TNRing Like A Mad Woman!

Hello Feral Friends-

Wondering why I'm not blogging lately? It's cuz I'm so busy chasing cats around Grand Rapids that I don't even have time to read my email. Good Lord!

Here's what I've been doing since last time.

After getting the Hell House cats settled at The Double JJ Ranch, I have been just going "balls out" crazy on TNR. I got hit at church by three people and am happy to report I finished those three projects in less than two weeks.

Judy Nelson had a sweet black mama kitty who she wanted to trap. Instead of getting her at first, I got a huge orange Tom Cat who has no doubt been impregnating every female cat in a five mile radius for years and years. His nuts rivaled those of Angus! He was a 15 lb cat and I think his testicles made up for at least a pound of that! Then the next day we trapped the mama cat (whose kits have long since disappeared) and got her fixed and rehabbed. Judy has adopted her and now she is known as KitKit the very lucky INDOOR kitty!

Marina Lakos worked and worked on her neighbor Virgina to fix the three cats she had eating at her back door last spring. But Virginia couldn't bear to see cats in traps so she did nothing. Well, finally now that there were 9 cats, she decided to do something about it. With some coaxing, she let me put traps outside of her back door. And by day three she was setting the traps herself. Ha! We got 8 cats of 9. One little black kitten managed to open a brown trap that wasn't secured properly and refused to get back in. I was told that if you can get 70% of a colony you are doing well. I don't really believe that. I think you need to get them fixed 100%. But as it goes it was a good thing all in all.

Beth VanDyke told me about a Mom and older kits that were hanging out at her sister's group home in Ada. We went and set traps and got all 5 cats in less than 5 minutes. It is sooo much easier when the cats are on a feeding schedule! All were released two days later!

I began helping a dear woman named Eileen McFadden (who actually is a volunteer for Safe Haven Rescue in Ionia). She and her husband, Doug inherited a colony of 13 feral cats when they bought their property. They are amazing people and footing the bill to have all the cats fixed, tested, and vaccinated. Bless them. I'm just loaning them traps and doing the rehab part of it. So far we have fixed 10 cats and tonight Doug will try to get the last hold outs!

This week I was called back out to Cannonsburg to the home of Betty and Frank Cohen who I have done TNR for before. They had three more kittens living in their back building. So I set out some traps Sunday afternoon and had the three newbies in them within an hour. Mission Accomplished!

The rest of this week I've been working with Dorine Stevens who lives on the SW side of town. She has a colony of 18 that she cares for. When I first arrived on the street, I found myself at the wrong house. I was knocking and nobody was answering. I was feeling pretty bummed out then I noticed a lady across the street telling me where to find the homeowner of the house I was at. I got really stressed for a moment when I noticed that she had at least 8 cats on her porch. I figured "Oh God! Now I have two cat ladies to help on this street". When I told her who I was looking for she said, "That's Me!" THANK GOD was all I could think!
Dorine is a spitfire of a gal and at 75 years of age, she was setting and hauling traps from the yard to my car and just about slapping me down if I tried to offer her any sort of "old lady" help. She is amazing. We have gotten 17 cats in three days. I had my first "double cat" trapping on day one with an adult and a kitten being closed in the same trap! I knew it happened, but I never experienced it.

Right now, she has one more on her porch, but it's one she isn't familiar with. She will continue to try to get the last elusive one till 7pm tonight then we will just call it done as I have to return at least 10 of them back to her backyard this evening.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks! I'm thrilled to be able to do what I've been doing. Thanks to Vicky's Pet Connection, I've been able to get 140 cats fixed at no cost to me personally. I think I've gotten another 20 or 30 done through other means and my own pocket. Vicky and Nancy have also paid for 102 surgeries for Gina Marvin and 31 for Amy Pietras. Without them, we would not have been able to help so many cats! They are our heros!

Our funding will be running out at the end of this year, so if you feel that what we are doing is worth while, please consider making a holiday donation to help cover some of the costs that we will incur in the new year!

I'm leaving in mid-December to work in Detroit with my beau, Gabby. I'll be gone for 2-6 weeks. I'll resume rescue when I have some money in my pocket and a better, more relaxed, less crazed head on my shoulders!

Thank you all for reading!
Carol

Squad Car! Tom Cat to House Cat in Three Days Flat!

