Introducing the Kitchen Colony

The KFC Colony lost their home. The junkyard they hung out in is cleared out, and no one feeds there anymore.

The good news is that eight adult cats from there were adopted into indoor homes, and the five kittens are still being fostered now by Joann.

The other good news is that Joann found a colony caregiver, Patrice, a few blocks away who has seen some of the remaining cats visiting her feeding station.

The feeding station is located behind a restaurant, off of a bank parking lot. So I called this the Kitchen Colony.

Patrice has been doing TNR at this site since 2004. She doesn’t keep track, but she thinks she has vetted almost 100 cats from here. A lot of the cats were friendly and she found homes for them, and found homes for their kittens. This is unfortunately one of those areas where a lot of people let their intact cats out.

I wasn’t surprised as that was also going on at the junkyard a few blocks away. The Joyce Division Colony is also a few blocks away, and most of those cats were friendly when I did TNR there starting in 2010. Patrice also knew about that colony. She said she had been begging Joyce for years for her to do TNR on the cats. She said Joyce would feed all of them and play with their kittens outside. Again, unfortunately, this is a pretty common scenario. Then she said that one day Joyce told her a woman came by and fixed all of the cats. Obviously that was me, and we couldn’t believe we were finally meeting each other years later. I had always asked Joyce if she ever knew anyone that feeds but she wouldn’t tell me about anyone else. It was so great to connect the dots and finally meet.

The restaurant and bank gave Patrice permission to feed and care for the cats here for years now. The restaurant especially likes the cats because they help keep the rats away. It’s a perfect scenario as they feed right behind their dumpsters, which normally would attract rats because of the food debris.

Patrice also set up shelters at this site under tarps.

It was a great time to meet Patrice because she was worried about winterizing her shelters even more. I gave her a few new shelters to switch out with the old ones.

Joann and I immediately agreed to help her because the site is pretty overwhelming. Patrice already had three kittens from this site in foster care. There’s a mix of all kinds of cats here, and it’s pretty confusing. Some are already TNR’d. Some are not. Some are friendly. We spotted a pregnant female. There’s a sick black cat that we would like to trap for vetting. There are more kittens.

We set up traps several nights this month at the feeding station, and in people’s yards.

We even tried a drop trap one of those nights. Joann was there so often that the bank security guard told her he was going to have her car towed!

So far we have trapped three female cats and two kittens.

Ruby was first. She is the colony ambassador. She is friendly and all of the colony cats pick on her. She kept rubbing up against our legs.

Her ear was already tipped, but because she was not chipped, we have no idea who TNR’d her. Joann fully vetted her at Roscoe Village Animal Hospital for $390 and has been fostering her ever since in her home. She is FIV-/FeLV-. If you are interested in fostering or adopting Ruby, please contact me at [email protected]

Sally was also trapped the same day. She is the mother of the kittens that Patrice already had in foster care. Her TNR and FIV/FeLV test at PAWS Chicago was $41. She tested negative!

Joann tried fostering her indoors as well, because she follows Patrice all around outside.

Sally was miserable at her house, and acted feral. We returned her back outside. It is clear that she is just bonded to Patrice. It’s funny because Sally always spies on us from a safe distance.

But once Patrice is alone, she just follows her. Patrice texted us last night and said she couldn’t take it anymore and crated Sally in her garage. She is trying to see if she can acclimate her indoors.

We also trapped Birdie and her two kittens. Birdie went in one trap, and the two kittens went together in the other trap. Birdie is feral and was TNReturned. Her TNR package and FIV/FeLV test at PAWS was also $41 total and she also tested negative.

Patrice fully vetted and boarded Birdie’s two kittens for $420 at her vet, Family Pet Animal Hospital. Meet Clara and Darren.

My friend Elissa from Rockstar Pets agreed to socialize and foster them. It’s already working.

If you are interested in fostering or adopting Clara or Darren, you can also please contact me at [email protected] They are FIV-/FeLV- and still need additional vetting.

In the meantime we will continue to TNR this colony!

cat lover says:

October 29, 2015 at 10:04 pm

I enjoyed reading this wheras I also TNR and feed feral cats. I am in Los Angeles and love my feral cats….they are friendly and have become part of our lives! Thank you for caring for the cats!!!

