RIP Big Daddy, the Colony Cat Named in Honor of the Avondale TNR Project

When I first started talking to Kim a few months ago about all of the cats she was seeing in her colony and neighborhood of Avondale, I was determined to help her mostly because of a cat named Big Daddy. Her Big Daddy Colony is named after him to honor his memory.

Big Daddy was a colony cat that kept coming back to her yard the past two years, looking worse each time. He evaded all of her trapping efforts, and in the meantime she TNR’d 22 other cats.

Big Daddy would only come to visit Kim’s yard to feed sporadically. He was clearly sick, but still surviving.

Some of the following photos may be upsetting to see.

Joann helped Kim trap at the end of May and they trapped a lot of cats. In the meantime, they also trapped Big Daddy. We think that at this point he was so sick that he went into the trap because he knew he needed to. Big Daddy was dying.

Despite all of that they could not get near him. He was only safe to handle once he was in the trap. Kim took him straight to Roscoe Village Animal Hospital. They have been amazing. They are close to us, open seven days a week, will treat cats in traps, and we can normally get an appointment the day we call. This is all invaluable to us colony cat caregivers providing care for feral cats in traps. The low-cost clinics can only do so much. These colony cats need full service vet care.

But this vet care is expensive. Big Daddy’s total vet bill was $341. If you’d like to make a donation towards his care, you can do so through the Paypal donation link at the top of this page, or directly through paypal.com with [email protected]

Big Daddy had to be sedated for an exam because even though he was weak, he was still feral.

He was first tested for FIV/FeLV and tested negative. We were all very surprised. They then thought he may have been coming down with pneumonia. He was underweight and very sick. A few days before he allowed himself to be trapped, Kim found him in her garden defecating on himself, but not allowing her to come near him. His body seemed to be shutting down. Any treatment would involve more tests, and most likely extensive recovery in a crate indoors. That would be very stressful for him, and the outcome was completely unknown and could not be guaranteed. They decided to humanely euthanize him instead.

RIP, Big Daddy. You were loved. We are so thankful to Kim for caring for you while you visited her garden, and letting her help you in the end. You deserved a dignified death at the end of your hard life.

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Reese, FIV+ Cat from Avondale, is Now Vetted and Ready for Adoption!

Reese is a former stray cat now fully vetted and available for adoption. He is FIV+ and recovered from illness and bite wounds. He is a total lover and enjoying the indoors. Just look at those cheeks!

Reese was trapped in Avondale along with a whole bunch of other colony cats at once. After his TNR surgery, it was clear that he was sick and exhausted. He slept all of the time, was really dirty and stinky, and absolutely ravenous. He would literally wake up to eat, and then go right back to sleep. He is a stray cat, not a feral used to living on the streets. He also seemed to know we were trying to help him and felt safe enough to finally rest after trying to survive outside.

He was vetted at Roscoe Village Animal Hospital where he was treated for URI and bite wounds.

Kim took him into her home ever since. A week after that he had to go back to the vet because he had blood in his stool. He also wasn’t always using the litter box. His fecal test came back clean, and it hasn’t happened since. They did a urine analysis, and also figured out he was underweight and dehydrated, so he was most likely straining due to that. They administered fluids.

His total vetting so far is $446. If you’d like to make a donation towards his care please click on the Paypal donate button at the top of this page. He was a great patient throughout, and even seemed to enjoy the extra attention. He ate all of the treats given to him during the entire exam, it was hilarious.

Once back in Kim’s house it was very clear he was enjoying the indoor life and feeling better. He was absolutely filthy and stinky. He started grooming himself again.

Look at his poor, sore paws! They were really rough from the streets.

Kim has been using these wipes to help clean him.

He’s looking better and better, gaining weight, and has a more normal sleep schedule now. Kim now has multiple litter boxes for him and figured out which litter he prefers. No more accidents.

He loves to pose.

He loves all of the attention and now answers back when you talk to him.

Please contact us at 773-609-2287 or [email protected] if you’d like to meet and adopt him!

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Lion Cuts for Matted, Long-Haired Colony Cats

Puffy is a very fluffy, long-haired cat that comes to my yard irregularly to feed ever since I TNR’d him in 2013.

