Taking Up Five Cats Today

 I'm taking five cats up to the Salem clinic to be fixed today.   The cost for that will be $250.  Yeah, a lot of money.   That started in June, when, without any warning, the clinic, run by the richest animal shelter in the state, suddenly imposed the new fee per cat.  Used to be free for nonprofits taking community cats in to be fixed.  And free for residents of Polk and Marion counties.  Not anymore.   So it adds, when I get 10 spots for the month, $500 to monthly cat bills for the nonprofit.  It's extremely difficult.

The good thing is the lady who found the three cats after I posted about seeing them Thursday morning on the way to FCCO is paying for those three to be fixed.  That's a huge help.

I named them Flop, Skippy and Sprite.  For now at least.  I named the mom Flop because her left ear flops over.   I don't know why, maybe earmites.  They're getting fixed today, all three of them.

Sprite, looking none too happy.   I've begun petting the kittens, not picking them up yet, as I have a thing about doing that prior to them being fixed, in case something happens during surgery.  Also, I've been very busy and exhausted.

Skippy, who is bright eyed and cheery always, although still a wild thing.

Skippy, sitting atop the hard to photograph Sprite with Flop, their mom, in back

Right now I'm trying to get Flop to go in a trap in the bathroom, without effort on my part.  I got up early and set traps in the bathroom, and quickly got Sprite and Skippy.  I don't really want to wrangle anyone into a trap to go off to be fixed.  I do the same with my own cats who need to go to the vet.  I prefer traps to carriers.  They're more secure, provide them more room and are airy, in hot weather, although they can be covered to give a cat privacy.  They're also far easier to carry than a carrier.

Yesterday, after cutting the growing weeds and taller grass in spots, on my front lawn with a weed whacker, I trimmed dying blooms off the hydrangea.   Most of its extremely deep purple blooms are fading out now.   I picked up four buckets of apples fallen off or about to fall off my overloaded little tree, too.  I took off many small ones to give the others a better chance to mature.

I went up to the Lebanon complex and quickly caught the two moms there.  Both have kittens.  One mom has five living under a shed.  She was abandoned by someone there when they moved.  The kittens look close to three months old.  The other cat they were calling field mom has one or two kittens living in a burnpile.  The tenants there are feeding the kittens so they should be fine while the moms are gone.   

MamaK

Field Mama, a.k.a. Only

One of MamaK's kittens

I'd been to this complex before and caught three or four.  Field Mama and MamaK are new to the unfixed cat world there, but apparently the only unfixed cats, besides their kittens now.  I ran into a tenant I knew from when she lived in Albany.   Her cats had come marching out sporting their eartips.  I took them to be fixed a few years ago when she lived in Albany, and got cats fixed she had somewhere else before that.  Anyway, it was so nice to see how healthy they are now, fixed and friendly and beautiful.

MamaK's five kittens I hope to get fixed next week.   As for field Mama's kittens, I've not seen them nor do I know how old they are or how many there are.  At least two I'm told.  While MamaK is quite tame, having been a house cat once, Only is not so tame or trusting, but both cats were extremely hungry and went into traps immediately.

The fire south of here near the freeway was quickly lined and is about half out by now.   I knew they'd shut its progress down fast.  

The country music festival in Sweet Home is over, thank goodness.  Hopefully traffic will calm down some now.   There have been at least three fatal wrecks in close proximity.  I think the first guy to be killed was on a bike or motorcycle and turned right into the path of a semi truck.  That was just outside Albany.  Then a speeding motorcyclist was killed between Lebanon and Sweet HOme and another speeding motorcyclist I believe was killed yesterday near Lebanon.   I only heard the chatter on local fb pages about the last two accidents, as to who was killed and why.   People drive like demons around here, seem not to care who they kill or if they are killed.