Reply

Vanessa says:

October 30, 2015 at 8:12 am

Thanks for the kind words and for all that you do for the cats!

Reply

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Looking for Fosters for the KFC Colony Kittens

The five kittens from the KFC Colony were scheduled to be admitted into PAWS Chicago today.

Unfortunately that didn’t happen because PAWS was concerned about a bald spot on Tater, the black kitten’s nose. 12115665_10206820451203924_7031942464151994068_n They were concerned it was possibly from ringworm. Fingers crossed it isn’t actually ringworm. We think he rubbed it on the crate and created a bald spot. He was the one kitten who got out of his crate in my garage – go figure, he is the runt of the litter and still a troublemaker!

Their Wood’s lamp test for ringworm was negative, but the kittens were sent home to be fostered for an additional two weeks until their next appointment on Thursday, 11/5. In the meantime they had a culture test for ringworm. The results usually take about ten days.

Their previous amazing feline foster/socializer Robin T. could not take back these kittens for now because she now has out of town guests in her house.

Because of Robin, they are now totally socialized and oh-so-cute-and-ready-for-adoption!

They are totally used to being in an indoor home, and even behave themselves during dinner. Except for Tigger, who thinks every plate is his. 12118903_10206820448763863_1315421792113306657_n

Please contact me at [email protected] if you are interested in these kittens. Thank you for all of your help!

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TNA: Trap, Neuter, Adopt for the KFC Colony

When we first started TNR for the KFC Colony in their junkyard home, we didn’t know what to expect. Little did we expect that almost ALL of the cats were going to end up in indoor homes because almost all of the adult cats were friendly, and the kittens were young enough to be socialized.

It was a good thing for the cats, because they lost their home in the middle of this project.

Joann saw cats and kittens through the fence on her first visit to the junkyard. There were tons of construction materials and garbage for them to hide in.

People were also leaving food.

But we couldn’t figure out a way to get in. Everything was locked. She tried trapping in the neighbor’s yard and started leaving food as well.

One night a woman showed up to feed. We learned that her name is Corinne, and she has been feeding at this junkyard since last November. She drove almost every day from her home in Rogers Park to feed the cats. Another friend told her about it. Corinne fed all the time, and so did other people that randomly showed up with food, so when she tried to trap cats obviously it was pretty hard. They were not hungry enough to go in the traps. But she managed to trap about five or six cats, and almost all of them were friendly. She found homes for all of them within her network of friends, except for one cat that was feral, so he was TNReturned.

Corinne showed us how she got into the junkyard. There was a small gap in the chain link fence. She would trap a cat and then hoist it over the barbed wire. I have no idea how she did this by herself.

Corinne knew about the kittens, and knew who the mama cat was. She showed us photos of the cats she was still trying to trap. She said she had potential homes for all of them. She really was trying to do the best for the cats, but she was just overwhelmed at this point.

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That first day Joann and Corinne set traps together in the junkyard all five kittens were trapped. They went into foster care with my friend Robin and will be admitted to PAWS Chicago tomorrow. Throughout their foster care their cost of vet care was $187.78 for eye meds and antibiotics.

The mama cat, Poppy, was also trapped that day. She was skin and bones and ravenous before and after her TNR. Her TNR clinic package cost $26, and testing cost $15. She tested negative for FIV and FeLV. She was also friendly, and Corinne had very specific plans for her. She was adopted into an indoor home that had adopted her sister that Corinne trapped months before. Here she is being acclimated.

In the midst of this trapping, we met one of the contractors at the junkyard. He said we could do whatever we want. The junkyard was supposed to be cleared for a condo building, but it would be months before that happened.

Rusty was trapped next. His TNR clinic package and testing total was also $41, and he tested negative.

Corinne also had a specific home for him in mind as he was friendly and she had bonded to him outside and had lots of photos. unnamed

We trapped Diamond Jim next. Joann called me to help hoist him over the gap in the fence.

Diamond Jim’s TNR package was covered by this clinic so we just paid $20 for testing. Unfortunately he tested FIV+.

His paperwork also said he had a “superficial skin wound on his right rear leg (hock region).” The clinic gave him back to us and said he was acting “lazy” in the trap. DJ was definitely pretty lethargic, and also acting friendly, so we transferred him into the feral cat recovery lounge to test his temperament. After a few days we decided to bring him to Roscoe Village Animal Hospital to take a look. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It turns out that his leg wound was infected and DJ had a temperature. He was weighed in at 11.2 pounds, which made a lot more sense than the weight listed as 7.5 pounds at the clinic. He was pretty heavy when we hoisted him over the fence! We treated him for everything at Roscoe Village. His total vet bill was $280.