This past year he’s been looking fluffier than ever. His long-haired coat is magnificent, but starting to look downright disheveled. He’s not easy to capture on camera – he’s a true feral who only visits at dusk or later.

His fur looked out of control, but I had to wait to trap until summer when it is hot enough for him to be shaved. So I zip-tied traps open at the cats’ feeding stations and starting feeding from them to condition the cats to the traps.

It worked like a charm. Last week when I came back from vacation Chicago was nice and hot. I set the traps and quickly trapped Bouncy Bear and Dash by accident. I released them immediately. Eventually Puffy went in very early morning. He looked totally suspicious.

And upon closer examination, I saw I made the right call. His fur was out of control, with huge matts. He looked pretty good, but matts can be very painful – they can be close to and pull on the skin.

I took Puffy to Roscoe Village Animal Hospital, where I take all the feral cats in traps needing additional medical care.

Obviously, Puffy needed to be sedated for shaving. Since he was there, I asked them to update his vaccinations, and give him an exam. He was treated for fleas, but his ears looked clean. His teeth are surprisingly in good shape, so no dental was needed. And they gave him a full body shave.

Puffy, the Lion Cut King.

Doesn’t he look pleased?

He’s lucky I didn’t get him a dragon cut!

His vet bill was $393. If you’d like to make a donation to help cover his care, you can do so at the PayPal link at the top of this page.

I waited until the end of the day to return him back to my yard. Inexplicably, Funny Face started chasing after him when I returned him. Puffy doesn’t really hang out with the other colony cats here – he’s more solitary.

I finally saw him again here last night for dinner, and was really relieved to see that he was doing well, even if the other cats may be laughing at him. You can see the poof at the end of his lion tail. This time he appeared to be hanging out with Dash. Maybe they’re all making sure he is ok?

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Introducing the Big Daddy Colony: TNR in Avondale

Kim and Joann trapped last week with great success: fifteen cats and kittens trapped so far, and there’s a lot more.

Kim reached out to me this year about her neighborhood. Joann and Kim started trapping and working through her area in Avondale last week.

Kim trapped two kittens and a male feral cat. Once the kittens were spayed/neutered, the feeder adopted them into her home. The male feral cat was TNReturned outside.

She also trapped a sick cat that visited her yard sporadically. She has been trying to trap him for over a year, and believes he finally went in the trap because he was so sick. She called him Big Daddy, and the colony is named in his honor. Big Daddy was taken to Roscoe Village Animal Hospital, where after a thorough examination and tests, they all made the hard decision to humanely euthanize him because he was just too sick. RIP Big Daddy.

Joann trapped along with Kim throughout the neighborhood and saw a lot of cats and talked to a lot of feeders. Some TNR was done here before by Erica from PAWS Chicago and other volunteers, because they saw a mix of ear tipped and non-ear tipped cats. Kim has also trapped 22 cats visiting her yard in the past two years.

They trapped this beautiful TNR’d cat a few times, who also loves to pose. Her name is Georgita.

And a lot of non-ear tipped cats.

A lot of these cats are fed by a man named George. George feeds these cats no matter what, and also tries to impede trapping. He moved the traps, closed them, and did everything he could to stop them. George is an outdoor hoarder and there’s nothing we can do but to work around him and wait until he leaves.

Joann and Kim also discovered that this restaurant feeds other cats. Check out these cats waiting for their dinner in back!

The restaurant employees and several people throughout the neighborhood were all for TNR. Joann and Kim talked to a lot of neighbors and found out a lot of people feed and were concerned for the cats. TNR always involves community outreach, and more people that live in this area need to help trap. They also discovered a few other hot spots that we are hoping to work on, with colonies of 10-12 cats. In all, Kim has estimated there may be up to 50 cats within these few blocks.

They trapped in a few people’s yards and near where George feeds. So despite his ongoing efforts to stop them from trapping, they trapped eleven more cats and kittens. That means these cats are hungry. They range in all kinds of ages and litters.

All of these cats are currently at PAWS’ clinic for TNR surgery. Some of these orange cats look absolutely identical.

