Three More Kittens Rescued

An industrial area is no place for kittens, or cats.  Last week I did what I will only do willingly for cats and that is to get up super early, dressed and out of the house.  Yawn!


Mom Mystery with kitten #4

Mystery is a beautiful grey female that I have been helping to feed.  I met her about 5 or 6 weeks ago when Robin told me about her.  What we couldn't determine was if she was pregnant and about to give birth or had she given birth?  Ten days ago we got the answer, she had 4 lovely babies and they looked happy and healthy.  Mystery brought them out of hiding to show them where to come for food.

Last week I made a number of failed attempts to find Mystery and her kittens.  Finally I realized, after speaking with an employee from the city works department that I needed to be there early because Mystery was accustomed to being fed at 6:45 a.m.   Arghhhhhhh.....really?  I made an effort on Friday morning to be there at 6:45 and sure enough Mystery was there with one of her babies.  Within minutes I had a beautiful little female in the trap.  What concerned me was where were the other two kittens?

That afternoon I got a call from one of the city workers to let me know Mystery was back with two kittens so off I went in a mad dash.  Within minutes of arriving I had kitten number 3, a sweet little grey male. 

The next morning, a Saturday, a sacred sleep-in-until-whenever-morning, I was up and out by 6:45 a.m.  I arrived to see Mystery arriving with her beautiful little baby following close behind.  Wish I had been able to snap a picture of the two tails held high.  In no time I had the 4th and final kitten, another male.

All four kittens appear to be in good health and my guess is they are about 8 weeks old.  There are two females and two males.

Willow was the first kitten caught the previous weekend and she is as sweet as can be. The other three kittens will be tame in no time. I was able to handle all three without wearing Mike's motorcycle gloves, which is a good sign.

Beautiful baby Willow

Kitten #4

Now that all four babies are safe and sound, the next step will be to get Mystery in to be spayed.  The plan is to trap Mystery and get her in for a spay this coming Friday.

I met a lot of the men who work at this city works department yard and everyone was helpful and interested.  They all seemed to genuinely care about this mom and her babies. 

Freddie, Nutmeg and little Ree-Ree

When last I wrote, I had just taken in Freddie and Nutmeg and was waiting for the third kitten to be caught and brought to me.  Reba, or Ree-Ree as I have been calling her, arrived the day after Freddie and Nutmeg.  While the first two came without much fuss, Ree-Ree was a whole different story.  Holy moly!!!  This little black kitten was so frightened it was distressing to watch.  All I could do was leave her in the cage with her brother and sister and walk away so she could calm down.

The next morning I began the serious hug sessions with Ree-Ree.  It took me about 10 minutes to catch her in the cage and I was wearing my husband's motorcycle gloves to do it.  Once she was in the carrier I locked the two of us in the bathroom and for the rest of the day we hugged.  I started off with a 45-60 second hug, then returned her to the carrier.  I repeated this a number of times during the day with each hug session getting longer and longer.  By the third hug session I no longer needed the biker gloves.  That evening Ree-Ree and I sat down to watch TV for an hour together.  I didn't have to restrain her at all and she seemed content to sleep in my arms.

Over the past two weeks each of the kittens has settled down, become quite tame and much less nervous.

Ree-Ree describing to Nutmeg the bug she just saw
while Freddie thinks she is exaggerating a little!

This past weekend we were away.  A neighbour was going to come in to feed but then suggested the kittens go to her house.  I loved the idea.  So off they went on Thursday evening for a weekend away, while Mike and I were away too. 

Nutmeg

Freddie Bear and Ree-Ree

In the meantime, another friend had found someone interested in possibly taking one of the kittens as a companion for her cat.  It was getting a bit tricky trying to arrange times convenient for all concerned but in the end it worked out.  The biggest issue was that Freddie, Nutmeg and Ree-Ree had an intake appointment at Toronto Humane Society this morning at 11:00 a.m.  I had tried to change the appointment to later in the day but that wasn't going to work. Anyway, it turned out to be a non issue.

Tanya came over last night, met all three of the kittens and was leaning towards taking Ree-Ree.  She wanted to go home to think about it overnight, which I encouraged, and said she would give me a call before I had to leave for THS.  An hour prior to leaving Tanya called to say she wanted to take Ree-Ree and I am thrilled - for two reasons.  One, I want all the kittens to find a home, but what was extra nice is that Ree-Ree is a black kitten and they are so often overlooked.

On my way home from dropping Freddie and Nutmeg at THS I had to pull over because the tears wouldn't stop coming.  I only got to love these babies for two weeks but I loved them with all my heart.  I know they will have a very good chance at finding good homes but I will never get to hear about those new homes and how they are doing.  I lose all contact with them and that I find difficult to deal with. 

