Helping Caregivers with Cat Colony Management

Edda is a 60-year old woman with limited income and means caring for up to 20 cats in the Hermosa neighborhood of Chicago, an area filled with cats. This is a very common scenario on the west side of Chicago and all over for people who feed cats.

My TNR friend Oleksandra told me about Edda when I asked her if she knew of any cat colony caregivers who needed extra cat food and supplies. Edda’s outdoor cats were all TNR’d by Oleksandra, Erica and Brianna a few years ago. Since then Oleksandra keeps in touch and helps Edda care for the cats, including additional vetting, since they live close, along with many other TNR’d colonies.

I met Edda this week with a delivery of cat food, an electric heated food/water bowl, and a bale of straw for her outdoor cat shelters. Thank you to all who have donated their extra supplies to us! This is an example of where they are distributed to.

Edda gave me a tour of the cats that she cares for. Every cat I saw was ear-tipped. I was impressed by that but not surprised because I know how thorough Oleksandra is when it comes to TNR.

I want to reiterate again that this is a common scene people run into with TNR. Caregivers and feeders do what they can with what they have for these cats. TNR is not just about helping the cats – it’s also about helping people and the community.

Edda has five cats living in the basement of her apartment building. I only saw one because they are semi-feral and go up into the rafters when they hear people.

This is the feeding station in her basement, with cat shelters in the back.

The cats can look out the door when it’s open. Edda does not want to let them out because she said there are people who live around there who abuse the cats. This is why she brought them in in the first place. Now she’s worried about finding them homes because she worries what will happen to them if she has to move. She said she is not well and has already refused going to the hospital because she worries about what will happen to the cats.

Another one of her TNR’d cats lives in the basement next door. He has to be kept separate because the other cats will fight with him.

She also cares for a cat across the alley. He is at the bottom of this photo by the cars. He has shelter inside that building, at the top of the stairs where the door is always open. Edda has permission to access to this building.

The stairs are extremely rickety to navigate for humans. Inside are multiple cat shelters for him and any other cats to use. There used to be another black cat here that got very sick. Oleksandra took him to the vet last year and he was treated for awhile, but ultimately had to be euthanized. There are several raccoons that also go there.

Here’s a wide view of this room, with the shelters towards the back.

Edda also feeds a dozen or so cats across the street that live in a woman’s yard. As soon as we started walking towards this house, we saw the colony running around outside.

Edda thinks this cat, Mario, is sick. Obviously I’ve never seen him before so I don’t have a comparison, but he did look disheveled. Otherwise, he moved quickly and has a very good appetite. I gave Edda antibiotics that I got as a donation (thanks, Melanie!) to try for him which might help any infection he may have. If he still looks sick after that, I offered to take him to the vet for her.

The woman who lives there also feeds, and has outdoor cat shelters underneath the blue tarp. As soon as Edda started getting the food ready, the cats came out, jumping the fence towards her.

And waited impatiently, wondering who I was.

Mario was first in line. Seriously, look at him creep behind her! The other tabby on the left below only uses three of his legs. One of his back hind legs is held out in the air. He was like that when they trapped him and they’re not sure how closely the clinic looked at his leg when he was TNR’d. But he’s been like this now for three years there, so whatever injury he had would have healed by now, or it’s a birth defect. He can’t run very well, but he obviously knows how to survive. Nevertheless, I did tell Edda that we could take him to a vet as well for another look, but it should wait until warmer weather in case a procedure is needed with a long recovery time. It’s too cold to be putting a cat back and forth outside with unnecessary stress.

Still wondering who I am… the cats waited until we left to eat.

I’ll continue to try to keep in touch with Edda and help in any way I can. If you live in the Hermosa area and would like to help, please call 773-609-CATS (2287) or email [email protected]

Amanda Reynolds says:

January 6, 2017 at 3:11 am

I love Edda!!
I love you and your group along with the various people who give unto your great work! It is such a desperately needed work in this day. ;/
I have to believe that in time what is being done in your area will indeed be done in Rockford, Illinois and every other city where sentient beings with so very much to offer instead suffer silently.
God bless all involved!!!

Reply

Vanessa says:

January 13, 2017 at 11:09 am

Thank you for the kind words, Amanda! And thanks for everything you do for the cats!

Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Healing Cowbella – Now Available for Adoption

We first met Cowbella, wobbling and weaving her way towards us, while trapping the Charlie Chaplin Colony 5am on a cold Saturday morning last fall.

