8th Visit to NNN

On December 3 & 4 we decided that these days would be the last days to trap any remaining cats.  We hadn't really seen any in a few days so we knew that we were coming to an end.  On Friday night (12/3) we trapped a Pastel colored tabby with fried chicken and after setting hot fried chicken out several times during the day and night on Saturday (12/4) we only trapped one more and he was a jet black beauty. 

Both of these cats went to the last and final NNN appointment on December 8th.  Both are recovering from their surgery and will be released back to their home in the woods on Saturday, December 18th.

7th Trip to NNN

Big Momma on her way to NNN

Today Big Momma and Heathcliff were taken to NNN for their surgery.  They have both been very calm the past couple of days and would never leave the back of their cage, sometimes hanging out in their litter-box.  Yesterday Heathcliff seemed upset with me and hissed while I was giving them new food - maybe he knew that he was next to be neutered.

Heathcliff on his way to NNN

This morning Heathcliff was once again upset and David had a hard time getting him inside the carrier.  His attitude was not helping with Big Momma either.  After a long struggle he finally got both of them in their carriers. Linda from LVHN will pick them up today and I will let everyone know the update as soon as I can.

Update 12/7 - Surprisingly Big Momma was already altered, so she was not the one popping out all the babies.  Hopefully out of the 16 females we already altered we have now ended the population problem.

BIG MOMMA has been caught!!

Big Momma and Heathcliff

Last night (12/2) I went to Redners to buy some fried chicken (since it was cheaper than KFC), hoping to trap the last few cats that were out there.  We only knew of 2 maybe 3 cats left and they seemed to really like the fried chicken.  So knowing that Big Momma was still out there we knew we could not stop this rescue effort until she was captured.  She is the one cat that we have seen pregnant time and time again - so this queen bee needed to be trapped and soon!

I walked down to the traps to set them and who was hanging out near 3 of them sniffing around and checking things out.  It was Pepe Le Pew - our skunk that seems to really enjoy cat food (wet and dry) as well as tuna fish and fried chicken.  I trapped him once already and boy was that a frightening experience for me (I'll post something about that later), so this time I just watched him from a distance with my very dim flashlight.  He must have smelled the fried chicken in the bag I was holding because he started coming toward me.  I kept taking large steps backward and he continued to follow me.  I'm thinking great what the heck do I do now - I can out run a skunk, right?  Well, to my luck he decided to turn back around and head straight into the woods.

Knowing that the skunk was hungry and in the woods somewhere nearby I was terrified that he was going to sneak up behind me when I was setting the traps with this huge bag of fried chicken I had in my hands. Paranoid I set each trap with large amounts of fried chicken, looking over my shoulder every 5 seconds for Pepe Le Pew's big return, but thankfully that never happened.  

I left thinking to myself, great when my husband and I come back in about an hour there is going to be a skunk in one of these traps.  So, I headed home for my nightly routine of feeding and cleaning out litter boxes and after a very quick dinner (cereal, yum!) David and I headed back to the traps hoping to see cats and NO skunks.

We walked to the first trap and it was empty, when I came down the hill to the second trap I saw glowing eyes with my flashlight - YES we caught one.  It was the orange guy (Scrappy), he looked really beaten up - poor guy.  Then not to far away from his trap was another one set a little further back in the woods and we saw glowing eyes in it - it was BIG MOMMA!!!  We were so happy to see her - we have been trying for weeks to get this girl and she would not go inside the traps for us.  She wouldn't go in for wet cat food or tuna fish - but she must not have been able to resist the smell of yummy hot fried chicken.  

She has been paired up with another orange guy that we trapped the night before on (12/1) with King Kong. They will both go to NNN on Tuesday, December 7th.   

6th Visit to NNN

King Kong & Scrappy on 12/2

On Wednesday night (12/1) I heated up the leftover KFC from the night before and hurried quickly out to the traps since I had to meet my "little" from Big Brothers Big Sisters for our weekly get together.  I only had time to put the KFC in 3 of the traps, hoping that this would be enough.  About an hour later my husband stopped by from his way home from work to check on the traps and he saw the biggest cat EVER from this colony inside one of them.  So, we decided to name him King Kong!

