Monday, October 21, 2019

Quite the Weekend Cat Round Up

I was gifted 8 reservations today, from another trapper who had no colonies or was busy, I don't know which.  I already had 7 reservations.  So I had a whopping 15 spots to fill.  Plus, I pretty much begged Heartland for one reservation, so the tame black teen in my bathroom, from the Lebanon colony, could be fixed there without a right ear tip.  Some friends of mine want to adopt him, you see, but don't want him ear tipped.

So in all, I have 16 spots for today.  And yes, I need to get going, to label and load the cats.  It's 5:15 a.m. and I need to be out of here by 6:30 a.m.

First up, a couple have been feeding a group of 7 cats in the hills above Sweet Home, left behind when a neighbor moved out.   New folks have bought the beautiful property, that overlooks the valley from a ridge, but they were willing to let the cats return if fixed.  It was important to get all seven.

It only took two hours too.  The neighbors feeding them are really really nice.  Big animal lovers.

I got coffee while I watched traps and even some tomatoes and a pumpkin to carve when I left!

I decided to give these seven gorgeous cats tree names, for the records.

Willow, a boy

Cedar, the adult female

Madrone, big beautiful boy

Piney, also a boy

Ash and Aspen, Ash the boy, Aspen the only young girl

Alder, another boy
The next morning, Sunday, I thought I'd have it easy, because I had handed a trap off to the adult son of an elderly woman feeding five cats.  He lives with her and said he'd have the adult female and the adult male in carriers and trap another, by the time I got there Sunday morning. Well he'd done nothing, actually, had not even fed in that trap.  I was not happy.

The adult outside tame male, came limping up, however, and I put him in a trap.  Then I caught the three teens, one by one, over an hours time, fended off a neighbors cat, who really was hungry and wanted in the trap himself, and left, with the trap set and a promise from that man, to check it.  But later, when I could not get ahold of anyone there, I went back to check on it myself and found the adult female in it and was happy to be done.

George, the male

Happy, a buff tabby boy

Louise, the adult female

Lucky, a darling little boy

Smiley, a pudgy cute little girl
Now I had 12 cats.  To round out the 15, I went back to the Lebanon colony, and caught three more, by putting a huge plate of food in the back and propping up the door with a water bottle.  String around the neck of the bottle.  Then I sat back and chewed the fat with the colony caretaker until an unfixed one would come along, then I'd yank the string to pull the bottle out from under the door, trapping the poor cat.  I got two black and whites this way plus a torti.  There is still another black and white needing caught. 

I didn't realize the torti had an ear tip until I got her home and could look closely.  I didn't catch her before there.  In fact I've only taken in four adult females to be fixed in the 20 some cats I've caught there.  Tortilla was a muted torti.  Cappuccino a calico.  Halfucinno a classic torti and Puppy is black and white.  This torti was not any of the above.  So who got her fixed?  Probably Julie, who got a few fixed there a few years ago.

I handed off the extra spot then, since she didn't need to go, to another Albany trapper hunting for a reservation.

Check out that right ear tip!

Boots, who was so scared, another boy

Socks, also a boy
For now I'm calling the black teen in the bathroom, been there since last Tuesday, Jetson, for the records, but my friends will give him whatever name fits him, once he's been with them awhile.  I'm taking him to be fixed at Heartland after dropping the other 14 at the Salem clinic.  So I better get a move on.

3 comments:

  1. Wow! Best wishes to you and these lovely souls you've helped.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yet another big, big few days and some wonderful work.
    I was really happy to learn that the new owners of the property are happy to let the cats come home if they are neutered. Rare I suspect.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous2:57 PM

    Great work. I am pleased you come across some nice, caring and cooperative people at times.

    ReplyDelete

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