One Week and One Day

Scout has been living with us for one week and one day.  She has amazed me several more times with her bravery and willingness to trust.  Scout now lets Mike hold her leash on walks and will come in the door past him (if I'm in the house.)  She also got in the car with much less trepidation twice today - it only took about 5 or so minutes each time as opposed to 30 very stressful minutes a few short days ago.

Today, Scout saw our veterinary chiropractor for the first time.  Think about that.  One week and one day ago, she was running loose, uncatchable and facing a long cold winter without shelter to speak of.  Today, she had a chiropractic adjustment.  Just when it seems that things are at their lowest point and we have no trust and faith in anyone - we never know who might pull into the drive thru lane.  Our lives can change in an instant, just like Scout's life did.  Often we focus on how our lives could change "for the worse" in an instant, though the opposite is also true.  We might just glance to our left at a stoplight and meet our spouse to be, we might take a "write-off" elective course in college and make a connection that affects our career, we might turn right instead of left and see a double rainbow, we might decide to order fries at the Wendy's on Route 71 at Exit 151 and meet a new teacher.  We just never know. 

All we can do is learn from Scout - Try Trust and see what happens.  It could be GREAT!

The Tail Ends of Operation Silsby 2012

There are still two beautiful kittens living with us who were rescued as part of Operation Silsby this fall.  The other four kittens that fostered with us have all been adopted and are thriving in their new homes.  Operation Silsby will resume in the New Year, though for now, these two girls are the Tail Ends.  Chippy (left) and Whirly (right) have an interview tomorrow night.  They have gotten to be quite good friends and love to play together, so it would be lovely for them to stay together.

We love them both and are looking forward to helping them find their people.  Whirly is super snuggly and playful and fine with dogs, too.  Chippy is a bit more shy and reserved, though she loves to be held and petted.  Chippy was ill several times and had to take a heck of a lot of pills, so I'm sure she still sometimes looks at me like, "You again?  What are you going to do to me NOW?"  She loves her purple mouse toy and both kittens have been playing with and socializing with our cats - learning the ropes, so to speak.

It will be tough to see them go to their new home though, because there aren't two cuter Tail Ends around...

Scout's First Few Days

When I got home Tuesday night, I realized that I had a dog coming to stay with us for a few days. Yikes, this is quite a day I'm having... Thankfully, it's a dog and owner that I know well, some of you might recognize the little fluff ball in the picture below.

 



Scout apparently (so far) loves all dogs.  She and Chaille are fast friends and Chaille was even trying to play with Allie and Scout this evening.  Chaille doesn't play with ANY dogs that I know of, so this is pretty cool.  I think Chaille was asking for a little more than she bargained for, though she was game to give it a try.  When Scout tries to play it often involves dramatic play bows and some big, flailing paws :)

Things Scout is Good at:

• Playing with other dogs
• Looking adoringly at me
• Snuggling
• Riding in the car
• Going on walks in our woods
• Chasing and being chased by Allie
• Taking treats and food gently
• Being adorable
• Tail wagging
• Sleeping and dreaming
• Sharing - food, treats and affection
• Going to the vet's office
• Rolling around on her back on the bed

Things Scout is Learning:

• Uncle Michael is a Nice Man
• Doors are not all scary
• Mom will come back
• Food comes twice a day - in a bowl
• Eating from a bowl
• Noises are not all scary
• Getting in the car does not mean that I'll be left somewhere by myself again :(
• Telling Mom that I need to go out is a Good Idea
• Kitties are Good and the People like them - so I'm not to chase them :)
• No one is ever going to be mean to me again...

So, there are some hurdles ahead of us.  Scout has had some accidents in the house, though at least a few of them have been my fault since I've become accustomed to Allie's freakishly perfect skills in that department.  Also, I'm suspecting that she's had some unfortunate interactions with a man or men in her short life, since Mike couldn't get near her at first and it's still not possible for him to walk her without me present.  She panics and tries to get away - not good.  Considering she may have never seen a cat before, she's doing pretty darn well.  Jinx and Archie are nearly normal around her, just a tad more "aware" and she does a little chasing, though calls off readily and is easily redirected.  We're playing a game called "See a Kitty, Get a Cookie" - that's helping a lot.

The really sad parts are how she wouldn't come in the house the night I brought her home and her fear of getting in the car.  The night she came home, she would NOT go through the sliding door and when I managed to pick her up, she struggled and wiggled and resisted until I had to put her down.  We ended up going to the side door and even then food had no effect, she was just terrified.  I wondered if she had ever been in a house.  Eventually I was able to pick her up part way and get her front end in the door, then her back end and she was just still, she was so scared.  I had to lift her front end up on the stairs and then she just stood there for a minute, not sure what to do.  After a bit, she figured out how to get her back legs up and poof, she was in the kitchen.  Then she flipped a switch and got REALLY happy :)

The car is different, she resists it more strongly.  She is going readily in and out of the sliding door now (for the past few days) though I have to catch her to pick her up to get her in the car.  She runs away from me to the end of her leash and food, my voice, Allie, nothing can get her in the car.  Allie is able to get her close to it and then she pulls away.  I'm going to spend a lot of time this week working on our car skills.  I can only guess that she was dumped from a car and just remembers that it all started when she got in.  She rides quietly and happily once she's in, so I don't think it's the actual car that scares her.

Soooo....Everyone wants to know if we're going to keep her.  The jury is still out on that question, mainly because I have to keep my promises to all of my cats as well as the promise that I've made to Scout.  Also, speaking of cats, I still have two kittens who need homes - any takers?  More on them tomorrow.  There are many more Scout stories to tell and it's only been 4.5 days - I'll post to Sam's blog and Spiritual Foraging tomorrow, too.

Good night Scout - she's sleeping at my feet on the bed right now.  Sleep tight...

And Then It Was Tuesday...

We arrived back at Exit 151 around 11:30am on Tuesday morning.  As Allie and I drove around the Wendy's building, I did not see the dog.  I parked near where I had parked the day before and went inside to quiz the staff.  "She's here, she's been here all morning", they said.  Okay, so where is she?  I went back outside and...there she was.  I get Allie out of the car and the dance begins.

