Homeless Richard Cats

Today, after retrieving Aces from Eugene, I met a woman at my place, from Salem, who wants to volunteer. Yahoo. I had asked her by e-mail the night before, "Are you up for trapping in a homeless camp?" She was gung ho!

So, off we went in my car to the homeless camp in Corvallis. She stayed in the car while I went back to see who was in the camps and if it was safe. She had a cell phone. I had a whistle. So anyhow, all was good. Richard was there and ready for me.

We trapped nine cats in not very long. There are a few more. Five of the nine are white! Two, the black and whites, are totally tame. These cats are healthier looking than many of the house cats I run into. We had to quit. No more traps.

My new volunteer then helped me out at home in getting the four cats from the Slophouse colony, settled into cages in the spare bedroom. That's because I now have 14 cats who need fixed in hand, and three days of reservations this week. Top number of fixes I can get done this week: 18. And I want to return to the camps while these nine are gone for surgery, to catch anybody out there left. Easier that way. I have three more, an abandoned mother and her two teen kittens, needing fixed at an Albany complex, fed by senior citizens, and another 8 or 9 off Peoria Road on the list waiting. More, too, at the Slophouse.

The FCCO clinic that I was to take 16 Lebanon cats to this Sunday was cancelled last minute. They couldn't put it together. I was moved to a December 7 clinic. I wasn't real happy about the sudden change, but I'll live with it. I worry about arriving on time, at 8:00 a.m., in a weekday clinic. I don't know how much time to allot to get through rush hour.

I have reservations that Wednesday at another clinic, and unless I find a transporter, I will have to cancel at the other clinic, in favor of getting the 16 to the FCCO clinic.

So anyhow, a whole lot of fixing going on. That's good!

I got told, in a startling phone message this morning, that Hope needs to come back to me. Hope has waited forever for adoption, at the home of a fosterer who was located by the woman who took her from me originally, right after she came out of that abandoned house, with her eye hanging out of its socket and brought her kittens to me.

This woman, without me asking her, had showed up there at the house, having read my blog about what had happened. I didn't know her. I had written the blog post the night before, when I got a phone call about Hope's injury very late. By the time I got over to the house the next day, there was this Corvallis woman there, trying to catch Hope.

So when she came right out to me, the woman took her, said she would pay for her medical expenses and find her a home. I was very grateful, always being overwhelmed in cats and expenses I can't meet, and way overworked. But after that, I could rarely get a response from her, never saw Hope again, and had assumed the woman found her a home. I ended up giving her $300 raised by some bloggers to help Hope, to offset her costs, (thank you again blogospherees!). and I loaned her a laptop with wireless card someone gave me that I was not using. I was happy to loan it out to her. She said her own computer had broken down and she needed one.

This message this morning was something I never expected to hear after all this time, Hope hasn't got a home and is going to be returned to me. She could have been in a home long ago, if she'd stayed with me in the first place, I'm fairly certain. I wasn't happy.

So anyhow, I couldn't get in touch with the woman after she left the message. I finally called someone who knew the fosterer and finally got the fosterer's number and talked to her. Seems Hope did go to a home briefly, but the man's cat doesn't like other cats and there have been serious fights. He likes Hope, but his cat doesn't. He's going to try for another two days and then if it doesn't work, she'll be back here. So, after months of waiting for a home, in a fosterer's garage, Hope has briefly been in a home, but it likely will not work out. Well anyhow.....

So I've got Aces back and likely now Hope, too. I've got four Slophouse cats here, too, but a neighbor on that street is trying to locate them barn homes, or at least someplace they can stay for a couple weeks and build up their health. I can't keep any of them, I already let her know. The little female kitten is quite sweet and the neighbor is going to foster her.

So, lots of good things going on, and then some disappointments, like with Aces and with Hope. But maybe her new home will work out. Sounds like a really nice guy who is trying hard to make it work and did not anticipate his cats reaction to a newcomer. So check out all these white cats, from Homeless Richard colony.

One of five white cats, of the nine me and my volunteer trapped at Homeless Richards today.
Big white male, trapped by my volunteer from Salem! Might be her very first catch!
Another whitey.
And another.
This is a very tame young male.
Brown tabby tux, sex unknown.
Massive brown tabby. I'm told it's a female, but......
Tame female.