Nine More Cats Fixed

I couldn't stop myself from taking reservations when they came up for yesterday. I already had 3 reservations for Heartland.  But when someone with nine reservations got sick and couldn't use them, I got given five of those to use.  That would be 8 more local cats fixed.  Why wouldn't I jump all over that?

There are logistical problems to getting cats fixed at two clinics, in two different towns.  I figured I could work that out.

So I embarked.

I had two different situations, already, needing help.  But by Sunday morning, I had 3.   I delivered traps to the first situation.  Someone had seen kittens down below her place, from her deck.  They were living in berry vines.  No one was feeding them or providing water.  I knew they couldn't return, once caught, but as luck would have it, my friend who places barn cats, had room, as of Sunday!

We caught one while I ate banana pancakes the woman fixed me.  They were so good I dreamed about them that night.

This is the little guy caught first.  I named him Spice and he was crawling in fleas.

Spice, a beautiful little boy, fixed yesterday, then off he went.

I left traps with the woman, but by now it was late morning.  Sun was hot, yellow jackets were out swarming bait and mean.

I headed on out to the second situation, out beyond Lebanon.  Several people renting on that property and they had discovered, since moving in a few months ago, cats in the bushes.   She pointed out a sick kitten sitting back in the berry vines.  We set a trap, but didn't catch the kitten.  Instead, we caught Black Beauty, his mom.  But shortly after, we caught the kitten too.

Black Beauty was spayed yesterday.

Willy, Black Beauty's kitten, had one eye that looked like hamburger and an ulcer forming also on the other eye.  He couldn't go back.

Poor little sick soul

I was quickly able to handle him.  He was so pathetic and would hug to me.  I put eye meds in his eyes after cleaning them out.   Meow Village said they'd take him so I decided to run him up.  I was very grateful.

That done, on the way back, I stopped in at the third situation.  They had said they had three teens needing done, two boys and a girl.  These would be the three fixed at Heartland.  But I got a surprise when I got there.  They had a fourth needing fixed.  They'd contained the teens' mom and she was pregnant again.  So I took her too.  Princess, the mom, would be fixed at whs in Salem.  The two boys, Tigger and Teddy, plus their sis, Baby Girl, would be done as planned at Heartland.

Princess, fixed yesterday and then she went home.

Baby Girl was fixed at Heartland.  

So was Teddy!

And Tigger too!

I now had an adult female from Lebanon, a teen male from the berry vine crew, and four from the 3rd situation.   Six cats.  With 8 reservations.  And three more who badly needed caught from the berry vine crew, so they could all leave from the clinic together to go to my barn cat placement friend.

The Berry Vine crew lady called me, told me to come join the fun.  She's a fun lady.  Makes a party out of anything I'd guess.  I headed out and by the time I got there, she'd caught the little muted torti girl kitten.  I named her Pepper.

I checked the two traps she'd set, to be sure everything was in order, and added some tuna and catnip, and then headed up to her place, where I ate quesadilla's she'd made while watching the traps from her deck with binoculars.  What a set up!

Not much later we caught the mom cat--Nutmeg.  And an hour later, the final kitten, a little girl I named Sugar.

Mom cat, Nutmeg, spayed yesterday.

Pepper, a little muted torti teen

The hold out, last cat caught of that family, Sugar, a little girl.

Now I had nine cats and eight reservations.   Never fear.  The woman who took the other four of the nine up for grabs reservations, told me to take all six, that it was ok, she'd do with the three reservations.

I was grateful.   So yesterday morning I took six to Salem, arriving at 7:15 to check them in, then headed straight to Heartland in Corvallis with the other three.  Heartland was gracious enough to do those three first, so I could pick them up at noon.  then I had time to take them home before I headed up to pick up the six at Willamette Humane's clinic.  I met my friend there, who places barn cats.  She quickly transferred Nutmeg, Spice, Sugar and Pepper to her own traps, and headed off back to her place with them.  I dropped off Princess to her home and then overnighted Black Beauty here.

This morning I took her home and we spotted the other females kittens in the berry vines.  Look to be about 3 to 4 weeks old, saw maybe five of them.  The young woman there is going to try to get them out of the berry vines, with mom, today.  There's that mom and kittens plus her three teens from her last litter left to get fixed there.

She has no idea where these cats came from.   She's lived there only a few months and one day, she says, the female appeared howling at the edge of the brush.  Other tenants told her it was a male who howled all the time, but it was a girl, and she led her into the brush where the young woman spotted her litter back in the briars.  She began to feed her.   It wasn't more than a week later she spotted the other female too.

Anyhow, that's the story about how nine more local cats were fixed.  Four of them living completely harsh in the berry vines, a little family,  got a new chance at life, once fixed while a tenth cat, little Willy, surely got a lucky break that saved his life.