Allie and I approach and the dog bounds over.  She play bows and runs around Allie - avoiding me.  At one point I was sure we were making progress, it had been about an hour and I was sitting down in the grass with Allie and the dog near me.  Still, she was not willing to be touched or approached.  The wonderful Wendy's staff have been feeding her all morning, so food has no impact on her right now (I should have told them not to feed her in the morning, as caring as they are.)  I periodically have to get into the car and turn it on to warm up and when we disappear into the car, the dog heads away.  After a while, she begins to seem a bit dejected when she leaves.  Sort of like, "Yeah, everyone always leaves..."  I would warm up as I watched her to track where she went.  When she got to a "certain distance" I would hustle Allie out of the car and get Allie out into the field so that the dog could see her.  Then I would whistle my "dog whistle" - the dog would look and come BOUNDING towards Allie from wherever she was.  So, accidentally, she was responding to my whistle cue and doing a recall :)

At this point, Allie and I would walk around the field with the dog and an observer might have thought that these were both my dogs and that the loose dog was the better trained since she didn't require a leash!  That's how close the dog stayed to Allie and me.  She just orbited us play bowing to Allie and running with us.

Eventually, the dog started to sit down near the car when we were warming up.  Once or twice she even laid down.  I had been able to start approaching her, though she still would not let me touch her.  One time she laid down with her back to me near the front of my car and I duckwalked my way towards her inch by inch as I squatted down between cars.  I talked to her the whole time and she looked at me occasionally.  "This is it!", I thought as I held the leash clip open in my frozen hand - then she ran off to chase some birds.  Drat!  I had left the rear door open with Allie in the back seat and the dog had approached and appeared to consider jumping in before darting away.  Drat!  At another point, she would follow me around the car, though she would not let me touch her.  It had been about 2.5 hours when I felt a change.  I told the dog that I had to go to the bathroom (I knew once we entered the last phase a bathroom break would totally mess everything up.)  I told her that I would be right back.  She followed me towards the door to Wendy's, I actually turned back towards her and took a couple of steps thinking I should "make hay while the sun shines".  She backed away though she kept looking at me.  Okay, I'm taking my bathroom break and then we'll dance some more.

When I left the Wendy's building, the dog was nowhere to be seen.  Nowhere.  Not in any of the spots I had seen her go to that day.  I scanned the grassy field and the stubbly crop field nearby.  No sign.  I scanned the roads.  No sign.  I scanned behind the Marathon station and the small repair shop.  Wait!  What was that?  I saw movement and knew it was her.  I quickly got Allie leashed and out of the car and we headed in that direction.  I no longer saw any sign of the dog, we continued anyway.  We walked across the whole field, behind the Marathon station and the repair shop and I whistled the whole way.

As we got to the repair shop, I saw her.  She might have been coming up out of a small creek or drainage ditch - to get a drink maybe?  When she saw Allie she came RUNNING towards us.  We were back on track!  We played her all the way back over to our car and then I walked Allie (and the dog) up to the drive thru window - it is time for hamburger.  I knew she hadn't had any food for several hours and that she was used to getting snacks all the time from the window.  I sat by the open car door with the hamburger and she took tiny bits from my hand - extremely gently.  I tried sitting in the back seat with the door open, the front seat with my door open.  She would take the bits of hamburger though she showed NO signs of getting into the car.  Then something startled her and she moved off.  I closed the doors and sat down near her as she sat on the grass between my car and the car next to us.  As I fed her hamburger nibbles she seemed to relax a bit.  After some time, I knew that my chance was at hand and I carefully moved both hands towards her with the open clip to our spare leash in my left hand.  As I clipped the leash on her collar, she pulled back a little and felt the leash.  At that point, I reached towards her and touched her cheek and she melted.  She closed her eyes.  I rubbed her cheek and then was rubbing both cheeks and kissed the top of her head.  I looked over my shoulder and saw almost the entire Wendy's staff in the little drive thru window jumping and cheering.

However, she still wasn't in the car, though the leash was obviously a HUGE step forward.  The Wendy's staff yelled out the window that they could bring me more hamburger if that would help and could help me lift her if I needed.  I told them that I would rather not pick her up if we didn't need to though more hamburger would be great.  I should note that the manager had been supplying me with hot tea the entire time that I was there :)  Several staff members came out and brought some burgers.  They were so excited to see the dog on a leash.  I had decided the dog was likely a "she" since her collar was pink - thank God for that collar.  The dog was nervous though she let them approach.  I told them they could pet her and a couple of them did.  One of the women danced back into the building and I heard her saying, "I touched her!  I touched her!"  Now, the car.  The dog obviously wasn't going to just jump in.  She was pulling away from me whenever she got startled.  I inched her towards the car with hamburger and opened the rear door.  No deal.  Not even with Allie in there.  She was adamant.  NO!  Her version of adamant consisted of sitting down and refusing treats or pulling back - pretty clear.  At one point I moved toward the car and she moved closer to me (i.e., closer to the car.)  Then I got an idea - what if I climb in to the car?  As I climbed into the back seat with Allie, I saw paws on the seat behind me and before I could turn around she was in the car with us!  Of her own choice.  She jumped in.  I petted her and fed her treats and then carefully climbed back out and closed the door.  I turned toward the drive thru window and that time we ALL jumped and cheered. 

I went inside to talk to the staff and use the bathroom one more time.  I kept looking at the car and I just saw two dog heads looking back, casual as can be.  The manager gave me a sandwich and soda for the trip home and after I got settled in the car I backed up into the drive thru lane so that they could all get one more up close look at "their dog." 

I have since communicated with the Morrow County Dog Warden who is a great person and also with the Wendy's staff.  They are all aware that "the dog" now known as Scout is doing well and is safe and healthy.  Scout did not have a microchip, so unless someone comes looking for her we don't have a way to find her previous owners.  The Dog Warden said that she had been running loose in that area for 6-7 WEEKS and no one had been able to catch her and she had avoided their humane traps too.  What lies next for Scout remains to be seen.  There is more to this story and I'll keep posting...  She has some challenges from her time running wild and probably from her past life, too - don't we all?

Not coincidentally, our spare leash that helped tame Scout has a slogan embossed on it - Life Is Good.  For Scout, life is good - and getting better!  Stay tuned...

(Un)Willing Dog Angel?

Just a harmless visit to a friend....with my dog...no big deal, right?  Allie and I are driving down Rt. 71 (merrily) and she begins to smell the vent and whimper.  Hmmm...  She's never done this before.  I keep driving.  She again gets up and smells the vent and whimpers.  Hmmm...does she have to go out?  I keep driving.  Again, same routine.  "Alright, I say, we'll stop at the next exit.  I could use a break too."  The next exit comes up and we exit.  Choices, choices, McDonald's or Wendy's?  Wendy's wins because it's closest to the exit ramp.  We pull in and I quickly get Allie's leash on and get her out of the car (because now I need a "walk" too :)  She does her business, I scoot her back in the car and then jog into Wendy's. 

