Rainy Days and Monday's Always Get Me Down!

I go through at least 44 (FORTY FOUR) 5.5 oz. cans of wet cat food a day.  It take 6 cans to fill up a large yogurt sized container, and I fill six of those.   I fill up three 2-gallon bags of dry food, and then wind up using another small bag to make it through my morning.  Every single day.  If anyone is ever wondering how they can help?  Its food.  Not just food, but also donations for medical treatment at the Rochester Community Animal Clinic on Bay Street.  I have an account there, where there is always a balance due.  I am charged $60 per cat for spay/neuter.  Maybe that will change once I establish a tax exempt status which is being worked on by a very esteemed law firm.  Should be any day now!

Smoky says Hi!

Buster says TGIF!

Scooter says FEED ME!

Midnight says "I LOVE YOU!"

I could also use some heavy plates that have sides to them, so that the food doesn't easily slide off the sides.  Heavy as in ceramic, or glass.  I had three nice ones that someone donated that were trashed recently by the jerks on Parsells Avenue who put everything out to the curb after many years of housing cats behind their property.  Actually, the jerks were the property managers.  Seems many slumlords nowadays have 'property managers'.

Oh!  And I need medicine.  Doxy and Clavamox.  I continue to medicate the red kitty, who I think is getting much better after hearing its SEVERE URI.  I am stopping at this non-stop (this isn't a normal stop for me) each day just to medicate this guy.  But need to get him TNR'd too!

These are my needs.  Plain and simple.  Life just doesn't get any better, does it?

Someone continues to come out of the gated apartment complex on Niagara Street and removes the food and water for the cats inside the gate there, daily.  I don't think its the BFJ as I think we have an understanding now, but who knows.  Would love to catch the creep someday.  In the meantime, waiting on some nicely built shelters to be built for across the street to make it more attractive.

Speaking of, there is a commercial each morning now that I see that features SWBR Architects and how they are doing volunteer work for the community.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if THEY could make some neat shelters, professionally designed and ones that the city wouldn't object to.  I think it has been done in other states, but I can't remember who told me about this.  Kristin?  If anyone would care to do some research on this, I would sure appreciate it.  Here is SWBR link.  I would think if we were to contact them, we should have some examples under our belt.  http://www.swbr.com/

That's it for today. Work has me crazy, and tomorrow, I am travelling with my mother to a town near Albany, to and from in one day, to attend my nephew's graduation from college party.  Should be interesting.  :)

Have a great day (despite the rain!).

PS, lets get these kittens adopted!!!  They alone are costing me $20 per week on food alone.  That creep never bothered to send any donation toward the help of these five kittens and the mother that were in his mother's house.

"Hope...

Sometimes that's all you have

when you have nothing else.

If you have it, you have everything."

The Cats Rats!

Rats and Cats - I don't get it.  I am, and have been for a while now, seeing rats the size of cats.  Well, I might be exaggerating.  Large kittens at least.   And they run right under foot of the cats.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the rats come and chow on the food as soon as I leave.  The dishes are sometimes scattered and turned over.  You can tell if it was a raccoon because they are very messy eaters and will leave bugs and worms and rocks in the dishes.  How come the cats are not chasing away the rats?  Its getting harder and harder at some of my spots to keep clean, and make sure its the cats that are eating the food.  Does anyone know the psyche of these creatures, and how they live together peacefully?  I thought cats hated rats!?!

I had to let Spencer back out onto the streets yesterday after I had him at the clinic for neuter.  It was very sad.  He stayed overnight in a very large carrier and I am sure was scared to death.  One day I will find him a home.  Please help me find him a home, and the five kittens and their mom that are in our care.

A few houses down from Crazy Lisa's house on Parsells, I feed a few kitties on the porch of a vacant house.  Its a duplex.  After Lisa had begun to throw the food I was leaving under a tree outside her house a year or so ago, I looked around and found this porch.  One day a young black girl, school age, was standing to the right of the house, on her porch.  I told her about what I was doing and was trying to find a spot to feed the kitties, and she said it was ok to put the food on the porch next door because her grandmother had died and no one lived there.  So I've been feeding there since.  Have trapped a lot of kitties, and rescued a lot.  Most recent, I think, was Patches.  Before Patches it was my Skinny Minnie, the pregnant kitty.  This morning I pulled up, and its garbage day for the city, and I saw some furniture put out by the family next door.  Looks like a faux leather couch and chair.  The arm of the chair is very wide - looks like it was comfortable back in its day - it was wrapped in duct tape.  Not just one piece, but the whole arm.  I thought to myself - this is poverty.  This family, this young school girl, they could not afford another chair, and had wrapped this chair up so many times, they just couldn't do it anymore, and off it went to the side of the road.  I immediately thought, oh, I would love to get someone to donate a used chair for them.  But then realized this might be an insult to them, and it would also bring attention to the feeding next door.  So I let it go.  But how sad is that.  There are people living in extreme poverty right under our noses.

