I love Cats

Fluffy released Friday night

Fluffy responded well to her treatment, and we were able to pick her up from the vets and release her back at the park Friday night.  She dashed out of the carrier when we opened it like she was going to run as far away from us as she could, but she stopped short about 15 feet away, quickly dropped into a sitting position, and looked around.  She must have felt it was OK afterall, she was back home, and decided to not to bolt and to take a long stretch instead.  I am sure she needed it after being in the carrier coming back from Nicosia.

Letting Fluffy out of the carrier

Fluffy heads for the grotto

Fluffy investigating

Fluffy decides to slow down and take a stretch

I didn't see her yesterday at the feeding, so I will be keeping an extra eye out for her tonight to make sure she is OK.  She is likely spooked. 

She was not well enough to be spayed while at the vet.  We need to wait another week, But as for her age and maturitiy, it is time.

Fluffy

Godspeed, Fluffy.  She was very sick, but it looks like we caught it just in time. 

Lulu is sounding a lot better.  She's got her meow back.  When she came home from the vet, she sounded like a locust or a cicada , or what the Greeks here call a tsitsiraki (τσιτσιρακη).

Lulu is meowing again and no longer sounds like a locust

She is still breathing with labor, is still very thin, and feels very fragile, but her appetite is better.

She has been getting special meals of Carrefour pate, several small ones a day, which she loves, by herself in the bathroom (no other cats!).  And I have been spending time just sitting with her, which I think is really important, and sleeping with her at night.  Also, she has the space heater aimed her way and all to herself.  It's been very important to keep her warm because she is so thin. 

Fluffy

I didn't see Fluffy yesterday, which had me concerned.  She always stays near the table I feed from at the park, down at the lower level of the park.  She sleeps there.  She plays there, along with Pookie, Soze, and Princess.

She showed up late today and I could see right away how sick she was.  She had messed herself and her eyes were sunken, she was weak and shaky.  She had lost a lot of fluid.  I put down food for her but she didn't eat.

I went home to get a carrier, went back and had to search for her in the tall weeds.  I finally found her, thanks to King and Petey, and after some patience I was able to grab her by the scruff of the neck and put her into the carrier.  Nik met me at the house to took her to the vet.

Nik took Fluffy to the vet

The vet said she had the same thing the Hero had, but her body temperature hadn't fallen yet.  However she was very dehydrated and the prognosis is not good. 

Fluffy is such a sweet shy quiet little cat.  She's small and young, probably about 9 months old.  She reminds me of Zsa Zsa.  But I was finally able to get close to Fluffy and sometimes I could pet her.  She is a bit of a loner and just recently had started playing with the other young cats.  She showed up out of nowhere this past summer one day all by herself.  I don't know who she belongs to, i.e., who her mom was, but it never looked like she had any siblings.  Once she got more familiar with me she would stumble toward me on her short stiff front legs with her puffy body atop, which became even puffier this winter.  It was so cute. 

I hope she is going to be alright.  Please send her your prayers.

Please pray for Fluffy

I have a lot of updating to do to this blog.  For instance, this feeding stations map, which right now is still over in the sidebar, is no longer accurate.  I have decided, for good reasons, not to draw a new one. 

This feeding station map is no longer accurate.

Let's just say I've decided it's between the cats and me.


I love blogging (we used to call it writing), and I find it edifying, but it is time consuming. I am busier with the cats than I have ever been.  I reached my free picture host limit on Blogger's Picassa long before I reached my free cat host limit.  Since then I have been using an alternate photo host and storage to post pictures here.  That makes blogging take twice as long, needing two windows open.  The photo host locks up.  To insert a url no longer works and I have to insert them in HTML.  Then all heck breaks loose on the spacing of the post.  If you have ever used Blogger you understand.  I have considered moving over to Wordpress, and I started to.  Maybe in time I will make the switch. I suppose I could buy more storage here, but the idea of giving the big G any more information than they already have on me seems unwise, and I would rather spend the money on the cats, even if it is just a couple of bucks.


What can I say?  I'm cheap.  I'm cat cheap. 


I will get around to updating the blog soon, in particular the pages. 


But regarding updating the feeding stations map, I'll heed these words from a wise friend:


 


"What happens at the feeding stations, stays at the feeding stations."

I was so happy when Cats in Need generously offered to sponsor the sterilization of 20 cats for me recently. Doing TNR and feeding cat colonies by yourself can not only be exhausting, it can be very expensive, so I was delighted and grateful when Cats in Need offered to help.  It was a big help.  And just in time, as several cats at my house were coming of age.

