Batten Down the Hatch!

What a weekend. That’s all I can say. I had Friday off, but this morning I was thinking to myself, this cat stuff is a full-time job, I don’t know how I do it. I don’t know how I still carry out a full-time paid job! I dream about cats, I think about cats, and I actually DO a lot for cats! Although there are many wonderful people in my life who help carry the burden with me occasionally. I am forever grateful for that.

First bit of good news: Big Red has been taken off the street, from Garson Avenue to be exact, where he waited for me every single morning on the porch of a boarded up house, through the worst of seasons, year after year. I have seen Big Red with terrible wounds to his neck, severe ear problems which would cause him to scratch himself violently with his foot and terrible noises came out of his throat while doing so. He has been in decline, until he was fixed this past summer, where he also had his shots and ears treated. He has been pretty good ever since, but I knew this gentle old soul needed a home, and fast. He went from keeping a distance from me years ago, to now letting me pick him up each morning to give him a hug and scratch. My wonderful new friend Maree, and her husband Joe, have been thinking about Big Red from my postings on my blog, and offered to adopt him. He was waiting for me to get him on Saturday morning, with no fuss when I gently placed him in the carrier. He must have been someone’s pet at one time as he is not feral, but he has had some hard living on the streets for many years, regardless. I can’t begin to tell you how special you are to adopt a senior cat. It’s a pure act of love and selflessness. I will continue to hear of Big Red – newly renamed SANDY in honor of Tropical Storm Sandy coming through, through Maree’s daily report to me.

A second bit of great news: Puddles a/k/a Elvis has been adopted! My high school friend Donna and her husband Dan have been wanting a black and white kitty for a while now, they were thinking of adopting Rufus, but they’ve had a lot on their plate with moving to a new house, and they were finally ready, and with Rufus now acclimated pretty much, I really needed to find Puddles a home. So off he went Sunday morning. Its very hard to give up any of the cats I rescue, I get so attached to them, and I know its stressful for them to go to new situations also, but I know its thebest thing to do for them, and for me, because it allows me to save more cats. And that’s the bottom line right there. So, I am now ‘kittenless.’ 

A third bit of news – if you will recall, Red (#1) and Boots on Hayward lost their shelter hut that was on the porch of a boarded up house for years now, and someone has finally moved in, and placed everything to the curb. I tried to place food on a neighboring house that I was told by someone on the street that they liked cats, and always leaving my phone number, got a call telling me to stop it. I’ve been trying since Thursday to coax the cats down the street to the other Hayward shelter on the side of a house where the landlord allows me to feed and shelter, but with no luck getting them down the ten or so houses away. My friend Kristin bravely came with me on Saturday to check out the situation and we saw a sign on the porch of the house and it read: “Do not put cat food on this porch. F_ _ _ OFF OR GET SHOT.” I wish I had taken a picture of that, and the next morning it was not there. That was a little intimidating, don’t you think? So, again I tried this morning to coax them by cat calling from the new location, and sure enough they came. I pray they continue to come and eat there, and shelter themselves from the weather. Red is a beautiful boy, very thin, and Boots is a real cutie too. Black with white puffs on him. They both need to be removed from the street because of their sweetness. Spread the word~!

Speaking of weather, I went around to each shelter this morning trying to secure them as best as I could. With the winds expected to go over 50 mph, I am not sure how stable the boards and boxes will be – I can only pray that they keep, and that the cats know enough to find safe shelter. Someone took the boards from my Webster/Ferndale shelter I had so sturdily built. I lose my faith in humanity just a little bit each time. I wound up finding a board from the empty garage of the house that was being renovated and dragging the huge thing over myself. I had to place something there. It is not a thick board, so I pray it doesn’t blow over.

I also have a chance to place a cat into a barn situation through Another Chance Pet Rescue, but am minus a cage, and I am waiting for it to be returned to me since I placed cats over the summer through Four Legged Friends. I have a difficult choice with this also because there are just so many cats out there that I have faith will be adopted someday, or the ones I would place in a barn are not fixed yet.

One last thing – as this is turning into a novel, since the Lollipop trap and neuter grant I’ve been allowed to participate in, I have been successful – with the help of Another Chance Pet Rescue and Laura – in neutering 55 cats since the springtime. I would say that’s a pretty awesome number.

Stay dry and keep your hatches battened!