King Kong is heavy, very slow and not too active.  Once placed in the cage with Natty & Comet (that went to NNN yesterday) he just plopped down next to the litter box and did not move.  This morning when we needed to get him inside a carrier for his surgery it was quite a struggle.  We had to push him with the end of a broom stick and even my own hands, we even tried cornering him with the carrier and NOTHING seemed to work with this guy - he just did not want to leave.  After what felt like forever he finally gave up and went inside the carrier.

Scrappy is in poor shape :(

Scrappy was trapped last night (12/2) with fried chicken that I bought at Redners from their heated section.  It was a lot cheaper than KFC and Scrappy didn't seem to mind.  Since King Kong was alone in his cage we decided to place Scrappy in there with him and they would be the next 2 to go to NNN.  Scrappy got his name because he is badly beaten up.  His eye is sunk back in his head, his ears are torn up and his face looks all scratched up.  Not sure if he got in a fight with another cat or possibly another wild animal out there, but he is in rough shape.

Scrappy was a little difficult getting into the carrier this morning as well.  I think he was just petrified after witnessing how hard it was to get King Kong in and why he was next.  He hissed a little but eventually went in the carrier on his own.

I dropped them both off this morning and my sister Erin will pick them up this afternoon.  I will update everyone with how they are doing shortly.

Update (12/03) - My sister Erin picked these 2 cats up from NNN and was told that they are very old and need some tender loving care.  She mentioned that they will not live much longer and they were afraid to perform surgery on them, but went ahead and did it anyway - King Kong was treated for ear mites and Scrappy was treated for lice.

Update (12/13) - Trinka from the Cat Shack has offered to take these 2 cats to her place where they can live out their lives in a much more relaxed and peaceful environment.  Thank you Trinka!!  Both Scrappy and King Kong will be take to Perkiomen Animal Hospital on Thursday, December 16th where they will be tested for FeLV and FIV.

5th Visit to NNN

Comet

On 11/30 we trapped 3 more cats using fried chicken from KFC. We caught a young tabby that we are going to try and socialize, another adult tabby (Comet) and a calico (Natty).  Once placed in their cages both Comet and Natty were very curious as to their new surroundings; they were not shy coming right up to the front of the cage where I was to take a look around.  This morning when we needed to put them in carriers they both walked right in without a problem, YAY!!

Since we do not have anymore appointments with NNN we are going to take the last remaining cats as walk-ins, but they will only take a maximum of 2 cats at a time.  David dropped off Comet and Natty at NNN this morning and I will pick them up this afternoon.

Natty

We are still having some issues with someone feeding the cats at the dumpsters.  I threw away the wet food that was put there yesterday and I plan on throwing away what is there today as well.  If you see anyone feeding these cats please ask them to stop or throw the food away yourself.  Feeding these cats is not helping our efforts and with Christmas fast approaching my husband and I will not be able to continue this project much longer, so trapping these last few cats must be done in the next few days.

Update 12/13 - These two beauties were released back to their home in the woods on Saturday, December 11th.  Hopefully they enjoy the big dog house that we placed in the woods early that morning for all of them.  

4th NNN Appointment

Spice

Today was our last scheduled appointment at NNN. We could only trap 4 cats in time for this appointment and we know of at least 4 more cats that are still out there.  Hopefully can trap these last few cats in the next couple of days.  Thank you to Theresa from the Cat Shack and Darlene & Ralph from LVH with transporting these cats to and from NNN today.

Gandalf

These 4 were all trapped on separate days last week and since there are only a few cats left it is getting rather difficult catching them. We do need to ask anyone that has been feeding them wet or dry food to please stop. We need these cats to be hungry so they will go into the traps for us.  Thank you.

Cupcake

Update (12/02) - All of these cats have been doing well since their surgery on Tuesday.  Spice and Cupcake are rooming together and Gandalf and Simba are rooming together - they have all been piling up on top of each other keeping each other company and I'm sure they are staying nice and toasty this way too! 

Simba

Update 12/13- This beautiful group of cats were released back to their home in the woods on Saturday, December 11th. It was a beautiful day out (around 46 degrees) so they were able to get reacquainted with their home in the woods before the cold weather hit today.

