TGIF! Guest Post

PIP

EMMETT

Above, brothers I rescued, that went to a great home - thanks Scott and Mary, for giving these little feral kittens a chance!

Pip and Emmett (now)

What a miserable morning.  The rain just kept coming and coming...  and I got wetter and wetter.  I need a rain slicker or something.  Saturday Sheryl has brought me a jacket or two but they are very bulky and not made for what I do.  This morning, as I bent down to pour food, if I was under a tree, I could feel every large drop on my back, and I was soaked by the fifth stop.  And I had at least 11 more to go.  Bummer.  I must find a very cheap item that will be loose but rain proof.  Today is not the last day we will get rain.  I hate rain.

Joel has written us another chapter in what he views goes on out there in the hood with these poor homeless creatures that I try to care for as best as I can.  He hit it spot on with this tale below, almost as if he were there the morning Karla and I had to catch poor Scooter with a large fishing net, because he was suffering so much from his injuries that I had witnessed all week......  Thanks Joel.

… what would the cats Janine cares for think of her ? What would it be like to eavesdrop on them on a cold winters night ?

 A Guardian Angel - Chapter Four

 … Lets leave this upbeat scene for now - we need to check in on another one of Rochester's homeless wanderers - not all are having such good fortunes ….

Scooter was in a bad way - and he knew it.

He'd gotten jumped by a powerful Pitbull last week while foraging along the thin alleyways created by the small gap between the back walls of the garages and the rusty chain link fence running down the property line of the houses along Pennsylvania Ave. He'd barely escaped with his life, and had been badly mauled all along is rear legs and rump. He thought he might have gotten some good licks into the dogs nose, but even if he had, it wasn't worth the price he was paying. He had bled profusely for several hours, and although the natural antiseptic in his saliva had so far prevented infection from setting in, no amount of licking was abating the pain the wounds were causing. The only snippet of good news from this sad affair was that he didn’t think he had any broken bones - although just walking was agony. He had lain up in the dark and oily corner of one of these garages, a large hole no doubt gnawed open by a rat allowing him entry to get in out of the weather. But now it had been almost 24 hours since he'd eaten last, and he needed food in his belly to fuel the healing process he so desperately needed. He could not hunt in his current condition, so he would be forced to try and make it to the place the human had been coming to put out free food. His surprisingly accurate internal clock was nagging at him that the time would be coming soon. He tried to chastise himself so he would do what must be done, but he knew it was going to be torture.

"Come on Scoot old bud" he thought to himself, "If you don’t get your mangy broken ass into gear you are gonna be done for."

He pulled himself shakily into a standing position, swaying a bit before he could get his stiff and unyielding rear leg muscles to hold his weight. He crept forward so he could poke his head out of the rat hole in the dirty garage siding, looking carefully both right and left. Nothing moved that he could see, and no unusual scents carried on the cold night air other than the usual miasma of badly cooked human food, garbage, and the heavy tang of old car oil from the garage floor behind him. He slowly emerged from the garage into the cold and dirty alleyway behind it, his rear legs moving in an unsteady and clumsy rhythm that was so different from his normal bouncy gait. He had always looked forward to going down the free food spot the human female would put out, and he always ended up breaking the code of silence that the local cats had laid down to protect themselves. He couldn't seem to help it. He would trot up toward the food, meowing a cheerful greeting just to celebrate the only good thing he had ever seen a human do. The other cats in the surrounding community would growl at him for doing it, but he had come to accept that.

He limped his way down Pennsylvania toward Fourth Street, praying the human would be there with food as she had on so many other nights. He hoped he could maintain his dignity and respect while he walked, and hoped the human would not see his clumsy gait and take it for weakness. After all, he was a male and he wanted other creatures - including humans - to see that he could fend for himself and would never be tamed. It took a lot longer than usual for him to traverse the block down to Fourth, but he finally made it. He eased his head around the corner of the last house, and sure enough, there was the humans car sitting along the curb. He looked a little further and spotted her laying out paper bowls with food in them, a few other scabby local residents already gathering just outside the range of the bright light mounted on her head. But tonight she was not alone. Another human looked to be accompanying her. Scooter hesitated - two humans were twice as untrustworthy as one. But after just the briefest internal struggle he kept going. His broken body needed food.

