Wonderful news! I am getting monies for my 20 feral kitties spaying from a wonderful group. Basically they will re-imburse me for the monies spent on my other 3 ferals - which ONLY for spay/neuter cost me 318 dollars. That's at market rate....
So, with 318 dollars I can get 6 cats done at cut rate deals. I have to trap and travel further, which makes this MUCH MUCH harder (45min ride in the truck...) and catch in batches (also very hard to do, LOL.) BUT... I can
get it done.
I have 4 certificates ready already - and one LOVELY surprise. I trapped one cat in a plastic carrier - she got in it, so I closed the door on her. Apparantly the top catch didnt latch totally. Anyway in her distress and panic she
spent 3 hours in the basement 7-10 pm, clawing at it. And she ESCAPED!
Into my basement. I was stunned and upset. I had her ready to go get spayed.... but now the good news - she has TAMED! In 3 days!!
I am now able to pet her, hold her and she purrs for me.
She likes to hide under the sofa, but has stayed out while I moved around the room... she likes my BF and has come out and let him look at her.
His comment was that she was friendlier than some TAME cats he knew!! I have hopes she'll come round to being a house cat and friendly with people in the house....
Unfortunately since she cannot be spayed as a feral / low cost till Friday 21st at my local vets she will be VERY tame by then if things keep going THIS way, I am going to keep. So I am back to 4 cats.
I estimate she's 4 months to 6 months just shy of her first heat. She's a rare and beautiful SILVER smoke tabby, with a spotted coat and belly.
I suspect her Mama is the same kitty as birthed my lovely Grey Goose - the male kitten I rescued in Jan/Feb from the feral colony. (Because he too was a friendly cat, I thought worth taking him...and he's been a love. A smoke cat that looks Siamese... totally the most beautiful boy...)
So the good news is one less cat to breed at the colony. 1 down, 19 to go! Traps and trapping assistance are being lined up as fast as I can manage. It rained this Friday and I worked this weekend, so it wasn't a good trapping weekend. I will be trying for next weekend instead...
Please send me vibes, and if you live near me and have trapping experience, PM and let me know if you are willing to help set up traps and bait on a weekend day. I will sit and babysit, but I would LOVE experienced help to get me started with mass trapping...
Also, I have 4 converted bee boxes to be made into shelters - they will shelter upto 4 mid sized cats comfortably. They will be put togheter, filled with straw/hay and put on little platforms to keep off the ground. My ferals
will have "options" for shelter this winter!
So happy this is coming together. Please send me good trapping vibes, and prayers to get this colony successfully under control!
So, with 318 dollars I can get 6 cats done at cut rate deals. I have to trap and travel further, which makes this MUCH MUCH harder (45min ride in the truck...) and catch in batches (also very hard to do, LOL.) BUT... I can
get it done.
I have 4 certificates ready already - and one LOVELY surprise. I trapped one cat in a plastic carrier - she got in it, so I closed the door on her. Apparantly the top catch didnt latch totally. Anyway in her distress and panic she
spent 3 hours in the basement 7-10 pm, clawing at it. And she ESCAPED!
Into my basement. I was stunned and upset. I had her ready to go get spayed.... but now the good news - she has TAMED! In 3 days!!
I am now able to pet her, hold her and she purrs for me.
His comment was that she was friendlier than some TAME cats he knew!! I have hopes she'll come round to being a house cat and friendly with people in the house....
Unfortunately since she cannot be spayed as a feral / low cost till Friday 21st at my local vets she will be VERY tame by then if things keep going THIS way, I am going to keep. So I am back to 4 cats.
I suspect her Mama is the same kitty as birthed my lovely Grey Goose - the male kitten I rescued in Jan/Feb from the feral colony. (Because he too was a friendly cat, I thought worth taking him...and he's been a love. A smoke cat that looks Siamese... totally the most beautiful boy...)
So the good news is one less cat to breed at the colony. 1 down, 19 to go! Traps and trapping assistance are being lined up as fast as I can manage. It rained this Friday and I worked this weekend, so it wasn't a good trapping weekend. I will be trying for next weekend instead...
Please send me vibes, and if you live near me and have trapping experience, PM and let me know if you are willing to help set up traps and bait on a weekend day. I will sit and babysit, but I would LOVE experienced help to get me started with mass trapping...
Also, I have 4 converted bee boxes to be made into shelters - they will shelter upto 4 mid sized cats comfortably. They will be put togheter, filled with straw/hay and put on little platforms to keep off the ground. My ferals
will have "options" for shelter this winter!
So happy this is coming together. Please send me good trapping vibes, and prayers to get this colony successfully under control!
