Monday

Well, it was a rather uneventful weekend.  Each morning brought some sadness though, as each morning usually does for me.  As I go spot to spot - all 16 of them, feeding and sheltering over 50 cats each morning, there is always something that makes you sad.  The one really sad thing is a red kitty, that I've been feeding for years, on the corner of Pennsylvania and Fourth, is very very very pregnant.  Most mornings its way too dark for me to see these cats.  Big Red #2 runs to me, as does another grey tabby.  A calico and a grey cat with white, that was recently limping, keep their distance.  This red cat has been pregnant a few times now, and I've never seen her babies.  I don't always see her, and when I do, she keeps a far distance, so its hard to tell her condition.   But yesterday I was able to see her in a different light, and her sides were bulging.  I drove away there with two thoughts:  One, that I would reach out to someone who is an expert at a drop trap, and the other with extreme guilt.  Guilt over not having gotten that cat a long time ago fixed.  I feel responsible for every cat I feed, but when its just you, its very hard.  And with the limited time and resources I have, its even harder.  Not only do you have to set the trap, wait for the right cat to go into it (there are four or five cats there), but if I were to get this pregnant cat, what to do with it?  I have two choices.  One is to reach out to a rescue group to see if they have room - and are they willing to take a semi-feral mother in..., and the second is to have the kittens aborted, have mom spayed, and return her to the streets.  With the latter, not only is it heartbreaking knowing you are killing these unborn, fully developed kittens, but what to do with the semi-feral cat after she has this major surgery.   You have to keep her overnight, at least, to heal.  There are just so many factors. 

Someone told me that I can't be held responsible for all these cats all by myself.  I have so much to do just to get out there and feed them.  I spend over $6000 a year from my own pocket just on food alone.  Yet, I still feel guilt.  Red Momma was not there this morning, and who knows if she gave birth overnight.  I am sick over it, but I have to remember, I can't do all this by myself. 

OK, enough sadness, now for some good news.  Bittens has been adopted!  My friend Jackie was over on Saturday and fell in instant love with her.  She is now six months old and I had my doubts after having her for a month and a half that she would ever be adopted.  Jackie has recently lost her cat, but has two surviving cats, Oliver and Leonard, and they needed a distraction after their own grief of losing their brother.  Then there is Molly, a dauschund (sp?) who with her wagging little tail greeted the new kitten warmly.  And Skye, Bittens new name, could have cared less.  Jackie tells me she is a bold little kitty, not scared by her new brothers and sister one bit.  I couldn't be happier.  Jackie will be sending me pictures shortly.  GREAT NEWS!!!

Have a great day everyone!

 

"Never underestimate your problem, or your ability

to deal with it."