I'm still alive!

[alleygirl]

Hi everyone

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I DO log in and try to keep up with things on here nearly every day, just haven't been posting.

Have been so busy with rescue work in Joplin. Still so many animals out there after the tornado. We have had FOUR beloved kitties reunited with their owners this past few weeks though, and 3 more in foster homes, trying to find who they belong to. In most cases they are living in the little remaining rubble, and under foundation crawl spaces at, or very near their former homes. We have food and water bowls set up all over Joplin. You can drive through at night with a spotlight and see hundreds of little eyes glowing all over. Whenever we see eyes, we feed them

Riley and Xander are doing great and I still have my foster girl Sassy. Her home repairs/rebuilding might be complete in another month though, so hopefully she will be back with her meowmy soon

Definitely going to miss her!

Anyways, between my job, the cats, rescue in Joplin, and fighting a horrible respiratory infection/bronchitis, I just haven't been around much. I'm still checking in though and haven't forgotten you all

 

[coolcat]

my goodness my friend...

glad you´re fine now....

you´re always been missed here dear Paula!...

 

[feralvr]

AW bless you for your support in Joplin

. Glad to hear your kitties are doing well

 

[jcat]

Hope you feel better soon, Paula, and lots of for the Joplin kitties!

 

[eilcon]

Great to hear from you, Paula!

Glad you're on the mend and that Riley and Xander are doing well. You and the other rescuers have been doing great work in Joblin. Thanks for that!

 

[darkmavis]

Good to hear from you! Best of luck with your rescue efforts. You're a great person to be doing all of that.

 

[my4llma]

Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

We have had FOUR beloved kitties reunited with their owners this past few weeks

That's great news

 

[alleygirl]

No luck tonight

There is a little black kitty living under a concrete foundation crawl space (all that's left) and he comes out after dark but just won't go in the trap. I can only go once a week because of work, but keep your fingers crossed that they will get him/her soon!

We're leaving food and water out all over and they are eating it though

 

[momofmany]

Paula - you are an absolute angel for helping out the Joplin cats!!!

 

[ldg]

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Paula - you are an absolute angel for helping out the Joplin cats!!!

They need you far more than we do, but we've missed you and THANK YOU for letting us know so we can send vibes to them - GO IN PAULA'S TRAP so you can be reunited with your family(ies)!!!!!

Aw the poor scared dears.

for all you're doing!

 

[alleygirl]

Bought a trap of my own to help out. Had to practice how to set it up today and test it out.

I caught one!

If only they were all as easy as Riley

Any trapping tips from the experts? (mods feel free to move this thread if you want)
Best bait to use? Stinky canned food, stinky seafood and lunchmeat aren't doing the trick anymore. Cover the trap? Or no? Any help adding catnip or feliway spray? Could use all the advice you have!

 

[ldg]

Riley, the trap model!

Do you have Feliway? Spray it liberally with feliway.

When baiting it, do NOT put much food in there - they freak when it snaps closed, and if there's a lot of food, it ends up all over the cat.

We use a paper bowl, and put a little of whatever food in it, and push it all the way to the back of the trap. We place a little nibble on the center of the newspaper (we use cardboard) you use to cover the wires - it gets them part way in there. They eat and feel a little safer, so move ahead to that bowl at the far end...

We also put a little bit of whatever food it is in a short trail leading up to the trap.

Use tuna, canned salmon, herring (no sauce), KFC (no bones)... anything stinky usually works.

Given these guys are probably mostly really scared house cats, I don't know that disguising the trap will be necessary. We cover them with leaves and sticks - but we live in a rural area, and the ferals are used to the woods, so that's familiar.

I think you've been trapping, so you may already know this, but keep a small light blanket handy to throw over the trap, leaving only the ends open for air. This REALLY helps calm them down in there, both when you pick it up to carry it, for transport, or for when it has to sit there with kitty in it waiting until you can get them wherever they're going.

And if you haven't already transported a cat in your car, good idea to cover the floor or seat or wherever you're going to set the trap with a plastic sheet. Many cats get scared and pee, and it's a lot easier to clean up if it's on the plastic and not your car seat.

If they don't freak out and just settle down, and don't pee, you don't really need to clean the trap after every cat. But it is good to take a hose and some unscented soap to the trap every once in a while, to keep the smell of fear off of it.

!!!!!!!

And of course

BTW, I assume the shelter/people trapping keep track of the addresses near where kitty was trapped? Is that helping reunite them with their people?

 

[ldg]

Come to think of it... if they've been hiding in small dark spaces, which most of them probably have, it might not be a bad idea to cover it when you bait it. Also, good idea to place it where they'll feel most comfortable getting to it, if there's a way to safely do that. If it's near a bush or something close to where they've been hiding, they're far more likely to get in there than if they have to walk across some wide open space.

Someone just asked me for the one most important thing when trapping the other day. I said it's trap placement. Gary said it's how the trap is disguised (meaning cleaned, feliwayed, covered, &etc.).

 

[nurseangel]

Good to hear from you! Bless you for helping in Joplin. I hope you feel better soon.

 

[alleygirl]

Part of the problem is that there is literally nothing left in some of these neighborhoods but concrete slabs with crawl spaces, no bushes or anything to hide the trap under. The cats are living in the crawl spaces and in the (few remaining) debris piles. We are doing the best we can though!

We are also doing mostly "targeted" trapping at the moment. We have a large list of missing that have contacted us from facebook and newspaper ads. We are putting food/water in all the places where they lived. So far, most of the reunited kitties have been sighted in the area, either by the owner when doing a drive-by, or by others who see the flyers and call, so we specifically trap for them at their "home".

We do have a few that are in foster homes. All volunteers who met up online, have received no help from Animal Control or the local Humane Society (but don't get me started on THAT subject

)
In those cases, we post Found flyers online and all over the neighborhood where kitty was trapped., Flyers to the local vets and shelter. They are all friendly, sweet, skinny, thirsty, dirty, and so far, 75-80% Declawed

Some of the missing are 4-paw declawed.

There are many more out there than people are looking for though. In many cases, the families have simply left town either to stay with family elsewhere to get a new start, or in nearby towns because of lack of available housing. Sadly, some even belong to the 160 people who died.

I know we can't save them all, but we can damn well save some, and have

A few reunion pics
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x15...cat-with-owner

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...licbint/JJ.jpg

Tiger's elderly owners were both very injured in the tornado and spent nearly a month in the hospital. They remember seeing him get sucked out what used to be the back wall of the house when it hit and thought he was surely dead. http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...bint/TIGER.jpg

 

[ldg]

Oh Paula!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What wonderful, wonderful work you all are doing!!!!!!

As food and water is being put out, just put the trap where they've been eating.

And if food and water isn't being put out someplace you're trapping, just do your best to think like a cat.