DECEMBER 1ST - STEPHANIE!

CORRECTION!!  I would like to toast STEPHANIE, who is our first recipient of the Feed a Cat for Christmas Award, really a certificate, but along with that, you have the satisfaction of knowing you have helped a hungry animal.  THANK YOU SO MUCH STEPHANIE FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!  I will be posting a name each day to let you know who has Fed a Cat for Christmas for each day of December.  (I will keep last names anonymous unless I have your permission).

I have some great people in my life that give me great advice.  I wouldn't know half of what I know if I hadn't received advice throughout all the years I've been doing this.  More than half.  I have learned so much from so many.  One thing I've also learned is to stand my ground.  I thank the person that wrote the last comment yesterday for seeing my point of view.  I try to rescue as many cats as I can from the streets of Rochester.  It takes so much work to rescue just one.   But once that cat is vetted, socialized, fostered or adopted, I rescue another one.  And I do the same all over again, in fact have done this more than 80 times this year.  Once in a while, I get special need cats that are very sick.  Chloe for example.  I tried so hard with Chloe, she spent every week going to the vet for nearly two months to treat her severe wounds, I spent so much money, money I do not have.  I have done the same recently with Violet, the little girl that can't eat solids (although she may be on the mend).  And now its Patches.  Patches has big issues.  I will do what I have to do with him - he is not living a quality life.  He hides under the bed to mask his pain.  I am just grateful that I was able to rescue him from a very very painful and sad life on the street until he died under someone's porch.  He will know love and compassion from a human before his time is up.  Please, don't stop giving advice, but know that we are all different - we would all do something different if we were in each other's shoes.  We all have different levels of capability.  The decision to let your animal die, or let him or her live and suffer, is a heavy burden to bear, but its one I believe we all accept when we agree to care for an animal.  For those of you who spend your lives trying to keep animals alive, you find yourself in a moral maze when faced with the dilemma to end a life.

I feel lucky that I have animals in my life.  I never take for granted that I share my life with these cats, and I am always in awe of them and am happy to share what I have with them.  I believe that we make pacts with our babies - we agree to offer food and water, provide shelter and warmth, and care for them in sickness and in health.  We have a duty to prevent suffering and that includes painful and terminal illness or injury.

Patches this morning

Today was TNR Tuesday. I set a trap on Webster and Ferndale, where there has been a calico hanging around, crying when I put food down, but I don't see her regularly.  

Scooterpie from Second

I then went off to set a trap on Second, behind Paul’s house.  I did a few more feeding spots around there, came back, and voila!  I got this little black kitten, who I believe is Chloe’s brother or sister.  Her mama has been seen many times since Chloe’s rescue, a pretty muted calico, but I haven’t been able to trap her.  This little one looks to me to be a sibling.  She also had a little red kitten that I haven’t seen in quite a while.  This little one, I am naming Scooterpie, has a head tilt.  This head tilt is the same one that Hermie had, the black cat with the hernia.  I can’t recall, but I think the head tilt was due to an infection or mites or something in its ear.   He is scared to death, and will be going to the clinic today for neuter or spay.  Poor baby.  He will then spend the night in the trap on my porch, only to be released back to the little shelter I have behind Paul’s house.  I hate doing it.  In the meantime, I did NOT get another cat on Webster and Ferndale, so I reset the trap at my first Parsells spot, but they NEVER fall for it.  So only one TNR today.  Scooterpie.

Back to Maryleigh.  Sunday Sheryl and I decided to investigate when I told her about ML going into a vacant lot on Ferndale Crescent and hiding in the back.  I would see her from time to time hiding back there, and question her about it.  So by the time we finished up, it was getting light (Sheryl doesn’t get to my house on Sundays until 4:30, so it’s the only day my rounds start later than normal).  We ventured to the back of the lot and it looked pretty much covered in leaves, sticks, a few trees, and then we saw this mound made up of sticks, boards, 2x4’s, etc.  I looked in on one end, and Sheryl looked in on another.  I saw a grocery bag full of cat food opened, with bowls.  You could tell she was trying to conceal this spot.  You could tell she was feeding cats here, but on the other end, where Sheryl was, she could see the carcass of a dead cat.  She said it looked to me like it was headless, like the head had been cut off precisely.   The whole situation is very odd, why would she be feeding here, and is this where she is placing dead kitties?  Is she killing them herself?  Lollipop never did get inside her house, and as far as I know, nothing was ever done about the reports, and evidence, that kittens were being buried in the vacant lot next to her house a street away, so who knows.  I will continue to monitor this and see if she is going back there, maybe saying something to her about it.  She and this other crazy Lisa are dangerous and should not be allowed to even be near animals. 

That’s my story for today.  Have a good day yourself.

"Talent is God given.  Be humble.  

Fame is man-given.  Be grateful.  Conceit is self-given.  Be careful"