I was minding my own business going to my regular Tuesday Morning meeting when I happened onto a huge black and white tomcat who resembled a squad car. ALWAYS having food in my feral chariot, I put some out on a plate and began to feed him. As he went to town on what appeared to be his first good mean in a while, I sneaked a peek at his backside and scoped out a pair of nice sized black balls.

I quickly picked up the food and grabbed a trap out of the mini-van. I placed the food in the trap but the big guy was reluctant. But being friendly enough to let me get my hands on him, I shoved his ass in the trap. I immediately named him Squad Car because if he had blue and red lights on his back, he would look just like one!




I took him to be fixed the next day. He rehabbed at my place for a day and I called Jen at Crash's Landing to see if I could get him on the waiting list. He is on the list, but may never have to go to Crash's after all.

Why? You ask! Well, I received a call a few days earlier from a gal named Kimberly who wanted to adopt an adult cat. Since I don't have any adults, I referred her to Gina and Amy. But now I HAD AN ADULT CAT that needed a home, so I gave her a ring. And she agreed to take Squad Car into her home and give him a chance at being an indoor kitty.




When I brought him to Kimberly's home I was happy to see that she already had a brand new litter box, bowls and toys set out for him. He made him self immediately comfortable in her basement apartment.

After checking back a few days later and speaking to Kimberly's mother, Karen, I've learned that Squad Car is now known as Patches and he is very welcome to stay as long as he pleases. I assured her that I'd let her know when his turn is called to join the rest of the Crash Cats, but she assured me that he will be staying with them.

Great outcome for Squad Car....er, I mean Patches!

Need a temporary foster home for a FELV positive kitten!!! Help!!!

Hello Feral Friends-

I'm writing on behalf of Gina Marvin of Focus on Ferals. She has a Feline Leukemia positive kitten who needs a temporary home for two months.

The kitten has been pre-accepted into the Big Sid's Sanctuary Program run by Jen Petrovich of Crash's Landing. But because cats must be 6 months old to be in the program, this little 4 month old has to wait it out for two more months. Gina has the kitten caged so as not to spread the disease to any of the other cats.

Do you know someone who has feline leukemia positive cats or NO cats that might be able to give this baby a home for two months pending acceptance into Big Sid's Sanctuary?

If so, please contact Gina Marvin immediately at 616 826-0927.

Please help her let this baby out of the cage!
Thanks so much!
Carol

What I'm Thankful For!!

Happy Thanksgiving Feral Friends-

I have so much to be thankful for this year. And I'm gonna share my gratitude with you all.

First of all, I'm thankful that my parents and Gabby's parents are no longer dwelling in bodies that don't serve them. I'm thankful that they are at peace and wherever they would want to be for eternity. I'm pretty sure my parents are in a special heaven that looks a lot like Las Vegas but has looser slots and blackjacks are dealt every other hand!

For those of you who read my blog, you know that everything with me is CATS! I hesitate to say I sleep, eat and drink cats because it sounds really bad. But in a sense, I do.

Which leads me to the first person I am thankful for. Amy Pietras. Yes, I'm thankful for this crazy girl who came to my house last winter and pulled me into her insane world of cat rescue. If not for her, I doubt I'd be doing anything cat related. I'd have 10,000 less miles on my lease vehicle and I'd have about 6K more in the bank. Had I not met her, I'd probably have made some money this year selling dolls and toys and weighed about 20 lbs more from not being on my “cat rescue” diet. Wow, that sounds bad too! What I mean is, I'd probably have been able to sit down for more meals and had more of an opportunity to widen my backside. Thanks Amy for depleting my bank account, making me almost as certifiably coo-coo as you, and practically turning me inside out with rage and stress every time we talk! I love you!

This is going to be a massive list!

Like Amy, I'm kinda-sorta “regrettably” thankful for Cheryl McLeod of Lake Haven Rescue who got me to go to Cedar Springs in the early spring looking for Angus. I found Angus and a lot of anguish too! But if it weren't for her, I'd probably have just stopped at Burger King, so for her, I'm grateful.

I'm thankful for Laura Wertenberger for getting me into hard-core TNR by alerting me to the plight of the Burger King cats in the first place.

And I will forever be eternally grateful to Cindy Morris who talked me through my first TNR when we were trapping cats at the RV park in Allendale where we lived when we first came off the road from Mama-Mia! Cindy worked for C-SNIP at the time and rehabbed my cats for me. Basically, she did for me what I now do for other people who don't have cages and space for rehab. Bless you Cindy for showing me the ropes!

