Two years later......

Wow, it's two years today! Katrina hit and left so many devastated. Gabby and I took the rig down to Baton Rouge and spent three weeks working at the Parker Colosseum on the campus of LSU. If you are interested in learning more about our trip and stumbling down memory lane with us, you can read all about it on the blog: www.southboundforanimals.blogspot.com

Today with Gabby finally home for a brief break, we will celebrate the one very good thing that came out of Katrina. That is our beloved Monkey. Here he is, in all his NOLA glory!

Me and Monkey the day we brought him onto the rig after

much begging and pleading to get him earlier than the
October 1st, 2005 wait date.

Monkey completely spit saturates his favorite
denim/feather toy from mousefactorytoys.com.
Yeah, that's spit to the right of the red feathers.

Toby, Morgan and Monkey pose for a photo op.

Monkey and his new claw tips.
He can still do everything he did without them
but now with a little less destruction!

John Riley

John Riley is one of my favorite folk ballads sung by my favorite singer, Joan Baez! John Riley is also a cat.

This John Riley was sitting on the back porch of a couple named Mike and Miranda who live in the trailer park in Cedar Springs. I was trapping some feral kittens outside of the trailer next door to them at the time. I did manage to get the three kittens. Still have to get that trap wise mama! But the bonus of the day was that I got John Riley.

It didn't take much for me to get him. I walked up to him, sat down on one of the porch steps and petted him. He acted like he hadn't been petted in years!

I grabbed a carrier from my van and put some food inside it. He went right in! Hungry for attention and something to eat, was John Riley that day!

The next morning, he was neutered. I planned to return him but after learning that he had severe flea allergies, I knew that I wouldn't be able to take him back to the flea infested park. He would have to live indoors. Quite obvious that he was abandoned, I decided to keep him.

He's on the waiting list for Crash's Landing, but right now, he lives in my kitten room with my other adoptable felines.

He is simply the sweetest boy I have ever met. I would keep him if I wasn't sure that my eldest daughter Trixie would forever pee on my foyer rugs and my Cajun Katrina boy, Monkey would make this sweetheart's life a living hell.

John Riley the cat wants just what John Riley the folk ballad character wanted.....LOVE. In the song, John Riley finds it. What about this John Riley?

Fair young maid all in a garden
Stange young man, passerby
He said, "Fair maid, will you marry me?"
This then, sir, was her reply:

Oh, no, kind sir, I cannot marry thee
For I've a love who sails all on the sea.
He's been gone for seven years
Still no man shall marry me

What if he's in some battle slain
Or if he's drowned in the deep salt sea
What if he's found another love
And he and his love both married be?

Well, if he's in some battle slain
I will die when the moon doth wane
And if he's drowned in the deep salt sea
I'll be true to his memory

And if he's found another love
And he and his love both married be
I'll wish them health and happiness
Where they dwell across the sea

He picked her up all in his arms
Kisses gave her: One, two, three
Said, weep no more, my own true love
I am your long-lost John Riley!

No More FREE KITTENS!!!!

You're driving down a peaceful country road. The weather is beautiful, the birds are singing and then you see it. Off in the distance. You hope its for a garage sale, but the sign you see says “FREE KITTENS”.

For those of us in RESCUE and who do TNR, little is as upsetting as seeing one of these signs.

One day while on route to my feral rehab facility, I passed a “FREE KITTENS” sign. My mind rushed to all the horrible implications these signs invoke. First of all, giving an animal away for FREE is a really bad idea. Free implies worthless. It devalues the animal.

When no money is involved, people tend to make snap decisions. Cats that are taken home on impulse are very often no longer wanted once the novelty wears off and cast out. You know what that leads to. A bunch of breeding cats running around. Something that strikes fear in the hearts of all of us in Rescue.

Beyond this, are the unscrupulous people who are nothing but thrilled to grab a free kitten. Many of these innocents are sold to animal testing labs, used for snake food or dog fighting bait.

There is nothing good about a FREE KITTENS sign. When animals are given away, there is a very strong likely hood that they have not had any de-worming or flea treatment. Of course they are not spayed/neutered, vaccinated or tested for feline leukemia and FIV. You get what you pay for when you take a FREE KITTEN. Sometimes you get lucky, but many times, you get a sickly cat that didn't get the proper start in life because often times these irresponsible pet owners who put out these signs let the kittens go before they have been properly weaned and have gotten the necessary nutrition from mama.

Speaking of mama, what about her? Once the problem of the excess cats disappears, mama is left to reproduce. Why get her fixed? After all, the kittens go like hot cakes!

On the day I was driving to my rehab facility, after composing myself, I did what I always do, I stopped and talked to the cat owner. This particular sign really bothered me because it was so nicely done. It was obvious to me that it was well made to be used over and over.

Never knowing the mind set of the people you approach, I was happy to meet this very cool guy named Derek. He took my C-SNIP flier and listened to me advise him about how C-SNIP could help him get his mama cat and kittens fixed once the babies were 2 lbs and weaned.

I kinda jokingly (but seriously) threatened Derek. I told him I travel this road at least twice a day and if he didn't want me bugging him constantly, he would have to take the sign down and wait till he could get the mom and kittens fixed, thereby at least insuring that they would not be reproducing once they got to their new homes

Before I left his property, he was out at the curb taking the sign down.

Derek and I talked a couple times after that. He took the cats to C-SNIP and got them all fixed. A little while later, Gina was driving down the road and saw a new sign. This one said FIXED KITTENS!

When she told me about it, I was elated. I called Derek shortly after and he told me that he kept the mama and one kitten, but the other 5 kittens were all in new homes.

I asked him if he gave them away or asked for some money. He said that he asked $20 per kitten. This was my suggestion when I first approached him. Surely a fixed kitten is worth way more than $20, but making money was not Derek's intention. He was simply trying to make sure that the people taking one of his kittens wasn't going to haul it straight to a testing lab. And $20 is too much for snake food or dog fighting bait.

