This guy was rescued from Pennsylvania Avenue many years ago: He had a condition where his eyelids were turned in, so he couldn't see well due to pain and infection. We rescued this 'Little' (his foster fail mom named him Little) guy thanks to Kim D, who offered to foster, and Debbie, who offered to pay for surgery. What a difference from the street!
Over the winter months, I have noticed a few kitties gone
missing. As a result of the extreme cold
temperatures, I expected a few cats to not make it through, especially if their
immune systems were compromised (FIV) or if they had other maladies or
injuries. I was quite surprised when I
pulled up to the first Parsells location where I’ve been feeding on the porch
of the vacant duplex – the landlord has not been by all winter – where I placed
several shelters for them to have something to cozy up in through the winter
months. Scratchy had gone missing for at
least two months – he scratched my hand every time as I poured food down and
drew blood every time! He was there this
morning! He was crying and crying, but I
managed to pour the food down and not get a scratch!
It's been a long and brutal winter out there for the cats
this year, for sure. The shelters –
Esther (and Ann helps her on weekdays) does the feeding every other day (Michelle
does one of the locations, and Tamera does another), and she has managed to
find help for a few of them, so I don’t know the condition of those, but there
are quite a few that need to be cleaned up because the city is going to come
along, after someone complains about the eyesore of the properties, and remove
the shelters. Boards need spray paint,
tires and debris need to be moved, tarps need replacing with dark heavy duty
ones, and there is a location where a very old shelter, dilapidated, is still
there creating an eyesore, but its too heavy to move. If anyone would like to volunteer a little
time, it would be immensely helpful. The rat holes are disgusting. I know they are God’s creatures, too, but
they are also creating conditions where the neighbors will eventually complain. There are deep holes at a few locations where
they burrow.
I have a Facebook fundraiser right now for my birthday – it’s
a great way for everyone on Facebook to raise money for a worthy cause. I am spending over $300 just on dry food
alone each week for 17 colonies that are being cared for now. That doesn’t include the dry food. That doesn’t include the $500+ per month
in vet bills for the two clinics I use for TNR (RCAC and Lollypop). I have two awesome people helping with the
TNRg of the kitties that are out there getting pregnant, or impregnating other
cats, to gain some control of the litters being born on the streets. My wish list includes:
Heavy duty dark colored TARPs (that blend in with the foliage)
Cans of spray paint for wood and styrofoam – black, dark
green, or brown – to cover the boards and shelters that are sticking out like
an eyesore because they don’t blend in with the foliage
Aluminum pans
Plastic bowls for water
Large paper plates (although I currently have a lot, thanks
to Kristina!)
Paper bowls
I continue to get calls from people wanting to surrender
their cats – they call it ‘rehoming’, from people that have come upon a cat
that was evicted, along with their caretakers, from an apartment and the person
could not take it to emergency housing, so they just leave it or let it
go. Its just the saddest situation for
the cats. One woman just wrote she
needed to rehome her 5-year old cat because her son apparently moved in with
his dogs, and the cat was being aggressive toward the dogs. Really?
Don’t get me started. I received
a voice message yesterday also, which I have not responded to, from a man
saying he needed to rehome his TWO cats.
I know they are reaching out to other rescues, and I always wonder if
any other rescues are calling these people back, because it seems that between
my helpers Elisabeth and Kristin calling back when I ask them to, no one else is. Or that’s what those say who we do respond
to. We are the only ones to return a
call. Sometimes they just need
guidance! Advice! We can’t take them all in!
Currently, in foster, we have Oreo, Jade Jasper, Lily, Prince,
Poppy, Camille, two adults Neon and Esmeralda – a mom and her son – long-haired beauties at that –
that need a bit more socializing, and a mother and her FIVE three-week-old
kittens. Am I forgetting anyone my
friends? My fosters are FULL!
Here are some pics from over the winter. IF you click on the pic, you can zoom in:
YUCK
JADE
JASPER
NEON and ESMERALDA
Please consider fostering – we still have so many on the
streets waiting for rescue. Until we can
adopt the other kitties out, we cannot take any more in.
Have a great day!
