Wild Day With the Cats

It has been a wild day with the cats, that's for sure. The folks on Grand Priarie, feeding a pregnant stray, got her into an attached room, but from there, they could not get her into a carrier. So this morning, I went and netted her. She was pregnant all right. She'd had a litter before, and brought over, from across the road, two tiny kittens.

Later, the woman feeding them was on her way into town and her car died. She called her husband who came and opened the hood. On the top of the air filter sat one tiny kitten, who dashed off the moment the hood opened, never to be seen again. The other was likely killed. He'd gotten into the serpentine belt and the belt even jumped the pulleys. The man looked for him and looked for him all along the road without luck.

This female has once been owned, but has been on her own for about two months. At least, that is how long they've had her show up desperate for food in their yard. They are kind and feed her. Now she's spayed.

The retired gentlemen told me how much he despises people who dump or abandon their cats. He told me how cruel such people are, how heartless. All I could do was agree.

The City of Albany contacted me about some situations today also. One is a burned out house the city has taken over, but they had seen cats going into the foundation. They thought they were feral and I was given permission to go onto the property to take a looke.

I went on over and immediately recognized one of the alleged ferals. He's not feral at all and lives behind the property at the apartment complex, where, coincidentally, I had been trapping last night and met him for the first time. Then his apartment mate strolled out of the burned out ruins. For gosh sakes, this has become an owned cat playhouse. I talked to a neighbor who described four cats he'd see over there and three of them are owned. Four of those who may play there at times were actually up getting fixed today. Small world.

The city also had had complaints from neighbors about a duplex on Waverly and asked I check it out. A neighbor had described her neighbor as a cat hoarder whose place stunk to high heaven. She had complained to their landlord, too.

I went over, knocked on the door, gave up finally and just when about to leave, a man came out. I didn't know what to expect. He started yelling something about my car. Then I realized he was happy to see me, but I couldn't remember him.

Low and behold, it was Tom, former Camp Boondoggle resident. He'd been one of the dozens kicked out of that homeless camp when the city took it over and bulldozed it. He was one of the ones to make it into housing and he got a job, which he still has. He has two roommates. Each has a cat. Only one of the cats, Tom's cat, is fixed. All are crawling with fleas. The unfixed tom had disappeared a few hours before, after breaking loose where tied out front on a leash and harness. They couldn't find him.

They blamed a tame stray, says their male always wants to fight with him, called it a girl, said the landlord had forbidden them from feeding the stray anymore. The stray had a right eartip, was very tame and sweet and desperate, and was a neutered male. They claim him to be in imminent danger of death.

I told them the other cats fight with him because the other cats are not fixed and should be. The stray is fixed.

I told them to call safeHaven. Seems they had run into a SafeHaven board member at the fair, selling raffle tickets and described the situation of this stray and that man, named Jeff, said he'd take the cat to Safehaven. So I had them leave a message at SafeHaven stating that. But then, because of all the drama going on, including the fact one of the three roommates has a mother who works with the neighbor who complains, rightfully, about the smell, I felt sorry for the cat, and put him in my car, hoping SafeHaven could take him.

Inside, I wheeled and dealed until they agreed to get the male, if he is found, fixed next week. The one roommate has a calico with three young kittens. All are crawling in fleas. I didn't have flea treatment with me. I told them I'd bring some later. They said after the woman complained to the city and landlord, he came over and told them their place was a filth pit. Then the guy says to me, "does this place look dirty to you?" "Yes," I said, "it does. Clean it up."

Anyhow, small world.

Then I picked up the five cats fixed today--two pregnant females, two female teens and one crypt orchid male teen. They found his nondescended and removed it also. On the way back, I dropped off traps at just another Millersburg colony.

I took the Albany complex four back to the woman who fosters for SafeHaven. She was supposed to be ready for them, with a carrier for the adult female and the bathroom set up for the teens. Nothing was ready. I told her this wasn't suitable. She finally put a carboard box inside the shower stall in the bathroom for the adult female to hide in and closed the door as I was to let them all out of the traps.

The adult female bounced off the walls. She tried to climb the door, landed on my shoulder, dug in with her claws and slid down my back. I threw a towel over her, muttering about how unacceptable this was, that they were not prepared, and got her into the shower stall, into the hidey bed box, and closed the door. Fortunately she didn't bounce over the top. I hope she didn't injure herself.

The woman had taken the adult female and two kittens she was fostering, back to SafeHaven, and swapped for a bottle babe they had needing nursed.

Just another rock n roll day of stray chasing. Fixing four females, that's huge.