He watched the humans carefully as he approached, the intense beam of white mounted on the first ones head alternately blinding his sensitive eyes and highlighting the food in the paper bowls just inside the makeshift shelter that served as the feeding spot the humans had established. He heard the humans making noises that sounded encouraging, so he made his way gingerly up to the opening of the box. With one last furtive glance backwards, he dipped his head and began to eat. He'd only gotten a few mouthfuls down before the hyper sensitive instincts hardwired into his DNA alerted him to danger. He jerked his head up from the food and felt a painful cramp of adrenaline surge through his damaged rear legs. He rolled his lips back from his sharp teeth and constricted his vocal cords to produce a phlegmy hiss of warning. He tried to turn and bolt out of the shelter, but found his way partially blocked by some kind of netting. He could hear the human with the bright light shouting something in a panicky voice, but he was in too much pain and fear to put up a fight. He just wanted to run…

… To be continued ….

And for the good news of the day, an update on Squirt and Riley, two of the kittens rescued from Syd and Johnny's garage on Bay Street this past fall.  They were adopted by a man who owns a bar/restaurant on Conesus Lake.  Thank you Jonah!

They are doing great!  :)  I am so thankful they were adopted as a pair.  Love these little ones!

SQUIRT and RILEY (NOW)

SQUIRT and RILEY (then)

Have a great day!

"Be thankful for what you have; 

you'll end up having more.  If you 

concentrate on what you don't have, 

you will never, ever have enough."

Tequila Sunrise!

Yes, I would love one of those right about now, but that's not the point.  That is what the sunrise looks like this morning.  BEAUTIFUL!

I had company on my rounds this morning - thank you Joel - author and astronomer, lover of cats.  After the first slam of the door, Joel quickly learned my ways.  No slamming doors, no talking loudly, walk behind me, sit in the backseat, place the water beside me when I am pouring the food.  You would know what I am talking about if you've every ridden with me before.  :)  Thank you Joel, for getting up at that hour and going out in the dark with me.  I always appreciate the help.  :)

All the suspects were out and about this morning.  Including a few humans.  After finishing up at my Central and Second location, a big, loud, black woman was walking toward me shouting 'what you doing!'   When she got close enough, before she could say another word, I made the mistake of saying, "I don't have anything, I'm just feeding the cats."  Because that is what is asked of me by ANYone I run into in the mornings.  Most have stopped asking, because they know I have nothing.  But its always money and cigarettes.  Well, this girl started with 'what makes you think I was going to ask you something?  Just because I'm black?" and on and on she went.  I repeated over and over, "I apologize" and "its what everyone asks me out here".  Finally, after having enough of her boozy breath in my face, I got in the car, and last thing she said was "you got a cigarette?"  Right.

It was a pleasant morning to say the least.  But boy, am I tired of doing it.  :(  Food and money donations are the only thing that keeps me going.

GEORGE on Garson

GEORGE

My next rescues - maybe George on Garson?  And Fluffernutter on Parsells.  He's been on the streets for so many years.

I have to include these pictures here that I shared on Facebook yesterday.  A co-worker has a friend with a cat with one eye.  She obviously has a great sense of humor, my kind anyways, when she found a fake toy eye, and placed it on the socket with no eye.  I found it HILARIOUS.  Just have to share.  :)  And yes, she LOVES her cat.  :)

Have a great day everyone!

"Keep your thoughts positive

because your thoughts become

your words.

Keep your words positive

because your words become

your behavior.

Keep your behavior positive

because your behavior becomes

your habits.

Keep your habits positive

because your habits become

your values.

Keep your values positive

because your values become

your destiny."

Hump Day

I had to let the babies back out on the streets yesterday after having them spayed and neutered.  Celia was spayed, and Mike was neutered.  Celia was just a young little thing, and it was so tempting to keep her, but you have to realize, there is just so little time to make decisions like that.  She was pretty wild, and it would take a lot to socialize her.  She is probably 7 or 8 months old, was born outdoors, and has feral friends around her, so that is all she knows.  Heartbreaking to do, always.

I found this entry in the Rochester Magazine and wanted to share it.  It’s beautifully written by Sister Grace Miller who runs the House of Mercy on Hudson Avenue.  It’s a shelter for the homeless and the down and out.  There but for the grace of God go I.  Wally, my old friend who has since passed, was once a tenant here.  I picked him up and dropped him off many times.  I have been inside this very shelter a few times bringing donations from the hospital.  I saw many people sitting, talking, playing games, watching television – this being their only refuge, their only life.

It sort of goes along with me helping the homeless cats in this city.  We do what we can for those that matter, that have nowhere to go in life, be it human or animal.  I found Sister Grace’s words very parallel to what I am TRYING to do for the animals.