After a week in the recovery lounge, Corinne was also able to place DJ into an indoor home!

That same week Joann showed up to trap and the junkyard was being cleared out. This was just days after we started, so obviously we did not have months to trap as had been explained to us. Trucks barreled into the yard and took away all of the materials. The kittens definitely would have been killed in the chaos. The workers agreed to watch the traps that Joann and Corinne had left, but when they came back that same night, the traps were also gone. We have no idea who took them.

This is what the junkyard looks like now.

There were still a few cats that needed to be trapped here, but they dissipated now that the junkyard was cleared out.

We still don’t know what hapoened to the black cat in this photo, unnamed

or this siamese cat that was also a regular.

People stopped feeding. This all happened within the last few weeks. Total vetting costs from this colony was $569.78 and we lost $170 worth of equipment. Your donations make this possible! Thank you!

In the meantime, we found another feeding station a few blocks away where some of the missing cats, including the siamese, from this colony have been sighted. I call that colony the Kitchen Colony and I’ll be writing about that next.

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Introducing the KFC Colony: Kittens!

Joann answered a plea on Everyblock.com about kittens born in a junkyard. The person who posted wanted to do the right thing, even though he is not partial to cats, and his wife is allergic.

Yup, there were kittens. IMG_20150924_174841356_HDR

Five of them total, all different colors: tortie, black, orange, brown tabby, and torbie, not pictured. backyardcats

These kittens were eight weeks old at the most and already weaned: the prime age for being socialized and having a chance to get off the street.

This junkyard also happened to be a few blocks away from the Joyce Division Colony, and so it’s now added to the list of our targeted TNR area. It’s a city lot filled with construction materials for the cats to hide and find shelter in, which also makes it pretty dangerous should anything be moved.

Joann started trapping the kittens right away, and of course started seeing adult cats hanging around also. This colony is behind a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, which is ironically the go-to bait for trappers to use for hard-to-trap cats. So, I named this new location the KFC Colony.

The kittens were trapped quickly and crated at my place. They were pretty suspicious at first, and huddled together. They looked healthy, and came around quickly whenever we brought them food.

Introducing, from left to right, Tori, Tilly, Tigger, Tabitha and Tater.

PAWS Chicago agreed to admit these kittens into their adoption program as long as they were socialized, and put them on their vaccination schedule right away. The entire process should take about a month. We are so grateful for their help with vet care and professional guidance.

Besides care, the kittens needed daily socialization. We networked looking for a foster, and my rescue friend, Chicago TNR, found one for us, Robin T. George from Chicago TNR is absolutely selfless when it comes to rescuing cats, and I am so thankful for her friendship.

Joann has done most of the work of this rescue, including transport. She sent me the cutest text on the way to Robin’s house.

Robin and her family welcomed these kittens with open arms, and the kittens have flourished under her care. We could not have done this without her, and I am happy to have a new friend in the world of animal rescue.

The kittens are learning how to eat like house cats, each getting their own plate of food. 11059780_10206738606517858_7200523987439298243_n

Playing. Obviously Tigger is the alpha male of the group. 12079050_10206738613598035_4840496342071354174_n

Still all cuddling together. 12079597_10206769759856672_7873601894885272180_n

But most importantly, they’re learning to love people. Robin’s daughter is reading a bedtime story here to Tilly and Tabitha, while Tigger investigates. 12096405_10206753458329144_4432203286917100953_n

They don’t want her to leave. 12108119_10206753465489323_3287355668263261024_n

All of the kittens had their first vet visit with PAWS, and are scheduled for admission soon. In the meantime, Tabitha started sneezing a bit, so another vet visit may be due soon. Robin is keeping a close eye on her and sent me this message, “She lets me manhandle her little kitten body, so I was able to listen to her lungs (I’m a PA) and her nose area is dry. She was purring too loud for me to hear anything! That’s assuming I could translate human medicine to cats, but my vet has the same stethoscope.” Seriously, how could you ask for a more perfect foster and scenario? She is amazing, and these kittens are on their way to their amazing new life outside of a junkyard.

