony.

88 Cats Fixed Today

88 cats I believe were fixed today at the Corvallis FCCO clinic. I took in seven of those cats. One cat, however, the wrecking yard female, turned out to be already fixed.

Of the five from Millersburg, four of those, including all three kittens, were girls. The short hair black and white adult, of the two adults, was a male. The one I thought was the male, from two years back, was in fact an adult female.

However, the caretakers of those cats, told me late Sunday afternoon the other woman who feeds them saw two more young black and whites there this a.m. Too bad I didn't know that Saturday morning, or even Sunday morning. I would have been out there catching them.

The seventh cat, from the old couples' barn, was a lactating female. Her kittens, wherever they are out there, should be close to two months old now.

After picking up the seven cats and coming home with them, I was asked to help again at the nursing home colony. The adult female that was never caught again had kittens. The worker has caught two of the possibly three kittens. We still have to catch one from her last litter and two of the black female's last litter. The black female was the last cat I was involved in catching there.

I have not been back to that situation in a long time, since I gave one of my own traps to someone who works there, who pledged to catch the last few.

However, tonight, she requested help. Off I went, already tired out. In the end, I yanked the drop trap rope thinking I had the silver tabby teen kitten under it. Instead, after transferring the cat, in the pitch black, to a live trap, I looked and it's an unknown brown tabby, no ear tip. I also saw another strange looking very dark brown tabby, with slightly fluffy tail, tan under belly, almost looks like a raccoon without a mask.

That colony could go on forever. There'd been some big males show up, the worker said. I caught one, who turned out to be tame and already neutered. Very bored cat, free roaming a dangerous area. Stupid fricking owners, is all I have to say about that.

Well, one down at least, there, in the Never Ending Colony, as I now call it. Three more really, because the worker caught two kittens. Well, chipping away.

I thought it was grand that 88 more cats were fixed at that clinic today. I didn't volunteer. That's for others to do now.

FCCO Clinic in Corvallis Tomorrow

I had five reservations for tomorrow's FCCO clinic in Corvallis. I have seven cats. The coordinator said "That's fine." I also loaned three traps to some folks trapping between Albany and highway 34. They'd borrowed five from the FCCO, but filled them all and had at least two more to catch.

Click the post title to go to the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon's website and see what they do.

I have the Millersburg five. However, I am convinced one is that male fixed two years back, whom the vet forgot to ear tip.

I have a female from just off Columbus that the 83 year old man hand grabbed and got into a trap. That's impressive, yes.

And I have a tame female, trapped at a wrecking yard, who showed up there, and watches them work. They didn't know she was tame, until they trapped her and brought her here, and I pointed out she was head bumping the trap wanting petted. She is really sweet and it is always painful to see tame cats who have been left behind or dumped. But happy to find wonderful people who take up caring for them.

There's an abandoned tame male in Millersburg, who has taken up living with the ferals, probably out of sheer loneliness. He makes his bed in a falling-apart bramble over-run collapsing shed.

When the caretakers didn't know he was tame and already neutered, they described him to me as "the guardian", the cat who would stand guard while the kittens ate first.

God bless the strays.

Trapped My Five

I caught three teens, two long hair blacks and this one--a black tux long hair.
Could this cat be a female?
Sure looks like a male though.
Long hair black teen.

I trapped the Millersburg Five tonight.

Lately, I have been naming colonies by their numbers if the cats in the colony number under ten. "The Nine". "The Main Street Gang of Six". Today, it's "The Millersburg Five."

It's a phase.

I caught them easily, one after another, setting only one trap at a time. I had to carry the traps several hundred feet due to road construction. I also caught a tame neutered male who hangs out with the ferals. I let him go after I felt him up and spent some time with him in my car, so he would not just go right back into a trap, as bored tame house cats tend to do.

Problem is, with the five I caught, I can't figure out what is going on. Three are young, just teens. Then there are two young adults, under two. They look like siblings and both appear to be males.

So where is the adult female who had these kittens, one litter older, one younger?

Well, then there was Miller, the black tux I caught a couple weeks back near by and got fixed. He was an older male. All these cats are black and white or black.

