Pictures!

My babies!  Left to Right- Smokey, Midnight, Scooter!

In answer to someone's comment yesterday, I could really use a large board, and the size of that would be - I would guestimate to be - 5 foot by 4 foot?  Pretty large.  I would probably need help delivering it to Hayward, which is near East Main Street/Goodman/Culver area.  Any help anyone can offer, would be great.  Thank you!

I took some photos this morning of shelters, and kitties!  Here they are!

Hayward Shelter - where they removed the large board - this looks terrible.

Baldwin Kitty

Baldwin Shelters - under the board I place food there too - pretty pathetic



Baldwin Kitties



Sixth St. Shelter that Sheryl built - thanks Sheryl!

Inside the shelter - you can see they've been using it - I refilled with straw this morning

 



Sixth Street Shelters

 



Hatch Shelter on Seventh - Kristin made - thanks Kristin!

OK, running out of time, must get to work, but before I forget, my sweet Rupert, the very sick, white cat I rescued from Baldwin almost a month ago, has been adopted!  The same woman that adopted a kitty from the street from me almost two years ago told me last week that he needed a companion, and she took Rupert, sight unseen.  He is thrilled in his new home - he joins his brother Toby, and two canine siblings!  :) 

 

Rupert

 

Winky/Zoey

 

Some news that has brought me sadness - my baby Winky, the kitten I rescued nearly two months ago, and was adopted a month ago, - she is very ill.  She has been brought to the vet is being watched closely.  I feel terrible about it.  I had her tested for FIV and Leuk before her adoption, and has now had a second test for that because they aren't always 100% correct, from what I understand, along with along with toxoplasmosis and FIP, which is apparently uncurable.  Please keep Winky - now Zoey, in your prayers today. 



My Spots!

I wanted to give an update on all my feeding spots.

Parsells #1 - so far so good.  the man that bought the place and has been renovating it has continued to allow me to keep my shelter on the porch, with boards over it to shelter some of the snow and wind.  I don't know how long I have, but I pray he will come up with a plan to allow me to continue to feed somewhere on that property, so many depend on it.  I only see two in the dark, but I am sure there are more around there.  Neck wound kitty, and a more friendlier long haired grey are the two I mostly see. 

Parsells #2 -  this is where a white guy named John had been living, with his German Shepard Silver, but now there is a black guy named Kevin there, and I am not sure about John.  Kevin came out the other morning and I introduced myself and he did tell me that he was moving in November, and wasn't sure if the landlord would allow me to continue, or the new renters.  I have a wonderful shelter built up in the back.  I pray I am good there.  I am ready for the 'begging' if I need to when and if I am confronted.  The food is always gone, and I've seen cats run from this spot when I approach.  I feed here every other day.

Short - I continue to feed Mr. Black Cat and a red and white kitty here.  There was a white and brown tabby that had been coming around, crying as he waited for me to leave so that he could gobble his food, but I haven't seen him in a week or so.  I  have a couple of nice shelters here inside this garage, but if we get a full blown blizzard, its going to be covered.  Not the most ideal.

Garson/Chamberlain - I pick up and hold a grey kitty here each morning.  He is my next 'victim'.  Grey cats have such sweet personalities.  I know he would make someone a good companion if given the chance.  I have not seen Casey here in quite a while, since I had to move my feeding spot around the corner to a vacant house.  I've placed two large totes filled with straw, and a board on top of it.  Its somewhat sheltered from the westerly winds.  I've also been feeding Lucy here regularly now.  Funny, how they sit at the new spot and wait.  They are so smart!

Hayward - I see several kitties running from two large totes I have placed here.  Occasionally I see a beautiful calico here and she gets just so close, and then goes quickly for the food undernearth the board that leans against the house.  Last week, someone actually stole the large board I had, so now I have it replaced with a very small board.  Its not ideal, I need to find a very large board to place there.  When the snow storms come, the small board is going to be useless in protecting the food.  This morning, to my untrained eye, I think there was a stakeout happening.  Some cop cars, lights off, one cop standing idly by behind his car, watching straight ahead.  I had to make a turn - but I would bet they were after someone on that street, a crim, sleeping.  Oh such excitement!

