The Process Starts!

Well, things are starting to pick up this week. Jaime and I have trapped a total of eight cats so far, and five will be taken into the vet to be spayed/neutered (No-Nonsense Neutering can only take five at a time). Our first appointment will be on Thursday, and here's a chance to meet our first wave of kitties to be a part of our project...

Chase

This Tiger is hiding up on the carrier. Much like the others, he's shy and probably frightened about being confined. Chase wasn't too thrilled about being trapped and after we tried to get him out of the trap, he bolted out of the cage and frantically raced around the garage, crashing and climbing (did you know a cat could climb several feet up a cinder block wall? Me neither). Once cornered, we were able to get him into a carrier, and much more carefully, we got them into the cage where they're now just hanging out. Since then they've been eating and using the litter, so that's a good sign.

Here is another medium-sized tiger and she's been hanging out in the carrier. She's been pretty frisky, making a little mess here and there with her litter and food, but she's consistently eating it.

Biscuit

This little calico might be a candidate for adoption- we're not sure yet, but we'll be making a try at assessing her social skills very soon. She was the second to make a successful attempt at avoiding the cage. Biscuit got some pretty good height on the wall and had me going on a pretty long chase. It was a good thing I was wearing thick winter gloves when I finally chased her down and caught her since she was rather determined to be let go. She got a few good bites in, but thankfully the gloves were thick enough that she didn't break through any skin.

Pops

This orange kitty "Pops" was rather upset at being trapped, bouncing around and making a ruckus. After being caged, he was rather depressed and frightened, sitting atop the carrier unmoving for the past couple days. I was eventually able to coax him into the carrier (gloves on, of course) without much resistance so they'd be a little warmer and more comfortable. This morning I also noticed that they've started eating and using the litter, and I saw that this evening that he had assumed the "curled-up" position that suggested they've become more eased and comfortable.

Update (11/23/2010) -  These 4 cats were our first group to go in for their spay/neuter surgery on Thursday, November 18th. They are all recovering now and doing well and have all been placed together in the same cage where they all sleep on each others heads.