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Another Colony Cat Adopted Off the Street

This cat from the Jose and the Pussycats Colony was officially adopted off the street three months ago.

I ran into one of the feeders today and she told me the good news. She said a woman kept coming by, and because he was so friendly, she wanted to adopt him. The feeder helped wrangle him into her car. She said they run into each other once in awhile and he is now a happy house cat.

Eleven outdoor cats were TNR’d here. The population is now down to about 4-6 cats that feed here regularly. TNR works! I’m always happy to hear about one more cat off the street!

My only hesitation is that I wish they would let me know, as the microchip information should then be transferred to the new adopter. In this case, I am pretty sure I did not TNR this cat – he showed up from another colony – but it is always good to trace the chip and get their paperwork correct so that this cat can always be returned to the correct place. It’s one of the glitches of TNR – there are several cats that I am trying to transfer the chip info to the new adopter.

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Feral Cat Colony Maintenance: Treating a Wounded Cat

Neighbors told me they saw kittens in their yard. That in itself is an emergency, so my friend Marta and I set traps all last week.

We scoped out the two locations. These locations were in secure yards, the weather was mild, and there was no set feeding time for the cats. So, we decided to set traps overnight, otherwise known as what I call “stealth trapping.” I’ve done it many times in my area. It is a great way to get cats that you never knew existed in the first place. And on this occasion, it turned out to be a lifesaver for a cat.

One of the locations is in a churchyard. We had the, ahem, pastor’s “blessing” and full access to her secluded yard. Neighbors told us that cats go in and out of her garage.

There’s a gated area next to the garage where we placed traps.

I’ve trapped here before. This church is on the same block as a hoarder/drug house that I worked on for a few years until it was finally shut down last summer by the city. Many of the cats on this block obviously came from that house. But I do believe all of the cats thrown out of that house are now TNR’d, because we never trapped or saw any kittens last week (although I’ll keep trying just in case I’m wrong). All we trapped were ear tipped cats. They were all returned immediately outside.

Except for this big tom cat with a head wound. I named him Iglesio, in honor of the churchyard, or otherwise known as Iggy. He was already ear tipped, but I did not recognize him.

Roscoe Village Animal Hospital agreed to see him immediately. They are known in the TNR community for treating cats in traps. They treated Woodrow Whiskers for me last winter.

Dr. Harschut explained that the wound was an infected abscess from most likely a cat bite. They sedated Iglesio, thoroughly cleaned and shaved the area, administered pain medication and antibiotics, and graciously gave me a rescue discount. The total cost was $219.

Iglesio looked like this when I came to pick him up later that day.

Unfortunately the wound was now bleeding into his eyes, so the vet also gave me an eye cleaning solution to avoid infection. She said he could be released within 48 hours if all went well.

I set Iglesio up in the feral cat recovery lounge in my house.

The vet had also scanned for a microchip, and gave me his number. I traced it to Tree House, who called the person who TNR’d him. She then called me. Iglesio was the only cat she had ever TNR’d in my neighborhood almost exactly two years ago to the day I re-trapped him. She had trapped him up the street from me, and even named him after the street I live on! She has since moved to Vegas, and did not know who was feeding Iglesio.

Asides from the wound, Iglesio is in good shape, and weighs fourteen pounds. Obviously he has found someone who feeds him regularly. There’s a feeder on almost every block in my neighborhood.

Within the next few days he looked a million times better. Antibiotics are a beautiful thing.

In the meantime, he started showing signs of friendliness.

So I kept him for a few extra days to see if he wanted to stay indoors.

Ultimately Iglesio really likes to be pet, and is very motivated by food. However, once he’s fed, he then clearly was looking to escape the entire time. He was stressed out by the crate and the room he was in. He would hide from me once he finished eating. I decided to return him to the churchyard.

It turned out to be the right decision. He bolted from the trap and ran to a very specific location. I know exactly where to keep an eye out for him should he ever require additional vet care, or if he ever shows that he would want to come indoors permanently. I’ve also transferred his microchip information in my name.

If you’d like to make a donation to help us care for cats like Iglesio, you can donate through Paypal through the link at the top of this page, or through [email protected]

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Helping Hoarder Houses: Update on the Creole Colony

Last week Tanya took three more cats from Danny’s house to be TNR’d at the clinic. So far we have TNR’d 14 adult cats from inside and outside of his house, and admitted five kittens into a shelter.

