Here comes "Studmuffin"

Well, hey there! Who's this? Oh, is that Studmuffin?

I think so! Are you coming over here, sir?

Would you like to be neutered, Studmuffin? I think you've fathered enough babies!!!

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but the cats from this colony look rough. As you can tell in this picture, Stud does not look well-groomed. They've all looked pretty shaggy. And thin. Most of them just don't look healthy. It doesn't seem to be lack of food - the caretaker always leaves a lot of food out. The vet tech supervisor and I were speculating the possibility of FIV/FeLV. But unless a cat comes in looking very sick, we won't be testing. There's really no point, since all we can do to help is spay and neuter to stop the spread of disease, which we're already doing. Even if they did test positive, I wouldn't want them killed just because they have the disease.

So, Studmuffin seems to be quite the gentleman. Here he is waiting patiently as all the girls/younguns chow down.

My little trap with the sliding rear door was set behind the dumpster, awaiting a small kitty. But as everyone was eating, the trap snapped shut of its own accord. No one was even near it. Freaked me and all the cats out. Everyone scattered.

I will admit, I was sitting in my car being a sissy. I was watching them eat, and I didn't want to disturb them, thinking THEY ARE SO HUNGRY AND IT WOULD BE SO MEAN TO SCARE THEM AWAY. But I guess my little trap knew better, because when it snapped shut, it snapped me out of my sissy state. And I got out my drop trap.

After waiting a couple minutes, Stud came back and started eating under the drop trap. I hesitated, because my transfer trap is smaller than the other ones. I didn't want to trap him and have him escape. But I decided to go ahead, since you never know when another chance will come along. After almost escaping by lifting the drop trap up (even with my heavy anchor) and biting a small hole in the netting of the drop trap, I was able to transfer him to the regular trap. He was not happy, but I covered him quickly and took him over to spend the night in the bathroom. He will be neutered tomorrow.

I left a note for the techs - he seems quite feral. Very upset about being trapped. It's always hard to see these cats in the traps. I know they must be so panicked. That's why I don't like keeping them for more than one night. It's not fair if they are that freaked out. But being neutered will be a good thing, Studmuffin!