Cats in Need is a charity organization abroad that helps people like me doing TNR in Cyprus.  It is Cats in Need that donated my traps once upon a time, and they have helped me a lot since I began doing this in 2011. 

Please, if you would like to help Cats in Need help people like me in Cyprus, they welcome donations, and they are wonderful folks.  I get a lot of emotional support from them too, even a hug or two.  You can donate to Cats in Need here, a very worthy cause: Cats in Need

So!  Let's unveil the cats!

Here's a roundup of the 20 Altered Cats! sponsored by Cats in Need:

1. Starlight




Starlight, mother extraordinaire, who also must have received Abraham's promise of many heirs

2. Sox

Sox, who loves to do the scoop

(Speaking of which, here is a picture of Jayne from Cats in Need Cyprus visiting with the above two, Starlight and Sox, at my house before this transpired.  It wasn't planned, but they turned out to be the first two cats I altered!  I thought it was funny!  It must have been Jayne's tap!)

Jayne petting Sox with Starlight behind

3. Crackers:

Crackers in bed is a GREAT habit

4. Bouncie

Bouncie, the toe nibbler, who prefers bouncing to walking

5. Rudolph

Rudi likes to play in all the reindeer games

6. Bonnie

Beautiful ingénue Bonnie needs a pink bedroom

7. Boogie

Boogie, the precious water artist, working on her MFA

8. Vincent

Shy, head tilting charmer, Vinnie Vinnie Voo!

9. Vanna

Vanna, with her little black leather nose, granddaughter to Big Van from Sammy's, and his namesake

10. Olive

Olive Oil, because she goes down so smooth and heals.  She likes to lick fingies and has a tiny goatee.

11. Dimples

Dimples, one of the delectable Candies, who croaks like a frog

12. Innocence

Innocence, better known as Innie, the adorable loudmouth

13. and 14. were sisters, Dusty and Zelda, from the park

Dusty and Zelda, some serious dark sugar rush when they pile on to love you!

15. Bubbles




Bubbles, but I call her Baba.  Small, sassy, and in charge!

16. Godfrey




Photogenic Godfrey, found as a tiny kitten at the nearby dump, still thinks I'm a tree

17. Rainbow



Rainbow, a friendly neighbourhood cat, taught Sox the scoop

18. Alethia

My little Doris Day, Alethia, plays the acordian

19. Punky

Punky da da, perpetually surprised, wonderful mother figure

20. Cocoa

I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, she walks like a ballet dancer with great turnout.

and one for good luck :)  I got a little extra discount at the vets so I was able to do one more:
21. Stuart Little

Hi Stu! Tiny man with hooks for claws!  Likes to scare the dog!

Thank you again Sue and Jayne and Cats in Need!

Sunshine

Simon, Liesl and Ellis

We will see what tomorrow brings, I've got some feral cat feeding, a vet visit for the kittens, a drop off and pick up at THS and Lionel's dentistry.

Yesterday I was feeding and Ulli, who runs the boatyard, is back so I told him what had happened with the dog.  Coincidentally DJ (without his dog) had also just shown up - first time since.  Ulli was furious and went over to talk to him.  It was a bit of a scene, Ulli yelling, DJ lamely defending himself.  At the end of it the agreement was that he wouldn't bring his dog back.  Small consolation for Audrey, but without DJ's last name and address there is little more I can do.  I have to tread lightly, I need Ulli to stay on side, it's only his permission that allows us to be there.  It's a bit of the wild west there and seems everyone wants to avoid the authorities at all cost whereas law abiding people like myself have no fear of that.  I find it maddening, I try to be a good person, and guys like this get away without consequences.

Happy Easter to all, it's a beautiful day.  Spring means boatwork at the yard, Teddy's feeding station got moved and of course we are still on constant dog patrol.  My niece will be coming by soon to name these cuties.

Ricky

I'm lying around drinking tea trying to get better and hoping for a peaceful easter weekend.

He found a home for two and by the time I discovered the situation had Freddy and his brother in a cage in the middle of an antiques store.  Freddy had gone to a home with two dogs and not surprisingly didn't do well and was returned.

Susan agreed to foster the two who clearly needed some socialization.  Freddy's brother Ricky came along faster so Joanne took Freddy in for some intensive work.  In a few weeks he's made a lot of progress but needs a patient quiet home.  I know the right person will come along, he loves to be patted and play.  Another one saved from the rough life of a feral cat!  It helps to make up for the heartache recently experienced, I feel like I'm suffering from PTSD.  Now I have to trap Bright Eyes, she's not eating much.  The last few mornings I've lain in bed with my kitties holding them tight grateful they are safe and warm.