After paying the bill at C-SNIP, he actually was up $5 on the deal.

When asked what he did with the sign, he turned toward his fire pit. Of course, I had to have the sign! It was my first ever known turn-round of a FREE KITTEN sign.

When looking closely at the sign, you can see where he changed the FREE to FIXED.

Derek did right by his mama cat and kittens.

You can make a difference too. When you see FREE KITTENS signs, stop and give the people the number to C-SNIP. That number is 616 455-8220. Keep this number handy in your car. Knowledge is power. Pass it on. Save lives. Help bring about a day where there are no more FREE KITTENS signs!

Derek's sign which is now displayed proudly
at my TNR rehab space at Brooknelle.

Look closely and you can see where Derek scratched
off part of the R and the EE
and changed the sign to read "FIXED".

Horus the blind kitten UPDATE!

Last I left you all, I was looking for a home for a special needs kitten named Horus. Rescued by Laura C, he needed a home willing to accept the challenges the a kitten born without eyes would face.

I did get word from my dear Marcia (Cheyenne's Mommy) that she would love to take him and to call her if he were in danger of being euthanized. I know Marcia would have taken him if need be...but she surely has her hands full.

Laura and I decided it would be best for Horus to go to The Humane Society. Once there, everyone fell in love with him. But having litter box issues, the staff feared that he wouldn't be able to find a home.

Before any drastic measures had to be taken, a volunteer at HS stepped up and took Horus home to give him a try. So far so good. Horus is doing well.

But get this... since posting him on Petfinder, he is my top viewed kitty every week running. He gets three times the hits than any of my other adoptables.

And two kind people have asked to adopt him should he not work out with the volunteer at HS.

It warms my heart that there are people out there willing to take on a special needs boy like Horus.

I'm very happy right now!!!

I'm back in kitty litter

A few days ago, I put out the word that I was in desperate need of a Costco Membership to get some well priced Fresh Step. My membership ran out and since I'm trying to economize to put more money toward the cats, I hoped I could skim off some of my feral friends. And you came through.

Stephanie Meaney my wonderful kitten foster dropped two bags off at my door. RC Kula went to Costco himself and bought me two bags as well as two tubs of scoopable litter for the FIP cats, who he now calls "his cats".

Pat Baxter, my first ever and awesome kitten foster met me at Costco today and I loaded 800 lbs of litter into my mini-van and trucked it over to Brooknelle. Thanks Pat!

This should keep Gina and I going for a few months!

Also, thank you Holly for offering for me to use your membership too!

RC, Steph, Pat and Holly, you are the best!
: ) C

Bobby, My Third BK Cat!!

On Saturday, Gina left me a voice mail. She said that she had been contacted by the Kentwood Cat Clinic because a good Samaritan found a cat laying in the road and brought it into them. Turns out the cat was ear tipped. They called Gina because they know she does TNR and ear tips her returned cats (as do I, but I wasn't on their radar...till now). So Gina inquires as to where the cat was found and as it turns out...it's at my very first TNR site, the Burger King on 68th Street at 131.

She started the voice mail with....boy, honey....do I have something for you to blog about. So here I go.

I contacted the Cat Clinic yesterday and asked them to describe the kitty. The description they gave me matched Bobby, the third cat that I TNR'd at Burger King back in February of 2006. I had only fixed 8 cats there. Trapping was very difficult because 1) I was horribly inexperienced and 2) there is a constant never ending food source via the dumpsters. I got 8 cat fixed ending with Gregory (the big tabby who I figure was the father to many of the other tabbies I had trapped there). You remember him, he's the one who scratched the back of his ears bloody. He was taken into Crash's Landing and eventually adopted by my dear Andy Hoban and his lovely wife. His life sure changed the day he got into my trap, that's for sure!!! What a lucky boy he is!

Another life from Burger King is now changed. Bobby, who is now being called Nevill (after a Harry Potter character), has been at The Kentwood Cat Clinic for about two weeks now. It's unsure what happened to him, but he has neurological damage and he walks in circles and has a tilted head. Much like Dizzy Gillespie, but way worse. Dr. Sadek and the fine folks at the clinic have devoted much time and care to him. They hold him every day and as feral as he was when I released him, he's loves to be held now.

I have been assured that they will try to find him a home, but I'm also putting the word out there that Bobby Nevill needs your help. He needs to go to a home without small children or dogs. He will likely need to be confined to a smaller space. Perhaps a bedroom. If he progresses and gets more steady, then he will be able to live in a more open space. Do you know anyone who might like to help out this special needs boy?

I visited him today. The Vet Tech (whose name I'm sorry I can't remember) and I compared his camera photo to the one on my blog. The photo in the trap a year and a half ago has a much lighter exposure, but compare the markings and you will see, it's him.

With the exception of Cedar Springs cats, I don't often get to see many of my TNR'd babies. I'm sorry that Bobby Nevill was hurt, but I'm thankful that his ear tip lead me back to him and I can see that he is still in overall good health besides his injury of course. No telling how many litters he would have fathered had he not walked into my trap way back in Februray of 2006. No telling how many fights he was spared because he wasn't competing for territory and females. One thing is for certain....he's in great hands now and for that I'm eternally grateful. Thank you Dr. Sadek and the team of Vets and Techs and Staff at Kentwood Cat Clinic!

Bobby, Trapped in February 2006.

Bobby Nevill today.

Mistaken Identity

Last Monday evening my home phone rang. As usual, I tensed up because it's almost always a bad cat call coming through. But I answered it directly to keep it from falling into the seemingly bottomless cue of calls on my answering machine.

