We think Maribella is the mama cat to at least some of the kittens being fostered from the Avondale TNR Project.

In true mama cat-like fashion, she’s been very hard to trap. George, the feeder there, will not stop feeding, so that doesn’t help either. In fact, there’s been a lot of things happening here that have thwarted our efforts and things escalated last week, including involving the police, angry neighbors, and more dead cats, but I’ll be writing about each in separate posts. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it otherwise.

So, since traditional Tru-catch traps weren’t working because the cats are being fed no matter what, Joann spent a few days last week using a drop trap in Ray’s courtyard. We’ve been trapping there behind the gate so that we can stay out of George’s way.

This is what it looks like.

The cats were quite interested in the trap.

This one was even playing with the string.

You can see that those cats are ear-tipped. But finally the tabby mama cat went in after two days of trying. Joann transferred Maribella from the drop trap into the Tru-catch trap.

Maribella is now currently at PAWS Chicago for her TNR treatment. She is the 21st cat we trapped so far at this project, all almost within the same alley.

Cats #19 and #20 trapped from the Avondale TNR Project ended up belonging to a neighbor that lets all of their pet cats outside.

Panther was trapped last week and taken to PAWS where she received their TNR package, including spay surgery, ear tipping, microchip, vaccinations, and parasite treatments.

She was also acting friendly in the trap. We’ve been talking to neighbors all around there and Joann figured out who she belonged to. They said they have four other cats they let outside, and Panther was their only intact cat. They gave descriptions of their other cats, but there are so many cats outside in this neighborhood it is hard to keep track. The ear tip is the only universal sure sign that we know that the cat is already fixed. We’ve trapped several ear tipped cats in this project, and as long as they look healthy, we let them out immediately again in the same place they were trapped.

Joann talked to them about cat behavior, keeping their cats inside, registering the microchip in their name, and continued vet care. They were happy to have Panther returned to them.

Thursday night she trapped another cat, and took him to Anti-Cruelty Society for their TNR package.

Hamlin was already neutered, but he received updated vaccinations, microchip, and an ear tip. Because he was already neutered, we thought maybe he was from the same house as Panther. Joann talked to them, and turned out he was, and they wanted him back. They’re going to register the microchip in their name.

At least now these cats are ear tipped so if they are going to get trapped again, they will be let out immediately long as they are not sick or injured.

Some cats will go in traps over and over again. When you need to trap specific cats from your colony for TNR or for ongoing medical care, it’s easier to have a trap set for every cat you may have.

When you trap your TNR’d cats that don’t need to be taken to the clinic, you can set them safely to the side with their own bowl of food in a safe place and keep on trapping for the ones you want. This process works.  It also works just to help trap a colony needing TNR at once. Very few colony caregivers just care for a cat or two in the city – most colonies are bigger than that and it’s easier to trap them together at the same time. I bought a bunch of traps for that very reason years ago, and am happy to lend them out to help people.

Kim V. contacted me through a mutual friend. She has done TNR for almost 20 years, starting in Logan Square off of the Boulevard, taking in cats to a regular vet because low-cost clinics for TNR weren’t available at the time.

She is now in Avondale, caring for about 12+ cats, most of them TNR’d. But there are a few intact cats still outside, and a few sick cats that she wants to take in to a clinic or vet, including this matted orange cat. Now is the perfect time of year to get him groomed.

Her colony is well cared for, with outdoor cat shelters made out of Rubbermaid storage bins, and feeding stations.

She also has heated outdoor cat shelters. This smart cat is always in one.

We are confident Kim will trap the cats she wants for the clinic!