Wow! What a Year!

 As usual we delivered food once a month to several colonies.  We are always happy to see some of the cats on our rounds. This guy was really friendly and seemed glad to see us.

Murphy and O'Malley were the first of several kittens we fostered.  We loved them so much and wanted to keep them, but they got a good home.  Here is a follow up photo from the adopters:

I only actually brought in five kittens myself.   The first of these were Opie, Prada and Raven. They came from a downtown colony and went to Marlah first and then to me.  Later in the year, we brought in Archie and Hunter. Other than that, my fosters came through other trappers.  

This was my first year trapping with Cathy and she was a great trapping partner. She had trapped before, but not a lot, and was eager to learn anything new.  Part way through the year we got a drop trap and it was very effective in some situations, but we also got a lot of cats with snap traps. In some cases we had help from the caregivers and occasionally we wired a trap open and had the caregivers feed inside it for several days before we actually trapped with it.

The top photo shows a kitty in a snap trap and the bottom one is a drop trap. Unfortunately the guy in the drop trap had already been altered and just came back for a snack.   He did some major acrobatics that I was unable to capture on camera before Cathy let him go. 

There was one cat that Cathy couldn't let go. He was a friendly but homeless big black guy living in a local trailer park.   She decided to take him home and foster him and he was eventually placed for adoption.

We did some trapping around our house this year.  Some people believe all homeless cats live in the country but that is simply not true: Moncton had a huge number of them.

 

This is Oliver.  His owner was renting next to us and let him roam most of the time so he began to feed at our house. With the owner`s permission, I got him neutered through the Oulton`s program.

 



 

 

This is Buddy. One of our neighbors named him that.  He was one of the homeless cats we were feeding, but after we trapped and altered him he moved over to the next street and began to get food from someone else.  Maybe he was upset because we altered him or  maybe she offered better cat food.   The new caregiver is a very nice lady and worried about Buddy. We are quite close to Mountain Road and we both felt he was at high risk from the traffic.   Funny how things work out.  We heard from a lady who has an orchard in the Cocagne area. She was looking for a friendly outdoor cat to help her two current cats, one of which is elderly, keep rodents away from the yard and outbuildings.  She offered a great home where the cats have a garage to sleep in with heated sleeping pads for winter and lots of food and water.   Buddy was lured into a transfer cage and taken to Cocagne. We received several follow up messages indicating that he integrated with the other cats and two resident dogs very well and is safe and happy.

 

We didn`t always get the cats we went after.  This beautiful tabby is still at large so far as I know in the Indian Mountain area.  The cat is only semi feral and the owners have moved so I hope someone is able to get him and take him to a safe colony or find him a nice working cat position like the one Buddy got.

 

 

 

We had a few tragedies.  One cat had to be put down because she was feluk positive and another was euthanized because she had pillow foot.  One of the saddest cases was that of Speckles.  She was an abandoned pet that showed up at one of the colonies where we deliver food. Another trapper took her to be spayed and when we saw how friendly she was we took a picture (below) and started to advertise her for adoption. The caregivers can`t take cats in because one of them is allergic, and they were very anxious for her to find a home.  After a short time, we found a potential adopter.   I was so happy to call the caregivers and tell them I was coming to get Speckles and it was painful to hear that she had disappeared from the  colony.   The poor little girl was an indoor cat and ill-equipped to live in the country; she lasted about three months despite the fact that there was plenty of shelter, food and water.    

 

We had some triumphs, too.  This little girl, found in Parkton, was already spayed. The caregivers would have taken her in but their elderly cat really disliked her.  Happily an adopter was found and she now has a new home.   

 

As the end of the year approaches I tried to figure out how many cats we took in.  Not counting foster kittens, but including the cats Cathy and I trapped and the ones I transported that were caught by caregivers, I think I took 64 cats to be altered this year. How many unwanted kittens did that prevent? There are a few loose ends, but not many and anything that needs follow up has been reported to Marlah.   

 

I still have Hunter in foster care and I expect two more kittens to be brought in from one of our colonies any day. I have asked Kim Sunday if there will be room in a foster home; she said she would get back to me by Monday but did not. If there is no place for them, Kelly will take them until I can foster them.  They are about seven weeks old, and it is too late in the year for them to have much of chance at survival, besides which their caregivers` home is very close to the road and all the cats in the colony are at high risk from traffic.  As always, saving the animals is the most important thing.