It was a girl named Stephanie. She lives in an apartment complex near 76th and Division. Her neighbor moved out and left behind her pregnant cat. She wanted to know if I would take the cat and her soon to be born kittens and find them homes. Of course you know what I said. I urged her to let me get the PG girl fixed and spare the birth of yet one more unwanted litter. She actually agreed with me and allowed me to come and get the cat. Because of her location and the fact that Gina was nearby, she went and picked up the cat and dropped her at Bruce's for his last surgery day of the week before leaving for vacation! Whew!!! That was a close one!!!

The next day, I picked up the very happily relieved from her burden kitty. After talking to Stephanie, I was happy to know that she would keep her inside of her own apartment and rehab her....and likely just keep her herself.

Once again, because of proximity of Gina and I, Gina dropped the cat off to Stephanie. Stephanie asked Gina if her name was Mary. According to a later conversation with Stephanie, all the blood drained from Gina's face and she went white as a ghost. Gina relates the story as this. She asked Stephanie why she would think she was Mary....Mary who? Stephanie says Mary of Purrfect Pals Cat Rescue. Yes, Mary Fariss who took in so many cats that she was unable to offer them proper medical care resulting in them all being euthanized at the Humane Society besides the 9 we have, the one Reuben's Room has and the two that were adopted right off the bat through HS. Yes, that Mary....that is who Stephanie mistook Gina for.

So Gina presses Stephanie as to why she asked this. Well, as it turns out, another of Stephanie's neighbors named Amber gave Mary two kittens about 10 days ago. And another neighbor also gave Mary some cats that she didn't want any longer. VIPets gave Mary's number to Amber. Nice how VIPets is still giving out this woman's number after knowing that she had her "rescue" closed down for sick and dying animals. In any case, my beef isn't with VIPets, but it probably should be.

I guess I don't have a beef with anyone. What I have is utter dismay that she's back at it and sorrow for the animals that have crossed her path. I have always maintained that Mary was well intentioned and really wanted to help animals. I still believe that. But she can't help animals. And I fear for any can that falls into her hands. She is not a well woman. She is a hoarder. This is nothing to vilify. This is a mental condition. But unfortunately she's not collecting used gift bags and butter tubs, she's collecting cats. Living, breathing beings that deserve to be properly cared for.

I have felt very empathetic toward Mary since her "rescue" was closed down. I know that it upset her greatly. If only she would have learned. If only she would have taken responsibility and gotten herself some therapy. I don't believe she can help herself. I think hoarding is a compulsion. I understand compulsive behavior all too well. It's really got to be very painful. But I don't have all that much empathy for her anymore because innocent animals are being hurt by her sickness.

It was Amy Pietras of Jandy's Home who first called in Animal Control and got the "rescue" shut down, so once she caught wind of Mary's renewed collecting, she contacted them again. They went to Mary's house Thursday morning and despite finding her in violation of her "allowed number" of animals, did nothing because she is leaving the state. NICE! She had a U-haul truck in front of her house and she was indeed leaving. But with how many cats that she will allow to get sick and die without proper medical care? Well, we hear that the number is 13.

Amy went over to Mary's home that afternoon. She had police with her because Mary has some of her cat rescue equipment and has failed to return it to her. When Amy arrived with police, Mary relinquished one of Amber's kittens. Amber doesn't want the kitten back so Amy is taking it into Jandy's Home where it will likely become very famous as the one kitten of this group that was able to be saved.

When I got there, I tried to appeal to Mary on a more understanding plane. I begged her to let me have the cats. She lied to my face several times and stated that the cats belonged to herself and her daughter. When confronted about the kitten that belonged to Amber, and her taking in more cats from people, she said that she was taking the kitten for a family member who wanted a kitten. Another lie right to my face.

I left looking her straight in the eye and telling her that I don't believe a word she is saying. And I don't.

There are a few hoodwinked people who believe that that Mary helped cats because the people who didn't want their animals handed them over to her. They believe that without Mary's intervention, the cats would have been tossed out or taken to the shelter. I see this differently. I think many people who DID care about their pet or stray cats handed them over to Mary believing she was a legitimate and responsible "rescue". I know several people who (since her being closed down) have come forward and spoke of their anguish over not checking her out more carefully. Now they get to know that the cats they handed over to her are dead. And for those who didn't care about their cats....they would have taken them to the shelter or HS where they would have been humanely euthanized. And they wouldn't have suffered.

By the way, if you have not yet made the connection, it's Mary's "rescue" that our FIP cats came from. They are the lucky handful that made it. These cats who Gina and I are so greatly invested in...these cats who will likely be in our midst for a long time. We will not fail them. Make no mistake about that!!

UPDATE: Since typing this up, I've learned of yet another person who gave cats to Mary. Just two days ago, I got a call from Cheryl. Cheryl gave Mary two cats in the winter. She had no idea what type of "rescue" she was handing the stray cats over to. She was horrified when I told her how at least one of the cats ended up. Seems a friend of hers was over at Mary's house the other day and saw one of the cats. Mary must have kept it as one of "her owned cats" when she was shut down by Animal Control the first time. She was allowed to keep 4 cats. Cheryl tried to get the cat back today, but Mary had already left town.

My whole reason for blogging this is that I really want people to stop looking at places like the Humane Society as "evil" because they euthanize animals. Someone has to euthanize the unwanted animals. No-kill shelters have long waiting lists. There is no place else for some of these animals to go. Better then are taken somewhere and euthanized humanely vs being taken to a hoarder who masquerades as a "rescue".

If it's super easy to "get rid" of an animal, there is a good reason to question it. Mary took cats in and tried to love them to health. She was not effective. Love can't cure diseases as much as we would like it to.

It's a sad state of affairs no doubt.

Saugatuck Update

As many of you know, I'm helping out Heidi Yates from Harbor Humane Society and several other kind people from Saugatuck get the feral cat population there under control.

I've met some wonderful people who really love these cats and are willing to do whatever it takes to get them fixed and keep them healthy.

I have a great story to tell you.

