Cat Stats for February 2010

I took in 38 cats to be fixed in February.

Numbers By sex:

24 males. 12 Females. 2 of the females were pregnant. One was in heat. One prev. neutered male.

Numbers by temperament:

20 were feral. 18 were tame.

Numbers by County:

12 came from Benton County. 26 were from Linn.

Numbers by City:

3 from Adair. 3 from Corvallis. 6 from rural Benton. 26 from Albany.

Rehoming/Special:
Rehomed one of the three Corvallis cats (Cassiopia. from homeless camp, have the other two here, Peter and James, awaiting placement.
All three Adair cats were rehomed. One, Big Ben, awaits placement, is in foster in Portland. Three of the Albany cats were rehomed by caretaker of colony, after they were fixed. Another Albany cat from trailer park colony is here, getting eye treatment. His ultimate fate unknown, likely will have to return.

Total rehomed or in foster of the 38 fixed
as a result of getting caught and fixed: 9

And one, Crusty, the inflamed eye abandoned trailer park male in limbo.

I have begun keeping records on out of pocket expenses paid for rescued cats and cats I take in at vet clinics.

In January, although I have not reviewed all records, I paid $76.69 for a long term antibiotic injection for one of the Venell seed cats with a severe urinary tract infection. The vet had called, stating it was medically necessary.

I also paid out $31.98 for two tubes of Profender back of neck dewormer to treat two rescued cats here I cannot handle easily enough to pill.

In February, although I have not reviewed all records, I paid out $39.84 for accurax earmite treatment and ear cleaning for Peter and James, the two homeless camp teen feral boys, who were severely infested and $12.28 on Cassie, the homeless camp tame female teen, for a rabies vaccine.

I also paid $19.00 for antibiotic eyedrops to treat Crusty, the white trailer park abandoned male with inflamed eyes.

A donation from the man who adopted Cassie paid back the amount I paid for her rabies vaccine, but was not quite enough to cover a distemper vaccine ($5), worming ($5), flea and earmite treatment ($10) that I also gave her. Her spay, $49, had to be covered entirely by Poppa Inc.

A donation by the trailer park caregiver covered the eye drops for Crusty and she added some beyond that to the gift card account at the vet clinic which helps cover such costs, if there is anything in the account. I rarely have donations in that gift card account, unfortunately.

Financial problems arise for me when cats I take in for people, to merely be fixed, turn up with expensive health issues that cannot be overlooked. Most caregivers will contribute nothing.

The other challenge for me is maintenance costs on rescued cats here, while they await homes. This includes cat litter, cat food, shots, worming, flea and earmite treatment, etc. and takes up most of my own money and time. I do not routinely get any donations of cat food or litter to help me maintain the rescued cats here.

Except for Jeanne, from Baltimore, who sends a case or two of Fancy Feast each month. The cats here have come to know what that means, when the doorbell rings and the delivery man hands me that little box. They are not patient about waiting on me to get that open and then open the cans, one to each small plate. The box lasts one day. And they love it. It's a big happy day for the cats here when that box arrives.

Jeanne, Sam still wants to come live with you. He says, "Jody doesn't give me Fancy Feast, but you do!"

I'm always scrambling here, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. I have to get vaccines again, and vaccinate Peter and James, since I had to bring them back from the seed warehouse. They'll have to have rabies too now.

Crusty will have to have a three-way vaccination, too, at the least, since he will be here at least five more days for the duration of antibiotic treatment. Then what for him, I don't know. None of these things are cheap, that's for sure, or free, like a lot of people seem to think.

I got three cats fixed for someone a couple of weeks ago and the vet made a note the cats had tapeworms, which is the result of swallowing an infected flea. I told her that and that she would need to worm the cats, for common types of cat worms, round and tape. I told her she would likely have to worm the cats for roundworms three times, two weeks apart, too, and I told her the least expensive way to treat fleas on cats. She had tried using over the counter crap brands and was outraged that they not only did not work, but that products that don't work would even be sold. She had a good point.

But two weeks later she called again, wanting the same information again, and really, I believe,wanting me to provide her the medications necessary. She was understanding when I explained I live on the same amount of money she does, and cannot afford to provide such things for people. I told her that her cats also need vaccinated and to save her money and get them in to see a local vet to get all these things taken care of.

Getting a pet is a responsiblity. It doesn't matter if a person is poor or well off, getting a pet, like having a child, should be something carefully thought out and planned and if a person cannot afford a pet or a child, or for other reasons, will not provide them what they need, they shouldn't get one.