Is that really a thing for socializing feral cats?

Well, no, but it should be. This past year I’ve met some really remarkable people who are willing to try to do everything possible to help us help bring more cats off the streets.

Pinky and The Brain are perfect examples. We trapped them popping in and out of outdoor drain pipes at the Pallet Colony in January.

Pinky’s nose was so pink at the time. The temps were brutal when we were trapping her.

She was incredibly vocal, so we thought immediately she may be friendly.

The Brain’s trapping was accidental. We placed a trap around the corner and found her in it at the last minute.

It was pretty funny. We were rounding up the traps, thinking we were going to pack it up for the night, and Joann found her. Isn’t her marble coat gorgeous?

You can really see it in this photo.

They are older kittens, bonded, most likely from the same litter, and needed some socialization in order to be admitted into a no-kill shelter.

Joann insisted on giving them a chance immediately after their TNR surgery at PAWS Chicago. She took them home to foster and socialize, and later for further vetting.

They were shy, but still did well around her. They purred and wanted to be pet. Problems only came about when Joann would try to get them into pet carriers for transport and vetting. At one point, The Brain got out and went straight for the rafters in her basement. Robin F. agreed to further socialize them. We met Robin last fall when she took the KFC Colony kittens to be fostered. She and her family are amazing at showing cats and kittens the good life indoors. So, thus explains the title of this post, the Fischer School of Feral Feline Socialization took on the case of Pinky and The Brain.

Considering at this point they came from outdoor drain pipes, to the clinic, to Joann’s basement, to vet appointments, and then now to Robin’s house, all within long car rides in traps and carriers, Pinky and The Brain were doing remarkably well. They were first crated together in Robin’s foster room, where they slowly learned to play. And then relax.

And then strike a pose.

Eventually she moved them into their own small room, her bathroom, where they could roam more and get comfortable.

The Brain was a bit shy at first again.

And then she got used to it.

Pinky was the same way, shy at first.

And then playful.

She also wanted to get to know Robin’s other cats.

And then they were totally comfortable and acted like typical indoor cats. You all know about cats in sinks, right?

Joann has them back at her place now, and said they are rolling over for tummy rubs. Next week they have an appointment for possible admission into PAWS Chicago. Fingers crossed they will be admitted!

We tried trapping at the Pallet Colony on Friday night, but the alley was very busy and we only re-trapped ear-tipped cats. They all looked great.

At one point a man with a sheriff’s badge around his neck came up to my car and knocked on the window. Obviously he was not a sheriff – it was pretty funny. He jumped Ron’s fence and got him for us. Ron feeds and cares for the cats. We gave him two outdoor shelters, and wet and dry cat food. We called it a night.

Joann returned Saturday night and trapped the 18th cat from this colony so far.

She named the cat Vern, in honor of the maintenance man at the retirement center who has helped us immensely with information and access to the building.

The next day when she went to pick Vern up from PAWS Chicago’s spay/neuter clinic, she learned the cat is female.

Vern is actually Verna. And not only that, she was in heat.

The resilience of these colonies is amazing to me, and their capacity to breed even under the harshest conditions is astounding.

Verna is currently recovering nicely at my place. She freezes still when she sees me. The only thing she moves are her eyes, looking at what she can. She poses just the same, but I prefer this photo showing off her ear tip.

We’ve seen at least a half dozen more cats that need to be TNR’d, so we’re going back again to trap there tonight.

Six kittens finding shelter in drain pipes and heating vents at the retirement home were trapped and rescued.

The original call Erica from PAWS Chicago received about this colony was asking for help with a mama cat and four kittens. We are calling this the Pallet Colony now, and so far we’ve trapped 16 cats and kittens. ALL of the kittens we know about are now off the street.

Last week Joann trapped four kittens, about 10 weeks old, and all are now admitted into PAWS’ no-kill shelter.

They developed some URI issues, and were placed into foster homes. PAWS posted the cutest photos of them in their iso cages, and with their new names, Hunky Dory, Stardust, and Kaira. Thank you, PAWS and Erica! 

Fitzgerald was the fourth kitten trapped. Joann was able to socialize him fairly fast at her home first, within a week, because of his age and his love for wet food. He was just admitted into PAWS and renamed Bowie.

We trapped two other older kittens, about six months old, Pinky and The Brain. Pinky was the one that kept popping her head out of the drain pipes to check out the traps.

They are currently too shy to be admitted into PAWS, but they are enjoying their indoor life. They are crated together and are pretty bonded. They are now in a foster home with Robin, who is making sure they are being socialized properly. Thank you, Robin! Robin did a fantastic job fostering the KFC Colony kittens for us a few months ago.

Please let me know if you are interested in meeting these girls to adopt or to foster. Thanks!

Joann answered a plea from PAWS Chicago to help trap a mama cat and her four kittens living in a heating vent at a low-income assisted living complex.

When we first showed up to trap last week we knew there would be more to the story, and more cats. Last year, Erica, the TNR Coordinator for PAWS Chicago, trapped and admitted seven cats from this location because they were all friendly. She recently got a call from this facility about another cat family needing help.