It was still pretty dark out so we weren’t sure what we were seeing. Cowbella walked as if she was drunk. We knew immediately something was wrong.

We trapped her right away, along with 16 other cats and kittens that weekend from same yard. Despite everything else then going on while trapping, Kim took Cowbella straight to Elmhurst Animal Care Center to be looked at, rather than the clinic to be TNR’d.

X-rays confirmed she had a broken pelvis.

The injury was very new, and may have just happened that morning or night. We got her just in time as Cowbella was in no shape to be walking, and would be an easy target outside.

Cowbella is still just an older kitten. She tested FIV-/FeLV-. Dr. Harris explained that she should stay crated and rested to allow her shock and injury to heal. She could not be spayed until then. Even though she was terrified and acted accordingly, she could not be put back outside. We trust Dr. Harris’ expert opinion implicitly and followed his instructions. Cowbella was contained in a large crate in Kim’s house.

And she did pretty well. Kim even put the Charlie Chaplin kitten litter in the same room with her after awhile to keep her company. She seemed to enjoy watching their antics.

And why not? She probably knew them from outside, and we think she was part of an older litter born to the same mother earlier that year before we TNR’d.

In mid-December Kim took Cowbella for a check-up to Elmhurst again, where x-rays revealed her pelvis had healed and did not require surgery.

She would not be able to jump or run very well, but was ready to be spayed. Because of her mobility issues and the danger it puts her in, she should never be put back outside. Cowbella needs to be an indoor only cat.

I consulted with Jenny Nahrwald, assistant director at PAWS Chicago’s Spay Lurie Clinic, and her opinion on Cowbella. She then consulted with Dr. Von Waldau, their chief vet, who agreed to do her spay surgery for free with a careful examination. Cowbella was spayed just the other week and Jenny transported her afterwards to Kim’s home. Once again, we are so grateful for the care and help PAWS Chicago has provided for us for more than a decade with many of the cats we rescue off of the street.

Cowbella is now recovered from her spay surgery and up to date on all vaccinations. She is a shy, sweet girl that loves to be scratched under the chin, and seeks out pets once she’s comfortable. She definitely likes other cats. She has a lot of energy because she is still very young, but knows how to move carefully because of her past ordeal. She will make a wonderful pet with the right person who will give her time to learn about her new indoor home.

If you’re interested in adopting Cowbella or would like to meet her, please call us at 773-609-2287, or email me at [email protected]

Cowbella’s total vet bills with Elmhurst were $165. We are so grateful to them for such expert care and reasonable costs with everything they’ve done. If you’d like to make a donation to help us help more cats like Cowbella, please click on the PayPal link at the top of this page, or through [email protected]

Thank you all you have donated so far! We could not do this without you.

Pingback: Meet Cowbella ! | Hyde Park Cats

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Charlie Chaplin Colony Kittens are All Adopted!

These four kittens from the Charlie Chaplin Colony were scooped up by Melanie T. while while we were trapping the rest of the cats that she feeds back in October.

They’ve been in foster care ever since, first with my friend Jennifer T., another feral cat colony caregiver in my Humboldt Park neighborhood, and then with Kim V., who lives close to Melanie in Avondale. We’ve done A LOT of TNR in Avondale this year.

Last week the kittens were all admitted into PAWS Chicago’s no-kill shelter and were adopted almost immediately, which was no surprise. These photos show why. We’re so happy to get four more kittens off the street and wish them the best in their new lives off the street!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Reaching Out to Everyblock to Help a Kitten and her Mama Cat

Joann responded again to a plea on Everyblock looking for help with a mama cat and kitten.

We’re no strangers to Everyblock – we’ve met a lot of neighbors and helped a lot of cats by networking on that site throughout the years. It’s a great way to connect with your community and to find colonies of cats.

In this case, this wasn’t a colony, although the location was very close to the Central Park Colony that Kim and I also just TNR’d a few weeks ago that another neighbor, Karen K., directly reached out to us about in Logan Square. So I guess for now I’ll consider it the Central Park II Colony. This was a single mama cat and her single kitten that a man named Jon was feeding and posted his plea.

Joann trapped the mama cat, Loretta, for her TNR surgery. After a few days of observation and recovery in Kim’s house, they determined Loretta was feral and returned her back to the original location. They also provided her with an outdoor cat shelter and Jon will call us if he sees any more cats.