Baldwin - I continue to feed at least five cats here that I can see - I have some very nice shelters here, I hope they hold up in the snowstorms.  We shall see.  I've not seen the calico kitten in over a month now.   If you remember, someone had her fixed, and placed her back here.  No one that I can think of that would even do this will admit it.  No one feeds or TNR's in my area, so I am bewildered as to how she was fixed and returned, or who would take her, if that's the case.  I pray it is.

Webster/Ferndale - I continue to drive past here slowly, always looking for any cats I've left behind, and to see if they are starving by sitting there waiting for me, but I haven't seen them.  But I will continue to look for them, as I still feel so sad that I had to stop feeding here.

Short - I continue to place food down here, mostly for Milly and Morgan, but I am sure there are stragglers that come here for the two totes and a wooden hut, that surely needs to be replaced.  This is where I cleaned out the hut a month or two ago and retrieved a nasty, smelly dead rat.  I believe that smell is still there because of it, or the hut is rotting.  So, I need a new wooden shelter there.

Sixth - I continue to feed at least five kitties here.  Most are still wary of me, but one is allowing me to hold him!  Actually, I think its a girl, and I would love to find a barn situation for her, but I believe she would miss her siblings.  They were all born on this street, and most have been neutered and spayed.  There is one that I noticed limping this morning.  That was a gray kitty with white spots on it.  I drove away very sad about that, but hoping it will heal quickly.

Pennsylvania and Fourth - have not seen Big Red #2 in quite a while.  Its still so dark there, I don't know who I am feeding - they are not always familiar, but I see at least three or four running when I pull up.  One to me, and the others away from me.  I have placed a large board, with holes in it, on the side of the house instead of the porch I feed them on in the summer time.  This porch is open, and sustains the westerly storms that come out way.  There is ample shelter behind this abandoned house, but not enough for these territorial cats.  So, I try to make do with what I can.

Pennsylvania & Second.  The man that lives in this house - whom I've never met, continues to allow me to feed behind his house.  I have not seen the large, sweet black cat there in quite awhile.  There is another black cat that is afraid of me, and a grey one also, that I see usually, lurking in the dark, waiting for me to leave.

Second - Paul continues to allow me to shelter and feed behind his house - but the cats left here are few and far between.  At least what I can see, in the dark, for the few minutes I am here.  Little Ruby is gone, but there is a black cat and a white with brown spots that I see just about every morning.  This street used to be littered with cats, until I came along.   Now, most have been rescued, or have moved on.

Central and Third - I feed a grey kitty here, and Tuffy was there again this morning.  Yesterday, I saw an almost all white kitty there.  I need a large board to cover the opening to the porch here to block out the storms, but there are two nice tote shelters here with a board over it. 

Central - I continue to feed a calico here, she is very shy, and won't too close here.  Rolo shows up occasionally, the black and white kitty with a stub of a tail.  Cedric and Prince are doing fairly well in their new home, a barn in Scottsville.  Cedric is being stalked by another red barn kitty there, but I am hoping they will work things out soon.  Prince is very sweet, and loves his new digs, but has had an arm injury, so his new 'mom' is keeping an eye on him.

Central - The slew of sweet kitties is down to a few - not sure if this woman on the corner is taking some in, or whats happened to a lot of them.  Now I feed - daily - a black with white kitty, Charlie Sr., and another multi colored kitty.  I placed a small shelter down there yesterday, not expecting to see it there today, but it was.  I had placed some down there in the early summer, but they were destroyed.  This is a very open spot. 

Seventh - Kristin came by Saturday morning and placed a beautiful shelter for me - its like a cab of a truck, or something.  Not sure if that is what its called, but I will try to get pics tomorrow and show you.  Pretty ingenious though!  I feed at least four or five kitties here.  I could see indentations in the straw of this cab hut this morning, so I felt pretty good about that.  You never know if they are using these shelters unless you see them actually come out of them.

That's it.  This turned out way too long.  Its back to work for me, and its going to be a very long week.  I will keep you posted on more tomorrow! 

Have a great day!

Winter Blast



CHARLIE SR.



BABY MAMA on 7th




FLUFFY BLACK BOY on 7th


Well, at least 20 states were affected by the storm that hit yesterday, mine included, but I tell ya, if we could have snow 'storms' like this one every time, I would be a happy camper.  The snow came straight down, there was no wind, so no drifts, no cleaning out shelters that were covered with boards, no real shoveling to do out there this morning.  And it took me just over an hour, which is what I normally do on a good day.  We had about four or five inches over night, but the street and sidewalk plows did their job in the wee hours, so driving wasn't too bad.  Most of the kitties were waiting for me, I was so glad I could provide them with their breakfast in this winter wonderland that they were out in.  I saw many come out of the shelters that are placed for them, and some I wonder where they sleep even though they have shelter.   I saw my little grey guy from Garson at the new spot around the corner.  He is my next rescue.   I hope it comes soon.