When I return to the car, I say to Allie, "Well, maybe we'll go through the drive-thru, I could use a soda."  Fateful words, little did I know.  As we make the turn from the order booth to approach the payment window, Allie whimpers.  What's with all this whimpering?  I see that she's looking outside, so I look too.  What's that in the field?  The thing in the field turns its head.  Uh-oh.  It's alive.  The thing gets up and trots off.  Crap, the thing is a dog.  I immediately begin to tell myself that the dog belongs to the small repair shop nearby.  I am beginning to convince myself of this story and then I notice the woman at the payment window waiting for me as I'm staring off into the field.

I pull up to the window and apologize, explaining why I was distracted.  "Oh, that dog has been around here for about a month.", she says.  "We feed it so it doesn't starve.  No one can catch it."  Crap.  There goes MY story.  I'm watching the dog as I'm waiting for my Coke and fries (yes, I succumbed to ordering fries, too.)  Before my food comes up I whip the car into a parking space and head out towards the dog.  It comes near, though obviously will not let me touch it.  It's a nice looking dog.  The woman in the drive thru window yells over to see if I want my food.  I answer, "Yes", and wave her off.  Later, I think, later... 

After getting a decent view of the dog and "reading" it, I get Allie out of the car.  I, of course, have to be careful not to set Allie up to get injured and you just never know what a stray dog may have been through.  The dog is VERY interested in Allie.  I keep Allie very close to me and the dog comes right up to sniff Allie - very politely, tail wagging.  She play bows vigorously and dashes about with a couple of little barks.  Still having nothing to do with me.  I get out some kibble and toss it.  No interest.  I feed some to Allie from my hand - the dogs gets curious.  The dog takes a couple of kibbles from my hand.  This is major progress!  I realize, however, that this is going to take a while.  I decide that the dog has been here for a month, it'll be here tomorrow when I come back through and have more time (and food and treats to offer.)

I go up to the drive-thru window and tell them my plan.  They are excited that she's eaten from my hand (they watched the whole exchange, of course.)  I give them my cell number in case anything happens overnight and I tell them that I'll be back mid-day on Tuesday.

Allie and I drive off into the sunset - no wait, it was only 2:30pm...  To be continued...

Search and Rescue Kitten

So, my idea was to send out a search and rescue kitten to bring Chip back home.  Sort of like a cross between a Saint Bernard with a barrel on his collar, Lassie, and a border collie...  You've heard the term herding cats - well instead of herding cats, maybe a cat can herd.  Okay, so I know it's a longshot.  Hmmm....which kitten might be willing and able for this mission.  Preferably a friendlier kitten so that I don't end up crawling under the futon with four eyes staring at me.  Pumpkin!  He's a great little kitten, if anyone can do this, he can.

Pumpkin was definitely up for the job.  He had been on walkabouts in the Room previously and was pretty good about coming back to his crate for food.  I released him and he definitely went to check out Chip.  He even moved her around the room.  She came out from under the bed, though I didn't get a chance to pick her up.  He even followed her - I'm going to go out on a limb and say he herded her :)  However, it seems that Pumpkin got a bit sleepy and decided to take a nap - under the futon.

 

After that he sort of lost interest in his assignment and I eventually rounded him up, thanked him, and gave him some chow.  The next day, Chip jumped up into the crate that Pumpkin was in during meal time and she was uneventfully recaptured.  So, I'm still thinking that my search and rescue kitten idea has some merit.  I might just need to start with a perkier kitten - I'll let you know how it goes next time :) 

Chip's Big Adventure

 

So, it was bound to happen.  The least friendly kitten always has to escape into the wild, wild, wilderness of the Spare Bedroom...  Chip finally managed to time her jump perfectly and escape my lap during a feeding and socialization visit.  She was not interested in being caught again AT ALL.  If she hadn't still been on antibiotics, I probably wouldn't really have tried too hard, but I didn't want her to miss her medication. 

So, there I was under the futon with a flashlight and there she was, sitting absolutely resolutely out of my reach.  I managed to touch her once or twice before she skittered away to some other desolate corner of Under-Futon-Land.  "Fine!" I eventually said.  "When you're dead I'll pick you up."  Yes, I said that.  I really meant it for about a second or two and then, of course, didn't mean it.  However, I did decide to leave her be.  I knew she would get hungry and come out and that I would catch her then and if she missed a dose of her antibiotic that would just have to be okay.  I had tried to use a trap to catch her, however she was still stuffy in her nose and perhaps not smelling the food or not feeling well enough to be THAT hungry.

So I had to wait... and wait... and wait...  Hmmm... I have an idea - see the next post for my idea.

This is a picture of Chip with Spook, Little One, and Whirly during some snuggly socializing with Mike...

Our First Job Interview

I'm a little late in writing this...  Our first job interview was about ten days ago, last Monday, October 15th.  Spook and Little One went with me and we chatted in the car on the way to Lyndhurst about interview etiquette.  I explained that this was a chance to meet potential new owners and check out their home and any potential brothers and sisters.  I also requested that it would be really great if they could not scratch anyone or run away and hide necessitating removal of wallboard and lifting of couches.  They seemed to understand.

When we arrived, Little One was the first one out and I held him for a few minutes to let him get settled.  That may have been more for my sake than for his :)  When I deposited him on our new friend's lap, he seemed immediately comfortable.  He looked like a totally normal little kitten (except for his still-funky left eye.)  Then Spook came out and Little One went to sit on the other available lap and Spook took his spot.  Again, I was pleasantly shocked - Spook also played the part of a normal, unfrightened kitten - she even purred a bit we think...

So after a totally successful interview as far as I was concerned, it got even better and these lovely people decided to add Little One to their household.  Little One is now known as Apollo - fitting since the big Apollo cat that I trapped could be his Dad or Uncle - and has a cat brother named Rocky who is about 8 years old.

Little One/Apollo went home two days ago (I kept him until he finished his antibiotics).  The two pictures above show Little One with his buddy Pumpkin right before we left for the hand-off and the second one is Apollo on his new Mom's lap.  I received an update today from his new Mom and Dad that he already has the run of the house, likes sleeping on the couch and had been playing for about 30 minutes straight with a furry fake mouse on the floor :)

Great words for a tired kitten helper to go to sleep too...  Good night!

One Less Kitten...

...in the Ark!  Rusty found his home last night on his second interview.  He was so happy when I left that he was snuggled upside down in his new mom's arms as she and her son waved good-bye to me - I kicked myself for not getting a picture.  So, Rusty is the first to leave the nest and he goes to a wonderful home with a sister cat and a sister dog...

 

We'll be following up with Rusty's adjustment and I'll try to post pictures from his new home, too...  A great kitten for a great family!

Three Interviews and Three Job Offers!!

Now that's some record!!  So far the kittens and I have taken our show on the road three times to visit prospective owners and four kittens have made the cut.  I have never been so proud as I have been of these kittens on their interviews.  They have snuggled, snoozed, purred, and generally looked adorable.  Great job, Kids, great job!!