I didn't sleep well at all Saturday night, I kept seeing the image of Audrey's mangled body in my mind. Of course now I'm terrified he will come back with his dog even though the guy who saw it and kind of knows him assures me he won't bring the dog back and feels bad about it.  That's not good enough, it's happened twice and two cats are dead.  As soon as I can get more information about him I will be pursuing it with TAS.  In the meantime, Avril went down in the morning, Steve and lunch and us again in the late afternoon to make sure he wasn't there.  I don't want to leave the cats alone.  I'm still so angry.  We have sacrificed so much to take care of these cats, all those days going down in snow and frigid weather to make sure they have full bellies, and then to have her die, not from an accident or illness, but because of an irresponsible (and that's being polite) person.

I did another run to Bowmanville yesterday with Karen's help.  We were supposed to get four older kittens but could only manage two, the rest hid under dressers and under the bed.  Those two went to THS along with 3 seven week old kittens but this week two other cats there had kittens, so there are still a bunch of 8 month olds, 12 four week olds, and now nine newborns.  It's a bit daunting, but we will just keep plugging away, it's just so far, and her availability isn't very workable for picking up the cats.

With all going on this weekend I probably spent about 10 hours each day on cat stuff so I'm headed back to work exhausted.  It will be a relief just to sit at my desk.  Oh, except I have to go feed and try to trap Bright Eyes, she isn't eating much, something is up.

Every day I think about Teddy and try to figure out what to do.  I've asked vets, other rescue people, and everyone has a different opinion, from don't do the surgery and euthanize him to do the surgery and find him a home.  I managed to briefly pat him while he was eating yesterday and his spine is bony and he's covered in mats.  What I know for sure is I have to do something to help Teddy.

Hopefully I will have some good news soon.  I wish I had taken pictures of the kittens yesterday, they were very cute.  At least they will be fixed and off to good homes very soon.

RIP Audrey

In tears, we drove Audrey to Animal Services and filed a complaint.  The problem is I don't know his name nor does anybody else.  He stores a boat there but the man who runs the yard is away and the witness doesn't want to be involved but says he won't bring his dog back.  That's not good enough for me, or for Audrey, what a hard short life she had.

She was one of the cats trapped from a hoarding situation in the Beach last year, she went to TAS for a month, was deemed too feral to be adoptable, as were many of the cats, so relocation was the only option.  We took three, and I rarely saw Audrey, only this week I discovered she was living under a building there.  Poor cat went through all that and survived a brutal winter only to die needlessly because an irresponsible person (and I'm being polite) here, let his dog off leash, even though he knew this dog had killed a cat in the exact same location.  Chances are I will see him again and I honestly don't know how I will keep my cool.  I'd better not see that dog again though.

It's times like this when I wish that I had never even gotten involved, sometimes the heartbreak is too much to bear.

On Tuesday I spent 45 minutes with a very patient surgeon and discussed the situation.  I was clear that he is feral and can't be handled, we talked about aftercare, about Teddy's age, all the variables.

He seemed to think it was certainly an option and that he could conceivably recover well.  There are risks and possible complications.  Probably the most concerning one is loss of hearing function which is somewhat likely, how much is unpredictable and would be difficult to evaluate.  Teddy needs his hearing to stay safe from the trucks down there.  I asked if there was anything else that could be done for his ears and there isn't.  It's likely he is in pain.  Cats are amazingly stoic creatures, it hasn't affected his appetite but I hate the thought that he's suffering.

And I haven't mentioned the cost yet, minimum it would be is $4000 but it could be more.  That's a lot of money to raise, a lot of resources.  What a terrible dilemma.  I truly don't know what the right thing is to do.  The rational thing would be to say it's too much money to spend on one feral cat, that the surgery may be too much for him to recover from, how terrible would it be to spend all that, and have him go through it and not be able to recover.  On the other hand, it's Teddy, not an abstract concept, it's a cat we've been feeding for many years, he's my cat, he's our cat, I love him and feel responsible for him, as much as I do the ones in my own home.  I had someone say that they thought it was too much money to spend and they would give him the summer and then euthanize him, but how would I be able to trap Teddy and say today is the day you die.  I would never let an animal suffer but he eats well, he does his usual things, if you didn't notice his ears you wouldn't think there was anything wrong with him.

If he was tame I wouldn't hesitate.  If I thought he could live happily inside afterwards and I had a place for him to go nothing would stand in my way in my efforts to save Teddy.  But I don't know if he would be ok inside after all these years as the king of the colony.

They don't teach you in the TNR course what to do in a situation like this.  It's not simple, I only hope that we can find our way to do the right thing, the best we can do for this magnificent creature that I know that all of us who feed feel such love for.