RUBY

Right now though, I have to say goodbye to my little newly found friend Ruby.  I want to thank everyone who expressed their condolences.   It means the world to me to read comments from you.  You all have such good hearts.   I've been giving her extra special loving - today at 3:20 I will bring her in.  Its so hard to do because she is not showing signs of sickness.  I hold her, listen to her purring.  She has a nice little cozy blanketed bed on the windowsill that she sits at looking out at the crowded birdfeeder and birdbath.  She is my little angel sent from above.  This is going to be a tough one for me.  :(

I have the rest of the week off, and I am loving it.

I wish all of you a healthy and peaceful holiday.  I know for myself I am thankful for alot.  I am thankful for my friends, family, the job I have, a roof over my head, and being able to care for my own cats, and for the cats that are fortunate enough to have me feeding them out there, day after day, and rescuing as many as I can.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

"The best & most beautiful things in life cannot be seen,

not touched, but are felt in the heart."

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday

Its something you can never get use to. I feed so many homeless cats, every morning and in the act of putting food and water down for them. leaving them with shelter there is a comfort for which I am so grateful. This feeding of the cats is expensive and it is tiring but it is such a blessing. Once a cat begins to trust me, to come to me without fear and show their affection I will try to rescue them and place them in a home; a forever home with a family that is going to love them all their life.

But then every so often a cat I rescue comes with something so dreadful it just breaks my heart.

On Sunday morning I rescued Ruby from Second because I could have sworn she was pregnant. She was instantly loving and affectionate so I wasn't able to put her back on the street after I was told she was not pregnant. A pure cuddler this one is.  Yesterday she went to the vet for a check up. Before she can mix with other cats, and the first of these will always be my own cats, they have to be checked out to make sure they are fit and healthy.  Well, that 'baby' I felt in her tummy is actually her spleen.  She  has an enlarged spleen, and to boot - feline leukemia.

So her future is not as bright as it was yesterday.  Her life that I thought stretched out before us will not be long. She cannot be allowed to mix with other cats for fear she will infect them.  I will make the appointment for Ruby to be put to sleep either today or tomorrow.  Some would call this murder.  I call it ending life compassionately.  Can you imagine if I had put her back on the street, in her condition?  Her future would be filled with pain and suffering.  I know if I had an incurable disease, I would want my life to end compassionately, not to suffer.  There aren't enough people that take in these type of sick cats, so there is no other choice.

For a couple of days she has enjoyed love and affection and I hope she has had a measure of warmth and comfort she never knew on the mean streets of Rochester.   I will always love you Ruby girl!

Oh No! I Did it Again!!! & FIRE!!!

I thought I had seen it all.  Last year when I saw a body lying in the middle of the street on Grand Avenue I remember thinking that is going to be hard to beat. Well this morning I beat that one.

Right in the middle of two of my feeding places a house was on fire, smack dab in the middle of two of my spots.  It was not a small fire either. This one was big enough to have at least five fire trucks, police blocking off the streets and at least one ambulance. So many of these old houses were once grand residences in Rochester. Now they are in a poor state and all too often they are now falling victim to the hazards of fire.

My kitties were nowhere to be seen and who could blame them. The sight of this big house fire is enough to frighten me but for the cats it must be really horrifying. When I was there it was completely out of control and the police and firemen were just getting there. With the police blocking off the streets, I had to take a few detours to get to those feeding spots.

On Baldwin Street, after driving around the block, getting out amongst a dozen rescue vehicles, I left the food and water for the hiding cats, and spotted a man standing next to the lot watching all the action. I introduced myself and told him what I was doing.  He told me he was from Africa and lived there with his family at the house right next to the lot I feed in.  I cannot begin to imagine how he felt about it all. He told me his son woke him and said 'Daddy, theres a fire!"  

