Last week I left a trap with caregivers in a local mini home park. It was wired open and they have been feeding their abandoned cat inside the trap since Thursday. Last night they took the wires off the trap so that when the cat came to eat it would be caught.
My other cat was being fed by a couple in Parkton. They have been feeding it all summer and as winter comes closer they would like to take it inside and/or try to find it a home. The husband was quite sure he could put the cat into a transfer cage, and when I called he said he had the cat in his basement, so I took a cage and headed over.
The caregiver couple are very nice. They had two cats of their own that they rescued some years ago and recently had to put the male cat down. They still have a beautiful black and white female, and they are hopeful that, if the stray doesn't find a home, they will be able to integrate her with the resident cat and keep her. It takes no time for the cat in the basement to be placed in the transfer cage. It's a pretty tortie, and I assure the caregivers that they have a girl. I hurry home in time to meet up with Cathy and we put the little cat into the shed for the night.
Although we are not trapping, we are going to deliver our drop trap to one of two ladies trying to catch single cats in the Sunnybrae area. This caregiver has already caught two cats, one using a snap trap and one using a transfer cage she was able to persuade the cat to go into. There is one more cat coming to her deck for food, but so far it has eluded her. The drop trap will be our last chance, but the caregiver is full of optimism.
I hoped the caregivers at the trailer park would get their cat before Cathy went home, but they did not call so David promised to go with me if they got it later in the evening. Around 9 they called. The cat had not been seen. I assured them that they could call until 11 and in the morning I could take it in if I got a call by 8 am.
While Cathy and I were out the other caregiver in Sunnybrae called and talked to David. He said she sounded discouraged and probably wants to stop trying to get the final cat she has been feeding. So far she has caught two and also two skunks. She says the third cat is only infrequently seen in the daytime and she thought it was coming late at night because the food is gone in the morning. I suspect the skunks are eating the food overnight. Possibly the cat belongs to some neighbor who lets it out occasionally, which might account for it sometimes not showing up for days. Sharon has delivered a shelter to the caregiver because the two cats that are certainly homeless live in a field behind her house and have no real shelter except under her deck. I will get back to her and pick up our trap is she wants to stop trapping for now. We can always go back in the spring if needed.
This morning David and I took the little tortie to Maritime to be spayed. At 8 o'clock the caregiver at the mini home park called to say she still had not seen the cat. I advised her to try trapping again this afternoon and evening and to call if she caught it.
I had to take the mil to the eye doctor, so I was tied up until about 11. That was the time I had agreed to go out to a home north of town to pick up one homeless but much loved cat. This guy has been hanging around a country home for almost a year. The man who lives there feeds and talks to him and he is fairly tame. Unfortunately the couple are moving into town and selling their home, so the cat will have no support once that takes place. They are actually living in town now, but the husband goes to the property every day to do some fix-ups in preparation for selling. The caregiver told me on the phone he thought he could get the cat into a transfer cage.
We tried. The cat is wiry and strong; I could pet and scratch him , but I could not scruff him. The caregiver cannot pick him up and I did not think he would allow me to. We tried seducing him with canned cat food, and he did go almost all the way into the cage but managed to scoot backward and escape before I could put the door in place. After considerable effort in the rain, we gave up and decided that the caregiver will get a trap from my place and try the old "wire it open until they're used to it" trick. The cat is handsome, definitely a male, and only semi feral. The caregiver would like us to look for a home for him and I think he would be a great barn cat. I take photos to put on the internet, but in the meantime one of our colonies has agreed to take him in until a home is found, or forever if it comes to that.
I'm back home around 1:30 when the phone rings. The caregiver at the mini home park has the cat in the trap. I look outside and the sun is shining. I call Kelly and pick her up to help me with the cat. As I go down the drive to pick up a transfer cage beside the deck I see a cat there. The transfer cage I used this morning had some canned food still stuck to it, but because it was raining when I came home I left it beside the deck to be hosed down later. Now a rather nice tabby tuxedo is cleaning up the mess with gusto. It runs when I sees me, but I make a mental note to put some kibble out tonight. I'm sure it's the same cat David and I saw walking down the sidewalk a few mornings ago and I wonder if it is lost of if someone new to the neighborhood is risking their cat's life by letting it outside.
I pick up Kelly and stop for gas. It starts to rain. (Possibly the angels are crying over the cost of filling the old van?) As we drive to the mini home park, the rain abates, then starts to mist just as we arrive at the trailer. The lady comes out and shows us the trap where I originally placed it. I bend to line up the transfer cage with the trap and the skies open up. Water falls in sheets on all three of us. The caregiver could not latch the trap so she has closed it with twist ties which I have to unwind. It's covered with a blanket but the cat is leaping around. Kelly is trying to hold the trap in place. The caregiver is shouting that the cat will never move from one cage to the other. The trap and the cage are sliding in the mud and dangerous gaps appear between them. The caregiver grabs for the cage, I warn her not to interfere but it's too late; the cat manages to snag her with a claw. All the time the rain is pouring. The cat is frantic, rushing from cage to trap and I am struggling to get the door in place without letting go of the cage. Finally Kelly gets control of the trap and holds it steady for an instant. As soon as the cat circles back into the cage I drop the door and secure it. I throw a blanket over it and Kelly and I beat a hasty retreat in the downpour with the cat in the cage and the empty trap. We are just leaving the mini home park when the rain stops.
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