Beauty Kitty

Well, here I go again.....

I have saved ferals and housed strays. We take care of a colony of 19 cats now.... And I am fixing to try and help one more.


Since I am a cat person, I noticed her first dashing around through our parking lot OR sitting still in an empty lot beside my job trying to catch a bird. Then I would see her hanging out behind a restaurant by the dumpster searching for scraps. This last year I have watched her lose weight and her beautiful black hair lose it's lustre... this was last year. She would not let anyone near her. I wasn't sure if she was feral or stray or on the verge of becoming feral.

This summer I have watched her steadily lose weight. And so I started feeding her. It started with just a few scraps of my own lunch on the edge of our parking lot.

I have a spot designated for her now that she goes to now for her food. I have a rubbermain bin with a cat bed inside for her to rest in It is in a wooded overgrown lot in downtown of where I live. She stays there on this lot isolated from everything. The lot is so overgrown that I have found a storgage shed there that she has been living in. I have been taking her two cans of cat food every single day plus dry food and fresh water for the last month or so. She has dirt, filth and muck all over her little skinny body.

I have never seen a cat in this situation.

I was going to just keep feeding her "and her feral baby" and leave it at that. You know, make sure they had shelter, food...etc... Then one day she trusted me and I can tell she now waits for me and for her food. She is excited when I get there.

I can tell she is a stray and not feral. I don't know if she was abandoned or what her story is. But I have never seen anything so pathetic in my life. She has a scar on the side of her face that has no hair. A pretty large scar. And she finally trusts me enough to allow me the privilege of petting her. it took about a month of sitting and watching her eat from a distance. I slowly gapped the distance and gained her trust.

After she got used to me actually feeding her on a regular basis, she began watching for me. She would circle me getting closer and closer. I tried not to rush her because I did not want to scare her but it was hard. I have several scratches on my hands that are evidence of her fear. That was last week. Then one day she rushed me and quickly rubbed against my leg. After the first touch, it moved pretty rapid.

Now I keep her food on an old table on the property under the storage shed, along with her bed and food bowls. She jumps to the table and gets under my hands while I feed her. I can pet her back only while she eats. She is so happy someone is feeding her.

I have only caught a fleeting glimpse of her blue long haired baby. The kitten is not nursing. The mother's milk has long dried up from no food, water or nutrition.

She is bone thin and covered with fleas. There are so many that I can see them crawling through her thin hair. She is breaking my heart and I know if I don't do something more she won't last the winter. I have named her Beauty. She is jet black and I believe she will be a long hair when her hair thickens up with good nutrition.

I called my vet today and I am picking up some Profender and a flea pill for her today I think I will be able to get the profender on her while she eats to kill any tape worms and any other parasites. I am also going to get her a flea tablet so she will be more comfortable and I am going to crush it and put it in her food today. They told me if I can "live-trap" her on my days off to bring her in and they fix her for me and test for for diseases. If she turns out to be healthy, I am taking her to my house and I am going to try to get to join my colony. I have no idea how to worm or deflea the young cat. I wil probably life trap the young one, TNR and turn him/her loose in our woods by our house so he/she will have the option of food and warmth this winter. It's better than living in downtown in an old filthy nasty overgrown flea ridden lot.

The young cat is not nursing, but it is absolutely wild. I have not even seen but a fleeting glimpse of it as it stays out of human range. The mama is eating taste of the wild plus canned cat food as if the baby. I am hoping she will gain weight AFTER I worm her. If I can't get the profender on her, I'll get some milbemax and put in her food.

She is so grateful for food...

I am charging my camera and when I feed today I'll take a pic of her and post it. I will not be able to get a pic of her baby.

This is the absolute saddest cat I have ever seen. I will post her pic when I get home from work. I will take a pic of her den/area too. It is just too horrible for words.

This where her new home "I hope" is going to be...... It's a perfect cat habitat. (And I'm not sure why the pictures turned out so green. It has been raining and it is green right now, but not this green). We free feed, we water and there are rabbits, bird, mice, rats.........everything a cat wants to do naturally plus a creek to lounge around by.... They have a very natural life-style.

The yard

Our enclosure. We keep the door cracked the width of a brick so they can come and go. It is their safe spot from predators We keep their food inside it.

Jimmy taking a nap. He is a cat that joined our colony quite a few years ago. He is our success story. He has a good life now. He was also a city cat like Beauty.

The woods and the playground....

okay, I got my camera and I am headed to the vet for her stuff..... I have two hrs before I have to be at work, so I can sit with her awhile. Hope I get it all in her and on her......

I was able to successfully give "Beauty" Comfortis for fleas and Profender for parasites..... 

I also took a bunch of pics which I will upload after work.  Now, to find two live traps......

Did not see the baby today.

that it all works out well for both mom and baby. What a great cat playground you have.

Okay, I have some pics from today...... When I got there she was so happy to see me. She was walking through my hands while I was trying to give her some food and get her medicines ready . I gave her the comfortis first in a little bit of canned cat juice and she ate every single drop. Then I put her canned food out and she ate two cans . i used that time to put her profender on her. She took it all like a champ. It does my heart good to know she is more comfortable tonight. But it's killing me to know that she is waiting and watching for me every day now.

