Pacifica and Montara spent about three weeks on PAWS’ adoption floor and are now adopted as of April 2nd.

We’re not sure if they were adopted together, but we are ecstatic they are now safe indoors.

We trapped them in January from outdoor drain pipes at the Pallet Colony.

Joann refused to put them back outside, and worked hard socializing these cats. Robin also rose to the challenge and fostered them for awhile. It is not easy socializing six month old cats, but these women showed it can be done. I am honored to be working with women like these in rescue.

Joann and I are going back to the Pallet Colony site to trap any remaining cats next week. One of the residents there said there may be a twelve week old kitten. Otherwise, to date, we’ve trapped 20 cats there so far, nine of which were admitted into PAWS.

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!