So today, I will be thankful for the little I have.  Everyone is fighting some battle, so be kind, and be generous.  Do something kind for someone today.  No matter how big or how small.   The young, the old, the innocent, the poor.  Everyone and everything matters.

"We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without."

Today is TNR Tuesday and I only got one male kitty.  It all started on Bay Street near 7^th where I set a trap in hopes of getting the red kitty with the very bad URI.  I then drove off to set another trap on Central near 5^th, in the back of the dark lot there, where there are at least FIVE unspayed/neutered kitties.  I then went and fed on Short Street, and then to check on the trap on Bay, where I found a tabby that was already ear-tipped.  I had to let him go.  At that point, no one was around, so I lifted the trap, set down some food with medicine, and off I went to feed on 7^th.  Then to each spot there after, all the while checking on the second trap.  Finally, I got to Second and Pennsylvania, where the beautiful, young, sweet red tabby rolls over when I arrive each morning, waiting for his precious wet food he craves so much, and I grabbed him and threw him into the carrier I had set up.  He’s not so sweet now, as you can see, but boy is this cat adoptable.  Would love it if someone could open their home to him. 

 

Spencer - Trapped!

Spencer - NORMAL  :)

So this is another $60 today for ‘Spencer’.   This TNR will be costing me a pretty penny this summer, so if anyone is compelled to helping out in some way, I thank you.  

Kittens are ready - won't you please spread the word!  Here are some pics from this morning, at play!  CLICK ON THEM TO SEE UP CLOSE!

The Benefits of Feral Cat Trap-Neuter-Return TNR Programs vs. Euthanasia

Feral and stray cats are the greatest source of cat overpopulation in the United States. A large percentage of feral cats are euthanized each year and governments are trying to implement “catch and kill” programs to decrease the cat population. Feral cats deserve to be treated humanely and be given a chance at a healthy outdoor life. Wikipedia defines a feral cat as a free-roaming cat that is born and raised in the wild. A stray cat is a pet cat that has been abandoned or lost and has reverted back to its “wild” instinctual self in order to survive. These cats have also been referred to as alley cats, street cats, or outside cats.

In the U.S. alone, only 3% of free-roaming cats are neutered or spayed, leaving all the unneutered cats to continue reproducing and growing the feral cat population. One female cat has the ability to produce roughly 100 kittens in seven years1. This high rate of reproduction among feral cats is why feral cats account for 80% of the cats that barrage animal shelters. In California alone, animal control agencies and shelters for cat-related expenses spend more than $50 million per year.

Sadly, out of the 80% of feral cats that are turned in to animal shelters, 72% of these cats are subjected to euthanasia. Once a cat is turned in at a pound or shelter, there are only 3 possible outcomes for that cat: being adopted; reunited with their owner; or, being euthanized.

"I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness."

Funday Monday....

My Sexy Momma

Click on the pics to see up close!
Well, no one has stepped up to foster or adopt any of the precious babes from my last post.  Hopefully y'all are thinking about it, right?  :)

Saturday morning I had a girl ride along with me, someone who has never done it, and someone who've I've met very briefly once before, who was kind enough to drop off food and handmade blankets to me.  I could tell she was very nervous, and she mentioned that her husband was also.  :)  I tried to ease her right away, and I think it worked, because she became a natural helper right away!  By the time we finished, she was not as nervous, and I told her to text her husband and tell him she was still alive.  :)  It really isn't as bad out there as most people think.  Granted, it is a poverty stricken, high crime area, but I do this in the wee hours of the morning and even the criminals sleep.  The cops agree.  And regardless, the crims and the street people know who I am and have respect for me.  I thank Jacqui for tagging along with me.  Sunday Sheryl hasn't let me down in the 2+ years she has been riding with me on Sundays.  Would love more company, so please let me know if you would like a thrill some morning!

I've been feeding a calico kitty and a red kitty in front of a house on Bay Street.  I place the food under a bush for them, and break up a pill for the red kitty who has been suffering with severe upper respiratory infection.  I noticed this morning that the friendly calico is ear tipped, thank God.  I will try again for red kitty tomorrow on my TNR day, Tuesday.

