Over The Hump Day

Hi Blog.  Its been a whirlwind.  Sooooo many things going on in my life.  Cats and other stuff, but we will stick to cats for now.

So last week, I was driving down Central Park near 7th and there was a car nearly in the road stopped, and the door was open, and you could hear shouting.  Here its 6 am.  I did a few spots, and then I turned around and asked the guy, clearly upset, if he needed the police.  There was a female sitting on the steps by now at a house on the corner.  She was screaming at him.  He said thank you and yes, but no, and said that the woman had broken his key to the ignition and he couldn't start the car.  Meanwhile, she is yelling to me to mind my own $@@$ business.  He shouts back 'at least she cares!'.  I shrugged my shoulders, wished him luck, and drove off slowly while she and I eyed each other.  After I left I thought about this.  To mind my own business.  IF someone had NOT minded their own business, I might not have been as traumatized as I was two years ago when I was attacked one block away.  I distinctly remember standing in the middle of the road while a car was coming, waving my hands, and the car turned onto the street just before where I was standing.  They didn't want to get involved.  I would never do that.  I would always help someone in need.  

Meanwhile, its been a summer for kittens.  While I am trying to get away from this rescue business, I get calls ALL THE TIME from various people -- strangers looking to rehome their cat, strangers that have a stray hanging around and want me to help them find it a home, strangers calling about a cat with kittens on their property, friends who have someone contact them about kittens, friends who have a very pregnant cat and asking if I can take in the cat and kittens under my rescue, me finding kittens at a shelter I feed at, me rescuing kittens left on the street by irresponsible people.....  it just never ends!  I am for sure running out of funds and have not had a fundraiser in years.  On top of that, where I work, its a conflict of interest for me to be part of the ROC the Day, where I used to get a chunk of money that 'helped.'  So much money will go to vetting all these kittens, as they surely get sick, or need wellness checks, and I don't recoup that from the adoption fee.  That leaves me with less to feed the cats on the street, many of them running to me, begging me to get them adopted.  And people that allow a cat to get pregnant and remain pregnant, it boils my blood.  What about the sweet innocents on the street? Kittens grow up!  I understand if the cat is ready to pop, don't get me wrong, its just mind blowing knowing there are so many ignorant people out there allowing 'their' cat outside unneutered/unspayed.  What is wrong with our society.

Whiskers had his surgery on his eyelids Monday, and came out with flying colors, although quite humiliated having to wear his collar.  What do y'all think.  Ha. His foster mom, Kim, is a true foster failure and fell in love and asked to keep him.  Ugh.  Lost another adult foster.  But she is the best mom for him, I couldn't see him with anyone else.  Thanks Kim! xo  And thank you Debbie for funding the surgery for him.  I could never have done it.  xo

These two brats were picked up last week from the street - Grey and Stripe

And this little one - Squeaker - was rescued on Garson.  June saw him while I was placing food, and scooped him up.  He/she came right up to her.  I never could capture his sibling. So sad.  Just four little weeks old.  The cutest things ever.  We have five more in foster with Jenn, and Kristin has two she is fostering.  Then we have another two with a former adopter who rescued these two in a barn.  All can be found on Petfinder.  Check them out and adopt!  Or contact me if you can foster an adult cat from the street.  So worthwhile, really.

Have a great day!

TGIF!

 Time sure does fly by.  I continue to go out every other day and feed the kitties, and then race home to eat and get ready for work.  Never a dull moment.  I go through 5 16-lb bags and 14 large cans of wet cat food for each feeding.  I have three crazy girls that get up early and help me, on separate days, and boy am I grateful.  In the summer days, its light at 5 am. so basically I could do it on my own, its just carrying the heavy gear i.e. water jugs, food, etc.  

I see so many sweet adoptable cats out there, my heart breaks, so on the days I don't feed, I don't want to think about them or cats in general because its too depressing.  We don't have enough people to take in a cat for fostering.  I know of at least 5 'worthy' cats right now out there.  Beautiful cats too.  The one adult cat in foster, Whiskers, the foster is falling in love with and is thinking about adopting, but I don't want to lose this foster because she does so well with the adult cats that come off the street, grooming them for their new home.  So I told her to hold off, maybe the right fit will come along for Whiskers, who is slated for surgery on July 5th, to have his eyelids turned out right.  They are curled in right now making it hard for him, or uncomfortable for him, to open his eyes.

