Hurdles



Big Red II



A friend of mine, who in the past has adopted at least six cats that I’ve rescued off the streets this past year, recently had two of them escape out of a screen from her home.  One was found within days, the other, it took two weeks.  With the help of the trap I lent her, Snowflake was caught yesterday morning.  Thank God.  If anyone has ever had a cat go missing, its torture.  For me, never having had children, its got to be the same emotions you go through it one of your human kids is in trouble.  I am thankful that they are safe.  My friend will also be going through a major surgery soon, she is doing something totally unselfish and giving an organ of hers to someone who really needs it, someone she doesn’t even know.  I really admire her for this.  She has the ultimate big heart. 

I was telling her afterwards that this is one less worry in your life.  We all have enough.  For instance, last Friday morning, when I was feeling so overwhelmed  – when I did the TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) that I hate doing so much because of  having to release cats back on the streets, I said to myself, OK, you have four hurdles to get through and it will get easier after each one, and after the first one (trapping), the second one was dropping them off at the clinic, the third was picking them up, and the fourth was releasing them.  And each hurdle I got through I said, one down, two to go, etc.  Then found myself faced with finding the dying kitten on the porch when I released the second kitty~!  Another mountain to climb!

Lots of hurdles in our lives, but we just take them one hurdle at a time! 

Some observations from my route of feeding an average of four cats at each of my 16 locations that I go to on a daily basis, 365 days a year, pouring 16+pounds of dry food down, 24 small cans of wet, and three gallons of water to each of these hungry babies waiting for me:

I believe a red tabby at Pennsylvania and 4^th is pregnant.  She is not there every day, but she was there again this morning.  She is semi-feral, or just an afraid stray.  Paul on Second called me at an ungodly hour (for me) last night telling me there were two raccoons in his attic again.  I can’t believe he hasn’t plugged it up yet.  But what can I say, I can only be kind and compliant because he is allowing me to feed behind his house.  I did not bring the trap over to him telling him someone had borrowed it, so hoping he can get a friend over to help plug up the roof so that the critters can’t get back in.  I did see Tuffy this morning, who’s foot is still untreated, but he is applying pressure to it.  My first stop on Parsells is too dark for me to see who I am feeding – not sure if Neck Wound kitty is still around.  I did.  I saw crazy Marilee this morning on Ferndale and Webster – she had taken Little Red a while back, after the crazy evil man down the street destroyed the shelter I had in the lot there – Marilee lives just a ways down from there – and then I noticed Little Red was back out, waiting for me each morning by the new shelter that I set up in the driveway of the the kind couple – her name is Zulma – on the corner.  I may have finally found someone to adopt Little Red, and so in the next week I will be making plans to get him out of there, but in the meantime, Marilee said this morning that they all were welcome at her house.  Of course, there is a tiny (stunted growth I believe) other red, and two tiny black cats hanging here now, all unneutered and unfixed – so she is not caring for these animals like she thinks she is.  Casey, who travelled back through the city from Norton Street to Garson Avenue to return to the spot where I rescued her a month ago is still waiting each morning for me to give her food and water.  And the kitties on Central are still waiting hungrily for me to place their food and water down under the tree, still half are unneutered/spayed.  And I keep seeing one kitten – Cricket’s sibling – at the Baldwin location, where there is an unsprayed female there that I need to get fixed. 

Thats half the story, but I need to get to work - so enjoy your day, and be kind to animals!  :)our






Can you spot the frog?



"Let your dreams be bigger than your fears, and your

actions be louder than your words."