The kittens are as spunky as ever.   Sparking has some sort of breathing problem, I think I will have to have him brought to the clinic today to figure it out.  He seems fine though, playing and eating!  Although he is also the most lovable and cuddly.   I've got to get them adopted!  I have been reaching out to Peppercorn's new parents, but have not had any response back, which I am a bit upset about.  I've only heard from them once, but I need an update.

TNR Tuesday.  Its tomorrow, so wish me luck.  It will also cost me another $60 per cat, so please consider donating!  The clinic's number is 585-288-0600.  Thank you in advance!

Scenes From a Morning

These are pictures I took this morning of some of the babies that need homes - these kitties are still on the streets.  They are loving, and sweet.  And they don't deserve to struggle like they do.  They receive love and attention for one minute out of their 24 hour day.  Please spread the word.  Please consider adoption, or even fostering.  There are so many benefits.  (CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE UP CLOSE)

SEVEN on 7th Street

SAM on Short Street 

CHIPPIE on Central

Pennsylvania Ave. & 4th Street Kitty

Pennsylvania Ave. & 4th Street Kitty

Flowers in my Garden on Pennsylvania

I need new grasses, and mulch

Cute little (young) red on Pennsylvania and 2nd Street

Muted Cali on Pennsylvania and 2nd

Niagara Street Kitty who climbed the fence

Niagara Street Kitties

What are the benefits of fostering?

Being a foster parent entails taking a homeless cat into your home and providing him/her with food, water, appropriate exercise, basic training, proper handling and love. There is no greater satisfaction or rewarding experience than to watch a cat living on the street bloom into a wonderful pet due to your own generosity and personal commitment to save his or her life.

You only need to treat the pets kindly, have patience with them and understand that they have all been abandoned or displaced by circumstances entirely out of their control. 

By taking a homeless cat into your home, you help to increase the pet's chance of being successfully adopted in a number of ways:

1) You provide love, stability, and attention which will help him/her to rebuild trust in human beings.

2)You make the cat a more attractive candidate to potential adopters by working with the animal on socialization, housebreaking, and basic obedience.

3)Some homeless animals have lived on the street and have never had a regular routine or schedule.  By inviting a displaced pet into your home, you greatly assist him/her in adapting to a home environment—possibly for the first time.

Fostering is a way you can get to know many different cat personalities, with each one being a new adventure and experience.  Most importantly, you will be doing a wonderful thing—giving these deserving animals a chance at a new, loving life.  

 "Happiness begins where selfishness ends.

Give and that is where you find happiness."

No Respect

Rodney Dangerfield.    Animals get no respect either.   I try to write uplifting things in my blog each day, after all, who wants to read sad stuff?  You might as well turn on the geographic channels and watch tigers go after innocent creatures.  But the reality is, its pretty sad out there.  I try not to let it get to me.  But it does.  Just this morning, another of my shelters is being jeopardized.  Its not MY shelter, its the five cats or so that 'live' there.  Garson Avenue.  The man that owns the property is insane.  Well, kooky.  Or I like to say, eccentric.  He had some pretty crazy things placed inside my shelter there.  And the boards and one tote was removed and thrown around.  I left a note for him pleading for mercy.  That's all I can do.  It made me sick to see this, after all the other things I saw before it.  I released two boys after their neuter yesterday, although Baby was already neutered.  I still had to pay full shot - $120.  He was given shots, and had it ear-tipped.  Sam was let back to Short Street, sadly enough.  A definite keeper he is, someone's lost pet. 

UPDATE:  I will write more on this tomorrow, but if anyone knows a skilled craftsman/architect that could design some form of 'pleasing to the eye' shelter, it was suggested that I do this for the Niagara Street shelter I have behind the Rochester Clutch and Break building (which is being sold by end of summer).  I met the owner, very kind and compassionate man, this morning, and he suggested this.  PLEASE, if anyone can come up with an idea for an aesthetically pleasing shelter, I would so appreciate it.

Peppercorn w/his Dad and canine brother!

Peppercorn was brought to his new home yesterday.  He joins his older brother, and two older sisters, besides his new set of parents.  It was terribly hard to leave PC.  He was the only surviving kitten from my niece's cat litter nearly two months ago.  What a cutie he turned out to be.  Cuddly, and sweet.  The best of the bunch - although I know I shouldn't have favorites.  I wish they had taken two kittens, but the new family promised me he would get a lot of love and attention.  I have five kittens left and they are a handful, that is for sure.  The boy Sparky is tugging at my heartstrings now...  such a cute little thing, although they are all cute!  He just sits and looks into my eyes.  He is a bit more mellow than his siblings.