The thing that is bugging me about trapping her is leaving the baby there. I have got to make sure her rescue goes like clockwork for both of them. I will have to "daily" set a live trap for the baby that I can't even see or even get a glimpse of most of the time. Hopefully the baby will go in the trap after the food. I may put two lives traps out side by side. I would love to catch them at the same time and get them to the vet together but I don't think that will happen. I hate to separate them but I will probably have to for a period of time. it will be a miracle if I catch the baby.

I think what I will do when I get them caught is, since winter is not here yet, is put them both in the enclosure and leave them in there for a month to 6 weeks They can get to know the others through the fence and they will learn this is their feeding spot so when I let them out, they will come back. It will also give me time to gentle them. I hope it 's not too late for the baby to be tamed.
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And this is where she is living....... Her lot and her shelter and some pics of my little Beauty... it's breaking my heart. I will not rest until her and her baby are in my shelter.

This is her poor little skinny back. Keep in mind, I have been feeding her WELL for at least a month. She has actually gained a tiny bit of weight but not much.

This is after her flea pill and her Profender drop.

Her little newly trusting eyes.

This is her current home.

This is her current home.

This is her current home.

This is her current home.

This is where her baby is hiding.

This is after her meal. She feels better.

She has no idea her life is fixing to drastically change.

And thank you goldy cat. I LOVE my kitty playground....!!!:lol3::lol3::lol3:
And I can't wait to see little Beauty playing out there.

Husband is checking on his job today to see if they have two live traps. He knows they have one. We are hoping for two. The city dept where we live might have another we can borrow. I'll know something later.

Setting live trap today......  If I catch her, I'll have to bring her home at midnight, try to transfer her to a crate OR leave her in it and then take her to the vet in the morning.... I'll have to drive her home in the live trap....poor baby...  10 miles through rough roads.  And then tomorrow drive her back to town to the vet.......

IF I catch her, I'll reset the trap for the baby.....

Please god, let this work out!

Change of plans.....   I called the vet and I am going to wait till Monday on my day off to set the trap and do it early that morning.   I am hoping I can catch her while I am there and then take her to the vet and then reset for baby......

Now off to feed her.....and to work darnit!! 

i have one live trap.....  now I just have to figure out how to set it.

I now have TWO live traps.  One from animal control and one from the sheriff's office.

And I sure got a surprise tonight after work.  I decided to put a little more food out so I drove my truck through a parking lot and shined the light over the trail I walk to get to the kitties.  When I got there, she came out and glad to see me.  I was standing behind the crate I had put out there for her to sleep in and TWO kittens rushed out.  It freaked me out and I screamed.  It startled me so much!  But mama just stood there.  No fear!   So I put food out, petted her a little and left, so the babies could come back and share with her.

So, back to my plan on the live traps.   I cannot leave one cat there alone.  It would be scared......  What I am going to do monday is put ONE crate out.  That will leave two cats together so no one will be afraid.    Then after I catch one, I will put two live traps out together and catch the other two.  I have two days to do this and get them to the vet and get them fixed and in my enclosure.

I know one baby is  a long haired grey cat..  very beautiful.  I saw it today.  When I went to feed this afternoon, it was in the wooded area.  It is going to be a big big cat.  The tail is longer than the body or possibly the hair is really that long.  Hard to tell.  Both kittens that jumped out of the rubbermain crate tonight looked grey.   So I think she has two grey long-haired babies.  I am so happy they are sleeping in the crate I put out there and snuggling.

They look really good from what I could see.  It's the mama that looks bad.  The mama eats her canned food before her babies come up.  They are eating taste of the wild dry and appear to be thriving on it. 

Monday is the day...........oh boy.......I have never done this before.

I remember once when I was trying to gentle Star (feral), I heard her meowing next door.  I went over being nosy and no one was home but Star was in a live crate.  I turned her loose.  That was 12 years ago and I still have her.

It will be interesting to have a couple babies.  All of mine are fixed and OLD......  They have not seen a kitten in 8 years.   A couple are 8-9  years old but most range from 13-18 years old and their favorite thing to do is sleep or nap.  The last time we had a kitten was back in 2004.  That was Dovey.  So she is 8.

I am so afraid something is wrong with mama kitty.  I have noticed it before but today I saw it again.  She has labored breathing.  It might be heart worms.  I know they only live in a cat for 2-3 years, but I guess I need to start her on preventive med.  I have some cat antibiotics at home.  I'll start her on that too.

She has clear eyes -- nothing runny.

I cannot hear her breath but it is rapid and shallow.

Monday and the vet can't get her quick enough for me.

I forgot my heart monitor at home today and husband just brought it to me.  He also brought some left over cat antibiotic sprinkles.  I'm going to give her some before I go home today. 

