TGIF (for me)

The creep on Niagara - property manager apparently for the empty building - came by yesterday to finally mow and clean up the place, and removed two shelters and some boards I had there.  Threw away the cat food and water as well.  The landlord of the house on Parsells #2, where there is NO WHERE any longer to feed those 5-6 cats there - but I continue to place plates of food and bowl of water for them - continues to remove them each day.  And finally, that 'woman' on Pennsylvania continues to remove the food and water that I place under the tree for the kitties there.  This is where hate comes from - from people like this.  These people are the ones that keep us at war with each other.  Why can't everyone be compassionate towards the unfortunate?  Offer solutions, help to make things better, instead of ignoring or making the problem worse.

There are still two babies (grey) on one end of Melville, and a baby (red) on the other end.   The red baby on the other end of Melville, and her tortie mom have figured out how to put their paw through the end of the trap and grab the food that way.  Tuesday morning I set two kitten traps there, and when I returned after feeding, the food was gone, and trap doors still open.  And yes, I tested the trip plate, it worked just fine.  I have SEVEN kittens and FOUR adults in foster.  I must figure this out.  I NEED MORE FOSTERS!  I need more money for getting these cats spayed and neutered!  I also need to get the female breeder on Ferndale and Webster spayed - she could be pregnant again.  So could the Melville kitty, mother to the grey kittens there.

I took kittens in to vet yesterday, both Daisy and Bo have mild case of calici virus.  Daisy had an ulcer in her mouth, which made her uncomfortable, which made her hiss a lot.  Hopefully with the meds they will be on the mend soon.  I also had combo testing done and they are good to go!  Another expensive day for me yesterday. 

I have tomorrow off, so I will be running around as usual, but hopefully will find time for myself to sit and breathe.  I need that too.

Lets find Connor a home.  He deserves a forever home.  His foster mom would love to see this as well.  Please share!

CONNOR 💗

Have a great day!

For Stray and Homeless Animals

To all the fur-beings who are lost, 

Or homeless,

Or living as strays,

may they find a good meal to eat.

May they have shelter to keep them warm.

May they have comfort.

May they be shown kindness by strangers.

And may they return home, or find good homes.

May they rest in a place in which they can thrive.

Filled with love, with warmth, with tender caring,

with good food, with true companions

for all of their days.

Kittens Available!

DAISY

LUKE

BO

SKY and JOEY

CHASE

Thank You!

Thank you to those of you that have stuck by me.  I was thinking about this - how many kind people are out there in our world - if I could be a hermit sometimes, I would - I try to shut my life down after I leave my job during the week - I know I have a limited amount of time to do what I have to do when I get home before I have to be in bed and get up six hours later to do it all over again.   I tend to get lost in my own world (I try to forget about what I see out there - and cats in general - after I feed and trap in the mornings – heck, I can’t even drive there when its daylight, I don’t want to look around, see the cats, I would want to stop at all my spots and refill everything), and I know that others go out of their way for me, and I just want you to know that I appreciate it so much.  I am not crying myself a river or anything, but what I do is very hard, emotionally, physically, and financially.  I know I don't HAVE to feed cats - 40 lbs a day just in dry food... ($150) a week - but I can't stand the thought of a cat going hungry.

There is someone that is part of a TNR group in Rochester that believes I should NOT be feeding cats.  I would never speak ill of that person, because of all the good they are doing, but it makes me feel bad, as if I've wasted 20 years, and all that money feeding these cats.  “I haven't seen the evidence of cats starving - but there will be fewer cats if there's less food. I know you don't approve of the drive-by feeders who don't trap - but if you're not keeping up with growth, it's almost the same thing, isn't it?”

I do double duty - I am also trying to spay and neuter those in my 20 colonies in the Beechwood area.  Yes, I've had failures - new cats come to these colonies, have their babies, and on and on it goes.  But there are a few stable colonies that I feed at, and I am like their mother.  They KNOW me.  They DEPEND on me.  If I had more money, I could trap more.  If I had more available spots at clinics, I could trap more.  I just found out someone called Lollipop and they are booking into October.  “There's NO QUESTION that you're making a huge difference in the lives of the individual cats you touch - whether you neuter them, or rescue them - but it's possible that you're also increasing the population, and making the overall problem worse by feeding unneutered cats. It makes people question whether TNR works at all.”

If I drop dead tomorrow, yes, there will be unbearable suffering amongst the cats I feed, due to starvation.  I know this.    Most are semi-feral to strays that I feed, and they are not hunters.  They will not know where to get food, and they WILL suffer.  But I won’t care after that point, will I.  I have no one to step in and do the job for me.