I am sure most of you have seen this story on the television news this morning and you will have heard reports of it on the radio news as you drive to work. Nothing can convey just how horrible these fires really are. Now I am home and I heard there were 8 people living in that house, 3 adults and 5 children. They are now without a place to live - they've lost their home and their possessions.  If the wind had been as bad as it was this past weekend, the homes next door would be experiencing the same thing. The shelters I have for the cats are OK but I don't know when they will come back if they come back at all.

Its a reminder that we are once again in the fire season. People have to heat their houses and with that goes the risk of fire. A quick word of thanks to the men of the Rochester Police Dept. They were busy blocking off the streets around this fire and a couple of times I found myself caught in their way. They were very polite and courteous to me. They could have been angry and really got in my face but they didn't. They just quietly directed me in the best way out.

On another note:   Some people might think I am stupid, and a lot of the times, when I think this, I convince myself that I am.  There is a cat on Second that I've been feeding for a long time now, and I thought she was pregnant, but then thought, no wait a minute, is she eartipped?  Or not?  You have to be in my shoes in the dark in the morning - its not always easy to spot a cat that's been eartipped.  Well, on Friday morning as I was placing food down, which she waits for each morning because she is so hungry, I felt her belly and could have sworn I felt the silhouette of a baby inside her.  I grabbed her by the scruff, walked her to the car, opened the carrier, placed her in, and she shot like a bolt of lightning out the back, where I hadn't noticed the latch was undone.  OK, so, I scold myself for not being careful, I go back behind the house to finish up feeding, and she comes back again!  So, I grabbed her by the scruff, walked her back to the car, and placed her in the carrier.  She did it again.  This time she ran down the street. I thought to myself, she will never trust me again, and I left there feeling horrible.  I thought, surely, she will have her babies after that traumatizing experience, and I could have prevented it.  I had someone lined up to take her too, and birth her babies.  OK, so next morning.  Cats must forget quickly, at least this one did, because sure enough, she comes sidling up to me again, and this time I placed her in the carrier knowing the latch in the back was secure, and she wasn't going anywhere!  Well, I brought her to Diane, who was waiting for her at 6 am.  Diane brought her down to a room, came back and said 'Janine, this cat is not pregnant, and she is eartipped!'.  I felt like a fool.  And in the light, I could see she was, but if you see this ear, because her ear was tipped so long ago, fur has grown over the cut part.  So, there!  :)

After an application of flea treatment, I placed her back in the carrier and said 'ok, I will return her to the street.'  Well, not five seconds out of the driveway, I thought 'I am NOT returning this sweet little girl back to the cold and misery that she  has been living in,  and I brought her home!  Can't believe I did it again.  And I named her Ruby!  Here she is! 

Ruby is the sweetest little girl.  After cowering in a corner, being in a house for the first time in a very long time, who knows if ever, she has learned how to use the litter box, and now waits for me to come in and rub her tummy.  I will be bringing her to the vet to see what her bulge might be, and have her tested, and if all goes well, she will be ready for adoption!  She is a very sweet little girl.  Please help spread the news!

Mucho Dinero

7th Street Sick Kitty - Missing

All was quiet this morning.  At each of my locations, the usual suspects were waiting for me - an average of three cats - most have just that, but some have five or six, and some have one.   There are spots where I've been feeding the same cats day in and day out, never missing a beat, and then there are some where I haven't seen the little one in a long while, a short while, or since yesterday.  You wonder what has happened to the ones you haven't seen in a long while.  You know they are homeless, you know this or that one was very sick the last time you saw them, you know that the most likely scenario was not a good one - so you say a little prayer for them, and hope to see them again.   Take my mother's cat, that she had let out for five minutes before a coyote attacked and killed her.  She was the mom of four beautiful kittens, three of them died shortly after birth, and the other lived, being named Katie, and went on to a good home.  Poor Penny.  She didn't deserve to die like that.  My mother was sick over it.  This is why I don't believe in letting animals outdoors, and the fact that I feed over 30 strays each day - people who have either kicked out the cat because being unneutered or unsprayed, are spraying their house, or they move and leave the animals there, and now you have a city full of homeless animals.  And I try to care for them all.  But I can't protect them. 