As of today, Joann and I trapped eleven cats and kittens there, five of which so far were directly admitted into PAWS’ adoption program! Three are currently being fostered by Joann for further socialization. Please share if you know of anyone that would like to foster or adopt these cats.

The administrators at this assisted living facility are open to TNR and let us in with our traps. They gave us access to a room facing their courtyard where the residents feed. We saw a cat right away, screaming at us and shivering in the bitter cold.

Per the residents there, she was known as the mama cat. They all feed the cats daily, and were very excited for our help. They said that at this point her kittens were weaned and able to eat on their own.

I was able to pet and pick her up, but she was wary of our carriers, so we set a trap for her separately. She went in soon enough.

We tried trapping for the kittens that day. We never saw them, so after awhile we decided to come back the next day.

In the meantime, mama cat Moonbeam was admitted into PAWS’ adoption program and adopted within a few days.

When we came back the next day, the word had spread. We were allowed to hang out in this room, and the administrators put out a “Do not feed the cats” sign for us while we trapped. The administrators are extremely helpful. Shanta made sure everyone knew who we were before we got there. Vernon, who works in maintenance, helps the residents care for the cats, and lets Joann and I know where they were seen last on the block and at what times.

This room became a sort of headquarters for us to stay warm, watch the traps, and talk to the residents. A lot of the elderly residents came to meet us and give us all kinds of opinions and advice on what was going on with the cats. In fact, a lot of them disregarded the “do not feed” signs as we found frozen chicken outside. Part of the challenge of TNR’ing this colony is that there is not a set feeding time, multiple people feed, and there are all kinds of answers as to how many cats there are in the first place. Whenever Joann and I go to trap, we hardly see any cats, just tons of paw prints, and yet we keep trapping more cats so we know they’re there.

Miss Nelson has been with us every day, and cares deeply for the cats. Eugene thought there was no way we could trap them, until I showed him the photos. Mr. Love came by, dressed all in red, to flirt with us. Miss Oona did not like to stop feeding, until she saw us trap the kittens. Another man, who cannot speak or hear, understood immediately what we were doing. He would smile and give us the thumbs up sign every time we showed him a cat in a trap. His enthusiasm and support brought tears to our eyes. At one point Joann found herself at a birthday party hosted there for a 103-year old woman. They were all initially divided on what should happen to the cats, but once they understood about TNR, they were on board. They tried to help, and some were pretty entertained by the whole thing.

We could see the cat tracks in the courtyard where the cats find shelter under the trees.

And there were drain pipes outside that they would go in and out of.

We also expanded our search and found cat tracks all over the place. There is a coach house and abandoned building on the block where they can get in and out of.

There’s a huge metal recycling plant also next door.

And this industrial lot with trucks and stacks of wood pallets.

Stacks and stacks of wood pallets. And paw prints everywhere.

So, we’ve decided to call this the Pallet Colony.

We set up traps in various locations and eventually a tortie popped her head out of one of the drain pipes in the courtyard.

She played a lot of games with us and would not go in right away. She even mocked us through the door, right under the “do not feed the cats” sign.

But hunger took over, and she went in the trap eventually. Meet Pinky. 

We also trapped The Brain, a female marble tabby, that night. They did not pass PAWS’ temperament test so far for admission. They are currently in foster care after their TNR surgery to see if they can be further socialized. PAWS provided TNR vouchers for all of these cats.

The residents kept talking about much smaller kittens so we knew we didn’t have the cat family they were referring to yet. They also keep talking about another pregnant female cat but we have never seen her.

Joann went back several times to trap, and eventually managed to get all four kittens, along with other cats no one knew about.

Bogart and Bacall are 10-week old kittens and admitted into PAWS’ adoption program.

Starchild is a feral female patched tabby and was TNReturned to the site after being recovered for a few days. She ran right for the metal recycling plant.

Moonage Daydream is also a feral female patched tabby, most likely siblings with Starchild. She was also TNReturned and ran right to the coach house.

These cats and kittens were trapped when the clinic wasn’t open for a few days, so Joann took them to her vet for a check up, vaccines, flea treatment and testing. One of the kittens also appeared sick at the time and received eye meds.

A few days later she trapped Shirley, is a 10-week old tortie who was admitted into PAWS.

As was Nelson, an adult orange male cat that turned out to be friendly and admitted directly to PAWS.

Fitzgerald is the last 10-week old kitten to be trapped and was TNR’d at PAWS today. He did not pass the temperament test but because of his age, we are currently looking for a socialization foster for him.

And Mrs. Love is a female adult orange cat trapped by surprise. She received her TNR surgery today and is currently recovering.

In the meantime Joann also purchased four Rubbermaid bin shelters for $100 from Treehouse for this colony and placed them all throughout the courtyard. The residents said the cats were already using them.

If you’d like to donate to help offset our vetting and outdoor shelter costs for this colony, $560.11 total, you can do so through the Paypal donation button at the top of this page, or through [email protected]

We are also looking for socialization fosters for Fitzgerald, Pinky and The Brain.

I’ll be back at this site next week to see if we can get any more “surprise” cats since we have no idea how many there are.