I had to release “Baldy” yesterday back to Baldwin after he awoke from his drug induced sleep (I made sure he was lucid enough to be let back out!).  It was heartbreaking for me, as I know he is a good boy, and allowed me to pet him inside the cage.  What was worse was seeing him this morning.  He came to me, and cried.  I placed food down, and had to leave him.  I MUST RESCUE HIM.  The other two cats, both girls - one was pregnant, the other post-partum.

I tried to rescue REESE this morning, the black and white polydactyl cat on Parsells - because there has been an offer by a kind girl in Lyons who wants to foster him - but he was no where to be found.

I also saw another kitten.  A FIFTH kitten on Parsells #3.  I thought we had gotten them all.  UGH.  He was a tiny little red and white kitten, and looked like black around his nose.  I must get him.  But how.  Speaking of, his siblings, who are split amongst Melissa and Sue – two are very sick.  I had to call to make an appointment for them at Caring for Cats, but can’t get in until tomorrow.  One has eye issue, the other has a very foul odor coming from its mouth, with discharge.  UGH.,

If anyone would care to donate, I would surely appreciate it!

PS, thank you Joel for offering to help fix the traps!

This is all I ‘got’ for today!

"Life is too ironic to

fully understand.  It

takes sadness to

know what

happiness is. Noise

to appreciate

silence & absence

to value presence."

Guns and Roses!

Crazy morning out there.  I finished up my rounds on the Back Nine after hearing gunshots.  I thought to myself, that sounded like gunshots. I was at Syd and Johnny's feeding momma there, and it sounded like it came from 7th or 6th Street, behind me.  But all was too quiet after that.  And then BLAM!  I saw all sorts of police cruisers darting in and out of those two streets.  I had just left 7th Street and before that Short Street.  I decided to check it out after I had finished up, ready to go check the last two traps, and saw police with flashlights on 7th. Being nosy, I drove past them, and decided to let them know I had heard gunshots.  The cocky young deputy (he didn't like my joke when he asked me for my birthdate - ''well I'm not going to check to see if you have any warrants outstanding" - oh, OK Officer!  Gee, thanks!  Next time I will keep driving.  But lo and behold there were about 10 cruisers on Short Street.  It looked like Jimmy, the old man that sits in his truck in the vacant lot there every day, had moved his truck after I had left there, and the cops had someone standing next to the car, a young black man.  I kept driving.

Trapping:  So I had five spots for TNR today.  I only got three.  But three less baby makers.  Here is a pic of Baldy, the pretty boy on Baldwin.  I’ll bet the girls on his street really loved this one…  J

I trapped another raccoon, who took off after I let him out.  Git!  Another was an already eartipped fella.  They love that mackerel!

Here are the other girls...  two in one trap!

I also have traps that are not working.  I am trying to get the tortie mom of the four kittens that I just took in.  But the darn trap thingy won’t stay put.  Anyone know how to fix traps?  Also, I have only one working kitten trap out of four! 

Speaking of the kittens…  So the wonderful couple on Melville, the ones that reached out to me a few weeks back – trapped the four kittens.  Boy are they good at it!  Apparently, these kittens were constantly in their back yard playing, and eating!  So on Friday, we brought over a few of the kitten traps, and they put them to good use.  Well, one of them.  The kittens were so small they didn’t trip the plate inside, so he had to sort of scare them into going in and tripping the plate that way.  We would guestimate them to be around 6-7 weeks, and pretty feral, but they are coming around!  After one night at Mama Janine’s house, and lots of heavy petting going on, there is less hissing.  The tortie might have to be seen by a vet as she has a smell coming from her tiny mouth and discolored saliva.  Other than that, their very fat little bellies will go down since I treated them all with a dewormer.  I can’t wait to get pictures from their foster moms!  Melissa and Sue, thank you!  Here are a couple.

There is so much more, but so little time.

Have a great day!

TGIF!!!

Man o Man!  That's for sure!  Whadda week!

A big shout out to Kristin, who woke this morning at most likely 2:30 am. to be at my house at 3:45 am., all the way from Churchville.  She and Joel are the only two brave souls I know to drive from that distance to help me out occasionally in the mornings.  (Oops!  You too Sunday Sheryl!  Every Saturday!)  :) Not that others haven’t, but offers to help trap are far and few between.  I certainly do not find fault in others for that – we all have our stuff.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses.  And we all help in ways others cannot.