Little One was the first to be spoken for, though he is still at the Ark until he finishes his antibiotics in a few more days.  Next was Pumpkin who was chosen and gets to pick his permanent roommate to come home with him, too!  Pumpkin is also on some antibiotics for a bit of "whistling" in his breathing when he gets excited - he visited the vet and had his sinuses flushed (a little kitty neti treatment) and he's sounding better every day.

See the next post for the most exciting news so far...

Love Conquers All...

...even Chip.  Chip has spent the last week since she "checked in" to Chez Silsby, being quite clear about how she feels about me.  For the first four days or so, she sulked in the back of her carrier next to her litter box.  When I turned her litter box, she still refused to come to the front of the carrier and sat IN the litter box, as far from me as possible.  If I dared to reach gently into the carrier for any reason (to clean her litter box, fill or freshen her water, provide her delicious high quality meals, etc.) she would hiss and raise her little paw and pull it back in a threatening gesture.  She wasn't kidding.  She slashed at me when I daringly tried to pet her or, God forbid, pick her up.  I had to resort to picking her up with a towel due to her willingness to follow through on her threats.  Once I was holding her, she would eat vigorously from the spoon and occasionally, look up at me and say, "I hate you!!" with one sharp glance.  "Okay," I would say, "I know you hate me, just keep eating." 

The most improvement we had gotten was that she would lie in the front of her carrier on her towel and would only hide in the litter box when I entered the room.  Then she began to stay on the towel as long as I didn't come near her carrier.  Progress, right?  So, when she became sick, I thought, "Uh-oh, this isn't going to be fun.  She already hates me, she sure isn't going to like pills down her throat twice a day."  Even after spending much of the day together during our vet visit and subsequent trip to the barn, she was still spearing me with her "hate you" looks.  Oh, well. 

She wasn't eating so I was trying to encourage her by smearing a little food on her mouth - she didn't care for that either and tried to escape from her torturer with little spurts of energy.  "Anywhere, but with HER!", she seemed to be saying, "Give me liberty or give me death!"  I was concerned about her becoming dehydrated since she didn't seem to be drinking and wouldn't eat even wet food, so I decided what the hell, she already hates me and used a dosing syringe to squirt a little bit of "cat food soup" made of wet food and water into her mouth.  Yup, she hated that too.

As I left the room yesterday, she was sitting in the front of her carrier on her little towel and I distinctly felt her say, "I hate you SLIGHTLY less!"  I figured that was a start...

Tonight, I picked up Chip without a towel and without injury :)  Uh-oh, I thought, she must be very weak from not eating.  I had only managed to get her to eat a spoonful or so of wet food in the last two days.  I put her on my lap and when I offered her wet food, she gobbled it with close to her normal gusto.  Then she proceeded to eat a number of spoonfuls of cat food soup and some more wet food, too.  All good signs.  Then she was done for a bit and I cuddled and petted her - under restraint of course.  All of a sudden, she was purring.  Really purring.  A really BIG purr from her little tiny snuffly body.  Wow.  Then she ate a bit more too.

Who would have thunk it?  Love conquers all...with some help from cat food soup.

Must Have It!!!

Here is Little One reaching through the carrier door and frantically waving his paws around trying to reach the can of wet food...  I will not be denied!!  I must have it!!  I will wave even more determinedly until you submit to my wishes or I get it myself!!

 

Never underestimate the power of intention combined with action. Even when the odds are high :) A big lesson from Little One.

When It Rains, It Pours...

It sounds like a parody of a Christmas song - four sick kittens, three snotty noses, two big vet bills and one speeding ticket on the ride home.  Please don't let there be a partridge headed my way.

So on top of about $300 in vet bills in the last two days, I happened to decide to go to the bank and deposit a check that the ATM won't accept because of how the amount is written (i.e., I have to go when the branch is open).  On my way to the bank, I get a speeding ticket.

My challenge for today is to Accept Life as My Teacher even when things don't go the way I would seemingly prefer them to.  In other words, there is a reason why this happened and I'm hearing the message to Slow Down and Pay Attention.  I would have prefered a different delivery method, however, I may have missed the preceding attempts - I didn't hear the other knocks on the door.

Trust me, this was not my knee jerk response.  It took some effort to get here from, "Poor me...  I quit!  Forget it!  I'm trying to do something good and look what happens..."  Yes, I did go there first.  My challenge is not to STAY there.  To move on.  To Accept Life as My Teacher...even when the lesson doesn't make me smile.  It's easier to do when things are coming up roses, isn't it?

A Not So Chipper Chip

Our newest kitten, Chip, isn't doing too well.  She sneezed a few times, and, though I noticed, I didn't think too much of it because she was eating vigorously and hissing and swatting at me if I tried to reach towards her - both good signs in some ways :)

Tonight however, it's different.  Chip sounds congested and isn't wanting to eat her wet food.  She also was a bit more half-hearted about injuring me when I reached into her carrier tonight.  Instead of actively eating the wet food on a spoon as it approached her, she just didn't.

Tomorrow morning, it's off to the vet we go.  Fingers crossed that Chip just has the sniffles from the stress of captivity.  She's been with us for about 10 days now and is beginning to relax and come out from the back of her carrier.  It's one of the things that I struggle with on this mission - how much stress am I causing in the interest of reducing their long-term struggle?  How much short term "pain" is needed to achieve a happy, life-long home with loving people?  I'm taking it one day at a time and really pushing for homes now - foster or permanent.  It's time for our kittens to fledge and find their homes.  One day at a time, one home at a time, one kitten at a time.  One at a time - or two :)

Here's Chip before her capture - gorgeous isn't she?  She is really stunning - I'll post a newer picture tomorrow...  Please cross your fingers for our vet visit tomorrow.

More Purring!

Look to the left of this post.  See that beautiful kitten?  She has been a bit of a mystery to me, in that she doesn't resist me picking her up, she eats from my hand, has never hissed or swatted at me - yet doesn't care for me much either.  She sort of gets a little smaller when I reach for her, like, "Oh no, here comes the hand [eyes squinting and squishing closer to the floor of the carrier], I bet she's going to...touch me..." 

So today, I was holding Whirly on my chest after feeding her some wet food off a spoon and she was quite relaxed - I was almost falling asleep, so I was pretty relaxed too...  All of a sudden I heard something...  Hmmm....  Could it be purring?  Then the pretty calico kitten began vibrating with her first purr in contact with a human.  So just about when I start to think, "Sheesh, this isn't working at all.  This kitten is never going to like people, no matter how many pets I give her."  It appears to begin to work.  So, my lesson is patience and attention and surrender to the divine timing of kittens.  We'll see what happens tomorrow...