Loretta’s kitten, Dolly, was young enough to be socialized. Here is the photo of her that Jon initially posted.

Dolly is hysterical – she always has those same startled eyes, but she quickly turned friendly and socialized to humans. She acclimated into indoor life almost immediately and enjoy free reign in Kim’s home. Isn’t she gorgeous? This girl knows how to pose. After her vet appointments for vaccinations, Dolly had her final admission appointment to PAWS Chicago for their adoption program today. We are so happy for our most recent kitten adoption graduate! We can’t wait to see the lucky family who gets to take Dolly home.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

How to Trap a Mama Cat and Kittens

When we started TNR on the Charlie Chaplin Colony, Melanie told us about a mama cat and kittens.

We trapped the mama cat, Katler, right away but let her go because we could see she was lactating and we weren’t sure if the kittens were completely weaned, or where they even were.

Melanie searched with neighbors the next day and found the litter in a garage, feasting on a pigeon. Yup, they were weaned. It took some chasing, trapping and maneuvering but she managed to get all four kittens into a trap.

Then we all waited for their mama Katler to go into a trap again. The kittens are in a carrier, with a trap set against the carrier door, like in a “train.” That way the mama cat is supposed to go into the trap to get to her kittens. Katler wasn’t having it at first, she just sat on top of the trap or circled around the entire time. The carrier and trap are covered underneath the towel.

Eventually Katler went into the trap and we were able to TNR her at PAWS Chicago the next day, along with ten other adult cats from this colony.

In the meantime, my friend Jennifer offered to foster the four kittens. Jennifer lives in my neighborhood and also does TNR for the Thompson Twins Colony.

She set them up on this cute pillow in her bathroom.

They did have some URI issues so they were taken to our friends again at Elmhurst Animal Care Center. They got Clavamox and dewormer. The total bill was $54.50

If you’d like to make a donation towards their care you can do so with the donation button at the top of this page or through Paypal at [email protected]

In the meantime, all four kittens pretty much got over their URI’s and are now being fostered by Kim. They have their first appointment for continuing vet care next week at PAWS Chicago and will eventually be admitted into their adoption program.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Introducing the Charlie Chaplin Colony: In Honor of Melanie and Her Cat, Lumpy

Melanie emailed me mid-October looking for help for the cats on her block in Avondale. When I looked up her address I knew we HAD to help her – she lived just a few blocks from my rescue partner, Kim, and three other colonies we did this summer: the Big Daddy Colony, the Polska Kittens Colony, and the Wild Wild West Colony. Coincidence? Nope. This area has a huge cat overpopulation problem but it can be contained with diligent, consistent TNR and colony management. We’re already well on our way. About 30% of the cats we trapped this summer from here were admitted into no-kill shelters.

Melanie estimated were 7-10 cats coming to her yard, but she knew there could be more. She also knew there was a mama cat and kittens, because they visited at one point recently. That means the kittens were just weaned. When she inquired about the costs, Melanie offered to sponsor any care as needed. She just lost her beloved pet cat, Lumpy, very recently, and wanted to continue the care of the outdoor cats in her honor.

Just look at beautiful Lumpy. As Melanie explained, “Not to brag, but she was the funniest, chattiest, softest, best beast on the entire planet. Sigh. I miss her terribly. And yes, she would always sit like this. The best!” We agree! She was gorgeous!

Melanie told Kim and I that an elderly Polish neighbor left cat food every morning in her front yard, which is why the cats were congregating their in the first place.

We asked her to communicate as best as she could with everyone to stop feeding the cats for a day or two. She didn’t know who the Polish lady was,… yet. When we arrived as planned at 5am on a Friday morning, we saw the food on her front steps.

We threw out the food, and set up the traps regardless. Melanie has a beautiful yard and garden, perfect for the cats to hang out and hide in. And perfect to keep traps hidden in.

We set up traps in her front yard.

And we set up traps in her back yard.

While we were setting up traps in her back yard, we heard the ones in the front yard snapping shut immediately.

TNR was ON.

We trapped five cats that day. Cats started visiting from all around us.

This one came by to hang out under my car. Yup, we got her.

We set up a Cats In My Yard sign on Melanie’s front gate to explain to everyone what we were doing. It’s translated in Spanish and Polish. We saw A LOT of people stopping to read the sign. Everyone was into it and gave us the thumbs up after reading it, or asked us more questions. It’s a great way to spread awareness of your TNR project in the neighborhood.