Here, Sister Grace writes a letter to her younger self:

Dear Grace,

Do you remember when you were growing up and you had a close friend who had muscular dystrophy?  She wore braces on her legs, then eventually needed a wheelchair.  The day she got that wheelchair, she cried and cried.  You tried to help her through her grief by riding around crazily in the chair to make her laugh.  You both ended up laughing.

You were good friends, and you were in first grade and second grade together.  But third grade was located on the second floor, so your friend couldn’t attend; there were no elevators in the building.

You were terribly upset.  You wondered why the principal couldn’t move third grade to the first floor or come up with another solution.  You were thinking it would be simple.

You wanted so badly to change the situation for your friend, because you knew in your heart it was wrong to treat her that way.  You wanted to talk to the principal about your idea.  You wanted to speak up for your friend, but you thought you were too young and that the principal would never listen to an 8-year-old child.  You felt powerless and sad.  You couldn’t even share your thoughts with your friend because you were afraid it would make her feel worse.

Your friend returned to school the following year but eventually dropped out.   She never went to high school.

Grace, what I want to say to you is this:  Never, never be hesitant or afraid to speak out when you’re faced with an injustice or uncaring people.  Even as a child, you could have-and should have- gone to the principal and told her how you felt.  What happened to your friend was discrimination.  She had every right to attend third grade.

Maybe, if you had spoken up, the principal might have discussed the situation with her staff and found a way.  Your voice could have changed the whole course of your friend’s life!  She had so much to live for, but the system destroyed her hopes and dreams.  This is what silence against injustice can do.

When does this stop?  Only when people like you confront discrimination-be it against people with handicaps, people of color, Hispanics, migrants, gays and lesbians, foreigners, the poor, the homeless and any other human being.  Only then will justice be done.

Let the people who are hurting know that someone cares, even if you have to stand alone.  Give hope to the poor, the homeless, the neglected and abandoned.  Be like Mother Teresa, who picked up dying people on the streets of Calcutta.  Be like Martin Luther King Jr., who marched for justice and freedom for the oppressed.  Be like Dorothy Day, who opened up Catholic Worker hospitality houses for the poor.

Do not let the system and the people in power stand in your way.   Do not let fear of them silence you.  No matter what your age is, you have the obligation-not the option-to follow the words of Pope Francis and “proclaim truth to leaders to change unjust structures.”

There is a song called “Who Will Speak If We Don’t.”  It goes like this:

Who will speak for the poor and broken

For the people oppressed

For the ones who are voiceless

For the shunned and abused

For the thousands of homeless.

Who will speak out for them if you don’t?

If you see injustice and you don’t speak out… who will?

Sincerely,

Your older self,

Sister Grace Miller

Have a great day all!

"We must be willing

to let go of the life

we've planned, so as

to have the life that

is waiting for us."

TNR Tuesday!

(BE SURE TO CLICK ON PICS TO SEE UP CLOSE!)

Today is TNR Tuesday.  My mother has been feeding a family of ferals since momma cat gave birth to four kittens.  We have since had two cats fixed, including the mom, and now are trying for the others.  She has had the trap open since 5:30 this morning, and by 7 this morning, they were still sitting there looking at the trap.  I told her to close up shop, they weren’t going in and I had to get the two I trapped in to the clinic by 8.  Meet Celia and Mike.  Celia is from Central and Second, one of the mailbox kitties.  She (I THINK it’s a she) is very young.  Mike is from Melville, and I believe he is a boy.  It didn’t take long for either of them to take the bait.  Funny thing is, I first set the trap at my first feeding spot on Melville (there is a young tabby – I have already gotten fixed - that is getting closer and closer, and I would love to rescue this little one – and was hoping he would go in the trap), and in went a cat already fixed.  And on Central when I set the trap, another kitty went in that I had previously trapped.  So they ARE dumb occasionally.  I was always under the belief that once trapped, they would never go back in again!  Poor things, I had to let them back out and hopefully they’ve learned their lesson this time!

