Wendy's Colony

First cat I caught (don't think I ever posted pictures.) I think Mrs. L has her own names, but I call this one Cabbie. Because of that trucker. And she's a tabby. I'm original, huh?

Second cat - she was too smart for me. Mrs. L can pet her, so she scruffed her and deposited her in the cage quickly. Unfortunately, she is not socialized, so that made it a bit of an issue while trying to anesthetize her for surgery. I'll just have to transfer the cats into traps beforehand if a similar situation occurs.

Close up. Oh, and I named her Wednesday (b/c that's when she was trapped).

Third cat. I named her Ghost, b/c Mrs. L hadn't seen her in a while and thought she was the tabby cat that had been killed on the road.

Ghostie.

I trapped another cat last night. A tabby with some white. She's supposed to be spayed today (or neutered, I don't know the gender for sure), but I guess the Dr. is behind, so it will take place later than usual. If it's much later, I may just leave her there over night to recuperate.

The recuperation part is something I'm not sure about. The doctors all tell me that when they are fully awake, they should be released. I just feel conflicted about releasing them when they are in pain (I know they get pain meds, but I'm sure there's still some pain), but I don't want to stress them out by keeping them. If they were socialized, it would be different, as they could go into a cage with food/water/litterbox... Not that I have the set-up anyway to provide that for them, but I still feel bad that they just had surgery and now have to go fend for themselves again. I'm just a softie. = ) What do other people do? I guess I should look that up.

That grey and white cat is still out there. She did have babies, and let me tell you, I am irritated that when Mrs. L had her in the cage, she let her go. THESE BABIES COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED. I think this cat is also too smart to go in the trap. Mrs. L tried to get her to go in the cage one night, but no luck. And now that she found that she has babies, she doesn't want to try again. Fortunately, she is not asking the LV's to take the kittens in. They have spent so much time and money on their eight kittens that I'm sure they want to simply find homes for these guys and be done. Or at least just not have to deal with Mrs. L anymore. Unfortunately, Mrs. L probably intends to just find homes for these guys without taking them to the vet or anything. But whatever. I can only do so much. I'll find a way to get that grey and white cat, though.

"Cat Eyes" and Three Down! (Two to go, I think)

I have been reading the blog of "Strayer," a woman in Oregon, I believe, who traps and sterilizes cats by the hundreds. Her site: http://catwomanflix.blogspot.com/. (Blog is called "Cat Eyes") It's truly amazing, the work she completes. I don't know how she has the emotional strength to continue as she does. Just reading her posts are often heartbreaking.

In one of her posts, she mentioned that she had told a woman a certain way of doing things, including lining the trap with newspaper. I wasn't sure if it helped with trapping the cats or was for their comfort while in the trap, but I decided to try it tonight. It seemed to me that the paper might help the cats to *not* distinguish between the floor and the trip plate. (They had kept stepping over the plate to get to the food and were not getting caught.)

I went over tonight and set the trap around 4 PM. At 6, no one was trapped, but the food was gone, of course. So I got out the paper, lined the trap, and when I came back, trapped cat! I noticed it was a tabby, so I made sure it was not the one we caught previously. It was the tabby and white cat, though, so I covered her up, and brought her over to the animal hospital. (Mrs. L had just finished telling me that the tabby and white cat has been missing, may have been the dead cat in the road. Could be a different one, of course, but here he/she is!)

After dropping the cat off at the hospital, I went back to Wendy's to meet Mrs. L. She had gone over to trap the black cat. She's the smart one, that little black kitty. Fortunately, Mrs. L can pet her a little, so she picked her up quickly and stuck her in a carrier. And then I took her over. So, three down, two to go! And a black kitten, I guess. I want no more kittens! Where did this little black kitten come from?

The cats may be too smart...

I had really been hoping to trap two of the adult cats the next night, but though I stayed out there for hours, I only trapped one. Better than nothing, though. A young grey tabby female. Dr. R said she had been pregnant before, but not recently. She was spayed, ear-tipped, treated with a flea medication (can't remember which one), and given rabies and distemper vaccinations. She looked pretty healthy, was at a good weight, no cuts or abcesses, no noticeable fleas or flea dirt, and no earmites.