This latest round of three cats came from his enclosed back porch. This is a tiny slice of what it looks like. There is no heat or air conditioning back there. I don’t know if the windows are ever opened.

Fat Tabby, male, and totally friendly.

Pretty Girl, female and pregnant.

And Buffalo, male, with some untreated conjunctivitis and a very infected canine tooth. He was sent home with l-lysine, and we were advised he needed additional medical treatment.

I came with Tanya to drop the cats back off. Danny was prepared to put them back onto that same back porch.

Rudy showed up while we were talking to Danny. His conjunctivitis looked much worse than when we first TNR’d him.

Which led to a discussion about the care and medical treatment needed for the cats. Danny is still not willing to relinquish any indoor cats. Even if he was willing, we have nowhere to take them. I have asked several organizations so far for help.

During this talk, Danny mentioned kittens on the back porch, which was news to us. In addition, he said there were eight cats in his kitchen. We figured out three of those cats were most likely the cats we took in for TNR the previous time, but the remaining five cats were a mystery.

Also, Princess, the feral mama cat that used to be outside, was now also in his house, specifically in the room with Rudy. Obviously she was going to get sick from Rudy.

Danny said we could NOT spay or neuter all of the cats in the kitchen. Especially two or three cats that he kept referring to. We were not allowed to see these cats. We are still not allowed to see the “three cats” he also keeps referring to on the second floor.

Tanya and I assumed he did not want us to see the kitchen cats because they were pregnant.

It turned out we were very wrong. It’s worse than that.

Based on this conversation, Heather and I decided to visit Danny again on Friday night.

We were there for three hours, and it really did not go well overall, but some progress was made. Danny was very upset when we walked up because I was carrying a folder. I believe he thought the folder was perhaps some sort of correspondence complaining about his house. I have no idea, and of course I have no authority to do that. The folder was just all of the photos I’ve printed out of the cats that we know about so far, listing their medical conditions, so that we knew which cat we were talking about and to avoid confusion. Obviously Danny still does not trust us at all. It is also obvious now he has dealt with complaints about his house in the past, and people have been in there. He said he knew we were “investigating” and looking at everything in his house, which is why we’re not allowed inside anymore. In reality, all we have been looking for so far is the cats. Until Friday, we have never commented on anything else in his house.

During this conversation, the other outdoor mama cat we had our eye on obviously had her kittens again because she was now skinny. She laid around outside and checked us out almost the entire time we were there, but we have no idea where her kittens are. At least two other outdoor cats also came by during this time that we had not seen before.

Danny showed us the other indoor kittens on the back porch. There are six total, although it’s hard to see the tortie and black kittens in this photo. They are sitting on a garbage bag filled with leaves. Danny said they were born in the bag. He insisted on climbing up on an eight foot ladder balanced against a wall to turn on the light. I was scared the entire time he was going to fall off this ladder.

Mama is feral and carefully watched us the entire time.

They are all next to this litter box.

All of the litter boxes and the entire back porch looks like this.

This is when the conversation started to go south. Danny showed Heather the other cats on the back porch, admitting that one was actually born there, and lived there his entire life there. When I saw that cat, he was hiding up in the rafters. This story pretty much destroyed me.

There may be more than one cat like that. This is the one I think he was talking about.

At this point, we have TNR’d three cats from the back porch. There are at least two or three more cats to be TNR’d from there, as well as the six kittens, that we know of. For now, he has agreed to relinquish the six kittens when they are weaned.

Then we started asking again about the cats in the rest of the house. For now, Danny will admit to three cats on the second floor. We have never seen the second floor, and so far, according to Danny, we never will, because it is “his” house. He has admitted to three cats up there, all of which were his brother’s cats. His brother died several years ago. We have no idea what the second floor looks like. We have no idea what those 3+ cats look like.

As for the cats on the main floor, Danny mentioned there are eight cats in the kitchen. I still have not seen the kitchen, and did not react positively to the news. I think there are three cats there that are now fixed.

But the remaining cats are not pregnant as we feared.

On Friday, Danny admitted that they are sick. We have no idea what that means because so far he will not let us see them.

