Gray Rescue Kitten is Adopted

 Lately, it's been difficult to find adopters for the cats and kittens that we rescue but have to say we got lucky. A neighbor told us that they would like to provide the gray rescued kitten with a forever home.

We took the kitten to the veterinarian's to have it checked for a microchip, then when we learned that there was none we had the kitten checked for disease, then vaccinated and sterilized.  

The kitten was discharged and I was told to keep it calm for a week or ten days.  When the cat had regained its strength and had put on some weight my husband took the kitten to our neighbor's house.

We are thankful that the kitten went to someone who had experience with rescue cats and is grateful that he will provide a safe forever home for the gray kitten.  

Here is a photo of the kitten being transported to its adopter / forever home.

Stop Cats From Messing with Decorations

 Whenever I bring out the home decorations my cats seem to gather around the table.  They are interested in the pretty shiny things and can hardly wait to get their paws on everything.

If given a chance my cats will dump over the decoration in the box so that all things fall to the carpet.  Then the “game is on” and they will play with everything by chasing the pretty things across the floor.

One year I stopped the cats from messing with my decorations by creating a “cat room” where they would go when we could not supervise their activity and to keep them away from our holiday decorations.

I have used sticky tape and have attached our Christmas tree to the ceiling.  But must tell you what I am doing now really stops the cats from messing with the decorations.

This year I plugged Feliway diffusers into the electrical outlet.  Each room has a diffuser.  Then I waited a full 10 days and the product took the edge off the room, my cats are no longer stressed or anxious, they do not hiss, and have not marked to indicate that the entire house is “theirs” in fact they do not seem to care about the holiday decorations.

None of the cats have gotten on the display shelf, and the basket of pinecones with pumpkins has not been knocked over, in fact, no paw has touched my holiday decorations since I treated the house with Feliway.

So if you have a cat that messes with your home décor you may want to buy a Feliway diffuser and calm your cat so that they don’t care about your pretty things.

Feeding Neighborhood Cats

  

Feeding feral and stray cats is something we are accustomed to doing but now that the cost of living has gone up we have found neighborhood cats are showing up at our feeding stations.

 

At first, there were three neighborhood cats from a home that is located 2 blocks away. And now there are 6 neighborhood cats coming to the feeding station.

The cats are well-groomed and all have collars.  We know that they are owned by people with kids and think that they love their cats but just can’t feed them anymore due to the inflation, high gas, energy, and food costs.

The cats arrive in the morning and wait patiently for their turn at the food bowl then they are punctual at 6:30 PM when I fill the evening food and water bowls.  I watched them eat, then followed them and saw that they do go back to their homes.

I sure hope things get better and that the cost of living goes down because honestly, we are in no position to pay for food for all of the neighborhood cats.

 Do you find that there are more cats looking for food in your neighborhood? 

**Last week this cat was so hungry that he was looking for food in my bird feeder. The cat is well groomed and has a collar.  We fed him, and he ate a big bowl of food and drank some water before going back to his home.

Outdoor Kiddie Pools Keep Cats Hydrated

 This summer the heat has been extreme with creeks and lakes drying up.  Due to the water shortages, the neighborhood and feral cats were desperately in need of water.

Normally we have bowls of water for the cats, but the intense heat was causing the water to become very hot and evaporate.  I was filling the water bowls several times a day and found that not only cats were drinking the water, but songbirds, groundhogs, raccoons, and deer were also staying hydrated by drinking out of the small animal bowls.

We bought outdoor kiddie pools to provide both cats and wildlife with a reliable water source.  Filling the outdoor dog and kiddie pools daily was the best thing that we could do to provide cats and wildlife the water that they needed.   We filled daily a hard plastic kiddie pool and an outdoor dog pool by Top-Paw.  

All pools were set up under a shade tree.  The shade prevented the sun from evaporating the water from the pools and also from the water getting too hot.  We would clean the pools daily to prevent bacteria.  Once the water was removed we would wash down the pool with dawn dish soap, rinse and refill.  Throughout the day the pools would be filled to the top so that they were never empty and cats and smaller animals could drink from them without physically getting into the pool. 

The kiddie pools were a great way to provide water to the animals and to keep them hydrated during the extremely hot summer months.

Here are a few of my photos.

Abandoned Kitten Rescued

 A gray kitten came to our feeding station a week ago, we thought it was abandoned due to its appearance. The cat is very thin and on closer observation, it looks like a 5-month-old anoxia cat, the poor thing is skin and bones.

I picked up the cat to remove the huckleberries from it, then fed it and gave it water, and decided to take it in to be checked for a microchip and for medical care.

This cat was so thin that I thought it had Feline Leukemia. I talked to my husband and we brought the frail cat inside and made it comfortable on our enclosed porch.

Two days later my husband took the kitty to the veterinarian and thought that he was taking it to be put down. I have never seen such a thin cat. We learned that it's about a year old, and that it has had kittens, that it is not diseased just suffering from malnutrition.

The cat is 3 lbs and approximately a year old.  It's a very sweet gray kitty, that needs to put on weight to be spayed.

We decided to keep the cat indoors.  The kitty will be safe from outdoor predators, and we will provide quality food, fresh water, toys, a bed, and air conditioning.  While indoors we will work to socialize this kitten to trust humans.

We have a tentative appointment in a month for this cat to be spayed. Know it breaks my heart to see this frail kitty that was abused and abandoned by her people.

Know that my husband and I are not affiliated with any charity we are people who love cats and help any injured, abandoned or hungry cat that we find in our yard.  Paying for all medical costs and food from royalties earned at our online store. 

Here are some photos of the kitten, we call her Gabi.

Grow Catnip for Neighborhood Cats

The neighborhood cats all seem to enjoy the catnip that is growing in my yard.  The cats come throughout the day and all have the same daily catnip routine.