If anyone would like to sponsor either Mike or Celia's spay, it would be appreciated.  These babies cost me $60 each to get them spayed and neutered, and their shots to keep them healthy.  The sad part is releasing them back to the street.  The clinic's number is 585-288-0600 and just tell them you are making a donation for their spay under my name.  It would be so appreciated.  💗

Mike from Melville

Celia from Central

Below are pictures of the shelters that Todd and Patti built and drove over from Marion on Saturday morning.  Wish I had gotten their picture, maybe next time as they want to build a few more.  They are quality, for sure.  Inside the second pic is Mama Bear – she had kittens three years ago, and I rescued kittens and had her fixed.  She has been hanging around ever since, always leery of me, but gets close enough to eat while I am still pouring food.  At this location, there are rats.  I have finally decided to do something about it.  I have a friend who is an exterminator, and as much as I hate to kill ANYTHING, I have to do this.  So I have these large boxes that apparently the rat goes in and eats, and then dies a painful death after ingesting whatever is in there.  I hate the thought, but these pesky things have been creating quite a disgusting mess for too long.  I need to clean this up for the cats that have to stay here.  At least they have wonderful new homes, that don’t smell, and will keep them high and dry. I just need to get pallets, which are being delivered end of week, and get the shelters up off the ground.  Then cover them up with nice new dark green or camo tarps, and we are good to go!

Tarp is a bit tattered...  

My mother has a sweet boyfriend, Bob, and he is 92, she is 79 (she always went after the older guys, but then again, so did I!) and boy can that man paint!  He can duplicate something he sees and he does it really well.  For my birthday, he surprised me  with this picture below.  SWEET!  My mother said tell your friends, see if they want one, he can interchange the colors.  So let me know if you are interested. It keeps Bob busy and his mind off his aches and pains.  He wouldn’t accept money, but he likes scratch offs! J

Below are two of my own angels, Vanessa and Leo.  They were snoozing together on the couch on Sunday, and I snapped this.  Sweet.

That's it for now.  Thanks every for your birthday wishes.  I surely have made some wonderful friends through this crazy cat business.

Have a great day!

  

IF I write a list of

Reasons to be thankful

For all this year of my life

I would need many pages.

I will summarize it as follows:  

GOD, THANKS FOR THE LIFE YOU GIVE ME.

FAMILY, THANKS FOR ALL YOUR LOVE.

FRIENDS, THANKS FOR EXISTING.

THANKS TO THOSE WHO

WITHOUT BEING FAMILY OR FRIENDS

HAVE BEEN A BLESSING TO ME.

Woo hoooooo!

First off, its MY BIRTHDAY!  Happy Birthday, to me!  :)  As much as I hate getting older in age, I still feel like a kid, and secretly love my birthday.  Who doesn't?  My mother, every year, tells me the story of my birth, and how I flew out so fast the doctor caught me on the other side of the room.   She said the first words out of my mouth were "where's lunch" ha ha.  :) 

Secondly, it was a GREAT weekend!  Even though I didn't have a moment to myself, or friends that wanted just a piece of me for a minute and I couldn't give it to them, it was good as far as adoptions.

Lets see, first we have Melody.  Her new mom is a funny girl, but a sweetheart nevertheless.  I picked her up from her fabulous foster mom on Friday, and brought her to her new home, where she has a dad, or granddad, and a new mom.  I will wait to get an update and post for you, along with a picture or two.  But Melody turned out to be a true sweet little girl, and is a lucky one at that.

Next we have Charlie.  I rescued Charlie just last week, he was a former TNR, and was brought into the clinic the same day as he was rescued to get a check up and some eye medicine for his infection.  Charlie used to watch me from a distance, ever since I had to let him out of the trap one morning - I think I had named him Cesar from Central.  But ever since he was neutered, he would sit at a distance waiting for me to pour the food under the mailbox and then devour it after I left.  I would watch him sometimes run from the mailbox on Second, all the way to Third Street where I also feed, just to get some food.  His little fat legs would run run run!  Finally, one day, he was bold enough to come closer and closer and get a whiff of whatever I had in my hand.  And then the day came where I grabbed him and said GOTCHA!  What a lucky little boy he has been since.

On Friday, a very nice girl came over to meet him because she was going to surprise her lonely father for his birthday.  She had a choice between Charlie and another kitty she was going to meet on Saturday.  Charlie and I waited anxiously, bit our nails together and then said a prayer before bedtime.  On Sunday morning, we got the news that the girl had chosen Charlie!  We were thrilled beyond belief!  Here is Charlie with his new dad in his new home!  :) 

To top all that off, I had the pleasure of meeting two wild and crazy people who drove all the way from Marion early Saturday morning to deliver some beautiful homemade wooden hut/shelters at one of my locations.  I missed the opportunity to get a picture of them, and the huts, as it was a nasty morning - rain and mud.   Patti and her husband Todd created some beautiful wooden huts that will do very well at this one location, and I am so appreciative.  I will get pictures when the weather cooperates.  It was still raining this morning.  Thank you once again to Karla from Keller's Kats who spread the word about this need for nice wood huts.  I need plenty.