TNRelease, Re-Release, Re-Re-Release...

I believe that there is learning for us in everything that happens...should we choose to look for it.  So last week, when I kept trapping the same cats over and over and over and, in the case of Blaze, over again, I began to wonder.  Hmmmm.....what is the message here for me?  I could focus on Blaze and ponder whether he is not the brightest bulb on the tree or perhaps he is very brave, or perhaps brilliant and has figured out that he gets a safe place with no competition to eat the wet food and then I'll let him go.  On another level, what might Blaze, and Cairo, and Kismet, and the raccoon :), and Dewey and the previously ear-tipped-cats-that-I-haven't-named-yet be offering me?  Since I caught them all more than once (okay, the raccoon I only caught once...)

Blaze

Kismet

Cairo

Suddenly I saw an opportunity to practice releasing.  Literally experiencing releasing.  Releasing cats (who could represent anything in my life) every day, sometimes multiple times a day.  For Blaze it was a daily practice for a while - he must have gone into a trap at least five times.  So letting go of these wonderful beings can also help me to let go of other beings, things, jobs, ideas that I care about and might come back to me...or might not.  That might not serve me any more to hold on to.  That might be just fine, or even better, if released.

Much to ponder here, thank you to all the brave cats who have offered me experiential learning in release and re-release and release again...

The Power of One Blink

It doesn't sound like much - one blink.  However, in the world of feral kittens one blink can be huge.  Rusty blinked once while I was holding him the other day.  I was slow blinking while holding him - slow blinking is a technique to calm animals and communicate peace to them.  Basically, if I were hunting him, I wouldn't be blinking.  So, while I was holding him, I was slow blinking and then all of a sudden, Rusty blinked.  Why is this so fascinating, you might ask?  Because Rusty normally has a perpetually surprised/terrified expression on his face when I look at him.  His eyes get so big, I think that he must be part owl.  See what I mean?

So for Rusty to have normal sized eyes :) and then to blink is really something. I'm reminded to catch those small moments that are really the big moments. I could rush past that blink and on to, "Why isn't he purring?" That would be a very common human response. Perhaps slow blinking is good for people too.  Perhaps my slow blinking communicated slowing down, relaxation, and peace to ME, too... Enabling me to catch the blink.

Go ahead, try some slow blinking, see what happens :)

Life is Amazing

Our little teeny kittens are thriving! Thanks entirely to their foster mom Liz who has been bottle feeding them every 4 hours for the past two weeks. Yes. Every 4 hours, around the clock for the last two weeks. Due to her diligence these two little beings are progressing into the hysterically funny stages of kitten development. Here are a couple of photos from Tuesday (they are about 3 weeks old in these pictures.)

From Sleepy and Sedate...

 

 

 

 

To WILD and CRAZY!!

 

The word Friday was that they are now starting to play with each other and finally able to stand and keep their bellies off the ground :)  Amazing what a difference a couple of days can make, since when these photos were taken they couldn't even right themselves if they tumbled onto their backs in their snuggly carrier!

Sure is a far cry from mewing and tumbling around under a shrub in the yard of a vacant house.  I'm reminded of one of my favorite sayings, "It's always darkest before the dawn." - thanks for the reminder Kitties...

 

A New Name

So I've renamed this blog - The (Un)Willing Cat Angel.  Because despite my claims of being unwilling, apparently I AM willing.  I think that the un part comes from times like Glencairn and from not knowing where the money will come from, or who would take the teeny kittens that need to be bottle fed, or what will happen to these now six kittens that I'm fostering.  I am unable to ignore their plight and therefore I am willing to do what I can.  I'm not sure why I can't quite remove the un - maybe the parantheses are a step forward.  I really wish that my efforts weren't necessary, though I don't know that I can translate that into unwillingness. 

Every time a colony of cats finds me, they manage to open my heart - sometimes joyfully and sometimes by breaking it.  Perhaps I'm still unwilling to go about with my heart open and available for the breaking.  Trouble is, if I'm always protecting my heart it's tough to feel it at all.  Like a box with something fragile inside and lots of packing material to protect that valuable, breakable object.  What good and beauty comes from keeping that valuable, breakable, beautiful object in a box?  If we take it out, we can see it and appreciate it and it might get broken. 

I vote for unpacking the box.  How about you?

Yesterday Mourning

I trapped another black cat Wednesday evening.  He looked kind of wet and miserable since it had been raining for two days or so and despite my best efforts, the trap had gotten wet.  He overnighted in the garage and on Thursday morning, he and I went to the APL for the usual services.  While we were there and I was filling out paperwork, I uncovered the trap a little to see him and give him his name - a task which I take quite seriously.  Perhaps I'm not so much giving them names as listening for what their name is...  I usually attempt to name our cats and kittens for pets of those who have donated, or something about them that sounds like a cat name, to me :)

I struggled with naming this character and as I pondered, I petted him in the trap.  He was very quiet and calm despite the relative chaos of the TNR drop-off room - people coming and going, talking and moving around, cats everywhere in traps and carriers (probably 30 or so), meowing, scratching and the occasional hiss...  He was so calm.  I thought perhaps he is tame.  His right eye was very goopy and didn't look good, though that isn't too uncommon with feral cats and often can be cleared up with a short course of medication.  Hmmm....okay, I guess I can keep him a couple of days if he needs some meds.  So I told Sara (the TNR Coordinator) to have the vet give her recommendation and prescribe whatever she suspected would help him.  What's one more, right?? :)  Sara wondered, "What's up with his feet?", I told her they look wet, he was out in the rain, I guess he's pretty uncomfortable...

After I left I went home which is unusual.  I was having a cup of tea and my breakfast when my cell phone rang - the APL - why are they calling?  I picked up and was speaking with a vet, not usually a good sign.  The doctor had Glencairn under anesthesia and was doing his examination.  He was in bad shape, she said.  Really bad shape.  She figured that he was blind in one eye and had massive infection in his other eye as well as in his mouth.  Also, he was thin and his feet were ulcerated and swollen and she suspected it was painful for him to walk.  So, what did I want to do?  Even as I type that my heart jumps...  She said that there was definitely a "quality of life issue" here.  She could give him a shot of long acting antibiotics and I could keep him in my garage for a few days to see if he improved....  She asked if he seemed like a happy cat in the colony, because of course, he could be getting around just fine.  I couldn't really answer that because there are so many black cats in this colony that it is tough to tell them all apart sometimes.  I had about five minutes to make my decision while he was under anesthesia.  I asked the doctor to call me back in a few minutes.