We talked to Danny for a long time on Friday night. During this talk, he was mostly very angry and even threatened to harm Heather. Heather and I have no idea if we are doing or saying the right things. We are trying to talk to him as neighbors and friends. We understand that professional help is needed at this point, but there is no help like this that we know of. I have learned that while working on other hoarder projects here, because believe me, I’ve reached out to other organizations. In fact, these kinds of projects are REFERRED TO ME. I have not written too much about those other projects until now because they are emotionally exhausting and have consumed me. This is way beyond than what the average person should be doing on their own, and I’m hopeful in the future that some day there will be professional help for these situations. I’m very thankful to have Heather trying to help this entire time. I could not do this without her. The only organization that deals with hoarders locally that I could find online is this task force that was formed in Elgin. We definitely need a Cook County Hoarding Task Force.

Danny has admitted a lot of things to us that are very concerning. He believes he is doing the best for these cats, including whether they live or die in his house. He can not/will not afford to take the cats for medical care. They are “better off” dying in his house. We don’t know what that means because he will not elaborate. He has buried all of the cats that have died in his care in his backyard. He told us he will continue taking in any friendly cats from outside into his home.

Despite everything we have tried, he does not trust us, and fights us every step of the way. At the same time, he still answers the phone when we call, still opens the gate when we arrive, and still agrees to relinquish any kittens to us.

Admittedly, he feeds the cats regularly. That is pretty common with habitual feeders. But he believes the cats are better off in his care. As an example, he yelled at us about the feral mom and kittens that Tanya fostered for him because they were in a dog crate. He believes cages are cruel. He did not agree when we pointed out that his entire back porch is a filthy “cage” that the cats are trapped in, and that the kittens in a crate were better off than kittens born in a plastic garbage bag filled with garbage.

I am hopeful that today Danny will let us pick up and take the two to three cats from his kitchen as planned for vetting. It remains to be seen what will happen.

Along with the cats, Danny is completely overwhelmed by his job, which consists of various heavy manual labor, underpaid “handyman” projects. He is of retirement age but said he needs to keep working because of the cats. In addition, he is caring for his 92-year old mother who has bedridden and has cancer. She lives in this house with him and the cats. So asides from the problems with the cats, there are many other issues that require help from mental health professionals.

Keep in mind we live fairly close to Danny, and are trying to reach out to him as neighbors. I actually ran into Danny at the grocery store over the weekend after this talk. He was not pleased to see me, even though I just asked how he was doing, etc. After some small talk, he was the one who brought up the subject of the cats, and was very defensive. He kept saying that he will pay for any vetting and that he does not need “handouts.” He obviously does not see me as a friend who wants to help, and I’m not sure what else to do about that.

When Heather called him last night to remind him about our vet appointment, all he did was scream at her and make excuses. He no longer wants to bring the cats to the clinic himself. But Heather was still was able to convince him that she will pickup the cats herself then.

In the meantime, we are so grateful for your support. Thank you to all for your kind word and support, and who have donated to help us help Danny, including Erin G, Lora M, Ingrid H, Joann S, Danielle G, Maryann C, Susanne K, Lisa M, Madonna I, Liz B, Kati E, Susan K, Debra R, Susan W, and Nancy H, and as always thanks to Dorota Z, Carlin R, Ben M, and Barb G for their continued monthly support.

If you have any experience with hoarders, or have any questions about this project, or would like to help, please contact me at [email protected]

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Update on the Chester Colony: Kittens Available for Adoption!

Snowball was the eleventh cat we trapped from the Chester Colony. We wanted to get her the entire time because she looked pregnant, but she held out for another week until Joann finally was able to trap her.

She WAS pregnant. This is the third female adult cat from this colony that we TNR’d, and ALL of them were pregnant.

We recovered and returned Snowball fairly quickly to the colony because she was terrified in the trap.

Joann is also still fostering and socializing the two kittens from the colony, now named Ava and Apple. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA They’re about four-five months old, from the same litter, both females, fully vetted, and both tested negative. They are shy, but really like pets and start purring when they start to trust you. They are available for adoption. Please contact me if you’re interested at [email protected]

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Introducing the Chester Colony

Alderman Joe Moreno’s office referred me to a woman within our 1st Ward in Chicago who said there were cats spraying in her alley. Almost at the same time, another woman found me online and said there were kittens. She happened to live within a block of the first referral.