Pennsylvania & 4th - Winter

Someone asked me how much food I go through per day.  It still amazes me how I've been able to do this on my own, with occasional help from some very kind people who occasionally donate, and for that I am so grateful, but on average, I go through 16-18 pounds per day of dry food - that's $10 per bag, which with taxes, is close to $80 or $90 (I was never a math major), and wet food, which is like gold to them - well - a box of canned food is at least $15 for 24 cans?  I go through 25 5-oz. cans per day.  That's a lot of food.  And that's a lot of money each week I am spending out of my own pocket, in a one income household.  I am still amazed at how I've been able to keep afloat - and I wonder and worry how long I will be able to do it. 

These cats depend on me, its their one and only meal of the day before the other cats hiding in the shadows push in, or the raccoons and opossums sniff their way to the food - they are so hungry each morning - there is not one fat cat on my route. 

I am thankful for the weather, and that they haven't needed the shelters that I am trying to provide, and that they will need to survive the freezing cold temps we will for sure experience very soon. 

On a brighter note, I was able to place a tote shelter on the porch of the abandoned house just around the corner on Garson and Chamberlain, and called for the kitties that I could see waiting on the porch of the house where the owner hates me and removes my bowls each and every day.  They came running, which made me happy.  I've been distraught wondering how I was going to shelter these three cats that I feed on a regular basis, Casey, Lucy, and this grey kitty, and hopefully - if I am quiet enough and the neighbors don't see me at that time in the morning, this new spot will their new home, for a while.  Until the next cat hater comes along and tells me to stop feeding there.  Ah, the small things that make our day, eh? 

I have tomorrow off from work, thank God - my spirit needs renewing.

Have a great weekend. 

"Hate is not the first enemy of love.  Fear is.

It destroys your ability to trust."

Rupert... and Others!

Look at this cat. Is this the most beautiful cat in the world?  Well, maybe you don't feel that way, maybe you have your own kitties that you feel are the most beautiful in the world, but this baby I rescued very very sick from the streets three weeks ago, had him vetted and treated for URI, neutered, and look at him now.  He was a MESS.  What a very lucky cat he is now!  This is just one story out of hundreds that I have.

Pepper and Penny then

Here's another - remember the two baby kittens, they were born outside on Hayward - they were two out of six or seven kittens born early this spring that I rescued, and look at them now! Luckiest cats in the world - living the high life in Webster with a loving family of Mom, Dad, sister and brother who adopted them together, and love them dearly.

Pepper and Penny today (can you tell which is which?)

This morning it was very very cold out, a heavy frost on the ground.  I did my usual first, second and third stops, and after pulling away from my fourth - where I feed Casey, and a pretty grey kitty, along with Lucy and another kitty - this is where the man who owns the house comes by each day just to trash my bowls that I leave with food and water - I started to drive off and noticed an abandoned house on the other corner just across the street.  Now, do you know how thrilled I was to see that?  I can now place a few shelters somewhere around there for these cats that have NO shelter whatsoever from the weather today, and weather to come.  I just need to place them, place food there, and coax them.  Any ideas anybody?  They will be able to see me from where they currently are, and hear me, but how to get them across the street, and into the field, and to the house.  Need to figure that out.  And quick.  I was thrilled to see this though, its been a dilemma for me since last winter, when the man destroyed their only shelter last winter on his porch - where he does not reside, and its been vacant and boarded for years.  Makes me ill to know there are such mean people.

Stout Street

I have an opportunity to place one or two more cats in a barn again - I am contemplating Casey there on Garson - this woman only wants tuxedos, calicos or tortoise shelled cats.  There is another cat I am thinking about because obviously I want to get as many cats off these streets as possible.

Cedric and Prince are doing well since being let out of their cages they were in for two weeks in the Scottsville barn I brought them to.  Prince is a sweet heart, and is there each day for his new 'mama' who comes to feed them, her horses, and chickens!  There are lots of warm and cozy spots here in this 'barn', so I have no worries, but Cedric has been in hiding when she comes around, but has been seen.  I pray he warms up to his new family soon! 

I have not seen the calico kitten on Baldwin in maybe a month now.  Remember, she was the kitten who was spayed and eartipped by someone - by whom I have no clue.  (was that proper grammar?)  I pray she was scooped up by whoever this mysterious person is.  I rarely see the other two kittens that were there either. 

But this was a good morning.  I fed an awful lot of hungry bellies, and I drove home with some hope, once again.

Don't forget, you can click on the pictures to make them larger.

Have a beautiful day!

"What you see in this world is a mirror reflection of your

own thoughts, if you have ugly thoughts,

the world becomes ugly."