If you know of anyone that lives in Avondale and cares for cats that can TNR, or would like to help us in any way, please contact us at the link above or at [email protected] , or call 773-609-2287

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Melissa Rescues Injured Cat from Negligent Owner

Melissa B. found an injured cat Saturday at one of her feral cat feeding stations. He was limping, with visible bite wounds on his neck and front paw.

Morris is a friendly cat with an owner that lets him outdoors. He told Melissa before that Morris was already neutered. When Morris showed up injured, his owner told Melissa he will not take him to the vet and cannot afford any costs. He said she could take him and find him a new home if she wanted to.

She took him straight to Roscoe Village Animal Hospital once the owner got him into the carrier on Sunday. Thank goodness for vets that are open on Sundays!

His front paw was wounded and infected.

He also had bite wounds by his ears.

Morris had to be sedated in order to flush and clean his wounds. A radiograph showed that nothing was broken at least. He tested FeLV-, but tested a very faint positive for FIV. The vet said that may be because he is currently sick and injured, and that his body may reverse the results once he’s recovered. Fingers crossed! He also is most certainly not neutered as the owner claimed, but he will be later of course. He will also most likely need some dental work as well in the future.

Morris’ paw looked pretty rough afterwards.

Morris was sent home in an e-collar with additional medication and antibiotics, with instructions to administer them daily for the next two weeks. Melissa has been doing the best she can with him, but he is spraying since he is not neutered, and started drooling and sneezing. Despite all of that, he is still very friendly and seeking attention.

Morris’ total medical costs so far are $372.40. Melissa can not afford any additional bills because of her own rescue dogs’ medical needs and she is in the process of moving, so I covered the costs. Please consider making a donation to help us help Morris and more cats like him. Donations can be made through the Paypal link at the top of this page, and through [email protected] invoice for baby 01-17-16-2

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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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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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Shoveling Out the Cat Paths

Nineteen inches is a lot of snow all at once. Jim did most of the heavy shoveling since I was out of town for work and missed the storm.

Mooha helped me with the little bit of shoveling that was left yesterday afternoon. I made sure to clear out the cat paths so that my colony had access from the alley to their outdoor heated cat condos and feeding stations in my yard.

B.B. waited patiently for me to finish. Mooha wanted to check her out as well.

B.B. bounced around from house to house to stay out of our way, and settled in the Feralvilla Feeding Station at one point.

Hope everyone is safe and warm out there!

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The Costs of Cat Colony Caregiving

There is a lot of invested time, effort and money needed to help the feral cat colonies. But I wanted to share the numbers here to show what can be done, that it’s not impossible, and to thank all of you again so much for your support. Also, I know there are people out there who do so much, and I really encourage everyone to broadcast their rescue work. People do amazing things, and their stories can also inspire others to help more animals.

So, here’s a look at 2014, a year in review, if you will:

Colony medical costs were $2,767.37, for seven cats that I found sick outside.

Cat food and supplies cost $1,579.69

Thank you again to Barb G., Ben M. and Carolyn T., Carlin R. and Kathy M., Dorota Z., Elisa G., Erica R. and Rob J., Greer G., Heather F., Joyce K., Kristina R. and her mom, Linda R., Liz H., Lora M., Niuris R. and family, Rachel and Nick K., Rhodri K., Rob and Candice C., Zac and Beth N. Your Paypal donations totaled $1398.79

Thanks to Janessa and Forget Me Knodt for teaming up on the Feral Flowers Project and selling the flowers I grew in my garden last summer, and for hosting a Feral Flowers Design and TNR Class. Together we raised $1,181.50, and also raised a lot of awareness for the outdoor cats.

Thanks to my friend and bandmate, Julia B., for hosting a Halloween show of rock music, called Feral Fete, performed by my amazing, animal-loving friends, and donating all proceeds, $702, to Cats In My Yard.

Without donations and fundraising, this would have been so much harder. In total, as of the end of 2014, 177 cats were TNR’d in 20 locations within one square mile here since 2007. There are now 59 cats remaining outside. The other cats were either adopted out, died, or disappeared.

And sometimes the remaining ones get sick, especially now that the colony cats are aging. I believe all animals’ lives matter, whether they are feral or not, and will try to provide any medical care necessary. I want to thank North Center Animal Hospital, Roscoe Village Animal Hospital, and Village West Veterinary for their help, care and compassion in treating cats in traps.

