Sunday, June 24, 2018

The Last Cat Round Up, for awhile

I had seven spots tomorrow, the last appointments too, for a few weeks.  I meant to fill them.

But it was a misguided effort.  I saved five of the seven spots for a mom and five kittens north of Salem. I usually do not trap that far away, but it was a favor for someone I knew.

I caught the two Albany boys, and thought I would have plenty once I had the mom and kittens north of Salem.   I caught those two big boys near the Bird Lady's house, at a house vacated by tenants who left cats behind I'd gotten fixed in 2015---two little girls.

I had the bird lady keep the two abandoned fixed girls occupied while I went after the long hair black tux and the tabby male, who had injured Captain Kirk, fixed years ago, and cared for by the bird lady.

I caught both big boys.  In keeping with Star Trek themed named, I called them Scottie and McCoy.  McCoy, the black tux, seemed the wildest.  Until I got him in my garage.  Then I realized he is completely tame. 

I asked Heartland Humane if they could by any chance take him on and they agreed.  However, once there, in a busy exam room, people coming and going, plus cleaning going on, he suddenly freaked out when the door opened behind the staffer trying to put him into a carrier too small really for this huge cat.

He bolted, tried to climb walls, fell back to the floor.  I went towards where he was bouncing around, and suddenly he stopped where he landed atop some things, with me a foot from him.  I laid my hand across his back to give him security and talked to him. He was then easy to put into a carrier.

 He's a big huge baby, scares easily, but very tame.  Once owned, but he's been on his own, been stalked by other unfixed males and I hope he makes it there and gets a wonderful home.  If not, he'll get fixed and go back and be fed as a stray by the bird lady.

Scottie on the other hand, the brown tabby, is very wild.  He'll get neutered tomorrow and return.
Scottie, who will be fixed tomorrow

McCoy, who is now at Heartland but may have to return to live as a stray.  Depends on how he acclimates there.

With McCoy at Heartland, now I had just one cat for the clinic Monday and seven reservations in all to fill.  Yesterday I went to try to catch a Waterloo male.  I'd known about  him awhile, but could never coordinate with that household, and they feed a lot of fixed cats, to get it done when appointments were open.  Then he got hit by a car or mauled by a dog, don't know which, and they didn't think he'd live.  They watched him drag himself around, with his face "split open" in several places, from a distance.  He survived it somehow.
Lucky, the male from Waterloo, who somehow survived a near fatal incident, and now will be neutered.

It was hot yesterday when I arrived to catch him.  I set up the drop trap, put food under it at the back and waited out a dozen other cats, who pigged out on good food first, before the male, now wary of everything, since his "accident", ambled out and went under.

But another cat was under there too.  A third was laid out under the edge of the drop trap, right where it would fall if I yanked the string.  I had the cat caregiver sneak forward and toss a small rock at the lounger.  That cat ran, when the small stone hit behind her, freaking out the other two but I yanked the string just as the lounger was clear of the trap and got the other two under it.  Only one of them, the male, Lucky's his name, isn't fixed.  I flea treated the other one and let her go, then transferred the boy to the live trap.  Took about an hour in all I suppose to get him.  That's not too bad.

Trapping the north of Salem group (the mom and five kittens) did not go so well.  Turns out House painters arrived at their place yesterday finally, (you never know when a contractor will show) and power washed the house.  The noise and chaos drove the cats away.  I went there early this morning, well not that early, arrived about 8:00.  By now I was told they're seeing only two kittens.  Down from five.  Yikes.  What's going on, I thought.

They'd put the tame pregnant torti mom of the kittens in a carrier.  I only saw one kitten, an orange one, and set a kitten trap by the mom in the carrier and caught him fast.  Then the house painters arrived, and family members were in and out and there was no chance, as the heat increased, that another would be caught.  Nobody knew how to set live traps either there or wanted to learn.  I left two kitten traps set, knew they wouldn't catch anything, and they didn't.  Maybe they will tonight.  So instead of five or six from there, I had two.

I put my remaining spots up for grabs on the net and takers emerged, frantic for spay neuter space, immediately.  A hot commodity.  I held on to one of the three, hoping the north of Salem crowd would catch at least one more kitten.  Not so sure they will, but hey, why not hope.

Nothing went in those two kittens traps I'd left set in the night.  In a last ditch effort, I set a trap here, since a skinny scrawny long hair orange comes through but very infrequently, but I caught only a young possum, by midnight, and turned it loose and gave up.

Most I'll be taking is five now, the least will be four, the two big boys--Lucky and Scottie, and the mom and the kitten.

5 comments:

  1. I am sure you are disappointed but, as usual, you did well. And hooray for the lives you have altered for the better.

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    Replies
    1. Eh, oh well, four's enough to haul up and back and then take to their homes again.

      Delete
  2. You may only be taking five cats, but the other spots will be used by well-deserving others.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, happy others had cats needing to be fixed so the reservations won't be wasted.

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  3. Thank you for soldiering on. Well done!

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