Happy Monday

 Well it was an interesting Saturday.  Sheryl and I were out in the am. doing our thing, and while on Grand and Stout, I  hear a gunshot.  It was about 5:30 am.  I asked Sheryl, did you hear that, and she responded no.  I said, well I did.  So we finished up feeding the cats there, and went off to the next location on Garson.  This spot is on the side of someone's porch in front, and they've allowed me to do this for years.  As I was finishing up - and I am bending down with my butt flashing the street - in my peripheral site I could see a light shining at me.  I finished up, stood up, turned around and there was a cop standing with his car parked in the street, and gun drawn and pointed toward me.  Whoa! HELLo.  He asked what are you doing?  I said as I walked toward him, I am feeding cats, I have permission to do it by the homeowner.  Now, obviously I must look suspicious to cars going by.  I know that.  But draw your gun?  Geez...  can't he see my beautiful ass in my sugar skull leggings with that flashlight?  ha ha.   Anyways, he then went on to ask if I heard a gunshot.  I said yes, and I thought you guys would have been around sooner.  He asked when I heard it.  I said five minutes or so.  Maybe I should have said 10.   Anyways, he asked where I heard it coming from, I pointed and told him northeast way.  He said thanks, and then said, you've been doing this a long time haven't you?  I said yes, and then I said too long.  He told me to be careful and I thanked him and drove off.  Then there were five more police cars and they were there for a while.  It was not where the gunshot came from.  Hmmm.

The shelter I had built on Parsells, just a ways down from where they used to be until someone put them to the curb and cut down the bush that protected them, and the spot where Willie said I could put them because it was city property, was trashed.  The shelters were put to the curb.  Obviously, I was upset about this, and they took my board and heavy pallet we carried to that spot in the dark one morning a week or two after meeting Willie on his porch.  Knowing that there are at least 8 cats that depended on me feeding them, I said to hell with that, and I placed three paper plates under the tree there in front of the CITY OWNED lot, and fed the poor things. The next morning there was a note on the tree there not to feed the cats.  I ripped it down and threw it away.  I know I need to go door to door again and find someone with some compassion in that area, but I don't think I am going to find that person.  There is a very sweet red tabby that needs to be rescued.  The others shy away from me.  The red is very sweet and friendly.  Anybody?  Foster?  I have lots of people that want red tabbies to adopt!  This situation has really upset me.  I think about it constantly, especially leaving the food there on a morning that its pouring rain.  Rain for now, then snow?

The black and white kitty that cries and cries each morning that I pull up to Seventh and Central is still on the street.  We are waiting for a spot at the clinic to have him looked at and then will possibly be  fostered.  He has a monkey tail, and I wish I had named him Monkey - actually, that is what I will name him and I will have the clinic change it to that when I get the appointment.  I initially called him Lucky Seven.

The kittens that Sue is fostering are slowly being adopted.  We've had a flurry of applications for them.  We call them the Yellowstone kids.  All named after the characters in the series Yellowstone.  They are ADORABLE.  So is Momma Felicity, picture above.  

Sheryl's batch are the cutest ever.  All black, and two have multi toes.  I went to deworm them this weekend and they are just too adorable.  One is being adopted already.  

Spread the word!  And please consider foster for the adults out there.  They really need our help before the winter arrives.  Thank you, and have a great day!

"Compassion is to look beyond your own pain,

to see the pain of others."

Memories...

 

Dear Diary… woops, I mean dear Blog.  Its been a long time.  Where do I begin?

Lets start with my memory.  And what I actually can remember.  A few weeks back, my shelters on Parsells were moved to the street and the bushes that they were hidden in were cut down.  A sign posted said don’t feed cats, we have a rat problem.  I, of course, could understand, but what to do about all those cats that are starving every day?  I have been feeding a few houses down the street under a tree since.  I knew I had to figure out a solution, so I enlisted Kristin’s help and we went a’knockin on doors on Labor Day morning.  As we drove up to the spot, there was a man on his porch having his coffee.  We got out and slowly approached him, explained what we were there for, and we got to talking.  His name was Willie, and after a long conversation, we finally were able to figure out where we could build another shelter – the city lot next door.  Now, mind you, this is where CRAZY LISA used to live.  That was one of the first things I had asked him when I walked up, was if she still lived there. He said no, she was in a hospital somewhere.  Lisa had severe mental problems.  If you did a search in my blog, you would read about the many encounters that myself and the police have had with her.  Anyhow, this man was very kind, even though he picks up the dishes I leave there in the dark in the morning, because the rats and raccoons come out and he doesn’t want them fed.  I can understand.  So in a few weekends, Kristin can help me build, I hope! Oh, and by the way, the man had tried to grow tomatoes in a pot on his porch, but he didn't realize that the pots needed holes and the plants were waterlogged, so the next morning, I left him a bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee and a few tomatoes from my garden.  I hope he liked it!  :) 

We also took in a mother and seven kittens, thanks to Sue offering to foster.  God knows I can’t do it, and never want to again.  Kittens are so destructive and I’ve had about enough.  I can’t begin to count the number of kittens I’ve had under my wing this year.  Ugh. We are thinking of naming them after Yellowstone series characters.  Ya gotta get creative when you have to name SEVEN kittens, and you’ve already named a gazillion kittens and cats in your lifetime before.  Mom's name is Felicity.

This weekend we may be able to rescue the black and white kitty from Seventh and Central thanks to Kristin’s mom offering to foster.  We just need then to wait for his neuter clinic date.  Then we put him up for adoption.  Thank God we have people that want an adult cat and not a kitten!  We really need more fosters for adults.  

UPDATED:  A fellow feeder/rescuer? that I have never met reached out to me and told me about a red tabby she had picked up near one of my spots on Grand Avenue because he looked sick or injured, and she had him vetted and treated, and asked if I could post him around for adoption.  I did, and voila, a former co-worker from the law firm I used to work for reached out to ask about him, Oakley.  She had lost her husband recently and her old cat had passed away, and she saw Oakley and felt a connection with him.  She went to visit him yesterday, and he is now going to be adopted by her on Saturday.  See?  Give the older cats a try.  There are at least 10 cats I can count on the street just as sweet as this one.  Please consider.

Otherwise, I am still out there doing this, and its crazy.  Thanks so much to June and Sheryl, my only helpers at this point.  I know they can’t do it forever.  Neither can I.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention others in this post.  I used to do daily blogs and tried always to remember to thank those that help me, but now I can only write once a week if I am lucky (work!), and sometimes, when I think about it, there are SO many that help me.  Esther has been doing four of my spots, and Danielle and Chuck feed on Parsells in the back parking lot of Chuck's job site.  All of you are invaluable to me!  And there is Kim who fills cat food into bags for me most of the time, and carries them to the truck.  Couldn't do it without you peeps!  

Have a great day!

"All we have is now."