And to top all that off, this morning, another wild and crazy couple associated with Keller's Kats drove all the way from Walworth at 5 am. to deliver one very large shelter, where we placed at my city garden spot.  Its a beautiful shelter as you can see from the picture.  This shelter joins the two smaller ones that Joel built!  I can't wait for better weather when I can tear apart the existing structure which consists of very old and very dirty plastic and Styrofoam huts under boards and tarps that these poor animals have had to endure for a few years now.  They can now exist with at least some good, wooden houses.  This particular one came with a porch!  Thanks Andrea and Lou!

So as you can see, it was quite the weekend!  Score one for the cats!  :)

Have a great day!

"Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 39 :) is far sexier than her younger counterpart."

said the hottest guy on the planet :)

TGIT!

Today is a Friday for me, I have the day off tomorrow. And its going to be insane!

MELODY

I have an appointment in the morning, and then need to scramble home for a minute, then scramble to Melissa my foster who has been caring for Melody, and then scramble with Melody to her hopefully new home.  I say hopefully because there is always that chance that someone could change their mind about a cat they want to adopt.  I've had it happen more than once, but less than three times, thank God.  :)  She is a sweetheart.  I pray this works out!

CHARLIE

I then have to scramble home to meet a potential adopter for Charlie!  Someone posted on Facebook that they were looking for a cat for the dad, and of course a gazillion people posted about this cat or that cat, but I was one of the lucky ones and apparently she is going to be meeting not just Charlie, but another or two.  Lets keep our fingers crossed that she falls in love with Charlie, as I have. Speaking of, Charlie is itching to get out of the bathroom, poor guy.  I think I will put him in a bedroom today, so that he can spread out a bit more.

Other than that, things are going well, nothing has happened to my shelters in the hood, I've seen most of the kitties this morning that are supposed to be there - I've had my eye on one of the Parsells kitties that I TNR'd years ago and have decided that he, and George, will be my next rescues.  The one on Parsells runs to me each morning.  Fluffy, and sweet, let me pick him up this morning.  Although you never know what they will be like inside a home, you just have to take that chance.  They deserve to know what its like not to have to survive on the streets.

Kitty on MELVILLE STREET

Speaking of, this little guy is getting used to having a plate of food placed for him each morning. This is on Melville, where I rescued Melody from.  I am trying to get these ton of cats around here spayed and neutered.   So I have to feed them in order to get them used to coming there for chow.  I need help with this.  I have clinic appointment for two cats this coming Tuesday.  That's $60 per cat.  I then have to release them.  There is no shelter there but I will place food each day for as long as it takes.

Have a great day everyone.  And yes, spring is right around the corner!

(the following quote is quite apropos for me, as just this morning I looked at the Christmas poinsettia  near my sink that was glorious in its day - Christmas 2016, but now is looking lifeless except two little red leaves.  I hate to throw away something still alive!)

"Whenever I injure any kind of life I must be quite certain that it is necessary. I must never go beyond the unavoidable, not even in apparently insignificant things. The farmer who has mowed down a thousand flowers in his meadow in order to feed his cows must be careful on him way home not to strike the head off a single flower by the side of the road in idle amusement, for he thereby infringes the law of life without being under the pressure of necessity."

~Dr. Albert Schweitzer

My Rounds Part Deux

Pictures at the end of this post are of past rescues - all sweethearts that deserved to have a good home.  Be sure to click on them to see up close!

Thanks Joel – anytime, you tell me when you would like to get up at an ungodly hour and drive into the city in the dark and go behind vacant houses with me! J

Update on Charlie!  He passed his exam with flying colors!  Negative on both counts, and treated for everything under the sun.  His eye is just an infection and now being treated with Terramycin twice daily.  He’s a VERY good boy.  Although REALLY hates this eye gook I have to give him.  He is actually going to be fostered by a sweet girl in Caledonia (Kim wrote a guest post a few weeks ago!), who will blend him in with her family until his forever home happens. 

This morning was quiet, nothing unusual – except the creepy people on Parsells were there again yesterday and removed the plates and water dish I place each day on the porch of the vacant house where I feed 15 cats.  I just don’t know what I am going to do if they begin working on this house.  At least the cats are able to eat until these creeps arrive later.  I wish we could all come up with a solution to this?