Kristin came to sit at two kittens traps that were set for two fluffy grey kittens that have been seen on Melville ever since Sheryl and I spotted them on Saturday morning.  Their mom is very thin, and very sweet.  She needs to be spayed, but I didn’t want to do it with her kittens still on the street.  Unfortunately, no luck today.  She is not even sure if saw a kitten.  It saddens me to think something might have happened to them.  It saddens me more to think that there are more cats on this street, and there is going to be no where to shelter them come winter.  The bastard property manager has sealed shut the old spot I had shelters for for these cats that have been here for years – this very spot I’ve been feeding cats that were dumped by the guy that used to live in this still vacant house when he moved out.  I looked up the owner of the property, and her name is Judy, and she lives in Rochester.  I wonder if she is a cat lover, and knows that the country bumpkin property manager treats the cats the way he has treated them.  These cats here have no where to go.  I’ve rescued MANY cats from this area.  And TNR’d most of them. Obviously, this girl here is new, and so are her babies.

Click on pics to see up close!

REESE!

Same cat!

I finally had someone reach out to me with a PLAN.  I plan on rescuing the little black and white kitty on Parsells this coming Tuesday.  This sweet girl named Janessa, who lives in Lyons, saw his picture, and found it in her heart to open her home up to foster this kitty.  I told her she could name it – REESE.  We still don’t know if male or female, spayed or neutered, but I thought Reese was a perfect name for either sex.  It will be vetted that day, hopefully, and then she will pick him up.  This is what is needed when I rescue cats from the streets – a PLAN! And there are still plenty more JUST LIKE REESE!  Like this one...

CENTRAL PARK

I just told this one this morning that his time will come.

CENTRAL PARK

I received a note from the girl that volunteers at RAS about FIDO aka Kanye – the cat I trapped on Tuesday but turned out to be microchipped.  I brought him back to RAS after she told me he would be well taken care of and would go to a good foster.  She said he was going great, and sent me his ‘bio’.   Sweet.  I would have loved to keep him.  I hope he goes fast.

Mike with his canine brother

Mike, Ike and Jerry

If any of you remember Mike the kitten.  I received an update from his mom, who makes baby hats, and Mike aka Wolfie made the perfect model for one of the hats. Here he is today, gangsta style...

MIKE aka WOLFIE Today!

Remember Taco?  :)  Here is is, then and now!

TACO TODAY!

Finally, Sky and Joey - both are available for adoption!

Have a great day!

"The key to happiness is letting 

each situation be what it is instead 

of what you think it should be."

Its Been A Hard Days Night...

BEATLES.  That's an OLD song, even before my time!

First, I would like to share a GoFundMe with those of you that are not on Facebook or Twitter.  Thanks to a friend that got this off the ground for me, I am hoping this is shared far and wide.  It truly means a lot to me to be able to help this man.  He is a rare gem in the inner city, has lived his life in this ramshackle house he calls home, and just needs a new roof to make him happy.  He has suffered a great deal physically the past few years with his back and will hopefully get some relief by surgery this fall, but in the meantime, every time it rains, he has buckets around his house.  I still can't understand how the city has not helped him even though he has reached out to them so many time for help from a grant.

Paul's Garage

I have long said, if I won the lottery, the first thing I would do is rebuild his house and dilapidated garage.  He is a good man.  He deserves help.  Please check out this link below and contribute any amount you can.   And share with all your friends.  Thank you.

https://www.gofundme.com/help-paul-with-roof-repairs

Also, for those of you not on Facebook, there was drama again regarding the cats in the hood.

First, as I pulled up to one of my spots this a.m., where I've had trouble from the nasty chick that screams at 4 in the morning telling me to stop feeding the cats and take them with me cause her kids are afraid of them, this nasty piece of trash pulled up in a car, got out, walked over to me, and proceeded to tell me not to feed there.

So I proceeded to tell her that I had every right to feed there under the tree, between the side walk and the street, and that this was public property.  I could smell the alcohol from where she stood.  Drunk as a skunk.   I tried to reason with her quietly that the cats are not vicious and would never go near any children as they are afraid of them, and that no, I can’t take them because there aren’t enough homes for them, but I do what I can around these neighborhoods, but these particular cats are cared for as long as they have me, and I told her I was a nice person and why did she have to behave the way she does with me, and then she turned on me again.  She said I can’t wait for you to leave so I can throw that food out and I WANTED to her I would call the police if she did, I told her they not only tell her she can’t do that, but her driver there in the car with her would be given a breathalyzer and maybe ask where her kids were while she was out driving around drunk at 4 am.  I would love to mouth off to these kind of people, but it won't do me any good, so I try to be as kind as I can.  Anyways, I placed the food down, and drove off.  I drove back after I did my next stop, and the dishes were there, and she was gone. 