 

3rd NNN Appointment

Pepper

Spaz on top of Rocky

These 4 cats went to NNN today.  Spaz, Murphy, and Rocky were all trapped Monday night (11/22) with Autumn.  Spaz was originally roommates with Rocky but we separated them because when we came out to check on them Tuesday morning their cage was a disaster.  We weren't sure if the 2 weren't getting along or if they were trying to find a way out; but the food and water dishes were turned upside down, litter was EVERYWHERE and the blankets on top of the cage where all over the place.  So we placed Spaz in another cage that morning and when I came back at lunch to check on everyone I noticed that he did it again to his new cage. So needless to say he is not a very happy cat and we felt the name Spaz suited him well.

Murphy

Murphy was a roommate with Autumn and they hardly ever left the carrier.  Murphy was very calm this morning and after just several tilts to the carrier he was sharing with Autumn he just walked right on out and went directly inside another carrier; this was not the case with our newbie Pepper that we trapped last night (11/23).  Both Rocky and Pepper were in the same carrier together this morning and when we got Rocky into a different one we thought we could just close the door to the carrier Pepper was in... Oh no we could NOT.  He jumped right on out of the carrier and panicked looking for a way out and started going from corner to corner of the cage pulling down the blankets.  Since it was getting rather difficult pushing him inside the carrier that was already in the cage I got another one and we somehow got him inside of it.

Rocky

What another exciting morning for us...

Thank you to Theresa from The Cat Shack and Brenda from LVH in helping with transporting these cats today. 

Update (11/29) - Spaz and Murphy have been rooming together and for the first couple of days after their surgery they both seemed to be calm and recovering from surgery nicely.  Spaz is back to being her usual self and is making her cage a complete mess, poor Murphy.  Rocky and Pepper on the other hand are doing great and have been nothing but angels in their cage.  The only thing to note with Rocky was that we found out he was already neutered, so either he was fixed several years ago when a co-worker of mine trapped some of these cats or he was someone's pet that got lost or left behind.

Cat Shack Clinic

Turtle

Sherlock

Sunkist and Blaze

Turtle and Sherlock were trapped Friday night (11/19) and were originally going to go to NNN with our second group on 11/23 but The Cat Shack had a clinic on Sunday and they were in need of more cats to make the clinic worth the vets time, so these lucky cats got to go in early.

They are now recovering from surgery and are doing well.  They have been eating all of their wet and dry food and have been kicking their blankets into the litter box for us each morning.  They are both relatively calm and do not hiss or growl at us when we clean out their cage.

Pirate

Pirate, Sunkist, and Blaze were trapped Sunday morning (11/21) when we found out that Theresa from The Cat Shack needed more cats for the clinic.  We rushed right on over to the parking lot and in 1 hour we trapped these 3 beautiful cats.  Pirate is missing his right eye, the vet thought he might have had an upper respiratory infection (just like some of our kittens) and he lost his eye due to no treatment.  The vet told us that Sunkist is nursing so we think she is the mother to Phoenix, Rascal, and Tyke, since the kittens are 10 weeks old and have been eating wet food on their own we do not need to put her back with her babies.  Blaze is a very mellow male cat and pretty much just hangs out on top of the carrier.  They are all recovering well from surgery and have been a fairly calm bunch.

2nd NNN Appointment

Bright-eyes, Cali and Squeaky

Scratch, Precious and King

This morning Theresa from The Cat Shack took 6 cats to No Nonsense Neutering.  All of these beauties were trapped Sunday night (November 21) using Tuna fish!!!  They all have been getting along with one another and spend most of their time curled up together.  This morning Dave and I needed to get all of them into separate carriers for their appointment at NNN and it went fairly smoothly.  We had a little difficulty with King (the big buff cat), he simply wouldn't budge from the top shelf in the cage.  Dave had to lightly push his butt so that he would go inside the carrier.  Bright-eyes and Squeaky went in a carrier together so that was a little tricky getting one out and put into another, but after tipping the carrier Squeaky slid right on out.

Thank you to Theresa from The Cat Shack and Linda from LVH in helping with transporting these cats today.

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.

Our Cat Colony

We believe that we have 20 maybe 30 cats in our colony and it seems to be growing.  We recently had a new litter of kittens and with the cold weather fast approaching we want to trap as many as possible.  We have captured 4 of them already and plan to get a couple more in the next few days.  The adult cats all seem to be healthy so we are just going to focus our efforts on the kittens for the time being since a majority of them have severe upper respiratory infections.