Back to my rounds.  So after I cross over to Goodman, I will have gone to seven shelters already, and its now about 4:30 am.  Takes me about half hour on that first half.

My next stop is Short Street, where the city removed my shelters last year.  In my secret place there, where I have rebuilt, Baby Buttons and Mr. Whiskers scamper out of the shelter where they were warm and curled up for the night when they hear my sound.  Sam was there yesterday, after disappearing for a week or two, and Milly was not to be seen.  I change the towel there nearly daily, because somehow, rain or snow melt is getting under the board and creating moisture inside.  Its not ideal.  None of them are.

Off I go to my Seventh Street location – this is where Mama Girl resides, along with a few new kitties.  I just rescued Seven late last year from here.  Mama Girl had several kittens two springs ago, and I managed to get two of them.  This shelter is a mess, and needs to be rebuilt.  Thank you to Liz and Diane who built a beautiful hut.  I will be receiving two more this Saturday, and hopefully Saturday Sheryl and I can rebuild this spot to something better for these cats.  They deserve it.

Across the way is Syd and Johnnys where this kind owner allows me to place a small shelter for a cat or two.  One cat in particular is the mother of the four (five?) kittens I recently rescued.   Black long haired momma shows her face just about every day there.  The shelter is on the side of the garage, where the tires are.

Then off to Central – I saw four kitties come out of the shelter I have there this morning – the shelter consists of four huts/totes with tarp and boards over that.  It survived the windstorm, thank God, as there is a nice cement garage blocking the westerly winds.

Off to Third, where I just rescued Saroo, and CHARLIE!  There are four cats here that I see, three waiting to be fed on the only open porch of this boarded up house – recently the front porch was boarded up with my shelters inside.  I did reach out to someone in the Mayor’s office asking for help getting the shelters out.  No word back.

Off to Central and Second, where at least six or so cats wait for me each morning.  The mailbox kitties.  All was well there.  The tarps are firmly staked and ready for the wind.

Then to Second, behind Paul’s house, another mess.  There is a black kitty and a white with black one usually, but I have not seen them lately, just big rats.  I need to end this spot I think.  But what about the cats….;

Off to the new location on Pennsylvania, where I just rescued Callie from, and the two remaining old timers have found the new feeding/shelter spot after that CREEP threw out my shelters when he began renovating this boarded up house.

Finally, I arrive at my last location near Fourth.  The four kits, two red and two calicos are always waiting for me.  They head butt each other and do circle dances on the snow until I begin my trek to the back of the lot.  I pass my little garden on my way back, and think of spring.  The little red now trust me enough to rub and scratch him, and Big Red #2 now lets me touch him too!

As I drive home, I’ve been feeding cats at the end of Melville, near Webster, where I just rescued Melody from.  I want to begin trapping there, and have already done one TNR, as there are so many cats there also.  I place food and water down on the sidewalk and call for them before I head home.

And that’s my day.  Off to work, and hopefully some play.

Have a great day.

J

Barney

Baldwin Babes

Kitten rescued from Baldwin Mama

Old Garson Ave Location

Peanut Butter aka Ben

My Rounds

Random Pic!
My Boris - God Rest his Soul -and Scooter!  At the vet right now!
(for his teeth, he winces in pain so have to maybe have teeth pulled.  :( )

Nice, quiet morning out there today.  Temperature is mild, which means mud. 

I thought I would start with describing my locations to you, what I see and who I feed.

My first stop is Melville, where that dreadful woman tried to get me to stop feeding the cats next to her house.  Haven’t heard a peep from her since last summer.  There is a kitten – and I call it a kitten – about 8 or 9 months old, that runs to me when I arrive, but keeps a distance.  It’s a sweet looking little kitten – looks very much like Saroo, the young one I just adopted out.  I had him TNR’d last summer.  He was fairly wild so I had to let him back.  Otherwise, there are maybe three others that I see briefly.  They actually live in the basement of this vacant house because there is a opening in the wall in the carport, which is where I also have four Styrofoam shelters.  I’ve rescued a ton of cats from here.

Next is just around the corner, behind a grocery store.  There are rats.  Its disgusting.  I was feeding a black and white cat for over a year here, and a month or so ago, I set a trap for him/her thinking it was pregnant, but it never fell for the trap.  And now, I haven’t seen kitty for several weeks.  I do see cat prints in the snow, so at least some cat is eating.  It’s a nice shelter – one wood, two plastic totes covered in tarp. Secure.

