Sad situation - need vibes

Hey guys, could use some major vibes/prayers for another cat situation the rescue I volunteer is dealing with. Thirteen cats, including a mom and 4 kittens, were abandoned at a house not far from my feral colony. The cats are scared, but by no means feral. They'll likely need to be trapped, though. We got a hold of the mom and kittens, but they've tested positive for feline leukemia. Chances are are least some of the others are FeLV+ too. Our rescue doesn't euthanize for FeLV unless the cats are sick, but our options for housing them, especially this many, are limited. With no place to house them, the remaining cats are at risk of being picked up by the local county shelter, which is very high kill and not rescue friendly.

Please send vibes that the cats stay safe and we can find a way to help them.

Thanks, everyone. We're definitely hoping the kittens just have the mom's antibodies. I have a little more info after their vet visit. The kittens are still pretty small so we figured them at about 10-12 weeks old. The vet puts them at 5 months, though. They're that small and under fed. The mama cat through her spay surgery just fine. We originally thought she was pregnant again, but the vet says she's actually postpartum - probably within a week. So, there is another of litter of kittens, probably not healthy, that didn't survive. I haven't found any evidence of them at the house.

Ok, just sharing more info and requesting more vibes. Turns out it was just the mama cat and one of the kittens who were tested. The other will be later in the week. The kittens are in bad shape, though, very underweight, dehydrated and our vet says one of the little guys has the teeth of a 16 year old cat who's never had dental care. Said she wouldn't be surprised if he's double positive.

I've been stopping by and feeding the cats daily and they're starting to warm up to me, especially an orange/while male and a black/white female (I think). Unfortunately, the situation has become even more critical. When I stopped by today, the food and water bowls had been removed and their was a board in place to limit the cats' access to the house. The director of our rescue is trying to track down the owner (it's rental property in very bad shape) to buy us some time. We've been frantically sending out emails for potential placement, including Best Friends and various sanctuaries that take in FeLV cats, as well as contacting local groups, although those options are limited.

The clinic director and I are meeting at the house tonight to try to get a hold of the two friendliest cats and at least get them to the spay/neuter clinic for care. We can temporarily house them with the mama cat and kittens, but just don't have any other space to isolate them. Please keep the vibes/prayers coming that we can help these cats. If any others do test positive and we can't find placement, we'll need to make a very difficult decision. No one wants that, but we feel it's better they go with love than starve to death or be euthanized at the county shelter without even being given a chance.

Thanks for the vibes, everyone. They're very much appreciated. Sorry for not posting an update sooner, but things have been pretty crazy. On a positive note, we've made contact with the owner of the house and have permission to keep feeding the cats on a very temporary basis. He still wants them removed ASAP, but will not involve animal control.

We were able to get a hold of two of the adult cats the other night and, here's the best news, they tested negative! In addition, the male had already been neutered. So, these two will be staying with our rescue. We don't have the space, but will figure out something.

Yesterday morning when I went over to feed, I heard some meowing from inside the house. It had been boarded up the day before and the cleaning crew assured me no cats were inside. My plan was to meet them there the next day anyway. Sure enough, this smart little black and white kitty found her own way back into the house and, once she saw me, found her way back out. She's so friendly, our clinic director encouraged me to bring her in too. Just waiting on word of her test results.

That leaves 6 cats still at the house. A couple of them are starting to warm up to me, but are still very scared. We'll probably need to trap the rest, but want to have a plan in place regarding what to do with them first. We're planning adoption push in Nov., so I'm hoping if we can buy a little time with the owner any others that test neg. can come into the rescue. Still making contact with groups that take in FeLV cats for the others.

More good news - the little black and white girl tested neg. too! From what the director of our spay/neuter clinic says she's a total love bug.

We also have leads on placement for the FeLV+ mama and kittens and a barn home for the others. Please keep the vibes/prayers coming. There seems to be some hope for what started as a desperate situation.

We have a barn home lined up for two of the cats, so will try trapping tonight to get them to our spay/neuter clinic tomorrow. Our clinic director will transport the cats to their home home and is working with the owner of the farm on proper relocation procedures. 

 

Meanwhile, two others have become increasingly friendly with me - a brown tabby/white male and Siamese mix female (I think). Still hoping space opens up at the rescue or that I can foster one of them. These two have the potential to be very adoptable. 

 

Please keep the vibes/prayers coming. Things are coming together for the cats, but we still have a ways to go. Thanks!

