Thursday, March 25, 2010

Spring Cat Chat

Our spay/neuter efforts and kitten fostering have officially begun again! It was nice to have a little break during January and February, but a cat lady's work is never done. First, some very good news....our 3 orange foster kittens (Archie, Barley and Chili) have already been adopted at Good Mews!!! I knew they'd go fast...it doesn't get much cuter and sweeter than they were.

The monthly low cost spay/neuter clinic was last weekend, so we headed out to a house in Georgetown on Friday morning to help a lady, Naomi, with her cat colony. Naomi is a wonderful caretaker. She basically takes care of all the neighborhood stragglers....all those that have carelessly been abandoned. She gives them breakfast and dinner and provides bedding and shelter both in her garage and on her back patio. There were 5 cats that we needed to trap. 2 of them are so tame that we got them into carriers, and then we were able trap a 3rd cat. Unfortunately, the other 2 were extremely suspicious and knew we were up to something. I delivered the 3to the clinic on Saturday morning and much to my amazement, one of the clinic volunteers called me to let me know that all 3 had already been spayed/neutered!! That has never happened to us before. But at least they got their vaccinations and flea treatment and were eartipped so it will be clear that they are snipped! I took some photos of one of the kitties. He stayed up in my foster bathroom, and I couldn't believe how amazingly sweet he was. I just can't imagine how anyone could give him up...crazy! He had perfect manners too...slept in his bed and used his litter box. All he wanted was lots of affection.





We have had some newcomers outside our house. Rudy Dude is a black tuxedo boy who showed up around Thanksgiving. We trapped him and had him neutered and vaccinated in early December. He was very scared of me until February and then suddenly decided that he trusted me. Now, he is a total love bug and sleeps on our front porch and loves to rub my legs and receive lots of chin scratches and body rubs :). Well, then 3 weeks ago, an adorable, old, chubby, orange tabby boy appeared out of nowhere. He is now known as Mr. Tubbs. What is particularly odd is that he is neutered AND eartipped! This is wonderful, but I am totally perplexed as to how he got here. Mr. Tubbs will come close and meows but won't let me pet him yet. He has changed the dynamic on the porch immensely. He loves other cats and has become buddies with Rudy. In addition, one of the other feral kitties, Natasha (who we trapped and spayed a year and a half ago), who used to ONLY come for dinner and disappear into the night is now arriving early and staying all night with Mr. Tubbs and Rudy. I put soft bedding out on our doormat and the 3 of them curl up together around 9:00 and stay all night. It melts my heart to see them bonding like that. Amazing. I just stare out the door at them and wish that I could scoop them up and bring them in. Our 3 back patio feral kitties stay back there and don't bother the threesome on the front porch, so their is peace and balance, thankfully.

Here is Rudy (look how nicely he matches our porch decor...ha!) sunbathing...



...and the Three Amigos sleeping soundly (so hard to get a good photo through the glass but you get the idea!)



We have a new rescued foster kitten with us right now, and I am picking up another one tomorrow! So, I am hoping to get some good photos this weekend. I will write and update on them soon.

4 comments:

Jill said...

It sure looks like the busy cat season is here for you! You are such an angel for those lucky kitties that find you! Always enjoy your stories.

manda said...

I hope they all get good homes! It's hard when you do find homes though, isn't it, giving them up, cause you love them so much!!? Our girl Coconut has just been adopted. We've had her for 3 years, and it's going to be so hard to let her go! But slightly easier because we get to take her out to her new Mummy next week and settle her in. Also, the woman who was going to take Oscar decided she didn't want him after all and got another cat for free. Which means she wont desex it or anything. Oh well, at least we know we'll find a better home for Oscar now.
Good luck with yours! Keep us up to date!

By Way of Salem said...

Lucky cats! And I LOVE the polka dot chair!!! I bet your house is totally awesome. You should post some pics for inspiration! Jeannine

Ann said...

you are so special!! thank you for caring so much about these darling kitties! they are precious ..you can certainly see the results of your love and caring!!