 

Paddy from Parsells

Just around the corner from there is my first Parsells spot.  I’ve rescued tons and tons of cats here also.  My little Skinny Minnie came from here.  Wait!  So did Popcorn!  And Poptart!  There are so many sweeties here.  This is a few houses down from Crazy Lisa.  I feed on the porch here of this vacant house, and have maybe five plastic and Styrofoam huts, under a board and tarp.

 

Polly from Parsells

Next Parsells is where there have been at least 15 cats huddled around waiting for the food to be poured.  The porch of this vacant house has been purchased by someone who has been removing the paper plates I lay down for these starving cats nearly every day now.  The last storm we had, three or so weeks ago on a Saturday (when I rescued Saroo, and poor Scooter – may he rest in peace), all my shelters were tossed to the curb, leaving these cats with NOTHING.  I’ve since moved them to the side of the house next door, and they have remained there, until the landlord pays a visit and removes them.  I will have NOTHING here.  The cats will have NOTHING.  I don’t know what I will do.  This is where I rescued Parsley!  (and a ton more).

Next is Garson.  This is where George still is, who is ready to be rescued.  There are about …  six other cats?  Mostly from the same family, mostly tabbies, one or two blackies, and Max, the neighbor’s cat that he started letting out due to spraying.  Max is a nice cat.  I need to do more TNR here – the shelters are good as they are blocked by the garage which the shelters are placed next to during the storms and winds we have from the west.  I say the shelters are good – they are disgusting (old), but the straw is changed once a year maybe.  This is their home though.  They hear me making the kissy sound when I am walking towards them at the back of this long lot.  This was a tough lot to walk through the two days we had all that snow.  I was nearly dead by the time I got back there.

 

Bacardi

Next is Ferndale Crescent, where so many poor sweet babies have been rescued.  All sickly and malnourished.  This is where I rescued Bacardi from last year.  This is where the kitty with the chicken bone stuck in his jaw was, this is where the other kitty was hit by a car.   This is where Crazy Maryleigh lives.  Haven’t seen her in over a year, but I got wind that she wrote the police department a long diatribe about the cats, me, and so much other jumbled stuff.  I didn’t think she was still alive, to be honest, she was such a thorn in my side two summers ago, if you recall.  My shelter is against a vacant home, the prior owners had given me permission to feed there – there are three shelters under a board with a tarp covering it.  I see a calico run from the shelter daily when I arrive.

This is what I call the end of the first nine.  Golf term.  By now, its 4:29 am., on a good day.  I have it all down pat.  My food, my time.  Sheryl described me perfectly in her guest blog last week.

 I then cross over Goodman street and finish off the rest.   By now I am thinking – I have 10 more shelters to visit, with an average of 5 kitties per spot.

I will now end this as I need to get myself into work, and be thankful for another day.  J

Have a great one!

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."

Happy Spring!!!

Man oh man...  so much going on!

So Saturday started with a bang.  Don’t forget, I get up at 2:30 am every day.  So on Saturdays I get my shopping done, breakfast, begin cleaning my roost.  But Saturday Sheryl comes with me on Saturdays, and she gets to my house at 4:30, an extra half hour past my normal time, and we did a few things at each shelter which took extra time so that we didn’t finish up until 6:30.  It was still rough walking to some of the shelters because of the snow, so that slowed us down also.

9:00 a.m. - Saroo, the kitten I rescued two weeks ago during the first ‘storm’ when poor ‘Scooter’, the cat ravaged by some other animal was rescued, has been adopted!  That little guy was running toward me meowing in the middle of the street at 5 am. in this storm.  I am so grateful I got him. I fell in love with him.  He was such a little cuddler.  This wonderful family – four adorable girls and their mom, and Dad now has the company of three males – their dog, their cat Salem, and now Saroo, who has been renamed SKEETER!  J  They name all their animals with the letter S.  How cute.  Introductions between dog and cat and cat went well from what I’ve heard.

By now its 10 am. and I have not sat down since I got up at 2:30 am.  Its now cocktail hour for me.  Ha.  Seriously, I’ve been up for …  over seven hours and its only 10!

Breakfast is eaten and off I go on my cooking/cleaning binge that I do every Saturday! 

Joel and the shelters he built!