Went by there after work today and put  more food out with antibiotics in a small portion.  And today, she was full.  She walked around her food and was more interested in me petting her and interreacting with me than in the food.  She feels secure in that her food will be there.  Worming changed her whole attitude and with the fleas gone, she is a whole new cat with a new attitude.  She was miserable before. She is not frantic for food anymore and I think in the last two days that she has gained some weight.  She appears quite relaxed about eating now since she knows she is getting more.

And she purred today.  I put both my hands on either side of her to feel her breathing, and she was purring.  Okay, I am hooked..... totally hooked.  This cats wants me as much as I want her...

I hope I get her Monday morning as soon as I set the trap.  I might just put her morning food in it and see if she will just walk in the live trap...  I am thinking she might. 

She is so relaxed I might just take a crate and see if I can scoot her in it with food inside.  I feel bad for tricking her but I think she might just go in the crate.  I'll know Monday.  If I can get her there Monday morning at the vet, she will be home by Monday night in a big pen in the house so I can watch her after surgery. 

I'll keep feeding the babies until I can catch them.  The babies might be older than I think because they don't hang out with mama during the day...  Or she might just have them hid in that little patch of wood in the light of day.    They are 2-3 months old and very very fast....  They know to fear the human.

I am a police dispatcher and I have worked there "this time" for a year and a half.  She has been there this whole time.  I thought she belonged to someone at first as she looked healthy.  You know, it was just a cat running around.  I had no idea at the time that she was fighting to survive.  She was dumped, abandoned and discarded.  And now she feels like she belongs to a person again.  She was someone pet. I just can't stand people who dump animals and have total disregard for the life of the animal.

Monday she will be saved.  One more day.... Someone saw me out there feeding her the other day and I am afraid someone might do something to her.  Her "home" has remained well hidden from humans.  I know how mean people can be.  The restaurants in the area and the locan building owners  hope I catch her and get her home and safe.  But the other people are different.

So Monday she will get tested for diseases and get fixed and get on  heart worm pills.  I will keep her regardless.  She deserves a life with no food anxiety so her little skinny body can get fat... 

Husband got our old cat winter bed / crate out for Beauty and her babies in case she feels the need to be private when they get here.

The other cats are exploring it all over again.   Snoopy wants in it.   W've had it in storage since last winter.  We're airing it out.  It is rock solid with a small door.  The top comes off for handy blanket or hay changings...

Snoopy is the snow shoe colored cat.  He is partially blind in one eye and the other cat is 18 years old.  That is old Yellow.  He is totally blind in one eye.  We would never have his eye removed.  It does not drain.  It is just an old blind healthy eye.  We also have a tripod kitty.  And we have another cat with only one eye.  All our cats were throwaways that no one wanted or they have healed injuries that made them unadoptable or they were feral.  They are all beautiful and fat and healthy.  But they weren't always that way.  We had to work at it.  Beauty will fit right in......  She is perfect in our eyes.  She just needs a little help. 

And that black kitty on top of the crate is Cookie-Cutter...  She is a doll baby..  (and I stand corrected.  Husband says Yellow is 17 years old..  such a young man..)

In 24 hrs, Beauty will be at the vet....  I am going to try to see if she will walk in a crate before I set a live trap.  I talked to her about it this morning and she said she will try to cooperate.

I think I am going home and getting a crate after work and take her home with me tonight.  I just went and talked to her for a few mintues on my work break and she followed me out of her woods and wanted to go with me.  I crossed the street and she just sat there staring at me and then turned around and slowly walked back.

It made me feel so sad.  She is craving companionship!  

No sign of babies today or yesterday.  

I am up at 4:40am drinking a cup of coffee and very excited......Today is Beauty's day!  If all goes well, she will be at her new home tonight.  I have an extra large dog crate in my living room that I plan on leavign her in tonight since it is after surgery.  After that, I am putting her in the enclosure so she can get acclimated to her new environment.  It is 1200 sq feet in size so she will have plenty of grass and running around plus her permanent house/shelter.  We are fixing to buy a window/wall unit with AC and a heater and install it in the enclosure front wall to heat them during the winter.  I want to keep it 45-50 degrees in their house this winter.  Last winter we through around all kinds of ideas about HOW to heat them.  We had hay, bedding etc, but when it got real cold, we just let them in the house and never did come up with a viable solution that I was comfortable with.  Heat lamps are OUT as I am afraid of their bedding catching fire.  I like the window unit heater idea very much.

I want to be at the vet at 7:30.  I am going to leave the house at 7:00 and go crate her.  I am takining both live traps with me so I can set those for the babies...I could not get her yesterday.  When I got home, husband was rescreening door and I had to help him.  He took out AC out too.  We are preparing for winter.

I hope the kitty gods are with me this morning.   I walked over there after work and did not see her but a friend of mine was with me, so she might have heard us talking and took off.  She is so afraid of people.  I am the only one that I am aware of that has touched her in a little over a year.  I did not put extra food out yesterday evening.  I want her hungry this morning so I can lure her in the crate.  I know I'll have one shot at this.  I think I will take some tuna with me this morning just for that good smell.....