Joann and I are teaming up on TNR, and she went to the site to investigate several times. Joann talked to neighbors, and saw some cats going in and out of a few garages. Joann has done tons of rescue, but Trap-Neuter-Return is still fairly new to her. She is a natural, though. She took methodical notes, and started cataloguing the cats. She made flyers for us to pass out. She sent me photos like this.

One night, she set a trap, and immediately trapped this grey female she called None. It was great timing, because None turned out to be pregnant. Joann gave her extra recovery time in a crate, also hoping to see if perhaps None is friendly. She turned out to be feral and she was returned to the alley. none

After canvassing the neighborhood even more, Joann found Chester, an elderly Polish man who sporadically feeds the cats from his window.

Chester has no idea how many cats he feeds. His story changes, but this makes sense as he had to trust us first. Also, it’s confusing to know how many cats there are. They take shelter in multiple garages. The cats go in and out of Chester’s garage and shed, which as far as I can tell are permanently locked, with stuff piled up to the ceiling. There are multiple holes for the cats to go in and out of. It would be impossible to see what’s going on in here.

We asked Chester not to feed, and started trapping a few days ago. Meanwhile, we talked to several more neighbors. The general reaction was polite indifference, but we were free to use people’s carports, and they told us where we could find the cats.

We had no idea what to expect, but so far we trapped ten cats total. The females were pregnant, there are older semi-feral kittens, and we even trapped someone’s in/out pet cat. Clearly this block, like so many other blocks, has a cat overpopulation problem. The only way to stop the breeding is through TNR, with community support. We cannot do this alone.

The first day of trapping we just trapped in the alley. None came by to check it out, but then was gone for the rest of the time. Smart girl. But she showed us one of the many cat entrances into the garage.

We trapped four cats in an hour. They were all clearly related.

Ash, male cat, was neutered without incident.

As was Aspen, another male cat.

Avery and Applejack are two older female kittens we think are siblings, and they are showing signs of friendliness. Currently they are at Joann’s house crated together, while she sees if she can socialize them for adoption.

Then we started trapping in Chester’s yard.

We started getting tabby cats, who looked more rough and feral.

Charlie’s ears are curled, most likely from frostbite. He needs a dental badly. But he is a good weight, and was so clearly feral in the trap. I don’t think he would do well with bringing him in for a dental now. He refused to eat, refused to pose, and refused to look at me the entire time.

Frankie is another male cat that is in a bit better shape.

Billie was pregnant, and weighs only 5.5 pounds. She was so frantic to get out of the trap that she had facial swelling on her nose from rubbing and hitting the bars. You can see how red her nose it.

Joey is a male cat, who looks a lot like he could be Billie’s brother.

And we trapped Keelie. Keelie is a long-haired black male cat that was already neutered. And microchipped. His owner came to the clinic to pick him up, and asked how he could prevent Keelie from getting trapped again.

Of course, if we were to accidentally trap Keelie again during this TNR project, we would let him out.

There’s at least one other pregnant cat that we know about, and most likely even more cats. We will keep trying to TNR there and reach out to the neighbors as best as we can.

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Introducing the Creole Colony: The Story of an Overwhelmed Feeder, Hoarder, and Animal Lover

Danny moved to Humboldt Park decades ago and started feeding the cats outside. Currently he is feeding at least 25+ cats and kittens, inside and outside.

I met Danny a few weeks ago when Tree House referred a call to me from another woman named Tonya who was looking for help with a mama calico cat and her kittens born in her yard.

I called Tonya and learned this was the calico cat’s second litter within the past six months. Tonya adopted her previous litter into her own home, and had them vetted at Treehouse. My friend Heather and I went to talk to Tonya and walked around her block with her. We walked door to door, and found Danny immediately. He had cat houses and feeding stations on his property.

Danny was completely overwhelmed with feeding the cats. He told us there were about 15 friendly cats that he has brought inside with him, and he feeds another 10+ outdoor cats as well. Currently, there is also the calico cat family, another pregnant cat outside his house, and most likely other pregnant cats in his house. I have also met another neighbor directly across the street who feeds another colony of at least 3+ cats.