About a month ago, I fixed (I say I fixed...but of course, I don't fix the cats...but you know what I mean) a cat named Butler. This gray tabby boy is the free roaming cat who frequents The Santa Fe Trading Company. The owner, Doug feeds him rotissary chicken!

When Butler was trapped, I had special instructions from Heidi. She said that Doug wanted him tested for FIV and FELV and if positive for either, do what is best for him.

I contacted Doug on route to Dr. Langlois' office. Usually for ferals, we euthanize if positive for either. I tend to not like to euthanize for FIV unless the cat looks sickly at that time. I have a mixed emotions on it. Of course, feline leukemia is a no brainer. But I thought I should talk to Doug and get our heads together on what to do if Butler was indeed positive for FIV.

I suggested that if he were, we just fix him and return him and wait to see if he ever gets sick. If he does start to get sickly, then we can re-trap him and take care of him at that time.

Doug happily agreed. He loves Butler and has been feeding him outside of his business for a few years now.

When I had Butler fixed, I had Bruce look at a wound he had on his shoulder. Bruce suggested he have antibiotics so I began medicating him post surgery.

Even though he didn't seem to mind it one bit, even allowing me to pet him on the head, I didn't want to keep this boy in a cage for 10 days. So I suggested that Doug take him back and medicate him when he came for his food every day...hopefully twice a day.

Doug agreed but was sketchy on how to mix clavamox with rotissary chicken. I laughed and told him that he needed to mix it with canned cat food. He was amazed that Butler would eat anything OTHER than the "high end" fare he provided.

He agreed to take Butler back and do just that. A couple weeks later, Doug's number came up on my cell. Being a fatalist (I take after my father), I expected bad news. But that's not what Doug had for me!

He told me that Butler did take all his medicine. He got it mixed in soft food but it always had a piece of rotissary chicken laid on top. Of course it did Doug!!!

And lately, Butler has taken to laying out in front of his shop for several hours at a time allowing the passers by to pet him. It seems Butler is a NEW cat!

"Why is he behaving this way?"he asked. "What should I do?"he inquired.

I told him what I thought about his "friendlying up". I think that often times cats who were once owned pets remember they are OK with people once confined to a cage for a couple of days. Gina and I see it a lot. A cat acts feral at first, then a day or so later, he's at the front of the cage greeting you when you come into the room. I think in the big outside world, cast out cats get scared and act feral when they are just fearful. I think this is was the case with Butler. He was a friendly masked as a feral!

Of course, having your balls snipped does a good deal toward calming a boy down too!

So what to do with Butler now? I suggested that he make him a shop cat! "Wow, do you think I can do that? How do I do that?" was Doug's excited reply.

I advised him on how to ease Butler into the store each day by putting his food further and further into the door from his regular outside feeding spot. And I suggested he put a litter box inside where Butler could see it. Eventually, he will be able to close the door and keep Butler inside (if it so be Butler's choosing).

Doug enthusiastically began this new regime. In time, I have no doubt that Butler will be the indoor shop cat of the Santa Fe Trading Company. I bet if you go to Saugatuck someday soon, you can pat the "feral" cat on the head yourself!

: ) C

PS I would like to thank Mary Schaff and Kathleen Horton for a generous donation made on behalf of my work in Saugatuck. Also, thank you Doug for the donation you made to help me help out more cats like your much loved Butler. Hopefully this type of thank you is appropriate. If you make a donation to me, this is all the thanks you can expect. Until I get a full time staff, I will spend my time taking care of cats vs writing thank you notes. I do hope that's cool with you all!

HELP! Anyone got a Costco Membership?

Help!

I'm out of Fresh Step kitty litter! And my Costco Membership has gone kaput!

If anyone out there has a membership and would like to extend a very kind hand to help me out, it would be greatly appreciated!

I need the huge bags of Fresh Step CLAY Litter. Not the scoopable. I use at least one bag a week at Brooknelle. And more like 1 1/2 now that I have all these poopy cats of Johns.

If you have a membership and would like to pick some up for me, or have me come with you sometime SOON to get a van load full, I'd really appreciate it.

If you pick some up for me, I'll pay you. Just keep the receipt. I can use anything you can load up from one bag to 20.

Besides rent at Brooknelle, soft food, and meds of course, kitty litter is my biggest expense.

I can't use any other types of litter in cages. Believe me, I've tried.

I'm on my last bag! Can you help?

Email me at dollmouse@aol.com or phone me up at 616 560-0555 if you can!

Thanks muchly-
C

What a Week!

Hello Fearl Friends-

What a week. So busy, didn't have time to blog. But I'm taking a bit here to fill you all in. All of you fine folks who follow me on my feral adventures.

Last week HS invited me (and several other Rescues) to bring cats and dogs to their facility to be fixed by MSU Vet Students. After my distribution of fliers in Cedar Springs, I was able to wrangle up 15 cats that were fixed on Tuesday and 8 that were fixed on Wednesday. Brutal for me was the arrival time. We had to arrive on the scene with cats by 7:30 am. As you all know, I'm not good with early mornings. The only reason I've ever found to get up before 6:00 am is to go to Cedar Point. But now, look at me....I'm getting up at 5:30 to haul cats in for surgery.

Though it was really rough and made me a bit of a "head case" for three days, I was happy to do it because the rates for surgeries, vaccines and flea/mite/worm treatments were so cheap, it was impossible to pass up. I am pleased to report that the early morning wake up calls saved VPC about $750. Without VPC paying for my feral spay/netuers at Dr. Langlois' office, I wouldn't be able to do my work, so I was happy to jump on this bandwagon.

I would have taken more cats to be fixed but....

This week I began working with a guy named John from Ottawa County. He has a massive number of cats in his backyard. I am not even sure of the exact number yet, but it's at least 30.
Since last Sunday, John has brought me at least one and as many as 8 cats per day. He has gotten everyone to me except two nursing moms, a batch of kittens (too young to fix) and a PG girl who he hopes to grab this morning.