As well, while I was at THS there was a beautiful adult cat in one of the cages. He had just been surrendered too.  I went over to his cage and he came right up to my finger and rubbed his head against it.  I wanted to snap him up to bring home.  He looks a bit like Annie Sparkles, except he is grey and white.  Annie is one of the sweetest cats and this fellow oozed sweetness too.  Arghhhhhh how come I can't have them all?  I sure hope he finds a home soon.

Ree-Ree will go to her new home on the weekend so I have a few more days to play with her. Howie is also still here waiting for his forever home.  I can't believe he hasn't found his forever home yet.

Howie

Freddie and Nutmeg

Last week Robin called me about some kittens living behind a pub and asked if I could go check them out. I found them.  There were three little cuties.

Yesterday Robin and Carrie arrived with the little orange kitten from the pub.  What a little cutie he is.  Just before midnight last night Carrie brought another kitten.  There is one more little kitten to catch and fingers crossed Carrie is successful tonight.

Freddie

Freddie and Nutmeg

Both babies are still a little nervous but I feel they will come around in no time.  I have them until Wednesday afternoon when they will move to another foster home.



Another Busy Week Winds Down - I hope

My beautiful feral, Jag, spent her first night in the kennel Saturday night.  I was running in to check 0....98on her constantly and she was pretty sad looking probably because she was recovering from her dental surgery the day before.  At least she appeared to be comfortable.  And she was safe allowing her to sleep soundly and give mouth time to heal.

Jag in recovery not looking too happy

Over the next few days Jag seemed ok but I also felt she was a little depressed because she was being held captive. It must have been very boring for her even though I spent as much time with her as my schedule would allow.  She enjoyed her grooming sessions and would purr instantly when I brushed her.  Her appetite was a bit up and down but by yesterday I saw a marked improvement.  She also seemed brighter.

This morning, one week after surgery,  I checked on her first thing and she really seemed perky and happy.  Maybe she really did understand that my plan for her was to return her to the colony as soon as possible.  A few hours later, with Jag safely contained in a carrier, she and I left for her real home with fellow feline buddies Ollie, Doodle and Spirit.


Jag in carrier in back of cat rescue mobile

free at last!!

I will look forward to feeding tomorrow.  I bet she will be back to her old self now that she is home.

Moe Update
Moe is a feral I helped get the medical attention he was desperately in need of last week (see blog post June 28 - A Busy Week).

Jen is Moe's caregiver and she called me Wednesday evening to say that she had just released Moe.  He had stayed at the vet's office for 9 days so that he could recover from his horrible URI, dental surgery and neutering.  Jen says he was the cleanest she has ever seen him in the 6 years she has been caring for him.  I was so pleased to hear the good news.  Moe will be much happier now that he is neutered.  No more fights, or at least fewer fights.

Tuesday with Annie Sparkles and Howie

Annie Sparkles and Baby Howie

My dear little Annie has a bald spot on her neck which I discovered late last week and was keeping  a close eye on over the long weekend.  Tuesday I decided she needed to visit Steve the vet.  Turns out she has a hot spot.  Steve gave her an antibiotic shot and I have to apply a solution twice daily that takes the itch away. 

A few hours later I was rushing back to the vet, but this time with Howie.  He fell into a bucket of TSP and wallpaper glue.  Yikes!  I am in the process of washing walls in my guest room to remove the glue from the walls.   The wallpaper is off but the glue remains and I want to paint so it means getting the glue off.  I was just about finished the section I was working on so the bucket was pretty yucky.  I quickly got Howie into the laundry tub rinsing him off in warm water.  But before I was able to catch Howie he had licked his paws a few times so I was concerned.  Once rinsed and partially dried my husband and I dashed off to the vet's office again with the carton of TSP.

Warning label on TSP container





In the end nothing awful happened to Howie because I was able to get him rinsed off so quickly preventing him from licking the TSP and watery glue off his body.  What could have happened is that by ingesting TSP the inside of his mouth and all the way down to his stomach could be burned causing blisters.  I am so glad that Howie is okay but he is barred from entering the guest room while I'm working with the TSP.

Pub Kittens
Tuesday Robin called me about some kittens that had been discovered living behind a pub, so Wednesday I left home early, well early for me to see if I could find the kittens.  We needed to find out how many kittens there were and approximate age.  I had to knock on the door because the patio is behind the pub.  Karen was expecting me and took me out back were we found three kittens, a black, a torbie and a ginger.  Initially I thought they were 6/7 weeks old but after some consideration, think they are maybe 8 weeks old.  Robin is hoping to catch them this weekend.

Pub Kittens

Now it's time to give little Howie his before bed snack and then we are going to sleep.