So I got to thinking about a male I caught two years ago there. I think the clinic forgot to ear tip him. Can't remember for sure. I have his photo. I'm going out to compare it to the male in my garage. It might be him. That would mean, I would guess, the other adult is going to be mommy of the three teens.So here is the male I trapped back in 2010 and got fixed. Same place.
Here's another view.And this is the cat I suspect is him. Check out the nose, mostly black, but not on the left side, although this photo has a trap wire across the left side of his nose, where it's pink, not black. Same profile. Same pattern of black and white distribution on the face. I just took this photo of him, will check better tomorrow. But I think I solved the dilemma. The short hair black tux in my garage will be momma. I don't need to check her sex.

At least I caught all the cats the feeders have ever seen there. I hope it's all of them.

Am feeling smug over getting it done a day before the clinic, which is Sunday and before tomorrow's monsoons hit.

Newfoundland on Craigslist

This is sad. Who gets such a big dog and moves within a year of getting him. Maybe he's stolen? But if not, seems a very huge lack of planning, to get such a huge and expensive dog, then to get rid of it so quickly. The poster also has photos. Bet they're asking a great deal of money, even though the dog isn't neutered and apparently isn't housebroken and has no papers, which is totally suspicious I think.

newfoundland
Date: 2011-11-03, 11:22AM PDT
Reply to: comm-d5tvs-2683457646@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Mightis is a 1year old Purebred Newfie. He is approx. 130 lbs and stands about 4ft. He is not neutered. He is not registered but can be. He knows basic commands such as sit, off and come. He was house trained as a puppy but has been an outside dog due to his size. He is great with kids and loves attention. I am moving and unable to take him with so I am needing to rehome him asap. Please serious inquiries only, due some research on this breed and know he will only go to a good home with fenced yard. Rehomeing fee does apply.

Dirty Dozen Fruits and Vegees. If you can only buy some organic, buy these organic

The fruits and vegees below are the so called "dirty dozen" the most sprayed fruits and vegees on the planet, and therefore the most toxic, soaked full of insecticides and pesticides. I knew apples were, and it makes sense on potatoes, that sit in the ground and absorb everything in the soil. I know local non organic farmers spray the hell out of cherry and peach trees. Imported grapes are well known to be full of toxic crap coming as they do from countries without any regulations or standards. Guess they all make sense. Non organic strawberries have no taste anyhow, so why bother. The California strawberries sold in Oregon stores in June are as tasteless as eating newspaper.

If you can only afford to buy a few things organic, the ones on the list would be a wise choice. Anything with skins, like avocados, Mangos, kiwis, bananas, onions, those are safer to buy non organic.

Supposedly, you can reduce the toxins you consume each day by %80, by simply buying any of the fruits and vegees on the dirty dozen list organic. I love apples but I don't like buying them anymore in the super market because I know what they're sprayed with. Over and over. Same with cherries. I once bought some out of country berries at the grocery outlet that made my lips go numb when I started to eat them. I tossed them. I know what makes lips go numb from accidentally kissing a kitty who had just been treated with Advantage: insecticides.

Apples
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Domestic blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet bell peppers
Spinach, kale and collard greens
Cherries
Potatoes
Imported grapes
Lettuce

UFO's in Albany?

Click the post title to go to the story about two women calling the local paper about globes in the sky last night over Albany. One woman was on Waverly when she saw them, the other on Geary street, a few blocks from my place.

Darn it, wish I'd been out there looking up!

If that's not spooky enough, consider the new TV show "Grimms" is filmed in Portland.

I watched the first episode. Missed the second.

Hairy Gets a Haircut

Hairy is the big black hairy ear tipped feral who was trapped over on Country Club drive in Corvallis and ended up at Heartland. He would have died there, as unadoptible, but they called me, since he had that ear tip, to see if I might know where he belonged.

I didn't. His crime that got him trapped was sneaking into someone's house to eat their cats' food. He was starving. This led me to believe the poor cat was displaced, either a caretaker moved and left him, or somebody trapped and dumped him.

I had a woman who said she would place him, so I took him straight up to her place. However, she was very elusive about the placement. First she said it was with an old woman who fed the cats table scraps, then said it was with some man, who had a shed where he confined them for awhile, but that two of the three she'd placed there had already been killed by coyotes.

I decided this was no good and went to retrieve him. Good thing I did. He was very very ill, with URI, in the cage in her house. How had she not noticed, I wondered. No matter. He went straight to the vet and got a convenia injection before coming back here.