I can't do any other TNR for two reasons. ONE.....all his cats are sick with URIs and have to be kept away from other animals and TWO.....his cats are taking up every single cage at Brooknelle.

It has been a rough week because the cats need to be medicated twice daily, 12 hours apart). So I'm running to Brooknelle at least twice a day but often 3 times when it's a surgery day and cats need to be picked up from Bruce's office.

Luckily, the cats are all handleable and giving meds isn't that much of a struggle. This situation reminds me of the Bamford Farm cats. They too were all sick with URIs but theirs were MUCH MUCH worse and they took over a month to get out of my garage. AND most of them were feral as %$#@!

My neighbor Arlene came over yesterday to help me bathe kittens. I have 7 that have such horrible ear mites that they had to be bathed to help clean out their ears. Some of them were OK with the process. Some NOT! All look really desperate and pathetic when wet! But they sure smell better.

The kittens are full of round worms so the litter detail has been particularly enjoyable. Good thing I'm not squeamish.

I have to commend this guy John. Because he lives outside of Kent County, he has to pay for all the surgeries. He has been very good about giving me money up front. He is also in deep for medications. But he doesn't complain. Contrast him to the other John I was working with a couple of weeks ago and I'm in dream land.

About a month ago I got a call from a guy named John who I tried to advise back in December to take the mom, dad and 4 kittens he was keeping in his truck to the Humane Society. At that time of year, the kittens would have been easily adoptable, and not being the height of kitten season, the adults would have gone quickly as well.

But NO! 8 months later he's calling me for help with his sick cat Chip. And I ask him how it went when he took the cats to HS and he told me that he didn't. And so I asked him how many he had NOW. And he sheepishly said about 26. I about crawled through the phone lines and slugged him.

I helped him with his cat Chip who had to be euthanized because he was so sickly. Then I begged him to let me help him get his other cats under control. After he put me through the ringer for two weeks (making me beg him to bring me cats, keeping me waiting for hours, not listening to my direction), I was able to get all his cats fixed except two adolescents and a batch of kittens. He was unwilling to work with me on my terms and his irrational fears for their safety kept him from bringing me the rest.

I finally had to wash my hands of him because I wasn't sleeping at night and was having mini panic attacks over the whole thing.

I pray this guy gets the rest of his cats fixed. I've hooked him up at C-SNIP and with Gina Marvin, so time will tell. But for now, I have to concentrate my efforts on working with people who are rational, sane and want my help.

Like dear John in Ottawa County. He's a real peach of a guy and comes to me within 30 minutes of my asking him to bring cats. He has not inconvenienced me in the least (except for strapping me with real sickies) but that's not his fault. He is a model of what a good colony caregiver should be....now that he has a resource to help him.

Now you know why I haven't blogged all week!
C

I think the universe is telling me something.....

Hello Feral Friends-

Even though this cat work runs me ragged and often stresses me out to the max, I'm pretty sure it's what I'm meant to do. A while back I watched the movie "The Secret" and began visualizing my dream to have a spay/neuter drop off/pick up point for strays and ferals. Things are starting to fall into place for that. Slowly, but surely, they are.

Some of the reasons I know what I'm doing is what I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DOING are:

I continue to get financial assistance from many of my blog reading feral friends. Thank you RC Kula (my favorite rummage sale runner and cat caregiver), Martha Munch (my dear friend from my incarnation as a district manager at Express), Stephanie Meaney (my wonderful kitten foster), Katie Berning (a groovy gal who borrowed a crate to rehab a neighborhood stray), and Robert and Amaris Holst (a couple who sent me money who I don't even know). I'm deeply touched that you all feel so strongly about what I do to send me funds to help me keep doing this important work.

These funds will help defray the costs of the 20 surgeries that will be done this coming week on Cedar Springs owned and trapped cats. I can go and go like the energizer bunny if need be. The one thing that will bring my rescue to it's knees is finances. So your help is greatly appreciated and will keep Carol's Ferals up and running!

Nicole (who brought me Izzy, Black Bart and Charlie) gave me money yesterday to go out and do something nice for MYSELF! So Gina Marvin and I went out for a late night dinner at Applebees. Nicole, thanks so much! But, I'll put the other half of the money directly into the kitties even if it makes you mad at me!

The other way I know I'm doing what God and the universe has in store for me is that I run across cats EVERYWHERE! I've identified three cats in my own condo complex within the last two weeks. You aleady know Moonflower. But I have caught wind that there is a black and white kitten hanging out in the front of the complex. No idea where it may have come from. Haven't seen it yet, but Jodi and her husband have a trap set for him/her. AND a neutered (yeah....already neutered) tabby boy with white paws has been destroying my slider screen to get at Monkey, Morgan and Toby. He has also wrecked havoc on the screen of another cat owning neighbor. Plan is to trap him and take him to HS (with notification hold preventing his being euthanized of course).

So feral friends, I do believe I'm doing what I am intended to do. It feels really good knowing this.

Thank you for all your kind words, and financial support!
: ) Carol

Better than a lobotomy!

Thanks to my wonderful Gabby, I have this (my most favorite) link again.
Thanks honey, I needed that!

Now, I'll share it with all of you!

http://www.rathergood.com/independent_woman/

Enjoy
: ) C

Moonflower and the Moron

This is Moonflower.

Ten days ago, my neighbor Ruth called me to ask what to do with the friendly white kitty that turned up on her porch. I brought over a carrier and told her to put the kitty in it the next time she visited.

Later that day, I went to Ruth's house and picked up the captive girl. When I got her to my garage, I noticed that she was a nursing mama. I immediately took her back to Ruth's condo and released her. Ruth agreed to feed her and watch for her to bring her kittens around.

