Five Cats Being Fixed Today

Five cats are up being fixed today. One is the fire torti tux from the Albany senior complex. She is leaving directly from the vet office to go to a new home. The other four are from a house in downtown Albany. This man had called me over a month ago. I requested he try to get SafeHaven vouchers to use to get his seven cats fixed. Last night, I heard from him again. He submitted the SafeHaven voucher application right after talking to me, he said, a month or more ago, and never heard a word back from SafeHaven. I never know who to believe, in such circumstances, but what I do know is he has seven unfixed cats needing fixed.

UPDATE: The man fessed up tonight that he never actually contacted SafeHaven about vouchers. Well, I guess you might not get a voucher, if you never apply. I think that's the way it works.

So I picked up the first four of his seven cats for fixing today. Two are female and two are male. I believe he said the other three are all males.

On 34th street in Albany, at a complex with issues, a tenant had called me, wanting me to take his male cat, since he was being evicted, although he didn't tell me he was being evicted. I suggested he try to work the cat into SafeHaven if he couldn't care for it. He had said the cat wouldn't use a litterbox. I asked "So, do you have a litterbox?" Turns out he doesn't. Said he gave it away to a neighbor months ago. I said "So how would you expect him to use a litterbox if you don't have one?" I offered to give him one, if he needed one. He said he could get one.

I talked to him about treating an animal dependent on him decently, that it was the right thing to do, the honorable thing to do. He said he'd think about it. A week later his neighbor, a former resident of homeless Camp Boondoggle, called me, wanting me to take the cat. Again I said I couldn't. Again I suggested they all together try to find the cat a home or get him worked into SafeHaven.

Three weeks later other tenants in the complex told me the man has actually been evicted and plans on abandoning the cat. None of these folks would work to find him a home. The cat had been abused by a former roommate of this tenant who put him into the oven and turned it on. He wasn't hurt because the owner of the cat got him out of there and called the cops. That man was evicted, I was told. Now the second tenant has been evicted also.

I saw the cat this morning, huddled against the door of the apartment he calls home. He doesn't look good.

I heard from a Philomath woman who knows a woman on Oak street for whom I got a bunch of strays she fed fixed a year or so ago. The strays were the result of an unfixed tame Siamese female stray. This woman fed her and could have prevented anymore from occurring but didn't get her fixed. I got them all fixed.

Now I hear from the former friend in Philomath that the woman's Albany landlord wants all these outside cats gone. The woman is lazy as sin and I don't imagine will put any real effort into finding them homes although I hope I'm wrong on this. I had urged her a year ago to get that tame Siamese a home or into a shelter. Once, I returned a cat in her own carrier after getting it fixed and released the cat from her carrier in her front yard. Months later, when I returned to catch a kitten, the carrier, still dirty was sitting in her yard in exactly the same position. I can't get involved in this again however. I just can't. It's kind of disheartening, however, to hear all these things.

Well, what is good is I took in Matilda from the Slophouse. She seems to have very little energy and is depressed. I wanted her to be checked for a heart murmur and be tested for leukemia. She's negative on both a heart murmur and on leukemia. So I think she is just run down, from her former horrendous life, sad about leaving her family there, and bewildered by all the cats here. But now, she can try to buddy up, now that I'm assured there is nothing serious wrong with her.