Here are a few of my photographs of the catnip that grows in my yard and a cat that visits me daily to enjoy this plant. 

 

They eat and drink at the feeding station and then meander down to the garden where the catnip plants grow.   The cats will rub on the plant, and nibble on a few leaves. Some will lie on top of the plant and go to sleep. Other cats will eat a few leaves, and roll around in the grass, before going to sleep in the back wildflower garden. When they awake they go back to where they came from.

Know that when cats ingest/eat catnip this herb acts as a sedative as it reduces anxiety, stress, and all behavior conditions such as not getting along with other cats.

I grow the WalkersLow catnip plants in well-drained (although the plant is not fussy about the soil it's grown in). Catnip prefers full sun and this particular catnip is drought tolerant. The plant has green leaves, pretty purple flowers, and a soft mint fragrance that attracts neighborhood cats from blocks.   

Photos of my neighbor's cat.  His cat loves to roll around in the catnip garden.

 

 

My husband and I are delighted to see the cats and enjoy them visiting the gardens. We like to think of the gardens as their “safe place”. Even if there are a few cats in the yard, they do not fight, instead, they wait patiently for their turn at the catnip plant. 

TNR Cats Milestone

This month we are celebrating the milestone of trapping 102 cats in our neighborhood for the TNR program. Know that the woods by our home is a dumping ground for abandoned cats. So my husband and I along with two neighbors worked together in trapping the cats, taking them to the veterinarian for cat disease tests, vaccines (rabies, cat respiratory, and Feline Leukemia), and sterilization. 

A feral cat in the trap 

 We did not return or release all of the cats. There were many strays that we tried to socialize so that they could be adopted into forever homes. The feral or stray cats that could not be socialized were released to a private property colony with daily caretakers. 

 It took us 7 years to reach 102 trapped and rescued feral and stray cats and we are all proud of our accomplishment. Learn more about our cat cause here. 

Know that we are not affiliated with any charity and pay for all cat medical expenses, food, and outdoor cat houses, out of our own pocket or from donations given to us by cat-loving neighbors.  Cat rescue and adoption is our cause because we love cats.

Here are some photos of the cats that we have trapped, picked up, or rescued over the years. 

two cats recuperating after TNR

The cat in the box was found in the woods. 

Feral cat Lucy first cat in TNR resides at Colony

Rescued cat when people moved and abandoned cat

TNR cat recuperating after nueter

Feral kitten learning to play with toys

A TNR cat that we feed daily 

We paid for medical care for this cat when he was injured.
A 2nd chance kitty that was adopted by one of my friends

We found these cats when they were kittens, they were in a trash bag and left on the side of the road.   Sickly kittens that we nursed back to health.  Both were adopted and found their forever home

Feral kitten recuperating after her spay 

Feral TNR cat.  She is alive today and resides
in a colony of cats.

Kittens we rescued and took care of them until they could be adopted

White Tomcat Gets Rescued and Forever Home

A month ago a stray aggressive white cat showed up in my yard. This tomcat was chasing my cats from their yard and fighting with other cats. At first I thought the cat might be sick, abandoned or a feral tomcat. I learned rather quickly that the cat was nuisance because there was a feral queen cat that was hanging out close to my home and this is what was instigating the cat brawls and the mating calls at all hours day and night.

Abandoned white tomcat looking sad after the neuter

I inquired to find out if any neighbors knew the cat owner. It was unanimous all said that the cat just showed up one day and was a fighter. Another neighbor said that “he has to be neutered as I saw him trying to stand up to a raccoon over a food bowl” My guess was that the cat was abandoned and was acting out due to that and because he was not neutered and that he was hungry and didn’t understand that a raccoon was danger.

Stray tomcat eating at the feeding station

When tomcats are abandoned, they are really lost, they don’t know how to find a safe shelter to sleep, food to eat, or clean water...all they know is that they need to fight off anything that gets in their way to find a queen cat to mate with.

Know that I watched this cat one day crying because it was raining, he did not have the good sense to go into one of my insulated and waterproof cat houses. This of course confirmed that he was an abandoned housecat. Of course, I tried to help the cat but it ran from me, but the poor thing never got out of the rain.

White cat trapped and going to the veterinarians for medical care

I let everyone know that I would trap the cat and take it in for neutering and vaccines and that I would try to find it a forever home. Trapping was not successful as the cat didn’t go into the trap. So my husband grabbed the cat carrier and set it on our patio with an open door and cat food in the back. The tomcat walked into the carrier and sat down.

The tomcat was tested for Feline Leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency and both were negative. I was told that he was five years old, that he had ear mites, and that he needed to be wormed. The cat was neutered, received all of his vaccines, and treatment for mites and worms, and needed to stay 2 extra days at the animal hospital. Upon release, his paperwork said that he was vomiting dead worms and that he should be kept calm for the next 7 days.

The garage shelter has everything cats need even indoor/outdoor carpet

We released the white cat to our heated garage. The garage is carpeted, has cat beds, houses toys, and fresh food and water. Once the cat was in a home setting he calmed down and became a sweetheart.

The white cat is no longer aggressive and gets along with another cat in the shelter

The garage is cozy and warm for the stray cats this winter thanks to the many customers who bought from my Zazzle store.  I used the royalties from the product sales
to buy this window heater. 

(Pure white cats are fairly rare in the general cat population, as they require a gene that hides every other possible coat color and pattern in a cat's genetic makeup.)

The cat loves blankets, rolling around on the carpet, playing with toys and he accepted the other cats in the garage without any aggression. He has been recuperating for the last five days and in that time I have made contact with two pet adopters. 

This once abandoned tomcat will be adopted and will get another chance at being a housecat at his forever home.