Sunday morning, I meet this nice man named Joel who also has been writing some great guest posts on this blog, at one of my locations, as he built two cute little wooden huts for me.  Thanks Joel for getting up, driving that distance, and meeting me at that ungodly hour of 5 am.  The huts are beautiful.  Nice job.  Now I need about a dozen more, which by the way, a few people are making one or two for me, which I am so grateful for.  Before I met Joel, I finished up my rounds, so that I could easily get home, have breakfast, and go back to sleep.  My one day I can do that! 

On Third and Central, where my shelters are still barricaded inside the front porch where the city boarded it up tight just before that storm, there was a cat that I TNR’d (trap, neuter, and return to the streets L ) and had been feeding for a while, and that cat actually came up to me Sunday morning.  He let me pet him!  I could see he had an eye issue, and some fur was missing from his side.  I could not believe it.  This cat actually came to finally trust me.  What a wonderful feeling.  You know its time when that happens.  Rescue was imminent.

Hi Charlie!

Well, lookee here!  This morning, with carrier in hand, climbing through the snow, I set the carrier down upright with the door open, and saw the little guy.  I called him over, he came, and I grabbed him by the scruff and in he went, no resistance whatsoever.  Now I had to get him home to see what he would be like indoors.

CHARLIE (for now)

Well, I have to say………………..  HE’s A LOVER!!!  He was very scared and nervous, but he just loved by rubbing and scratching of his chin and body, and he started to purr.  What a feeling!  I left him with a kiss on his nose and told him everything would be alright.  I have to find the perfect name for him now.

I have a vet appointment for him tomorrow, Tuesday.  Fingers crossed.  If anyone would like to sponsor his bill, I would be so grateful.  These rescues are so costly to me.  :(  (585-865-5220)  And now we need to find a foster or a forever home!  What a weekend!

Four kitties left on Pennsylvania.
I miss Scooter, the injured baby Karla and I rescued.

They run to me each morning when I pull up

Have a great day, spring is here!  

My Smokey Bear

Smokey says 'have a good day or I'll eat you!'

TGIFF!!!!

Each year, someone surprises me with a delivery of flowers to my office, and its signed Meow Meow.  I would love to know who this is!  Come clean please!  What a beautiful arrangement for St. Patrick's Day.  I am so touched year after year by this gesture.   Aren't they beautiful!  Thank you Kitties???  (click on pic to zoom in to read the card!) ☘☘☘☘☘☘☘

This morning WAS MUCH BETTER!!! 

It was still a workout, but not as bad as the past two mornings.  Thank you Jesus!

At one location, in the back of a vacant lot, I counted the steps I had to take through some STILL pretty high snow, in my footprints from yesterday, even though it was close to 40 degrees yesterday and the sun was shining, and the snow did go down.  I counted 102 steps to get back to the shelter on this lot.  That's 204 steps round trip in the snow.  Just think of how hard it was to place those footsteps that were there imprinted already for me this morning.  UGGHG!  I want spring!

Baby Buttons and Mr. Whiskers this morning...

I really want to rescue Baby Buttons.  I have his mom with me, Mommy Buttons.  She sleeps with me every night, but is still very timid.  I hug her and kiss her and force her to stay with me for a bit, but she is still timid, and the cutest little thing.  Her little boy has been on Short Street for too long now, with Mr. Whiskers #2, and Sam, who I have not seen in a week now.  Of course how can I forget Millie too, but I h ave not seen her either.  This morning it was just Baby Buttons and Whiskers, but how can I leave Whiskers alone there?  I cannot rescue another until little Saroo gets adopted. 

Saroo will have a meet and greet in the morning so fingers crossed! 

Yesterday, Karla from Keller's Kats reached out to me to ask if I would be interested in having a website of my own.   Apparently, Frank Vaccaro, big advocate for lost and found cats, was contacted by a group of women from the University of Buffalo who have a project at school where they have to design a website, and wondered if he knew of any rescue groups they could help out.  He mentioned Keller's Kats, but they have their own already, and she thought of me.  Thank you Karla!

They contacted me, and its a go!  Here is what they said:  "Our project is essentially creating a website for an organization that needs one- or needs their revamped. Our group is made up of four females and we are all in the Information and Library Science program and University at Buffalo. Our class is Intro to Information Technology and we are learning how to design websites and code in HTML."

 I would love input from all of you as to what it should have, even though I do this blog.  I cannot devote a lot of time to the website, I have my hands full as it is.  Plus I have a page on PetFinder.  Input please?

Have a GREAT day!