The kittens my former adopter found are just precious.  She too has wanted to keep them.  But I told her, we will find the right adopter, to take them both.  I still need to visit her to determine sexes, and then will post on Petfinder.  Mila and Ruby, for now, but I could swear one of the is a boy.

You can see why she is in love with them!

Have a great day!

"There are no great people in this world, 

only great challenges which ordinary people 

rise to meet."

Ignorance

 

Yesterday, in going out on my rounds to feed the many cats I feed in the Beechwood area of Rochester, I came upon a sight that I KNEW I was going to see, but hated to see regardless.  Four baby kittens under a bush with two adults standing around.  It was in front of a house where months ago, a woman was putting her garbage out, and there were older kittens outside and I said to her, are those your cats?  She said yes, I asked her if they were spayed or neutered, she said no, they are boys.  I explained why it didn’t matter.  I drove away shaking my head.  Sure enough, now we have more cats on the street.  I got out of my car, went over and placed a plate of food and bowl of water.  The one young adult, don’t know if it was the mother or not, came over hungrily to eat.  And soon, so did two of the four kittens.  I was able to pick up the two separately, but placed them back down as I did not have a plan.  I always need a plan.  I contacted a friend to help me get the adult cats spayed and neutered (TNR), and I would grab the kittens the next morning.  I still didn’t have a plan when I woke this am. about the kittens.  But as usual, knowing there are babies out there, on the busy street of Melville, its all I could think about, so I went out at 5 am. to see if they were there.  They were not.  I will attempt again tomorrow.  I am sick about it.

In the same vein, if you remember the two gorgeous white kittens under my rescue a few months ago, they came from a cat named Fluffy, who belongs to a family in the city.  They were giving the kittens away to an acquaintance and he asked me if I wanted them, which I did, and had them spayed and adopted out. I made contact with the family, and made an appointment for Fluffy to get spayed. First excuse, a member came down with Covid.  Cancel first appointment. Make another for Fluffy.  “I forgot” about the appointment was the next excuse.  New appointment made, and yesterday I get a text from the woman that Fluffy got out by mistake and is now pregnant again.

I am pissed off by such irresponsibility.  More homeless cats and more unwanted kittens on this planet. This woman is pregnant herself, so of course, she is totally against getting this cat spayed and her kittens aborted.  I told her – ITS NOT THE SAME.  I sent her a link as to why it isn’t.

Spaying a pregnant cat terminates the pregnancy, making this a controversial issue. Some people cannot bear the thought of killing fetal kittens. Others raise concern allowing the pregnant cat to have kittens contributes to the pet overpopulation problem.

Spaying a pregnant cat includes abortion, a word that evokes a variety of emotions. Proponents don't like having to take lives of unborn kittens, but their position is based on pragmatic reasoning. Opponents simply do not like the taking of lives under any circumstances, whether born or unborn.

Many animal shelters automatically spay a pregnant cat that comes into the shelter. Some no-kill shelters allow the mother cat to give birth, especially if the pregnancy is late-term. There are some rescue groups that opt to never spay a rescued pregnant cat.

The enormous cat overpopulation problem is partially caused by cat owners' failure to spay or neuter their cats.  Unspayed cats that spend time outside are highly likely to become pregnant. Whether owned, stray, or feral, these cats and their surviving kittens continue to mate, and the offspring from those matings continue to mate. Unspayed females can become pregnant by one or more of their non-neutered male kittens. A pregnant female cat and her descendants can account for the births of several hundred kittens in just a few years.

Animal rescue groups, humane societies, and TNR (trap-neuter-release) groups are overwhelmed in trying to control cat overpopulation, and "kitten season," which extends for a long part of each year in many geographical areas, is met with dread by these groups. They know this year's kitten crop will be responsible for the deaths of last year's kittens or older cats at shelters. There simply isn't enough space to house them all, and something must give. It's a matter of supply and demand and young kittens are in the highest demand.

Spaying a rescued pregnant cat can help contain the overpopulation problem.  There are simply too few homes for the huge number of homeless cats. Preventing an unplanned litter may also help prevent the deaths of living cats and kittens. Even when a pregnant female cat is adopted by the finder, and there are good homes waiting for her kittens, some people view each of those kittens as being indirectly responsible for the death of a shelter cat or kitten that might have been adopted into one of those homes.

