I had some Lebanon cats who needed fixed, off a craigslist ad contact. Seven of them from one apartment. The calico there really belonged to a woman now couch surfing it in Sweet Home. Homeless. No income. And the Lebanon woman wanted her gone, as it was too many in her small place.
Last minute though, paranoia overcame the Lebanon woman. She thought I must be stealing cats. I didn't want to lose those cats, have them reproduce more. We don't need more cats. I had time to calm down, think about what I might say, before going to pick them up, not sure if I would be getting them fixed or not, Friday evening.
It's hard to round up cats, to get the numbers right for the appointments I make at a clinic. I don't want to short a clinic once I make the appointments. People though are a bit fritzy. It'll be a "yes" one moment and they won't even be home when I arrive to pick up, the next. I like the round up craziness, the uncertainity, the challenges. I have to be at my best. I have to debate people, bribe people, cajole, so their cats or cats they feed can be fixed, often for nothing. Wrong in many ways. But this is what I do and these are cats I take to be fixed that otherwise aren't going to be fixed, reproducing, costing society, taxpayers, people who care, later on. People in this area, many areas, are dirt poor. But they love their animals.
I arrived there at that complex evening before last and was hailed by the apartment dweller from the second floor runway. "We have to talk to you. Come up, come inside." Up the stairs I go, limping slightly as my right leg was inflamed. I had already passed, when driving up the street to the apartment entrance, the house with the open carport crawling in cats. Later that evening, I left a ragtag note duct taped to their back door, offering help with spay neuter. I get no response to my knock, or to the note. I never do.
But I keep trying.
I get to the second floor door. "Come inside, all the way in." the woman orders. I do. "Close the door. All the way. You didn't close it all the way." I comply. I'm at their mercy. Like the cats. About five people are inside, eyeing me, sternly. I wouldn't give my cats off to a stranger to drive off with either. I understand. They want to know who the hell I am and why I would be offering to get their cats fixed, for nothing if they can't afford it. I'm ready. I'm more than ready.
"I am the most fanatical cat lover you will ever meet," I declare, with heart born of truth.
They laugh. I give them my adoption website. I give them S/nipped's website. I talked flea allergies and food allergies and worms.
I leave with seven precious cats, crawling in fleas.
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| Bandit, male flamepoint Siamese, fixed yesterday at S/nipped. If you look very closely, you can the fleas on his face down in his fur. |
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| Jasper, big chocolate point Siamese male, also flea covered, had a tapeworm sticking partially out his butt. I paid out myself for two droncit injections at S/nipped, for tapeworms. Jasper and Reeses, the unwanted calico, were recipients of tapeworm treatment. If I had had the money, all 17 would have received droncit injections. This was a car load of flea crawling cats I took to be fixed. On the ride home, their fleas were dead and dying. But they get tapeworms when they swallow an infected flea. |
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| Oreo, black and white male fixed yesterday. |
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| Sassy, brown tabby female fixed yesterday, one of three girls in 17 I took down. Yup, 14 of them were boys. |
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| Simba, big org tabby male fixed yesterday. |
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| Sissy, the torti point Siamese female, now fixed. |
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| Here is Reeses, the calico, while under anesthesia at S/nipped, just before her spay. She's in my garage. If I can't find a shelter to take her, I will drive her up to the Sweet Home homeless person staying with friends. That was the deal, she'd take her back if I couldn't find somewhere for her. And I can't. It's so sad. |
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| A Lebanon Cat Wrangler rounded up Russell here, who is cute as a button to be fixed. In months past, same woman got his mom fixed at the FCCO, then later on, brought me his sister to be fixed. Owners of these cats, I've never met them but thankful that Veronica made sure they got fixed. He was crawling in fleas. |
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| Buster too was cute as a button. Neighbors got another kitten when their last cat vanished. Glad Buster is fixed. |
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| Joker, and his brother, below, Milo, were also fixed yesterday. They are from Sweet Home but were born to a mom who lives around a business on highway 34 who has already had two litters, the most recent, 8. These boys were adopted from her first litter. I am trying to get that mom cat fixed. |
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| Milo, Joker's brother. |
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| I took six Albany males to be fixed too. This young boy, Twitch, lives near the Heritage Mall. |
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| Aspen, a big black tux Albany male, lives on Salem Road. |
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| LJ was finally fixed too, a big brown tabby male living near Ferry street and free roaming. |
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| Boots here, and his brother, Heathcliff, below, were fixed from a Marian St. house yesterday. A third boy teen from there, Brady, medium hair gray, also was fixed, but I forgot to take his photo. |
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| Heathcliff. |
The surfers and paddle boarders were out trying to catch waves. I was trying to catch ZZZzzzzzzzz's......I did doze off for a couple of hours.
S/nipped's lobby was decked out for the holidays!
The trip down was exhausting and rewarding. I'm a diehard, an obsessive relentless proponent of spay neuter. I put my actions where my mouth is.
17 more local cats fixed.
A victory!
A small one, given the scope of the problem.
People out there, can you give a cranky tired out creaky joint old cat trapper some assistance? Get a cat fixed somewhere! Now that would make me happy!
Happy New Year!
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