I put him in a cage in the garage room while I searched for a home. I had several possibilities but they all fell through one by one. So I opened the cage and he can come and go, but he thinks that cage, even though it's open all the time, is his. It's his security. He runs back to it, whenever he feels threatened. He's a big black hairy baby.

No big deal. The guy's had a rough time of it in his life. He's HUGE. He could beat up anybody on the planet. He has very long fine hair, too, a curse for a feral, although I don't think he is feral.

Because of that long fine hair, he gets mats. So every three or four months, I clip him. Today was one of those days. He had developed mats along his back. Time to clip them off.

Now Hairy loves to be clipped. I massage his back too and give him a brushing. All this attention goes to his hairy head and he will become down right ecstatic to see me walking in with the clippers.

You really have to know a cat, especially an all black very hairy cat, to be able to read expressions like "ecstatic".

I told him, as I brushed the back of his head, "Now Hairy, it is that time, you know. I have to update your vaccination, your flea treatment, worm you and clean your ears. But what you really need, Hairy, is a haircut!"

"You look fabulous, big boy." And he does.

I don't like to toot my own horn, but I'm not as terrible with the clippers as I used to be. I might be improving. I suppose that's a matter of perception. I am quite pleased with Hairy's haircut and I think he is happy with it too.

Orange tabby, Ear Tipped, at Heartland

Heartland called me this evening. Someone trapped an orange tabby, very small one, just west of Philomath on highway 34. The cat will be killed there, since he or she is too shy to be considered adoptable. Heartland wanted to know if by chance I might know the cat, since it has an ear tip. They don't want to kill it, if there is a way to get it out of there.

I don't know the cat. I only know of one ear tipped orange tabby in the Philomath area and that one was originally an Albany kitten adopted out two years ago to a Philomath woman. I can't get a response from her on whether it is her cat at Heartland or not. I don't know why. This is the only photo I have of that orange female kitten, adopted out two years ago. Impossible to say if its the same cat or not. They change so much from kitten hood to adult hood. I bet it isn't the same cat. Wish her owner would respond and let me know.

Photos don't tell the real story ever on color accuracy. However patterns are generally true. Age changes lots of things with cats including pattern distribution as the cat fills out. But the adult cat photo has orange and orange dots in the whisker field and the kitten doesn't. Therefore I do not believe it's the same cat.

The cat may well have been trapped elsewhere and dumped out there, too, where he was eventually trapped. However a feral cat, if trapped then transported and dumped, is usually after that, very much trap shy. They've gone through extreme trauma by trap already. I conclude the cat originates from somewhere in that area or was relocated by some rescuer or private party and not held for any time by new caretaker and the cat is now booking it back home, or was trying, when he was trapped. Or that this cat was ear tipped when fixed, then abandoned by his owner or owner still lives in the area but allows the cat to free roam.

I don't want to go look at the cat, because my heart will go out to it and its impending fate of death. I'll want to bring it back here.

I don't get any adoptions however. I can't take in more.

I have no way to adopt out cats or even post them on craigslist now without getting someone else to do it. Craigslist thinks I live in France, for some reason. I think my account got hacked.

I feel for that doomed orange tabby and wish I had somewhere for it to go.

I changed my oil today and tried to change my PCV valve. I took off the old one and was going to install the new one when I realized it was the wrong part. My PCV valve is threaded. The one I bought is not and it's plastic and crap. My PCV valve was badly stopped up. It didn't rattle like it is supposed to do. I spent a lot of time cleaning it, spraying it repeatedly with WD40 since I had to put it back on, regardless of whether or not it was clogged.

It was terribly rusty and the spring valve inside it was rusted to the main body of the valve. Big chunks of rust finally dropped out and I kept at it. Finally I got it clean and put it back on. I took the wrong part back and tomorrow morning they are supposed to have the right one. This time, they showed me a photo of the part they ordered and I nodded "yes", that was the right one.

Maybe it's my imagination but it seems like the car runs better with the PCV valve cleaned out and unstuck.

I've got to get a new air filter too. They're expensive, like $20, and not easy to change on my car. In fact, they're a pain in the butt to change.

I am going to clean off the front of the radiator tomorrow too. Get it free of debris so it works free and clear.