All of the neighbors were into what we were doing, and we have plans to trap in their yards. The elderly Polish feeder came by, and agreed to stop feeding for the weekend. She is also going to show us all of the other places that she feeds cats!

The next day we set up traps again at 5am and got another four cats. At this point we had nine cats trapped for TNR.

During that time, a little cat came wobbling up to us. Clearly something was wrong with her because she was walking very funny, and we were lucky to trap her. I’ll write more about her and her injuries later.

Melanie also trapped the mama cat and found her four kittens in a garage down the street from her with the help of neighbors. I’ll also be writing about the kittens more later.

The whole weekend the cats stayed in my garage in their traps in preparation for PAWS Chicago’s low-cost TNR clinic.

The next day we were ready to bring the healthy adult cats to PAWS. That morning Melanie trapped one last cat, so there were now a total of eleven cats going there. Jim helped us out with transport.

All eleven of these cats were TNR’d, then recovered at Kim’s house, and returned to Melanie’s yard.

Katler is the gorgeous mama cat, whose kittens are now in foster care for eventual admission into PAWS.

Big Tux Jackson is the big male eleventh cat who was trapped at the eleventh hour at the last minute.

Tommy Two Ears is a fairly friendly male cat who lost most of his ears from fighting, frost bite, or who knows what from being on the streets. We’ll be keeping an eye on him to see if he’s interested in being in an indoor home – it’s hard to tell for now.

Chinny is another male cat that seems fairly friendly. We tested him for FIV/FeLV, and he was negative. We’ll also be keeping an eye on him to see if he’s interested in being adopted into a new permanent indoor home.

Inky 1 is a black male cat, identical to his brothers, Inky 2 and Inky 3. Fun fact: he loves to shred newspapers into tiny pieces, hiss and lunge whenever he can, and emits bathroom deposits in impressively huge quantities. Cleaning his trap while he was in it was quite a comedic endeavor.

The funny part was Melanie was well aware that there are three black cats. She just named them all of the same.

Here’s Inky 2, also male.

And Inky 3, also male.

Melanie thought there was one tabby cat, but little did she know there were two.

Here’s Wee Tab, a female brown tabby.

And Alt Tab, her female brown tabby sister or doppelgänger.

Then check out Big Skinny, a male grey tabby.

And Little Skinny, a female torbie. Fun fact: this girl ate more than anyone.

In the meantime, Melanie purchased a few outdoor shelters from Kim for her yard to help the TNReturned colony cats stay warm in the winter, and set up a permanent feeding station in her front yard.

We are excited to continue TNR with Melanie and all of her neighbors on the block. Working with such kind neighbors is a dream come true when you are doing TNR.

I’ll also be updating soon about what is happening with the four kittens and injured cat. We also know there are more cats out there from this colony. Please contact us if you’d like to help, 773-609-CATS (2287) or [email protected]

Or donate through the Paypal button at the top of this page or through [email protected]

Pingback: Trapping Cowbella, an Injured Cat - Cats In My Yard

Pingback: Healing Cowbella - Now Available for Adoption - Cats In My Yard

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

RIP Sweet Stacy

A young man named Atticus was worried about a TNR’d colony cat on his block. The cat was acting sick and lethargic, so Atticus posted this heartbreaking message on Everyblock, asking for help:

“so there’s a feral cat, a sweet old man, who lives on my block. i think a neighbor across the street usually feeds the colony, because i see them hanging on his porch a lot.

the old man cat seems like he’s really sick. his nose is all crusted and he’s on my back porch right now, seeming like he has a bit of trouble moving. he’s just hunched there, breathing heavily.
i know not to touch him, because he’s definitely an ear-tipped feral. i tried to make him comfy, brought him a little bit of food. he sat up when i got near him, but did not run, which is one of the ways i know he is not doing well, because he used to run when i got within 30 ft orso of him.

i guess my question is, am i caring too much for what is basically a wild animal? he surely won’t even live the month without medical attention, but he is ‘no ones’ cat, just there to keep the rat population down.. i’m not posting to say, “dang i don’t want this guy to die on *my* porch!” as much as i am saying, “is there a way we can do something for him?”

i don’t have the money to pay for medical attention for him, and i’m not sure if it’s even a cause worth fighting for because he might just be old as hell and withering with age.

thanks, neighbors. i’m sorry to post something so bummerific, i just love this old cat.”