Danny talked about growing up poor in Louisiana, and how he is currently caring for his 92 year old mother and her 80 year old partner at his place. His mother is in a wheelchair and has cancer. In addition, he was trying to keep up with the care of the cats. He should be retired, but he keeps working as a handyman to keep up with the expenses for the cats. During our conversation, he pulled out antibiotics that he was trying to give them from the vet. He was almost in tears during this conversation.

Danny was totally on board with getting the cats spayed/neutered, and TNR. He said he was offered help throughout the years, but no one would follow through.

We made plans to meet the following day to start trapping. When Heather, Tonya and I showed up, he was again almost in tears. He said he did not expect us to show up, because people have always promised him help before without following through.

I told him that when I say I’m coming over, I’m coming over.

We brought feral cat shelters and set up traps in his backyard.

By the next day, we had five cats in traps.

Four were clearly feral, all Siamese, and siblings. Meet Little Mama, Winky, Simono, and Princess. Two males, and two females. They had some medical conditions, including severe dental disease, underweight, diarrhea, inflamed intestines, alopecia, distended abdomen, ropey intestines, and conjunctivitis.

Can you tell they’re siblings or what?

We also trapped Rudy. Rudy had to be kept overnight because he needed additional care. He was treated for tapeworms, and obviously had some conjunctivitis going on. Danny recovered all of the cats on his own. We resumed trapping and got five more cats.

Meet Fuzzy, Jake, Lil Fuzzy, and Lola. All of them also had variations of tapeworm, dental disease, and intestinal disorders. Ss far we have been charged $40 for various worm medications, and have been advised to do $20 fecal tests/per cat to determine which parasites they have.

Jake’s tongue is sticking out because of the dental disease. A few of the other cats look like that as well.

: Fuzzy

: Jake

: Lil Fuzzy

: Lola

In addition, we brought in Sammy.

Sammy didn’t make it. He died under anesthesia, and one of Danny’s other cats almost died as well. That cat was brought back to life with CPR.

Danny broke down with the news of Sammy’s death. I don’t even have a photo of Sammy to share with you, otherwise normally I write separate obituaries for cats. But I brought Danny to Treehouse’s clinic so that they could explain to him what happened. He was very upset. Very, very upset. He made arrangements to get Sammy’s ashes from them for $75+.

Unfortunately Danny is now not as trusting of this process. This is the second cat that has died under Treehouse’s care since December that I know of. I have never had cats die before during their spay/neuter surgeries in over twelve years of TNR. Also, the ear tips done now all month there are very bloody for multiple cats in multiple colonies. The sheets covering the traps are coming back sprayed with blood. It is concerning, because normally, I’ve never seen blood on the ear tips.

Along with the TNR, I’ve been working with Danny to provide a safe environment for the cats. His first floor apartment, where he stays with his mother, is fine. Rudy, the orange cat, has full reign of the house.

The rest of the cats are kept sequestered in various rooms, including his back porch. The back porch is filled with a lot of stuff, including full litter boxes and lots of cat food lying everywhere. There are at least five cats living there. I am hoping Danny will eventually help us clean up back there.

The garage where all of the siamese cats hang out also needs cleaning. We have provided feral bins to put in there.

Danny has currently shut down on us, although I remain hopeful he will continue working with us in the future, despite all obstacles. He knows where the calico mama cat and her kittens are. We’ve talked about bringing in the kittens for adoption. I brought him additional feral cat shelters, a feeding station, and a donation of almost 300 cans of wet food. He understands we’re trying to help him help the cats. If you are interested in helping, please,

email:

[email protected]

call:

773-609-2287

donate:

[email protected]

Thank you!

Tanya Mohan says:

March 27, 2015 at 10:55 am

Vanessa,

Your article is amazing. It captures a part of our communities that people do not realize exists so heavily. We all see the stray cats, and its time we all stop and think of their safety and where they are breeding. We will all continue to work with Danny and others to help manage this problem in our neighborhoods. People like Danny have hearts of gold and put themselves aside to care for these beautiful animals, but it is easy to get overwhelmed. The most important point you are making, and I cannot express this enough, is that HELP IS OUT THERE.

Problems like this are manageable – to those who reads this article, I saw a problem…..I called my local humane society, and I asked for help. Help reached me immediately, in the form of Vanessa and Heather. Thanks to their care and efforts, we are actively minimizing feral cat reproduction and medical problems near me. Knowledgeable help is out there – if you just pick up the phone and ASK FOR HELP!

Tanya

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