Here’s another look at the cats that your donations and support helped with last year. Please note that some of these images may be distressing to look at.

Munkimo

Munkimo from the Mother Colony showed up at his feeder’s house in obvious distress during a winter storm last February. He was cold, wet, shivering, and there was blood on his back. I easily placed him in a trap and took him for multiple vet visits. His bills totaled $309.55 Munkimo tested FIV+, but he was sick because of an infected bite wound and upper respiratory infection, URI. The skin just peeled off of his back. He had a fever, and his paw pads were black with frostbite. After being crated in my house and treated with antibiotics, he bounced back within a few weeks. But I had to keep him inside crated for almost two months because this was during the Polar Vortex and he still needed the hair on his back to grow. He has been doing fine ever since I returned him.

Zombie Cat

Zombie Cat from the V Colony had sores behind her ears, disheveled fur, labored breathing, and a chronic URI. I trapped her and brought her in for multiple vet visits. She had several rounds of antibiotics and a dental. Her medical bills totaled $518.22 She stayed with me for two months in Feral Cat Recovery Lounge donated to me by Dave H. During this same time it got stressful because I was also treating another feral cat for URI (Sneezy), and then another cat (Wally) came in sick that I ended up treating and fostering because he was also friendly. And I had a planned vacation during this. But it worked out, and even though Zombie Cat still gets sick with URI, she is much better. And definitely doing better outside.

Sneezy

Sneezy from the V Colony was just with me for a week in a recovery Tru-catch trap. He was treated with antibiotics that just cost $10 for his chronic URI. Sneezy was absolutely terrified the entire time, so confinement is extra stressful for him. I had to weigh the stress of that against his overall well-being. He still gets a bit sick outside, and sleeps a lot, but is doing better.

Wally

Wally also showed up sick in the V Colony a few weeks after his TNR. He turned out to be incredibly friendly, so I ended up fostering him for two months while he was being treated for haemobartonella and taking him to the vet. His medical bills totaled $326.42 He made a full recovery and was adopted by my good friends Carlin and Kathy in St Louis.

Billy Idol

Billy Idol from the V Colony showed up sick while I was fostering Wally. His head was tilted to the side, he meowed nonstop, his eyes were red and had discharge, and he walked in circles. The vet determined that he was suffering possibly from toxoplasmosis and a URI. His medical bills totaled $257.05 Thankfully his feeders were able to treat Billy in a recovery trap for a week with antibiotics and medication. Billy seemed to get better and they let him back out into the colony because he was stressed from the confinement. So far ever since he seems to be doing well.

Dice

Dice is from my colony, the James’ Gang Colony, and he got really sick last year. In the spring I trapped and took him to the vet where he was treated for URI, stomatitis, and had 10 teeth pulled with his dental. This seemed to buy him some time, but he was sick again in the fall. He showed up one day and just laid in my yard. He was down to four pounds and the vet thought perhaps he was going into kidney failure. His medical bills totaled $860.03 Also, confinement was incredibly stressful for Dice. He would only eat, and could barely move. Ultimately, after a few days, he was humanely euthanized at the vet’s office. RIP, Dice. My heart still breaks when I think of him. The last photo is from back when he was a healthy, TNR’d colony cat.

Woodrow Whiskers

Woodrow Whiskers from the La Vida Lydia Colony disappeared and then showed up sick at his feeder’s house. She took him in, and he was docile and clearly in distress. He would urinate sporadically. I took him for multiple vet visits where they treated his bladder, did blood tests, and determined he most likely has cystitis. His medical bills totaled $486 He made a full recovery with the antibiotics and medications. He showed his friendly side once he was indoors, so was admitted to a no-kill shelter for adoption.

I’ve got my eye on a few cats I’m concerned about out there, and am busy with the colony cats that decided to show their friendly side. And I have plans to help TNR colonies for other feeders. Onward to 2015!

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Thank You, Carlin and Kathy, for Your Generous Donation, and Helping Me Give Wally a Second Chance!

This week Carlin and Kathy started an automatic monthly payment through Paypal to help the Cats In My Yard. This compassionate couple are great friends of mine, and I can’t thank them enough. You guys rock in so many ways!