Joann and Kim brought traps to Atticus. Atticus and his girlfriend, Katie, watched the traps day and night. This sick cat would come and go, and sat by the trap for a few days.

14680979_915577385213310_3467494037556324998_o

In the meantime, they trapped another black cat. They named her Ditto, and she received her TNR treatment at the Anti-Cruelty Society’s clinic.

Finally, after a week of setting traps, the sick cat went in.

We went to our friend, Dr. James Harris, at Elmhurst Animal Care Center. We found out there that this sweet “old man cat” was actually a female. She was a senior cat, sick with upper respiratory infection – URI, underweight, had only a few teeth left, and had some pretty extensive mats on her back. They also found her microchip from her TNR, which was traced to PAWS’ clinic. The Elmhurst clinic sedated her, did her bloodwork and FIV/FeLV test, and gave her an antibiotic injection of Convenia for her URI. They carefully clipped off her mats, but left the fur intact underneath. Afterwards I set her up in my feral cat recovery lounge. Her total vet bill was $121. If you’d like to make a donation towards her care, you can do so through the Paypal donation link at the top of this page, or directly through paypal.com with [email protected]

In the meantime, PAWS let us know that she was TNR’d in 2010 on the same block we trapped her. Her name was Stacy. The person who TNR’d her has since moved from the block. She was the only cat she ever TNR’d because Stacy kept having litters of kittens. But Stacy had other feeders caring for her since then, including Atticus, and his neighbor across the street.

The next day Dr. Harris informed us that she tested negative for FIV/FeLV, but her bloodwork results were dismal. She would need ongoing daily medication and care for lymphoma, most likely. This was just not possible in her situation and Stacy was already very sick. She was acting very lethargic, barely moving in the dog crate, yet very scared and stressed at being confined. At the same time, if we put her back outside, she was not in a situation where she stayed in a single place and could take daily medicine and daily care. Winter was coming and the cold would eventually kill her. After much discussion between all of us, Jenny N. at PAWS offered to take her to their clinic and euthanize her.

RIP, Sweet Stacy. You were surrounded by love at the end of your life, and brought a lot of people together who tried to help you the best way we could. We are so grateful for the compassion of Atticus and Katie for caring for her, for reaching out to the local Everyblock community, and to the vet care from Elmhurst and PAWS. Every animal deserves a dignified and humane death when they are suffering, and this is why we provide that care as best as we can to the colony cats.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Introducing the Catalonia Colony: Three Kittens Already Off the Street

We started TNR at a new colony last week, called the Catalonia Colony. Nine cats total were trapped.

Two sisters reached out to PAWS Chicago for help with TNR at their single-family home in Hermosa. Bonnie had a growing colony in her backyard and was overwhelmed. Oleksandra, Kim and Joann volunteered to help and tag teamed to trap the cats. They did a site visit, and talked to Bonnie about the colony’s feeding schedule. They immediately saw kittens, especially this little Siamese one, who kept popping up everywhere. They trapped her first, along with five adult cats. Isn’t she stunning?

The next day they trapped her two siblings, and another adult cat. We put the kittens together in the same trap to take them to PAWS along with the rest of the adults for TNR.

The kittens were already almost socialized. They were not quite big enough to be spayed/neutered, but Erica at PAWS found a foster for them to wait until they could be admitted into their adoption program. They kept them cozy in a crate until the foster was ready.

We’re very thankful for PAWS for taking these kittens!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Introducing the Polska Kittens Colony from Avondale

Back in June we met the owner of a Polish restaurant in Avondale feeding three feral female cats. They would wait outside the back door in the alley for their meals.

We are calling this the Polska Kittens Colony. It is the next alley over from the Big Daddy Colony.

She fed them raw ground beef from her restaurant. We have donated beef wet cat food to her since. She said they all just had kittens.

We soon saw what she was talking about.

This mama cat was moving the kittens from the garage to a basement accessible from the outdoors, and back again.

We talked to the owner of the basement as well, who owns a grocery store. The owners of the garage were not available. Other neighbors told us that these feline families were being moved all around by the mama cats and disrupted by kids and drunk men in the alley, that they didn’t have a clear idea of how many kittens there were, or who had them. This alley is BUSY with lots of traffic and people.