Then later that day, the pretty white girl showed up in my garage. I didn't have any food lying around but she found the bags of kibble that I use at my Humane Society educational talks. The bags fare full of pieces of kibble to illustrate how many cats will come from two cats in your backyard this summer. The bags start with two pieces, then there are others with 12, 67, 327, 1,108, and 11,801 pieces. The big bag is the number of cats that there will be in 5 years if you don't fix the two cats in your backyard today. Anyway....the white kitty got into my display shelter and ate the contents of the bags from years 1-3.

I found her looking hungry still, so I put down some soft food, water, a litter box and made her a soft cushy bed. She settled in. I leave my garage cracked at the bottom so it doesn't turn into a hot box. I figured if I make my garage nice and comfy for her, she would bring me her kittens....if she had any left.

You know the story. People see kittens and take them in, having no regard for mom who will look for them frantically. Which is OK. Better for the kittens to have a home. But mom is always left to breed. As was the case with this girl.

After three days, she didn't bring me any kittens, so I figured that's what happened. Either that or the kittens died or were attacked by a predator. I was getting ready to take her into the house and keep her in the bathroom and she was gone. She wasn't in the garage that morning like every other. And she didn't come back that night either. I was beside myself. Had she gotten into someone's garage and gotten locked in? What if they went on vacation? My mind was spinning on the worse case scenarios as per usual.

Then late the next night while I was walking over to my neighbor Jonelle's house to give her diabetic cat Tasha his nightly shot, I saw my kitty on the walkway of the neighbor's house. I grabbed her, tossed her into Tasha's carrier and took her home to my bathroom. Finally SAFE AND SOUND!

I was tying to find a good name for her. Something that evoked her white color but I didn't want to call her snowball....as it's August and I know Jen Petrovich would give me endless shit for it as she does when I name a callico, Callie or a black cat Spooky (which is the name of my beloved first black cat....by the way).

Ok, so I have to come up with a name and I look up at the sky and it's a full moon and I say out loud...MOONBEAM! But I don't love it and then I decide on the most perfect name EVER! MOONFLOWER! Because I have a moonflower plant growing in front of my house that's absolutely gorgeous and I never planted the thing. I think a bird pooped out a seed along my walkway. So, just as unexpectedly as the Moonflower plant came into my life, so did the petite white nursing mama.

As usual, I put an ad in the Press and Advance trying to find the owners of the friendlies I find and end up with nothing but people looking for similar cats but never the one I have.

This time I got a call from a guy who wanted the cat if she hadn't been claimed. I was busy and had to return his call. I was excited that I might have a home for her!

He was strange on the phone but I wasn't too put off till I told him that I'd consider adopting him out to her after she was fixed, tested and vaccinated. He piped right up and said that he didn't want a fixed cat. And I did what you would expect and told him that I would never in a million years give anyone a cat that was not fixed. And to this he went on about the white cat he used to have that had beautiful white kittens...blah...blah....blah.

When I told him my adoption fee, he said quote: "Were done" and hung up on me.

Fine...Moron...Like I'd want you to have my girl...Yeah right!

So I get her tested and have her mixing with my other kittens and I get another call from this guy. He tries to convince me to let him have the cat AGAIN. We go round and round and I suggest that he drive out to the country and pick up a free kitten. But he wants a white one. And I'm like....well, there are plenty of white ones out there, but he says something to the effect of....I don't have a way to get there, and I'm on disability and don't have a car cuz someone who owes me money took it and blah....blah....blah and at that point I WAS DONE and I said, not my problem and you won't be getting this cat and we both hung up.

MORON!

So, my sweet Moonflower is safe with me. She will be fixed next week once her milk is all dried up. I will find her a lovely home. A home without a Moron who wants to let her breed. Someone who maybe has a vehicle to take her to the vet if she needs it. Someone who cares for her wellbeing. Till then, she's gonna hang with me!!

The moonflower plant for which she got her name.

I want a lobotomy

OK the only saving grace today was that my home phone line is on the fritz and I can't receive any incoming calls. So no cat calls piled up on my answering machine to stress me out.

Today I....

Did my normal cat chores at home which includes feeding, scooping litter and shooting up Trixie with insulin. Then a brief check on the kittens. Thank God I have Arlene to give them attention and do a real cleaning of their room or they would be real "little stinkies". I call all kittens "little stinkies....even if they don't stink. It's a term of endearment.

Then I ran to Brooknelle to meet up with Juanita Taylor who brings me cats all the way from Fenville and pays for their spay/netuers. She's awesome!

Then I did my Brooknelle chores which include cleaning the cages of my ferals and tending to the FIP cats which I do on Sunday - Thursday. Gina tends to them Friday - Sunday.

After that, I ran home and downed some left over Chinese food and headed off to Cedar Springs. On route, I stopped at Presto Print and had 200 fliers printed to distribute around the park. I'm back to getting "owned" cats fixed in the park. I'm going to be taking them to HS when the MSU vet students are doing their "Spay/Neuter Days" project. I can get females fixed for $8 and males for $5. This will be out of my pocket, which is fine cuz if I put the cats through Dr. Langlois, it will cost VPC $40 and $25 per cat. I will hopefully be able to get 40 - 50 cats fixed from the park on August 14th & 15th. If you want to sponsor a Cedar Springs cat for spay/neuter, feel free to make a donation via paypal. I'm billing the event as FREE to the trailer parkers cuz if you ask for money, nobody will do it. I think a few people might cover their cats fees, but I'm not holding my breath.

I got to the park and gathered up a few park girls to help me tape the fliers onto trailer doors. I sent them on their way and stopped at Rose's house to pick up Precious, the Siamese mother of my Siamese kitten litter who was abandoned by this girl Monica who left Rose with a bunch of bills and NOW A CAT!