I can’t mention Carlin and Kathy without telling the story of Wally, a cat from the V Colony that they adopted from me last summer. I trapped him last May when I was trying to re-trap Zombie Cat, a TNR’d colony cat who was really sick.

Wally looked great.

I took him to the clinic for his TNR spa treatment, neutering and vaccinating, and recovered him for one night in my garage, during which he ate like crazy and did not respond to me at all. He just sat there politely.

I returned him without incident. It was classic TNR, or so I thought.

He showed up in the colony one month later sick and refusing to leave the yard. He was very skinny now, but he was still eating like crazy. The feeders easily handled him into a trap for me. He was missing large patches of fur from his back and neck.

He also ate like crazy in the trap, and this time he was purring and rubbing all over me. I took him to a full service vet, who literally took one look at him and said he should be euthanized. She said he was jaundiced and severely dehydrated, indicating liver disease, and that he was dying.

I found that diagnosis shocking because of the way he was acting. During this vet visit he was all over us, begging for attention.

I said I needed to think about this some more. I was charged $51.84 for this visit.

I left and started calling around. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I needed to talk to someone else. My TNR friend Erica R. recommended Dr. Silverman with Village West Veterinary.

I called and because of the situation, they told me to come right away.

Dr. Silverman agreed he was jaundiced, and with the missing patches of fur, it indicated haemobartonellosis, a blood disease transmitted by fleas and ticks. This is serious, but Dr. Silverman said that because he was still eating, it was in the early stages and could be treated. I asked to have him tested for FIV and FeLV first.

Wally tested FIV-, but, quoting Dr. S., “very, very faintly, like barely FeLV+.” I said, “Um, isn’t that like saying you’re a little bit pregnant?”

FeLV, feline leukemia, is fatal once a cat is symptomatic, and there’s still a lot of misunderstanding surrounding it. My first colony was a mixture of FIV+ and FeLV+ cats, so I believe it’s not as contagious as they say it is, but I don’t go around testing that theory on purpose. Also, I figured Wally was symptomatic and was indeed dying.

And I had never heard that FeLV can be reversed in grown cats. I had heard that it could happen with tiny kittens, but Wally was estimated to be almost a year old. And again, this was a “faint” positive.

I was a basket case during this visit. I figured I’d indeed end up euthanizing him. Dr. S lobbied hard for him, and said the haemobartonellosis was not a symptom of being FeLV+. He said he would look for a foster if Wally stayed FeLV+. FeLV+ cats are difficult to adopt out, and there are no local no-kill shelters who will admit them.

So, we decided to treat Wally. Mostly because during this visit, he again was all over us purring and rubbing, and did not want to leave my lap.

The vet did a CBC, complete blood count, and obviously his numbers were way off. We were sent home with prednisolone and zeniquen. And I started fostering Wally.

The first week was hard because I still had Zombie Cat in my foster space, who is completely feral, in a crate recovering and getting medications for a chronic Upper Respiratory Infection, URI, and dental (I had her for about six weeks). So I put Wally in another crate at the separate end, and kept things very clean and sterile to avoid transmission of anything between the two of them. After that week, I returned Zombie Cat back to her colony, and let Wally have free reign in the room.

He loved it.

Really loved it. He did not want me to leave him alone in the foster room. I started using the laptop in his room to keep him company.

Two weeks later I brought him back to the vet.

We re-tested him and he was FeLV-.

I could not believe it. Dr. S was right and I saw before my own eyes that this disease could be reversed – we caught him just in time.

His CBC this time was also a lot better, and we were sent home with more prednisolone and zeniquen.

Because he was negative, I started bringing him upstairs in my house, still separate from my pet cats. He loved that also, especially the couch.

Whenever I left his side he would follow me around the house, always at my feet.

During this time Carlin and Kathy decided they wanted to adopt him. They live in St Louis. In mid-August my boyfriend Jim drove Wally to Champaign to meet them half-way. Once Wally was settled in their car, he immediately climbed on Kathy’s lap.

He’s settled in ever since with them and their other pet cat. Whenever I see Carlin he just says that Wally is the best. Saving Wally’s life took about two months of care and fostering, administering medications, a day of driving, and two vet visits that cost $326.42 He deserves it because every life matters. Your donations help support cats like Wally.