To Catch a Cat....

We have been battling a feral cat issue in our yard and neighborhood for years. I have mentioned it before in past blog entries. I am ecstatic to announce that we think we have finally capped the issue. We have caught the last known female that was not fixed. She had two litters this past summer that we had to catch and find home for. A total of 5 kittens that we found. This cat, who we call Beauty, has been dodging us for well over one year and has caused a lot of stress in our house. We began trying to trap her last summer and were successful one time until Dear Husband took pity on her and 'dumped' her from the the cat trap to a dog crate so she would be more comfortable for the evening, while she waited to be taken to a spay clinic. Needless to say, Beauty got away and Dear Husband ended up in Urgent Care with a cat bite. Since that day, we have never been able to get her in the cat trap. We have caught everything else in our neighborhood, including a 20lb. possum just last week. In desperation a few days ago, I called Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County to get their advice. They suggested I use a 'Drop Cage' which they were willing to loan me. They said that if we screwed this up, the hopes of every catching her were slim.

Last night I left Dear Husband in charge of the trapping while I took Princess and Pirate out for a few hours. Dear Husband not only was able to trap Beauty but trapped two of the other ferals at the same time. We had been told this might happen and were given instructions on how to just get Beauty in the portable cat trap. I was sweating bullets and stressed out to the max! If this failed, we were screwed. I am happy to say that we successfully transferred Beauty and settled her down in our garage for the night while we figuered out what to do next. I hardly slept a wink last night, knowing that if we didn't find a vet today to spay her... we would most likely have to take her to the animal shelter. She is very wild so she has no chance of being adopted. I called our vet first thing this morning and they were happy to help. Beauty is currently being spayed as I type this email. She will be put back in her cat trap right after surgery so she awakes in the trap. I will pick her up tomorrow morning and release her back into our neighborhood. Whoo Hoo! I am a very happy camper today. Have we finally conquered the ever-expanding feral cat issue in our neighborhood? No thanks to our neighbors either. Nobody helped us financially or physically to resolve this issue.

Please Spay and Neuter your cats, no matter if they are indoors or outdoor cats.

My next life... I am coming back as a cat

We have a colony of feral cats in our neighborhood. It all started around about 5 years ago when our former white-trash neighbors moved and abandoned their pregnant black, female cat. After she had a few litters one summer, we finally caught her last batch of kittens and got her spayed. She had to recoup for about a week in a dog crate after her surgery. When the day came to set her free, she wouldn't leave. Can't say that I blame her!

Her name is KitKat and she is now our outdoor, microchipped, black cat. We believe a few of her kittens became what we now call "The Backyardigans" - four feral cats that show up at our house twice a day for food. We have named them for our own convenience since they all look alike (Blue, Biege, Beauty & China - There is also Bart & Bear but they aren't backyard regulars) We refuse to take ownership of them but we have spayed and neutered all but one. The elusive one, Beauty, was caught once in the cat trap but Dear Husband moved her to the dog crate without realizing he had to get he back in the trap to take her to be spayed. Needless to say, she freaked and Dear Husband ended up at Urgent Care getting a tetanus shot. She will not get anywhere near the cat trap now.

So far this summer, Beauty has had two litters of kittens. We found and caught the first batch of three kittens. Since they were so small when we found them, we kept them for a few weeks to allow them to be adoptable. BIG MISTAKE! Don't let a cat-loving family with two small children bond with a kitten and then plan to give it away. Long story short... we fell in love with the tiger-striped male but knew in our hearts our house was too crazy for another cat. We found a home for him and were very sad to see him leave. A week later, his new adopted mom couldn't keep him due to her living situation. We jumped at the chance to get him back.

His name is Sake Beau (Sake:because our family LOVES Japanese food) (Beau:because Princess for some reason wanted to name him that). He is now 5 months old and is living the life of luxury as an indoor cat. We got suckered in, our house is now overflowing even more with chaos, but it was the best decision. Princess and Pirate just love their kitten and he is sooooo patient with them and I love that he is the biggest cuddle cat in the whole-wide world. I am happy to share my pillow with him each night. Neka, our other indoor cat tolerates Sake though she sure seems to enjoy it when he cleans her. She doesn't want to let on but we know she loves him too.

The morale to my story... please spay & neuter your animals but also sometimes there is just a bit more room for one more. (I'll keep you posted when I finally find the current batch of kittens in the yard, just in case you have room in your home & heart)