I spayed Precious a couple of weeks ago when I went to the park to pick up her kittens after having one of them brought to me about 10% away from being dead as a door nail. But Bruce brought the kitten back to health and now she and her litter mates are hanging out with Stephanie Meaney (kitten mama extraordinare'). Thanks Steph!

So it was Precious' kitten that brought me back into the park. I dread going into the park. It stresses me out NO END! But now I'm back!

Last fall I was able to get 90 owned cats fixed and tested for FELV. I think we got a handle on the disease and I'm hoping that we don't see any more of it in spot testing this year.

Anyway....Rose wasn't home so I started distributing fliers myself. Hot, sweaty work! I happened onto a group of people putting in a deck and the homeowner told me she had a pregnant cat. I begged her to let me take the cat to have it spayed and her bonehead husband talked her out of it. I almost had her. But he wants one of the cat's kittens. God help me!

But all was not lost cuz I met a guy named Mike who told me that there was a mom and three wild kittens who live under the trailer next to him. I asked him to take me there. I set four traps and went to see if Rose was home to pick up Precious.

She was and I got her. Lisa and Larry Kader also had a PG cat and they DID give her to me. So thankfully, at least Midnight won't be bringing another unwanted litter into the park.

I caught up with the team of girls who assured me that they distributed all the fliers and every trailer had one. I told them to meet me at the ice cream shop and I'd buy them each a cone.

Then I drove around and noticed that a great number of trailers had no notices on them. I asked around and quite a few people who had been hanging outside never saw the girls. I went into the office to make more copies and noticed a huge pile of them on the information table.

FUMING I went to the ice cream shop and read these three girls the riot act and informed them that they would not be getting any ice cream. Then I got in my car and returned to the park to distribute fliers myself.

Tori's mother called me. I have fixed cats for these folks and when Renee learned that Tori was working with a couple of girls who are good liars, she called me to straighten things out. Seems one of the girls skipped the work detail and ditched her fliers in the office. The other girl didn't do her share of the work and Tori wanted to make it right.

So she gathered up the girls to finish papering the park. After driving through again and not seeing all 200 trailers with fliers, I came back to Tori and Renee's house and asked what was up. Seems a little boy on a skateboard (who I never saw...but I trust Renee).....was taking the fliers off doors. They saw him with a pocket full. Lucky I DIDN'T see him with a pocket full or I'd have been calling RC Kula for bail!

I basically gave up at that point, paid off two of the girls for their ice cream. Tori wouldn't accept any ice cream payment for the work because as she put it "You gave me Lily". Lily was an abandoned park kitten that I basically foisted onto the family last fall when I didn't have anywhere for her to go. So I really should have been buying the whole family ice cream, but they saw it different. : )

Then I went back to check traps at the house where Mike, the deck building guy guided me I saw that he had one in the trap. Then he had two. Then three. While we were watching hungry kittens go into traps, he and his wife Miranda asked me who was in the car. I showed him Midnight and Precious and told them the story of Precious and how she was going to need a home and I'd be finding one for her. They got this look on their face and I knew I had my IN!

To make a long story short, they took Precious. These people are super! Their home is nice and clean and they have an adorable little girl who loves kitties. I flea treated Precious, gave them a litter box and some food and went on my way to Brooknelle to meet my other trappers.

I hooked up with Angie and her husband who brought me another cat. I fixed 8 of her colony today. Then I met with John who finally brought me more of his colony. He came with 5. There are still 2 kittens at large in his garage, the original father and a 6 tiny kits that need at least a month before they are ready to get fixed. This will make 23 cats that were only 6 in December. I begged him to take the 6 to HS and had assurances that they would not euthanize cuz at that time they had no kittens...but he didn't listen to me and now...look who gets to clean up the mess? And VPC gets to shell out $750 bucks for the project!

Then as I'm about to go to Lowell to drop these cats and pick up the 8 from today's surgeries, I get a call from Mike and Miranda. They caught another cat. I left them a trap to get the mama to the three kittens, but instead, they got a neighbor's boy cat. He had testicles so he was fair game! So I go get the cat.

By now it's past 10pm, and I'm finally on route to Langlois' office with 15 cats! Oh boy, are the girls ever gonna love me tomorrow. Poor Cinnamon, Bonnie and Kathy. They do so much running in and out of the isolation room, and they do all the tough jobs that can get them mangled. They really deserve the goodies I'm going to take them tomorrow!

I cleared the room of Angie's 8 cats from today and filled it with 10 trapped cats and 5 friendlies in carriers. This took about an hour to change towels in traps (which got shat upon), flea spray everyone, do their paperwork and weigh them.

The I was off to Brooknelle to put Angie's 8 into cages and give them some much needed grub!

Good God! What a day. It's 1am and I'm about to jump into the tub and then to bed! But first...a little Big Brother! If it weren't for Big Brother three times a week to pull me out of this seemingly 24/7 cat rescue, I'm sure that lobotomy would be really looking good right now.

Tomorrow, I will be talking to the older set of kids at HS. This time it's 11-13 year olds. Should be fun. Then I'll go directly to the C-SNIP Golf Outing to sit in a cart and man a hole with my buddy Sue Carl.

THEN after I work check out at the auction, I'll get to Langlois' office (at about midnight) to pick up the 15 from today and put them up at Brooknelle.

By Saturday, I'll need a drink and hopefully I won't be too tired to have one!

: ) C

GREAT NEWS! JOYOUS NEWS! Linda Rodenberg called me yesterday and told me that she has seen Bree the kitten at her farm. She and the others slipped their cage and disappeared within 24 hours of my placing them in their new home. I was spinning on the loss of Bree for days. Little did I know....CUZ LINDA NEGLECTED TO CALL ME TILL I EMAILED HER....Bree was spotted the next day and is hanging around and has even let Linda's son catch her and hold her for a bit. No sign of Taffy or Rita but Linda said she heard meowing from the loft, so hopefully they are up there. I'm just hella relieved that Bree is sticking around and wasn't carried off by a hawk or something. Whew!