I have a friend in Australia by the name of Jen Brown, and she shares pictures of her dog, Brady Brown, that she rescued last year, after her first beloved doggie went to heaven.  I just have to share his pictures with you, and Jen's story:

Brady Brown in the Aussie forest - he loves the bush and water!

 "We lost our third rescue dog five years ago. I can't do without a pooch so found Brady (then named Oscar) on the internet at Animal Aid, Melbourne.  They are so strict with their animal adoptions. The household has to be harmonious so the poor creature doesn't stress in a new environment.

Jim said "I forbid you to get another dog." So naturally I ignored him.  Brady's former owners dumped him at 10 months because they couldn't cope with young family and an energetic dog.

Yes we always miss our precious clever rescue dogs, but each new one teaches us more values. Patience, love, comfort, friendship and playtime. And Brady Brown Dog is a big hit. 

I work with volunteers and one 85 year old gentleman used to have a Border Collie as his working farm dog. So I'm allowed to take Brady to work at my radio station (Vision Australia Radio for blind and vision impaired )  This senior citizen is going through a bad spell - big changes in life as his wife battles pancreatic cancer.  So just taking Brady out for quality time walks helps him escape from his troubles.

Brady Brown car ride!

And Brady just about has a big fan club with staff and volunteers at work. He is beautiful and the kids and Jim love him even though they all told me not to get another dog. (get lost I said!!)" 

Brady Brown and his doggy toy!

I would love to hear your stories!  Please share a pic and a story with me - you can send to janinethebean10@yahoo.com.  Thanks very much!

"Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man."

Stayin Alive, Stayin Alive

We all know who that is...   Bee Gees....  Dating myself again. 

I say this because after I left Niagara Street this morning, and once again had to deal with the guy that I really really do not like, I realized that what I am doing is just keeping these cats alive.  They come out from under cars, or out of the crack in between the buildings, or from their tiny little huts when they hear me coming, and wait for me to fill their empty bowls.  And then you have some jerk that tries to deprive these animals of the only hope they have.  NO, YOU CAN'T FEED THEM HERE.  And its not just this big fat jerk on Niagara, the attitude is rampant across this city.  Laws need to be made, and changed.  When you have a situation like this, where it IS private property, but no 'no trespassing' signs, and the only life this one person has is to wake up and come out and wait for me to pull up at 4 am. just to threaten me with calling the police, and the latest, call the sanitation department and have my shelters across the street removed.

I have not heard back from Officer Fridley from the NET office after having placed a call to her a week and a half ago.  I know I need to do this, but my life is just full.  I work full-time, and I am exhausted by the time I get home at 5pm., when most everyone else has left their job.  I also hesitate to do this because usually the outcome is never in the cats' favor.  There is no one out there to speak up to the authorities for the animals.  The strays, the ferals, the ones that have no say in anything.  I am tired of it all.  I told this big fat jerk this morning that he can call whoever he wants to but I won't give up on the animals, that I am prepared for a fight.  I swear, I really don't like him.  And just so you know, I keep my blog PG rated because I know there are a few people that read this that don't like my swearing.  And you know who you are.  :)  And I love you anyways.  :)

Sam from Short Street

Baby from Bay Street

First thing after I left the house was to drive to Bay Street and set a trap for the sick red kitty I posted a pic of yesterday.  I set that, and then drove to Central near Fifth Street to try to get another of the five or so kitties that hang there.  I got one from there two weeks ago, a young one, and he has been letting me touch his nose now.  They almost always come around after I TNR them.  I then went and fed the kitties on Niagara, and started to get into it with BFJ but told him I didn't have time for this nonsense today, that I had traps set.  So back I went to Bay near Seventh Street, and voila, got an older tabby.  Not the calico sitting on the porch next door, nor the red kitty.  Good enough.  Then I checked on the Central Park trap, nothing yet, so drove off to Short Street to get a young boy that's been hanging around Whiskers and Baby Buttons, and BAM, grabbed him by the scruff, threw him into carrier, and there, I have my limit for today.  Both off to the clinic.  Success.  Although this is an expensive morning so far.  These two cats will cost me $120.  I could sure use some help if anyone is willing.  The clinic's number is 585-288-0600.  Thanking you in advance!

Wishing you all a wonderful day.

"Don't try to change the world.

Start smaller."