I'm thankful for Sharon and Sandy and all the kind people at Cedar Springs Mobile Estates who have helped me do some good work in that park. I'm even thankful for the people who almost lynched me the night I was beginning my TNR there this summer. For because of them, I tested that one kitty that showed me Feline Leukemia was running rampant in the park, which spurred me to do the mass spay/neuter testing that has been ongoing since that time.

I'm thankful for Jeanine Buckner of Reuben's Room Cat Rescue for teaching me about kittens and for taking in Angel and her babies and paying through the nose to have them properly vetted for the first time in their lives. Also, I'm thankful to Jeanine for numerous helpful suggestions, sage advice and fluids and meds when I needed them in a pinch. Above all else, I'm thankful for Jeanine allowing me to snag one of her potential adoptive parents to find a home for my dad's Gizmo who was nothing short of miserable here in my house after he passed away.

I'm thankful for Jen Petrovich of Crash's Landing for helping me with my first ever rescue (Morgan) and for taking in numerous cats from Cedar Springs and finding them great homes. And I'm very thankful for her wonderful volunteer staff who got her to take Eminem into her program who in turn got her to take on Mango too! Mango would still be under my dad's old bed had it not been for them! And thank you Andy Hoban for taking Gregory home with you. What a lucky boy he is. God bless you!

I'm grateful for Gina Marvin and Erica Carranco of Focus on Ferals. When I learned what Gina was doing in 2005 to fix feral and stray cats, I knew that was something that I wanted to do as well. I have patterned my rescue after Gina's. I stand in awe of what she and Erica do to help so many cats and kittens. Erica has a feral colony of her own that she maintains...something I admire and adore her for. I see my friendship with Erica as one of the richest rewards of my rescue work.

I am eternally grateful for Vicky and Nancy of Vicky's Pet Connection who has footed the bill for all of our feral/stray spays and neuters. Because of them, I was able to get the ball rolling in Cedar Springs and because of them, Gina, Amy and I have been able to spay hundreds of cats and kittens this year. God bless you both and keep you well so that you may continue the amazing work you do for the animals of Kent County and beyond!

I must also thank Vicky and Nancy for turning us on to Dr. Bruce Langlois of The Animal Hospital of Lowell. They shared their most prized resource with us. Bruce is an amazing man who will do anything for animals. Without him and his willingness to come in anytime we need him, perform spays and neuters at costs far under any other vet/service in town, and do just about anything else we need at a rescue rate, well....we'd be sunk. Bless you and your hands, you dear, sweet man!

I'm of course thankful to C-SNIP for all they do to prevent the overpopulation of cats and dogs in West Michigan. I don't even want to imagine where we would be as a community without them. Thank you C-SNIP staff for working with me as I brought countless ferals to you in my early days of TNR.

Thank you to my wonderful Cat and Kitten fosters. Roxanne and Randy, you housed the Katrina cats for Amy and then you stepped up and took in my 14 misfit Hell House Cats when I had absolutely nowhere to go to them except the Animal Shelter. The life they have now as barn cats at Double JJ Ranch is because of you. And thank you for keeping Zane and Snowflake and accepting them as your own.

Speaking of Kitten fosters, I have great appreciation for Pat and Dale Baxter who have taken in countless moms and kittens since all this began in the spring. Pat is kitten mama extraoridinare' and is most excellent at getting multiple kittens adopted by single families. Without Pat and Dale opening their “casa de' animals” to my cats, I'd not be able to find forever homes for these babies!

I'm grateful to Sue Carl for riding my first paired mission to Cedar Springs when I found Wiletta, Chamberlain and the rest of that first batch who went to Crash's Landing. Sue was a great TNR partner and was not at all offended by my request to have her dish out the stinky jack mackeral. Sue, you are awesome.

Special admiration goes out to Barb Olson who has opened her home to nearly 100 ferals and kittens in the days where Amy and I had nowhere else to rehab our post-op cats. She didn't bat an eyelash when Amy saddled her with 5 moms and kittens which brought her cat resident count up to 30+. Then after she got herself a new place, she continued to help us at Brooknelle and still does TNR missions with me weekly! Barb, YOU ROCK!

Amy Townsend, I'm super thankful for you for all you have done to help me with fostering kittens, rehabbing ferals and running vaccination missions in Cedar Springs! You are amazing!