Of course, there is no evidence that the people who plan to adopt the mother and/or kittens would have gone to the shelter instead. Perhaps they weren't even looking for a cat until they heard a friend, neighbor, or co-worker had adoptable kittens. An individual who is willing to keep both the mother cat and the kittens or find good, permanent homes for them, should not be made to feel guilty for allowing the birth. Of course the mother cat and her kittens should be spayed and neutered as soon as possible.

If the pregnant cat is very young, very old, or in poor health, pregnancy can cause even more health problems. The kindest and most compassionate action anyone could take with one of these cats is to spay her and abort her litter.

Lastly, a very rare sighting of a cat I rescued as an older kitten, Butterscotch, who remained feral in my house.  He sneaks up occasionally when I am around.  

Have a great day!

"Ignorance isn't bliss, but sometimes Ignorance makes it possible for us to sleep at night."

The Long and Short of It

 

What happened to last week?  It was a blur.  I spent the entire weekend outside, which is where I prefer, always.  What with the holiday weekend and all, I tried not to think about cats.  Yes, I do try to have a life outside of cats.  I couldn’t do it without fosters though.  I would be overwrought with guilt because someone somewhere is always asking for help with a cat here, kitten there, in need of help.  Take for instance, I got a call from a former adopter (Ernie and Jake’s new mom) of two kittens that is just the sweetest girl, and I am friends of her mom and aunt, so it was hard to ignore.  She said her step sister’s father has a barn and he’s found 5 kittens, in Shortsville.  Long story short, she was able to get two of the kittens, but the other three have gone missing.  I have them kitten traps, but they kept getting the adult cats, that are obviously starving to death.  I have no idea if they are even being fed, there are somethings my heart just can’t take knowing.

Long story short, meet these two cuties.  They went to vet for exam, both fairly well despite one having an eye issue, which is being cleared up as we speak.  That is my foster Christina.  Thank you Christina, for caring.

Then there is SUE!  My sweet Sue took in a momma and three kittens a few weeks ago.  Kittens still being socialized but momma is very sweet, and SLOWLY acclimating to Rose, the dog, and the other kitties that are Sue’s babies (Sue adopted Maize and Toebe from me a few y ears ago as kittens).  Thank you Sue for these wonderful pictures.

And last but not least, KIM!  Thanks Kim for your care and concern and love and foster for our old guy Loren, who is now aptly named Whiskers.  He has the funniest, curliest whiskers.  He is terribly shy, but slowly coming out of his shell.  His ‘sponsor’, a sweet woman named Debbie (who also previously adopted a kitty from me years ago – and whose husband made me those beautiful heavy wooden shelters years ago that were destroyed by the city – namely on Niagara Street), offered to get Whiskers to a vet if I had a foster.  That’s where Kim came in.  Long story short, Whiskers needs surgery – he may – on his eyelids which are turned in and have apparently been bothering him for a long time, could be from birth, which makes him not want to, or able to, open his eyes fully.  So, another vet visit soon, and we will find out about that.  Two angels for one cat.

Lastly, is anyone as neurotic as I am?  I used up some eggs, but there was only one left in the carton, and I felt SORRY for it, being alone.  So my other neurotic friend, Kristin, (who is the only person I know so far that could relate) told me to put a lime in with it.  So I did.  And yes, they are still happily together.

GREAT stories!

Have a great day!

"Today happens only once.  Make it Amazing!"

The Trash Man

 

There is a man on Central Park that I see each feeding time (its light out now at 5am!) and he has one of those ‘pick up’ sticks? and a basket and he goes around and picks up the trash on Central and some of the street in between.  I stopped the first time I saw him and thanked him for what he did.  He actually cares about his neighborhood, and let me tell you, these streets around are the filthiest I’ve seen.  It seems there are so many that don’t care for their properties, but obviously there are some that do.  He’s actually pretty handsome too! 😊

Well, Friday I received a request from a woman in the city, on Parsells, that found a mother cat and her three kittens in her shed.  She said the mother cat let her pet her, and the kittens were rather hissy, maybe around 5 weeks old.  And here I always say, I am not taking in anymore kitties.  Well, I picked them up Saturday morning. Ugh.  Thanks to Sue for offering to foster.  I couldn’t do this without a foster.

I also went to visit our little man, Loren, the grey kitty that I thought was blind after rescuing from the street last week.  Thanks to Kim, his foster, for her patience and devotion to getting a very timid adult cat to come around to trusting humans.  He is not feral, just very timid, and is going to make someone’s heart swell a million times over once adopted.  These are the kind of cats that show their gratitude in many ways after they learn to trust.  He is still being treated with eye meds and we will see how he turns out after a few weeks with his vision.