When I put down the phone, the tears came.  I know that this is what I signed up for and I still don't like it.  Archie (one of our black cats) came to me and I picked him up and hugged him...  When I asked my question, the answer was obvious.  I was hearing it all around me - "Let him go."  The doctor called back and despite my best efforts, I was teary when I told her.  She said that she knew it was hard to do and that going into winter, this was better than him starving outside in the cold.  She definitely cared about Glencairn, too.

So, one of my other black cats, Jinxie jumped up on a stool in the kitchen, which she never does and I picked her up and held her as she purred and as Glencairn passed over.  I'm happy that his last night was safe and quiet in the garage next to another cat.  I'm glad that he received some pets and his name on his last morning.  I know that he walked into that trap for a reason and I feel that he knew what he was doing.  This is what I signed up for and it's sure not easy on mournings like this.

Godspeed, Glencairn.  I'm glad to have met you...  May your rebirth be fortunate.

Exciting Numbers!

Numbers of Cats
At this point in Operation Silsby we have assisted 12 cats (and at least 2 more tomorrow) on their way to a healthier, more relaxing life.  I believe we are at Hump Day (no pun intended :) since I think we have reached about 1/2 of the colony population at this point.  I'm guessing from my spreadsheet (yes, I'm that nerdy) that we have about 25 cats and kittens in this colony. 

We have altered and re-released 6 adults (3 males and 3 females) and removed 6 kittens from the colony (4 males, 1 female, and 1 that I don't know yet :)  The teeny kittens are doing great and the four older kittens that I am fostering are making good progress (more on them in another post.)

There are 4 adult cats in the colony who have already been sterilized prior to Operation Silsby, so I think that leaves us with about 9 cats and kittens who still require our "hospitality".

In just a couple of weeks, we have prevented the birth of 2.94 MILLION cats.  A breeding pair of cats can produce 420,000 cats in only 7 years.

Numbers of Dollars
On the financial side, we have now raised approximately $750 in pledges (nearly all received). 

So we have raised about $750 and we have spent about $466 - most of that on the 4 kittens that I'm fostering who have all needed extra attention at the APL (treatment for fleas, worms, SNAP testing for feline leukemia, and tapeworm treatment) as well as the two black kittens' vet appointment and eye medications.  Soooo.....by my estimates (from my spreadsheet :), we will need about another $166 to complete Operation Silsby.  That is, assuming that no one has a bunch of kittens in the meantime...  Oh, and assuming that no one else has medical issues...  Fingers crossed.

So, if you are in a position to donate, please give us a hand, donations have ranged from canned food to $10 to $200 and every little, and big, bit helps and makes this rescue possible.  I would also love donations of litter, we use The World's Best Cat Litter (it's environmentally friendly - flushable and made from corn - as well as being safe for kittens after surgery.)  The kittens are eating Innova wet and dry cat food primarily because it is a very high quality food while they are healing and gaining weight.  I can also use stinky Friskies and other less expensive canned cat food for baiting traps.

Thank you to all who are making Operation Silsby a success!  I couldn't do it without you...

Not Much Luck...But Some...

This was really the first time I can remember going to check traps every hour or so and finding them unoccupied.  I moved them around, still no takers.  It's not good if the colony is getting trap-wise...  Wait! I realized that I was baiting the traps with Fancy Feast - hmmm....perhaps my feline friends prefer the stinky Friskies that has been irresistible to so many others.  I baited again with Friskies and went back one more time to check the two remaining traps - nada.  Well, I left them overnight to see who we might have in the morning.

I don't have pictures of the two cats that I did manage to convince to join me in my Tuesday adventure.  They are a BIG, black, fluffy cat who is NOT happy to be trapped.  He was like a bucking bronco in the cage to the point that he was making it difficult for me to carry the trap with him in it.  He is named Apollo.  Our other guest for the night at Chez Garage (pronounced ga-ra-jhay) is a highly sought after calico that I am very excited to have as a client.  She is small and I'm not sure if she's a kitten or not, it was hard to tell because she was always running away when I saw her :)  Her name is Whirly.  Calico cats are almost 100% female, so it is fantastic to catch her, hopefully before she ever has a litter.  I know she doesn't believe me right now, however, her life just got WAY easier and better...  I'll have pictures of both tomorrow.

Five More Hungry Cats

On Thursday when I was trapping, our cats must have been especially hungry. Or I have found the best time and location for trapping, one or the other. I trapped three cats that had already been spayed or neutered within only an hour or so. Once I confirmed their identities and that their ears were tipped, I opened the traps and released them and re-set the traps. I eventually ended up catching two new "clients" as well. The pictures of all are below. The first three are "mugshots" of satisfied customers and the last two pictures are of Dewey (black) and Queenie (dilute calico) who I re-released Saturday morning after their surgeries and overnighting in my garage. Both scampered off to much happier lives without worry of procreation...

Cats and Prayers

As I was scoping the yard and putting out food where the cats are hanging out and taking pictures of the cats and kittens for record keeping, they suddenly scattered and I turned and saw a human foot, in a sandal.  Uh-oh...  I always go to take pictures and trap during the day when no one is home so that I don't disturb the human residents, however, one of the owners was home on Thursday afternoon.  After apologizing (which he said was not necessary :), we had a wonderful conversation about the cats and kittens.  The felines were obviously very comfortable around their friend Stephen and he assured me that he and his wife were very concerned about the colony and had been feeding them regularly.  He said they had tried to find out what to do, however, they had not been able to reach anyone to help them come up with a plan for the colony.

Later, Janice came home and I was still on my photo safari.  We also had a chance to talk and she expressed how concerned she has been about these wonderful cats.  She also said that she had been praying and praying and praying for something to happen to help these cats.  I told her, "I must have heard you."  Funny how things work out, isn't it?

Teeny Kittens

Sorry, still no pictures.  I haven't been able to connect with Liz who is bottle feeding them.  I hope to get pictures on Monday.  These little ones are now a little over two weeks old and doing GREAT!  Liz says that their eyes are open, they are eating great and really, really cute...

Now, we need a foster home lined up for when they transition to solid food (around 3-4 weeks old.)  At that point they are still a bit young to be adopted out, though 6-8 weeks is a great time to get them in a permanent home.  Please spread the word!!

Check for pictures Monday night!

Little Ones

Well, when I went to check the traps at 6:45am this morning, I had one more surprise.  There was another kitten in a trap!

So I took all four of the kittens to the APL for altering today.  All were large enough though the orange kittens appear to be older than the black kittens by a few weeks.  Pumpkin and Rusty are about 4 months and Spook and Little One are about 14 weeks.  All four were boys.  Spook and Little One need to see the vet because of eye issues among other things.  The APL suggested that I get them to a vet tomorrow (Thursday) so that's my plan.  Little One is not very well according to their cursory inspection.  I'm feeling that his energy is strong, so I'm hopeful that will keep him alive until his body starts to heal...  Right now, three of the four are snugged in to carriers with litter boxes, food and water.  The fourth (Spook) escaped from the carrier by squeezing between the door and the carrier wall when I attempted to pet him.  He is contained in one room, though I have set a trap in that room in hopes of catching him overnight...