Edited by eilcon - 11/3/11 at 6:34pm

Thanks guys. We did trap two Thurs. evening - both females, one black and the other calico. Would you believe, they'd already been fixed! They also tested neg. Anyway, our clinic director took them to their new farm home yesterday. Got an email from her last night that she's very conflicted about the situation. Said the owner is nice, but definitely has the farm attitude that cats and other animals are not pets, but there to do a job. We knew this going into the situation. The other cats are well cared for, although one, an older kitten isn't fixed yet and farm owner isn't convinced she needs to be. What's making the decision to let these two go was that although they kept their distance from me at the house, they turned out to be tame and very sweet, just shy. It's not a bad situation and they're better of than they were, but I'm feeling very guilty that we singled these two out to go to the farm. We did microchip them and will checking in on them. Also trying to remind myself that the rescue just doesn't have room for all of them and that we still have 4 cats left at the house to find placement for.  Like I said, just feeling really guilty about this.

 

We had placement lined up for the FeLV mama and kittens at a sanctuary out of state, but have heard from a local no-kill shelter that takes in leukemia cats they'll be able to take them after the holidays, so are planning on that instead. Our clinic director is going to foster them in her garage until then. Meanwhile, we anticipate having room at the rescue for two more of the cats in a couple of weeks - probably the brown tabby/white and Siamese mix who are the most friendly. The original plan was to just leave them both at the house until then, but yesterday one of the neighbors (who's been very vocal in complaining about the cats) told me he'd been trying to find a home for the Siamese (ie "sell"), so I'm going to grab her today and stick her in my spare room till there's space at the rescue. This delays my plans to bring in the fixed neighborhood stray I've been feeding/socializing, but he's in a much better situation than these cats and will be fine for now.

 

Hope all that makes sense. What a complicated situation! We've also learned more about the former residents of the house - apparently they were elderly, disabled and barely able to care for themselves, let alone all the cats. We've had conflicting stories about what happened to them. Sad situation all around.

Thanks, Laurie. Life as barn cat is certainly better than what these cats were leading, and when I think of how well socialized and cared for the others at the farm were (the woman's granddaughters apparently love to come over and play with and hold the cats), I know these two will have a good life.

 

The Siamese mix, named Ursula, is with me now. Turns out she had already been spayed too, along with testing negative. She's very affectionate and vocal young lady. That leaves three cats still at the house: the very friendly brown tabby/white (pretty sure a neutered male), orange/white who's still skittish, but will sniff my hand, and a big tabby/white unaltered male who's such a lover boy. We're hoping to get them all into the rescue by the end of next week since we have a good number of adoptions lately.

Figured it was about time for another update and to again thank you guys for the vibes and prayers. I also need to request more. One of the three cats still at the house, a sweet, but rather shy, orange/white boy, seems to have disappeared. I haven't seen him since Mon. evening. It took a little time for him to warm up to me, so at first I wasn't too concerned, but he was at the point that he'd appear pretty quickly when I arrived to feed. On Monday morning, one of the neighbors, who'd been very angry about the presence of the cats, complained about this fellow in particular. I assured her that the plan was to hopefully remove the cats by the end of this week and she seemed to accept that. I don't really believe that she'd do anything to harm the cat, but it seems like more than a coincidence that he's now missing. Please send major vibes and prayers that he shows up safe and soon. There's a spot at the rescue waiting for him. 

 

Meanwhile, I got a hold of the smaller tabby/white guy/gal last night and he/she is now at our clinic. I can usually tell the sex, but am honestly not sure if this one's a female or neutered male. The bigger tabby/white, who's definitely male, wasn't there this morning, but that's not unusual. Next time I see him, it's his turn at the spay/neuter clinic. 

 

Some great news, and quite a surprise, the mama and kittens have retested negative! We'll like test them one more time to be sure, but looks like this adorable little family will have a healthy, happy future after all. The kittens are still very small for their age and need some socialization, but that's just a matter of time. Also heard from the woman who adopted the two barn cats. They're doing well and still in a cage in the barn as they gradually adjust to their new home. She said they are eating well and seem fine around the other animals. She mentioned what beautiful cats they are too. I find that very reassuring. It does seem like she cares about them. 

Edited by eilcon - 11/18/11 at 11:03am

Thanks, Laurie.

 

Just got the news from our director. The tabby is male. Had already been neutered. Tested neg.