That’s about it.  I am grateful to all the people that help me in so many ways. 

Have a great day!

Another Rescue!

 

Its been a great week.  After many years of living on the streets, “Loren”, the kitty on Pennsylvania Avenue that I have been feeding throughout at least two winters, and three springs, is now in the safe zone.  My trapper friend Lori has diligently parked herself on the street with a drop trap for the past few days, and she got him on Monday.  He came to my porch, spent the night in the trap, and was brought to the clinic yesterday where he passed with flying colors his testing.  His eyes, I was told, was severe conjunctivitis, but he will be thoroughly checked out tomorrow by York vet made possible by a kind woman that is friend’s with my sister, through work – both teachers – and whose husband made me these huge, beautiful wooden shelters many years ago which the city has since destroyed, Deb.  Deb offered to take him after his surgery, nurse him to health for a day, bring him to vet, and then drop him off to his final foster, Kim.  I will update tomorrow after his next vet appointment.  Poor guy, he certainly is in a state of shock after all that has happened, and will happen, but here’s to hoping he will become someone’s best friend soon.  He really is a special boy.

The weather is gorgeous.  I am loving it.  The mornings are light, almost too.  I had a man stop twice now in two weeks in his car and ask if I was taking the cats from the neighborhood.  He said they needed them there to keep the rats at bay.  I told him what I do, and have been doing, and have permission from the Mayor to do it.  He seemed like a normal guy, but his second round, he told me they were bringing in cats from another city to take care of the rats.  I said, I hope they are neutered, because that is what we are trying to do.  He said no, they lose their fight when they are neutered.  Good God, that’s all we need is people like this with a mentality like that.

That’s all I have for now.  Please spay and neuter, even if its not YOUR cat.

Have a great day!

"Grow through

what you

go through."

The Cat A Log

 Click on the pics to ZOOM in:

Another crazy week, but that’s my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I made Orange-Almond Shortbread and they were/are DELICIOUS.  But what a pain to make.  Not hard, but dough so flaky and dry it was hard to work with.  Plenty of people asking for a taste, so as usual, I give more away than I eat.  Thank God though, or I would be fat. 😌

The two gorgeous, sweet and precious white kittens are going to their new home today, and I am really going to miss them.  They went from frightened, to standoffish, to sweet and cuddly in a matter of days.  They follow me around and want to be by my side when I am sitting.  They are just precious and I pray that they love their new home as much as they love it here.  I also hope they get plenty of playtime with their new mom because I can’t give them the attention they need.  That is why I am NOT a kitten fan.  It’s a LOT of work and time. 

The kittens Sheryl is fostering are getting bigger and bigger.  They will be six weeks old this Sunday, and their new adoptive parents are so excited to have them.  They won’t go until they are fully weaned, and at least 8 weeks old.  Two weeks.  Momma Melanie’s adoptive mom is very excited to get her also.  I have no pictures because Sheryl is not the best at taking pictures.  I have no clue what they look like today.  I will ask her to get me some pics.  

The blind grey kitty on Pennsylvania was there this morning after my not having seen him in two days.  He is still very scared, but if he doesn’t know you are right there, you can pet him while he eats.  He backs right into your touch, so I know he is a good boy, and deserving of treatment of his eyes and a good home.  Thank you Kimberly of Caledonia for offering to foster another adult kitty.  It will be a process for me because he needs to stay in a room at my house, and vetted before he can go to Kim.  Again, it so hard to know who is most deserving of these rare rescues of adults from the streets, there are just so many, but this guy has been out there for so long, and who knows, with medication, his eyes might get better.  He will cost a pretty penny, and while I still have that penny, he is worth it.

At this very spot last week I had to peel another dead cat off the street.  Its so sad that some people can just hit these animals and drive way without another thought.  Luckily it was not one of the two reds, or the calico that are my regulars there.

The Niagara building is being sold to be used as a halfway house.  It’s the old Rochester Clutch and Brake (or something like that) and its home to three regular cats, two tabbies and a tux.  I have no idea where they will go when they tear down my shelters behind the building.  This morning there was stuff piled on top of the shelters, and the grass was spray painted colors in certain spots.  Some morning I am going to arrive and everything will be gone.  The cats will be double homeless.

The weather is still springish out there and I am grateful. Nothing like four in the morning and listening to the still quiet of the morning, the birds chirping, and not another sound around.  It’s the perfect time of day.

Have a great day!