Back to yesterday’s drama.  The cats I trapped for TNR.  The cat from Ferndale and Webster – we named him Kanye – turned out to be microchipped.  And apparently microchipped by Rochester Animal Services.  And apparently unneutered as well.  Not sure how that happened.  His previous adopter (POS) from RAS was contacted and said he didn’t’ want the cat back, that he gave the cat to his mother, and that he and his mother didn’t speak and she probably put him out on the street.  I had him neutered, shots, combo tested, and brought him home.  He spent the night in my bathroom and was ready to go to back to RAS this morning where an employee from there saw the post and said they would take him back and he would go into a good foster care situation.  I spent time with Kanye, and he surely is a sweet cat.  A beauty too.  Long-haired grey boy.  I am glad he didn’t go back to the streets.  Lil’ Wayne, however, the other TNR – he was a mess.  And unfortunately, he DID go back to the street.  He had ‘severe otitis in left ear – polyp seen in horizontal canal – it was removed with forceps, EKT place in ear.  Multiple infected puncture wounds on ventral neck and right chest – they were clipped and flushed and penicillin and convenia was given.’  He spent the night in the trap on the porch, and was gently let go this morning, back to Parsells #3. 

"If you can't feed a hundred people, 

then feed just one." 

`Mother Theresa

A Dollar Here, A Dollar There

I was thinking about this.  If everyone that follows this blog gave just one dollar - I'd have FIVE DOLLARS!  HA HA.  Seriously, I know of five people that read this because they've told me.  But I think more than five people read it, so let's say if everyone that follows my rescue page on Facebook gave a dollar a week, I could 'support my habit.'  The habit is feeding and caring for all those cats in the Beechwood section of Rochester on a daily basis.  

Today, I would need 195 friends to donate a dollar - that includes $160 to pay for the two cats I trapped this morning, and another $35 to pay for the food I fed to over 100 cats.  That's $35 per day to feed all those cats.  (40 pounds of dry food - $20 - and $15 of wet food).

I’ve been doing this for 20 years now, not to the grand scale of 19 locations that I go to each day, but its been many years that I have been feeding at that many locations.  If I added it all up, the cost of what I do……………….  And lets just use the number 10 (years)………………….

$35 (per day) x 365 = $12,775

365 x 10 (years) = 3,650 x $35 = $127,750

HOLY F.  I mean holy moly.  That’s mindblowing.  I had to calculate that twice to make sure I was doing it right.  I CANNOT believe I’ve spent that much money over 10 years on feeding homeless cats.   That’s just FEEDING! 

That’s not to mention all the cats I’ve had TNR’d ($80- per cat), and all the rescues I’ve made ($80 adoption fee for adults, and $120 for kittens).  Most often, those rescues include a first office exam, and combo test to see if they are FelV positive.  That fee is not included in the adoption fee.  So that also comes out of my pocket.  Then there are the cats still in foster (Buffy, Parsley, Hermie, Jule, Sky and Joey), the cats that have cost over $1000 to treat for this and that (Buffy, Connor).

There is something wrong with this picture.  We have too many cats on the streets, too many cats suffering and looking to us to help them.  I am a one woman soldier JUST IN THIS ONE QUADRANT OF TOWN.  Is this a city problem?  Should the City be paying for this?  Should they be helping to TNR, to reduce the number of cats that need our help?  YES!!!

Do I want a day off from doing this?  YES!  

Do I need a fundraiser?  YES!  I need more than one to make up for the $12K that comes out of my paychecks just to FEED these cats.  Do I have time to put one together?  No.  We all have jobs, I am no exception, but I also devote 1.5 hours a day at 3 am. to go out and feed and care and shelter these cats.  My weekends are almost full time devoted to showing kittens (which I am not thrilled that there are this many kittens – 22 so far for me this year, last year it was 60).

Ideally, I would love for someone to say – JANINE!  I’LL DO IT!  I will handle it all!  I will get book the venue (you just pay for it!), order the entertainment, gather gift cards, and baskets and items for giveaway, plan the food and drink menu, decorate the venue, have someone sit at registration table…  You just show up! J  And once its over, I will collect the baskets left because people left before the raffle, take them home to store until they can pick up their baskets, I will stay and clean up the venue  to make sure its left the way it was presented to us that morning.  What am I forgetting – there seems like more in between that has to be done.   

Today, I trapped two cats that are NOT females but were supposed to be.  I am trying to get the females that are having kittens out there to spay.  But I got these two sweethearts instead. 

FERNDALE & WEBSTER Kitty

PARSELLS #3 Kitty

Can I use donations today?  I sure could!  If anyone can contribute, even $1, my life would be .1% better for it.  I can breathe a little easier when the bills are due twice a month.  That number to call is 585.288.0600.

Thank you for listening. 

Have a nice day.

"Do all the good you can,

by all the means you can,

in all the ways you can,

in all the places you can,

at all the times you can,

to all the people you can,

as long as ever you can."