I have a dream

Wanna hear about it?

I want a facility where people can come and borrow traps. This is how I visualize it. People can come to my Spay/Neuter Place and pick up a trap and get guidance on how to set it and catch their neighborhood strays and ferals.

Then they would bring the trapped cats back to my place and each evening I'd take them to Dr. Langlois' office to be fixed the following day. Or maybe I'd have a volunteer to do this for me. Or maybe I'd have my own on-site spay/neuter clinic....like a C-SNIP type of deal....that would be awesome huh?

Then cats would rehab at the facility after surgery. I'd have a set up like the one I do now at Brooknelle, only it would be much larger.

People would be called when their cats were ready to go home and be released.

I would staff this place with volunteers and I would have time to do TNR and Feral Cat Educational workshops.

I'd have time to go to my Feral Cat Sanctuary which would be on a nearby parcel of land that would house the cats that can't be returned to their homes for various reasons. Gina and I would have cages set up in small "out buildings" where cats could stay for a while to get used to their new surroundings. After a two week rehoming period, we could open the cage and sing "Born Free" and know that they would be OK.

I'd have another organization work with me to find homes for the friendly kittens that would not have to be doomed to a life on the streets. I don't dig doing adoptions and caring for kittens. It's very time consuming and it stresses me out greatly. Kittens are cute, but they they take a lot of time and energy two things that I wouldn't have time for as I'd try to have some sort of a personal/home life and maybe actually work to make some money to support myself (unlike what I'm currently doing which is depleting my savings at a rate so alarming that I might have to bunk in with YOU someday).

People would use my services and cats would get fixed and we would have a handle on our horrible cat overpopulation situation in Kent County.

This is my dream.

Dale Baxter is working on getting me non-profit status. Once I am a 501c3 organization, I will be able to raise funds to help me achieve my dream. I guess it all starts there. Of course Dale...no pressure!

: ) C

Stuff

This morning I'm doing the dishes and watching my 16 year old cat Trixie who is sitting on the kitchen table (yeah, I have no boundries) looking at little Tid-Bit (an orange/white kitten) play with the cap from her insulin needle. I know what Trixie is thinking....Geeze, you aren't so smart are you Small Fry? That's an insulin needle cap....it's not even a milk jug ring! Fool!

I don't sleep at night very well. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts. How horrible are all those messages on my answering machine going to be when I retrieve them? What ever happened to Rita and little Bree who slipped the cage at the Rodenberg Farm less than 24 hours after putting them there to re-home? When will John bring me the rest of the 18 cats and kittens that he has had living in his truck? Where is Moonflower (my neighborhood stray)? She was hanging out in my garage for days and now she has disappeared. I should have taken her into the house sooner!

These are the thoughts that plague me and I "spin" on them all night long.

This morning has been good so far. I got to enjoy that little moment with Trixie and Tid-Bit. I don't have any emergency calls so far this morning. Bonnie called me from Langlois' office and told me that someone donated a box of wee-wee pads and I can have them! Nobody tested positive for FELV or FIV. There have been no calls on my home phone so far. And the management at the trailer park in Cedar Springs has OK'd me to distribute fliers on trailers tomorrow to promote my annual "get your frickin' cat fixed" campaign.

Later today I'm going to speak about feral cats at Blanford Nature Center. I will also talk to a bunch of kids at HS on Friday about how they can help feral cats. And Friday night is the big C-SNIP Golf Outing/Auction/Fajita Buffet. That will be fun, you should come! See the past post for details.

I have several people doing large scale backyard trapping this week and next. Also next week I have to run my church's rummage sale because I'm insane and don't want any rest what-so-ever.

Thankfully Gina took me to the beach last Sunday so I got some sun and relaxed a bit. I was looking like a high strung vampire!

Moonflower resurfaced last night. I found her sprawled out on a neighbor's walkway when I went to give my friend Jonelle's cat, Tasha his insulin injection. I lured her into their garage, grabbed Tasha's carrier, shoved her butt inside and now she's in my bathroom. She will hang there till I get her tested and vaccinated. Then she can hang out in the kitten room.

Moonflower is a pure white petite little girl who lost her kittens. Not sure where they went, but she hasn't made any attempt to bring them to me so I'm assuming that someone picked them up as most people do. Poor moms are left looking for their litter and they are nowhere to be found. People take the kittens and leave the moms to reproduce. This won't be the case with Moonflower. She wandered into the RIGHT neighborhood.

I'm sick that my little kitten Bree and her aunt, Rita (from Kitten Chaos in Wyoming) escaped from their rehoming cage and have not been seen since Friday. Taffy stayed in the cage, but the others are gone. I wanted to tame Bree and find her a home, but she was too wild. But not wild enough to cope outside on her own. I hope that she is close by her Aunt Rita. Everyone say a prayer that they show up. Most all of my rehoming this summer has turned out rotten. Cats haven't stayed where I placed them. I worry about them. I have to put them in God's hands I guess. At least they aren't being shot at or threated to be Trapped/Euthanized.

John finally returned my calls and I think we have a meeting of the minds on getting the rest of his cats fixed. Kind man but a little leery of me and my help. I hope he brings me the rest of the cats this week so I can tie up his TNR project. I hate loose ends and his project is particularly stressful for me since I was unable to convince him of getting help last December when he only had 6 cats.

I have returned the calls on my answering machine and offered my help where I can give it. I can't help everyone! Not everyone likes my solution to their problems. They want me to find homes for their kittens. They want me to take in their strays. This is not what I do. I have to remind myself of my mission and stick to it. Whenever I stray to far, I get really screwed up and cats don't get TNR'd. But the people who do want my help and are willing to do some of the legwork, get my help and cats are saved from a future of baby making!

This is where I'm at today! So far it's a pretty good day.

: ) C