There was a stupid truck out there the whole night, and I believe that is why the cats were staying away. The man would turn his truck on and off throughout the evening, which scared everybody away. That and the fact I caught a skunk. Who fortunately didn't spray me, but ambled out nonchalantly when I opened the trap door. Cute little guy, he was. = )

The cats are entering the traps and eating the food, but somehow, they are not stepping on the trip plate and are therefore not being trapped. It's very frustrating, because I want this all done as soon as possible. There at least four more adults, who knows how many more kittens out there. They NEED to be sterilized and this is slow-going. Not to mention that my dad is currently irritated with how much I am "focusing" on cats and not on driving, getting a better-paying job, moving out, etc. So I'm not able to go out there every night as I would like to.

I went back a few nights later to trap again, and this time, I caught a little grey kitten. About the same age as the others, but so much more scared. The LV's agreed to take him in, as he's still little. But though I was out there for many hours that night as well, I caught no adults. It's especially frustrating when a car pulls in and you see that they were all there, in the shelter, even in the traps, but no one is being trapped. Makes me want to chase after them with nets. (I read in an article recently that they have a little machine that shoots a net out - I should look into this.)

The hours spent at Wendy's break picnic table have been interesting. T camped out with me on one night (we should bring s'mores next time), I called a college friend that I haven't talked to in over a year, and wrote a ridiculous, lengthy letter to a friend on a paper plate while listening for the trap door. I don't mind spending two or three hours out there, but more is a pain. Especially since the cats are smarter than the traps. Too many times have I seen them scurry out of the trap. I need a remote control that snaps the door shut or something. Anyone have any suggestions?

I haven't trapped since then because of the pressures at home. I've been letting Mrs. L know she can go ahead and trap anytime she wants, just call me and we'll take the cat(s) over, but her cat is missing, and she doesn't have the time to trap while she's searching for her cat. So. It's getting colder, I need to pass my driving test on Monday, and I need to get these cats sterilized. This not being able to drive myself around sucks and NEEDS TO CHANGE.

Trapping Wendy's Cats

Mrs. L decided to try to trap the kittens with a cage. Lure them in with the food, when there's a bunch in, close the door. It worked to catch five of the kittens. But the last two (known) kittens were being a bit shy, so we knew we'd have to get out the big guns: Havahart traps. Mrs. L took our two traps over Monday night. She tied them open, and set food in the front, middle, and back. The cats ate all the food, so on Tuesday night, I went over and put food in the middle and back. All gone the next day as well, so to trap the kittens/cats, I untied the traps and rigged them up. This time, only food in the back so the trip plate is activated and *voila* trapped cat.

I was a bit worried that the trip plate wasn't going to be sensitive enough - these cats are on the small side. The kittens are about four pounds, I believe. The moms probably aren't more than eight. But I set them up in the food shelter (which works *great* as a disguise for the traps, by the way - they were already used to going in the shelter for food, so now they just walk in the traps) and hoped for the best. Went into Wendy's to wait at least a half hour - maybe I'll go over to that picnic table next time. It was a bit awkward pretending to be a patron.

After a half hour, I went to check. And of course, all the food was gone, no trapped cats. "Damn it," I thought. Knew the traps weren't going to be sensitive enough. I went back inside to get my stuff so that I could set the traps again because I had no other choice. Certainly am not going to be chasing the cats with nets.

Grabbed my backpack, hoping people would leave my book and tray alone. Got out the cat food, but lo and behold, the little calico was thrashing around in one of the traps! Yea! I covered her with the sheet and she immediately calmed down. I placed her on top of the shelter and set the other trap. I walked a few feet away, not sure if I wanted to wait outside or in the Wendy's. But as I stood there, I heard the second trap's door slam shut. It was the little torti! I placed her next to the calico and covered them both with the sheet. Then called T for a ride over to the LV's. She was babysitting, though, and her sister was late, so the LV's came to get me and the kittens. We deposited them at their house and they dropped me back off at Wendy's to try to get some of the adults. But T was tired, so I couldn't really stay long. (A bit irritating to me, but what can you do when you have to rely on everyone else?)

So I tied up the traps again and put all the food in the back for them. Fortunately, I am going back tonight to trap again. Dr. R will be working tomorrow and has time for surgery. Hopefully T doesn't bail on me again. She kept telling me I should trap during the day but doesn't understand that if the cats don't come out during the day, you're not going to be able to trap them during the day. She said, "you should start feeding them during the day." But, truthfully, it doesn't matter when we feed/trap. I can easily* drop them off at the animal hospital at night, so there's no need to change their schedule.

I really hope to get two of the adults tonight. Wish me luck! = )

*Well, not easily, but day is no more easy than night for me, anyway.