As soon as I put water into their carriers, Little One went straight to his bowl and took a very long drink.  I take that as a good sign!  He also went right to his small meal that I gave him while the others were much more wary.  He's a fighter that Little One is...  Fingers crossed...

Drizzly Trapping

No, not Grizzly Trapping, Drizzly Trapping.  My traps are much too small to catch a grizzly :)

I decided to trap tonight on a whim.  It was a good whim!!  When I went back to check the traps I had TWO clients in one trap.  Two of the kittens, one black and one orange - YEAH!!!  This is my current priority, since we really need to get this little ones into foster care so that they can learn the joys of human company and get homes instead of living on the streets.  The little orange kitty is quite confident and let me pet him (70% of orange tabbies are male, so odds are...) through the trap.  He even reached his adorable little nose toward my hand.  I was curious, so I opened the trap's back door partially and reached in.  He let me pet his little chin and started to purr!!  Really, he did!  So I very, very much want to find a great inside home for him.  He might still need some time to really warm up and this was a great start.  The little black kitten was more nervous and hid behind his orange friend.  These kittens are named Spook and Pumpkin after cats belonging to one of our donors.  They are currently bunking in the garage until their visit to the doctor tomorrow.

Then an hour or so later, I thought, what the heck, I'll go back and check the other traps again.  Well, good thing I did!  I had another client - the other orange kitten.  YEAH, again!  This little one was more nervous, perhaps because he didn't have a friend with him.  I put him next to the other trap in the garage and covered the traps together so that all three kittens can see each other and stay warm together too...  I'm naming this guy Rusty.  Here are their pictures from photo day last week.

 

Aren't they gorgeous?

So, I'll check the rest of the traps in the morning and see who else might be going on a road trip tomorrow.  Now, the rubber hits the road - we need foster homes and permanent homes for these kids.  Please work your networks and send us some good leads as well as good energy and happy thoughts :)

Teeny Kitten News

This sounds like a newspaper :)  The teeny little kittens are doing GREAT!  Their foster Mom is bottle feeding them about every 4 hours and says that they are doing everything they should be doing.  They have almost doubled in size (!) already, their eyes are open and they are very mobile.  I'll have pictures hopefully tomorrow or Thursday after I go to visit them.  Yeah!!  What a miracle that we found someone willing and able to do this very challenging phase of rescue.  Thank you, Liz!!

This evening when I went to set traps (more on that later) there had been changes to the yard of the vacant house.  It was dark, however, I could see that branches had been cut and piled up in the yard.  It appears that the entity who owns the house did some "winterizing" per a note on the door and I can only wince when I think that they could have been tromping around that yard last Thursday when those tiny kittens were right there barely under a shrub.  The kittens could have been stepped on (they were in the area where a bunch of branches were cut) and/or disturbed or accidentally injured.  What luck that they were found before the workpeople scheduled this house!  They certainly wouldn't have been looking for kittens on the ground and definitely would have had other issues on their minds.

I guess things worked out for the best for these two little ones (I hope).  I'm going to keep my eyes open for Number 3, in case he/she is still around with Mom...

Fluffy, Fluffy Was A Boy

Though Fluffy is not a boy any longer, however, he is back with his colony and will have a much happier life.  His surgery and re-release were uneventful and he sprinted out of the trap and back to freedom on Saturday morning.  Fluffy was sponsored by Ronan, a young man who donated some of his birthday money to help this colony of cats.  Ronan has donated birthday money to other rescue projects that I have done, too.  Thanks to youngsters like Ronan, the cats of the world can look forward to many brighter days!!

Fluffy says, "Thanks!!" - here is his picture from before his trapping experience...

Okay, so maybe Fluffy wasn't thinking, "Thanks!!", the whole time he was in the trap/neuter/return process.  Perhaps he was thinking, "What the heck???", so next time you find yourself thinking, "What the heck???" - maybe something is going on that you'll be grateful for in the long run. 

Just something to think about...

The Rest of the Story...So Far

So, yes, there are a few other cats and kittens besides the two teeny, tiny ones.  I spent all day on Operation Silsby today and much of that was spent "making friends".  I took cans of wet food and opened them and left them around the yard to encourage any and all cats and kittens to come up and get their portrait taken.  I have photographed most of the cats in this colony, I believe, and here are some of the characters... 

My goal is to have pictures to help me keep track of who is who and also to promote these lovelies to their new prospective guardians.  There are two adults who I believe are already ear-tipped (i.e., spayed or neutered) which is great news.  There might be more kittens than I originally thought, though I think that I have a pretty good handle on the colony size.  I'm guessing around 15 cats and kittens.  I have about 13 documented, though in some cases, I'm still trying to figure out which black or orange cat/kitten I'm looking at :)

Fluffy, is the other cat who was in a trap and is still in the trap, to go to the APL tomorrow morning.  I brought the teeny kittens over to Fluffy in the trap to see if Fluffy might be Mom.  Fluffy looked at the kittens and me as if I had three heads and they did too.  So, I'm thinking Fluffy might not be Mom.  I get "boy vibes" from Fluffy, so we'll find out tomorrow if I have good "cat-dar" or not.

I will be away from Friday evening until late Sunday night, so friend-making and trapping will resume next week.  Every time I get involved in a cat rescue I wonder, and say, "Why do I do this?  Why??"  And then I remember why... 

Kitten Update

Well, after a very challenging day of checking on the two remaining kittens (the whereabouts of the third kitten is still unknown), I decided to bring them in.  I had been checking in on them approximately every hour and had given the mama a number of opportunities to move them if she intended to.  Whether or not she was too scared to do so, couldn't for some reason, or perhaps they had been abandoned, I'll probably never know.  When I saw flies beginning to land on the kittens and they were crying a lot and moving out into the open, I picked them up and carried them home using my t-shirt as a basket.  They calmed down as soon as I cuddled them into my shirt.  When we got home, the whole house was thrown into chaos by the two, tiny, squalling infants.  My cats were freaking out and Allie didn't know if they were the best squeaky toys ever or her "charges" to watch over.  They were VERY active and I eventually had to put them in a cat carrier to keep them from crawling away or falling off of whatever I tried to put them on temporarily.  They settled into their digs and napped a bit on their towel bed in their "room".