Thank you Chris for taking in Priscilla and giving her the best start in life possible after she had been found motherless and abandoned. You commitment to bottle feeding kittens is unbelievable. I'm so thankful there are people like you who don't value their sleep!

I'm thankful for my friends and people I've met along the way who have helped me financially with my rescue work. Tracy Galloway (my best friend from college) sponsored most every Hell House cat when I was in a real pinch for cash.

Thank you Stu MacKenzie for always shoving a nice sized bill in my hand when you know the going is getting tough.

My Gabby has purchased all sorts of tools and gear for me to do the work better and for my birthday gifted me with a nice chunk of change to continue doing what I do best. Thank you MSG!

I have gotten money from complete strangers who have become great friends. I've gotten money from great friends who have become great contributors. Bless you all who have sent me money.

Thank you to Jonelle Kettman, my neighbor who often times came over to bottle feed kittens when I was scared to death of tiny babies. Also, Jonelle, thank you for helping me release the Windcrest Feral Family and fashion a groovy straw lined shelter for them to keep them nice and cozy this winter! And I'm thankful to Angie Taylor for finding me that huge dog carrier that IS that shelter!

I'm grateful for everyone I've mentioned on my Carol's Thank You Page which can be linked from this blog.

I'm thankful for Juliet Kauffman my homeopath for helping me help kitties with homeopathy whenever I felt the need to ask of her.

I'm thankful for The Humane Society for providing me with food and litter for next to nothing!

I'm thankful for Becky Maze (my dear friend in Detroit) who forced her friend who was looking for kittens to adopt them from Amy and I.

I'm never going to be able to show proper gratitude to everyone I'm thankful for, but I've tried here.

If you have helped me and I neglected to mention you, please know that it's not because your efforts toward my rescue don't matter. It's just that I have to release 5 ferals right now and I know THEY are going to be ULTRA THANKFUL to be out of their recovery cages.

Cats are all I think about anymore. And because thats better than a whole lot of other things I can have renting space in my head, I'm grateful for THAT!

Thank you all for reading my blog and keeping up with what I do. Thank you for sending me strength, supporting me and sending me emails to let me know I'm doing a good thing here!

Carol

Hell House Cats - Mission Accomplished

HELLo Feral Friends!

Had to start it off that way....with HELLo! Because on Saturday, November 11th, a good 7 months after happening onto the disaster at Hell House, the last remaining 6 cats at Roxanne and Randy's kitten haven were taken to The Double JJ Ranch.

Six of the cats were taken there in late September. Linda Hicks, Kendra and the other wranglers were happy to take on these perspective "mousers". The cats were kept in cages to be properly "homed" for three weeks. After that the doors to the cages were left open and they were allowed to free roam.

Some are still hanging out and allowing Kendra (chief cat care person) to look them in the eye. One or two will let her within three feet of them. Others are sharing food bowls with the cats that were there before them. A couple have not been seen, but I suspect they are just really good at hiding, now that they have a place to hide.

The last 6 gave Roxanne and I a run for our money Saturday afternoon. Peaches was the worst as we suspected she would be! But finally after chasing them around their basement bedroom with pillows and brooms, we were able to get them all into three huge carriers.

Kendra had the cages all set up so there wasn't any heavy lifing or hoisting for me. Thank you Kendra!

The cats went into the cages pretty easily and they will be "homed" in them till early December. Then they too will be free to come and go as they like.

It's been a long, nerve-wracking road for all of us. Me, Roxanne, Randy AND all the cats! At one point someone taking care of cats while R&R were away let all 12 of the cats loose in the house. It took days to recapture their feral little butts!

They have been a real trial and expense, these little buggers. Zane bit me in June and landed me in the doc's office with a $325 medical bill! He got Roxanne good once too!

But friends and supporters have been wonderful and sponsored these cats and helped defray some of their expenses. Thank you everyone who donated money or just prayed for us. All good thoughts and mental support helped greatly too!

Roxanne and Randy, you are the greatest. First you took on 13 Katrina Refugees! And then you took on 14 Hell House Cats. Funny how you managed to keep several of the Katrina cats and two from Hell House! Bless you for opening your hearts and home to them!

And thank you Linda, Kendra and all the Wranglers at Double JJ Ranch. I hope the HH cats keep your mouse population down!

It's a good day!
Carol