I spent two nights til late in the parking lot behind the gas station. I had six spots today at the FCCO for cats from this location.
I don't know how many cats are in this colony I"m trynig to fix, after I found it when I helped Keitha's Kitties catch that pregnant orange sick female, who since had one lone baby, a torti.
The guy who feeds them, only one of them, as I came to find out, because truckers feed them too, said the orange female has never before had a kitten survive. So this is her first. She's feeling much better, on antibiotics, and after worming.
Anyhow, with the six today, 13 have been trapped from there.
I caught four night before last. I intercepted one trucker's attempt to feed them. I talked to him awhile. He's such a nice guy and carries food with him, to feed cats in need when he sees them.
I ran into a second animal loving nice guy trucker last night, parked along the curb, blocking my view of one of the set traps. He graciously agreed to watch while he was awake, with his rearview mirror. After he fell asleep, I moved the trap elsewhere.
He and his wife help stray dogs, too. It's been quite a spirit uplifter to talk to so many animal lovers, in a parking lot no less.
Needless to say, the cats there are quite well fed, given I also leave them kitten food.
Last night I didn't have as great of luck. I got there late as my neighbors called me over to help with their cat, who needed a pill. She'd gone to the vet, due to vomiting and diarrhea and didn't get a good diagnosis. The vet thinks its pancreatitis, but it could also be lymphoma, they're not sure. She came home after being given sub cu fluids, with several meds to try, including an anti vomit pill, pancreatic meds and metronizadole, in case its parasites causing her pancreas to be inflamed. It hurt my soul. I love Lucy. I petsit her for them all the time and am due to do it again soon, while they attend their sons graduation from college.
I caught the fifth cat out in the parking lot not too long after I arrived. After that, nothing. They avoided the traps like the plague. Finally, about midnight, I caught the sixth cat, a little black tux short hair teenager.
Milly from Lebanon drove them all up to the clinic today and will be picking them up soon, to drive back here. I already got the records emailed me from the FCCO. Five of the six are girls. I know the black tux is a girl and in heat. I knew the torti teen is a girl. I knew the orange tux is a male. But as for the other three, I had no idea what sex they were.
Here are their photos:
I had to be up at 5:00 a.m., to get them ready for Milly to transport. That, after only 4 hours sleep. After she left with them, I went back to bed for three hours and later today, took another two hour nap. So I'm good. And also happy. For the cats and also to have met so many nice people in a parking lot behind a gas station. Who'd a thought?
The tough and burly don't necessarily match their hearts.
ReplyDeleteI told my tough and burly younger brother about it and he said "we animal loving men needs t shirts that say, I Love Cats! Deal With it!"
DeleteThere are lots of nice people out there. We forget that sometimes when we encounter a lot of a-holes.
ReplyDeleteSo, when a female is in heat, can she be fixed? And then the fixing would take her out of heat? And if they're pregnant, do they fix them after they have the kittens?
A spay removes the ovaries and uterus. They can be engorged during the heat cycle with blood, which is why its best not to spay when in heat. When spayed when in heat, I believe they still finish the cycle. I am not sure on that. With ferals and high volume clinics, there can be no physical exam of a cat prior to surgery, because they're feral. So nobody generally knows if a cat is pregnant unless its very obvious, until the uterus is pulled out. Generally pregnant tame strays go to rescues and shelters, who either let them have their kittens or, if medically unable, perform spay, which equals a kitty abortion. It also depends on the time of year. By mid July, almost every rescue and shelter is full of unwanted cats and kittens. By July unfixed females are having second and sometimes third litters. It's hopeless to find them all homes and many kittens and pregnant females get dumped. So many rescues and shelters at that point spay everybody. there are just not enough homes out there for the volumes of unwanted cats and kittens.
DeleteBy this time of year here, most females over six months are either in heat, lactating or pregnant. Makes it tricky trapping colonies, not even knowing, often, the sex of the cat you take in until you get the records. We want to primarily know immediately if they are lactating, so we can get them back fast, to their colony location, to go back to their kittens. they continue to lactate even after surgery as long as something is sucking on them. That's another reason I like taking summer off.
DeleteI wonder all of the same questions as Liz. The procedures were as I suspected, but now I know for sure.
ReplyDeleteThere is also what is known as a flank spay, where the vet goes in on the cats side, instead of belly, which makes it a lot easier for the cat to continue to nurse kittens after recovery. Homeward Bound clinic, a nonprofit in McMinnville, did flank spays always on females during kitten season. WHS clinic did them for awhile, until the vet who knew how to do them quit, now they're back to doing belly spays on all. Anyhow, its always a sad time of year, kitten season, for rescuers and TNR people and vets.
DeleteLiz hit the nail on head. As for wordle. I google New York time wordle and that how I get on it. I'm sure there an easier way. But I haven't found it.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
The little kitten is so tiny. I'm glad she's being taken care of. It is always refreshing to encounter other people trying to help animals in need. It seems like so many people don't care, so it's refreshing to find someone who does.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the man who has fed these cats for years, the orange female, the kittens mom, is at least ten or twelve and never had a surviving kitten before now, when she fortunately had her one and only kitten in the safety of rescue.
DeleteThanks Danielle. I was so happy to quickly catch that orange pregnant sick girl. She had her one kitten just a couple days later, in rescue, already on antibiotics, with Keithas Kitties. She finally gets to be a mom to a living kitten while she also heals from a lifetime of harsh living.
DeleteAwww... Best wishes to all these precious animals and the people who care about their welfare. ~hugs~
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