No Warm Up. Three More Cats in Bathroom.

Well there was no warm up today.  We're going to have permafrost here pretty soon.  The ground never unfroze.  The poor robins hopped around hoping a worm would pop through the frozen ground, looking ragged and hopeless and disappointed.

I went up to the county park, to pick up the three cats the laid off camp host wanted to relinquish.   I met her in the parking lot of the boat ramp, then she was allowed to park her RV over where she used to in hopes its presence would bring in the one unfixed teen muted torti.

I parked next to her RV and laid out the drop trap line to the prop stick on the trap and ran it through my cracked window into the car.    I filled a dollar store cake pan with dry food and topped it off with wet food and tuna.

Wasn't two minutes before Tokyo ambled out of the berry vines to eat.  And eat. And eat some more.   Then it was Gracie, one of the camp hosts cats, but she can't carry them all in her RV when she has to go park it somewhere for the night, and is afraid they'd get out, so she left Gracie and a couple others of hers, all fixed, for the night in the park.   She'll have three fewer now inside, so maybe she can take the ones left out tomorrow into her RV.

She was on the verge of tears the entire time she was there, over giving up the three, and no doubt over having no real home currently.  I felt bad for her.  I didn't know what to say.  I know how that feels.

She says she's lucky to have an RV and everyone should because everyone is not that far from homelessness.  A house fire.  A job loss.  A huge medical bill.  And boom, on the streets, but if you have an RV, at least you don't freeze or get drenched and can sleep in comfort and have a stove to cook on.  You don't have to beg someone to sleep on their couch for one night in from the cold and wet.

She left to go find somewhere to park before dark.   I stayed.  I'm that way.

I saw every other cat but the one I was after.  It was so dark I had to blink a flashlight on and shine it through the cloudy steamed up window to peer at the drop trap, 30 feet from me, and try to make out what cat was eating under it.   But the bait soon began to freeze not long after I'd refresh it (they ate tons), so it was time to go.

I called her up to find out where she was parked so I could go pick up the two kittens, Susie Q and Simon, and Darkly, the huge boy.   I found her in town, and hugged her and took the two carriers with the cats inside them, that I'd handed her earlier.   She was teary eyed again.   But brightened when I told her about the rescue who was taking them, that they adopt out bonded pairs together, so the kittens could stay brother and sister and together.

She even had their records.  She thought she'd lost the kittens' records.  I got them fixed November 3rd.  Darkly was just fixed, the 29th of December.

They're set up in my bathroom now.  Darkly loves it.  He's a really really long cat, sleek, a house panther.   Soft fur.  Delightfully loving.

The kittens are tired and want to sleep.  All seem quite healthy.

Little Simon at four months of age.

Susie Q

Big old Darkly.  He's such a love and so beautiful!

A camper gave her Darkly.  They'd had to keep him in a kennel in their rig, she said.   So he has been very happy with the camp host for a couple of months now.   Susie Q and Little Simon were found in the berry vines.  I'd taken Gracie, a brown tabby female, to be fixed and it turned out she was lactating.  But so was every other female I took in.   Brought her back, told the host she was lactating and to watch for kittens and the next day Gracie came out of the woods with Little Simon following her.   I guess Gracie was upset, kept meowing, and then led other campers visiting the camp host into the brush where she showed them four more kittens.  I was told the four found were not even Gracie's kittens, although who the hell knows, much smaller than Little Simon, but I don't know.   They were all girls except for Little Simon and all tortis.

They grew up inside her RV.  She gave three of the girls away.  I got two of those three given away fixed, and the other one is in Sweet Home and I have a line on the people's number now so I can get her fixed, if they agree, make sure she never contributes to the overpopulation problem in our county which is quite severe and tragic.

She was going to keep Little Simon and Susie.  But she can't now with her circumstances, and realized she couldn't handle it.   So they're here.  Along with Darkly, the good natured sleek male.  But they won't be here long.  They're going up to Felines First Rescue.  That's a good person who gives up something she loves so they can have a better life.  Took this video of Darkly in my bathroom a few minutes ago.  He is one adaptable kitty!