As I was walking home with the kittens an experienced rescue person that I had called, returned my call and said that, yes, she would take the kittens in and bottle feed them.  Wow.  As soon as I committed to the kittens, my need was answered - something for me to ponder...    I spoke with many people today, some of whom do not even know me.  The fact that I was given a lead to call someone who might know someone who might be able to help and somehow it all came together is nothing short of a miracle.  To all my new, and previous, friends who helped today - the biggest thank you isn't even enough...

I drove the kittens to their new person this evening and stayed for an hour or so to learn a bit about bottle feeding youngsters.  I also took a turn at feeding them and it was so rewarding when the bigger of the two figured out how to get milk from the little tiny bottle I was encouraging him to drink from.

So, for now, they are safe, warm, and fed.  Their odds are still long, since even expert bottle feeding cannot compete with a Mama kitty's care.  These kittens will need to be fed about every 4 hours and will also need their belly's massaged in order to eliminate waste.  This is a huge commitment and I'm very aware that many people take on this resonsibility every day for no compensation and, often, no appreciation - just because they can help to save a life.  Please take a moment to thank anyone and everyone you know who does any kind of rescue work - it's all heart and it's not easy.

Today's News

A stressful day. I released the spayed and neutered cats without incident, however, as I was feeding and taking pictures of cats and kittens I began to hear sounds. I followed the sounds. I found three tiny kittens in the yard of the vacant house. I watched them on and off for the next hour and a half or so. When I went back over to that yard, there were only two. They appear to be too young for one to have wandered off, so perhaps Mama moved one and was coming back for the others. I checked on them an hour ago and there were still two kittens there. The other complication is that I have trapped two adult cats today (by accident, I was hoping for the kittens who were hanging around eating wet food.) So I don't know if one of these is the Mom... I released one cat (not yet altered) hoping s/he was the Mom, however, I have not yet checked to see if she has moved the kittens. I now have to decide whether to release the other cat that I have in a trap (not yet altered) in case s/he might be the Mom.

Any help would be very much appreciated. Ideally, Mom comes and moves the kittens all to one safe place. In absence of that, we'll need to find someone who can bottle feed the kittens (I'm in a workshop for the next three days and unavailable) or a lactating mother cat who can adopt the kittens.

Second Day and Night

This morning I had two additional clients in two of the three traps that I had left out overnight, so this morning at about 6:45am, we all loaded into the Civic and I headed to yoga. From yoga I went to the APL and YEAH!! they had room for three more. So, this evening I picked up Cairo (all black female adult, lactating :( and Blaze, pale orange tabby male with a big white...blaze and Kismet, our very pretty dilute calico (girl). All are overnighting under cover and hopefully toasty warm in our garage for the night and tomorrow I'll be releasing them - unless anyone can take them in to foster.

All three of them let me pet them in their cages which is quite unusual. I think that all of them could be tamed quite quickly. I'll have pictures attached tomorrow morning - it was too dark this evening to get their photos...

So, three down and a bunch to go... Just remember that a pair of unaltered cats (and their offspring and accounting for mortality rates) can create 420,000 cats in only 7 years - so already we have prevented the birth of 630,000 kittens!

Thank you to Everyone, I'm off to get some sleep now... Please consider adding one of these gorgeous cats to your home - they are all in quite good condition and really lovely...

First Night

Well, we're off and running. I trapped for the first time tonight and have one young black cat overnighting in a trap in my garage, so far. I'll see who else I might have in the morning when I check... It's off to the APL in the morning (I'm hoping they have room for walk-ins :)

Fingers crossed!! Thanks to Everyone for all the help and support. Please spread the word about these cats and kittens since we'll be needing foster and permanent homes very soon.

 

Great News for Operation Silsby!

This is just a quick update on Operation Silsby since I am still in New York on vacation for one more day. I had a GREAT conversation this evening with the man who lives in house where the cats are spending much of their time. He and his wife (Stephen and Janice) are animal lovers and are willing to help feed the cats in preparation for their capture and surgeries and they are also willing to help with maintaining the colony once we get the kittens and any social cats on to homes or rescue groups. YEAH!! Stephen also told me the approximate number of cats and kittens and that there is a young couple a few houses down who caught some kittens last year and found homes for them AND TNR'd a few adults, too. YEAH! Another partner for our project... The husband of this young couple is a soldier who is overseas in Afghanistan right now, according to Stephen, so I'll be sending some prayers that way as well...

I made appointments at the APL for September 25th and 27th (the earliest ones that I could get) and that gives us a few weeks to socialize cats and catch the kittens. The kittens need to be caught as soon as possible to give us the best chance of socializing them into wonderful, friendly, loving kitties.

We also have approximately $200 pledged (I have to update my spreadsheet to give you the exact numbers) and that should get us pretty far into stabilizing this colony. I'm guessing that there are about 15-ish cats and kittens total and I'm really praying that there are no more mamas-to-be. A HUGE thank you to Everyone who has donated so far - whether you've donated dollars, traps, good energy, cat food, or anything else!! Donations can be sent to me at 3245 Silsby Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118...

Take care, Everyone! I will keep you all updated on the socialization progress and please spread the word about these cats and kittens since we'll be looking for homes. Stephen told me that one of the cats comes up and rubs on his legs :)

First Reconnaissance Mission

Happy Rainy Monday (to those in Cleveland)! Happy Regular Monday to those who live elsewhere...

After my initial scouting mission today (in the rain, of course) we have a few more cats than I initially saw. Big surprise there :) So, we have at least 10 cats in need of assistance at this time, 3 that appear to be adults, 4 young kittens (about 7 weeks) and 3 "teenagers" probably between 6-10 months old. I have started a spreadsheet, of course, to track all these characters and have begun the naming process, too... So far we have $90 pledged to help the cats of Operation Silsby and with donations comes naming opportunities. If you have made a donation, feel free to send me names and which cat you'd like to sponsor too. Here are our critters, so far...

fluffy black adult (~ 1 year)

short hair orange tabby kitten #1 (~7 weeks)

short hair black youngster (~6 months)

short hair orange tabby kitten #2 (~7 weeks)

short hair black kitten #1 (~7 weeks)

short hair brown tabby adult (~1 year)

short hair orange tabby teenager with big white blaze (~8 months)

short hair black kitten #2 (~7 weeks)

short hair dilute calico - very pretty! - adult (~1 year)

short hair black teenager (~ 8 months)

I'll hopefully have some pictures soon. I need to make contact with the owners of the house where I saw them in order to proceed, so wish me luck (they were not home today when I knocked.) I have borrowed three traps to help catch this crew though we could still use a few more as well as donations of canned cat food for baiting traps and making friends, $$ towards spay/neuter/shot bills and any physical assistance that anyone would like to offer - oh yeah, and foster and permanent homes :) Many, many thanks to those who have donated already!!