We decided to let everyone be, and that Barbara, the owner of the restaurant, should call us when the kittens come out to be fed after they are weaned.

So about six weeks later in July, Barbara called on a Friday and said she saw kittens running around outside of the garage.

Joann went there immediately and first trapped the last female cat that we knew about from the Big Daddy Colony. Esther was pregnant and TNReturned. We couldn’t believe she was already pregnant – we had trapped her kittens in June, which were all admitted to PAWS Chicago. Here’s Esther, the mama of some of the orange creamsicle kittens. She is the 28th cat trapped from that alley this summer.

Then Joann and Kim trapped all three lactating mama female cats and six little kittens at the Polish restaurant.

Here’s Abby the Tabby.

Sterling.

And Tabitha, the star of the video moving all of the kittens around.

These mama cats were kept for recovery for a few extra days in Kim’s laundry room.

They also trapped six kittens: Harley, Jordan, Payton, Penelope, Poe, and Shakespeare. We guessed they were from 2-3 litters because of their sizes. It’s really hard to tell when you are not the one who is feeding the cats yourself, or have a set location for the colony. The kittens were trapped, three to a trap.

Kim and Elissa started socializing and fostering them.

One of the black kittens had this gummy gunk all over his side. It has since been combed out. Who knows what the heck they were getting into in that garage!

Some of the kittens were quickly ready for their close-ups!

Then on Monday, Joann got a call from Barbara saying she found another kitten. Joann went to trap him immediately. Kitten #7, Lucky Johnny, was absolutely frantic, meowing his head off after being alone all weekend.

Long-time supporter, Kati E., donated and sponsored his care. Thank you, Kati!

All seven of these kittens are being fostered currently by Kim, and went to PAWS Chicago for their first round of vaccinations on Monday. They will be admitted for adoption in August. They are currently being fostered by Elissa. Then, on Wednesday of this week, Joann got ANOTHER call from Barbara about two more kittens there. Joann again went to trap immediately, and got THREE more kittens.

Meet Rutabega, Radish and Turnip. All three of them were at PAWS today for their first vet appointment, and will also be admitted to PAWS Chicago’s adoption program in August.

We think we now have all of the kittens, but Barbara will call us if she sees more or other intact cats. We have now trapped 38 cats and kittens from the Avondale TNR Project in tow alleys. Almost half of these cats will be admitted to PAWS Chicago and adopted into indoor homes, rather than living on the streets. If you’d like to help us traps cats, foster or make a donation, please call us at 773-609-2287. Thank you!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Simon, the Sick Kitten Found Alone on the Street, is Now Almost Ready for Adoption!

Simon is ready for his second appointment at PAWS Chicago tomorrow. We are hoping he will be admitted into their adoption program.

Our friend Elissa, owner of Rockstar Pets, has fostered him for the past few weeks. He’s been playing and eating non-stop the entire time.

He needed vetting for URI, but appears to be completely healthy now. His vetting cost us $278.13 so far. If you’d like to make a donation towards his vet bill, you can do so at the donation button at the top of this page, or through PayPal at [email protected]

Simon is one of the many black kittens we currently have in foster care, although he came by himself. Joann rescued him when a woman from Avondale called saying she found Simon in her front yard. He was found alone and sick, and is way too friendly to stay outside. This woman and her family have a colony at their landscaping business that her husband refuses to let us TNR still for a variety of reasons. This is a pretty common obstacle when you are doing TNR. We’re hoping eventually they will change their mind. Joann talked to them extensively and passed on the information to another no-kill shelter. In the meantime, Simon has been safe with us. We are so happy to have been able to save him from the street!

patrick laterza says:

September 21, 2016 at 8:45 pm

you people are awesome! I have been trying to help a cat colony of 12 cats for 3 months. 3 miles from my house. it is right off a busy interstate and a bar room. neighbors don’t like them . 3 kittens have died in the past 3 months. no help here , no resources. very stressed and sickly.

my first 6 month experience of shitty swampy Florida

Reply

Vanessa says:

September 22, 2016 at 9:02 am

Thanks for the kind words, and for all that you do for the cats, Patrick! It’s hard to do animal rescue alone. Have you tried reaching out to Alley Cat Allies to see if they have a Feral Friends list in your area? They are a national organization that advocates on behalf of feral cats and may have resources near you. Here is the link: http://www.alleycat.org/our-work/feral-friends-network/feral-friends-network-connect/

Reply