just a cat

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I want to thank you for your input here. I sense the passion you have for animals and making their lives better through your efforts. However futile it seems at times,you have made a difference in the way my pets are cared for by your contributions here. Thank you!

In reply to TRoglodyte :

Thank you. I hope to be able to help, can't always know how that works out. 

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

Not all of us have that option. 

I don't know of any other profession where the standard for showing you care is to work for free. 

Appreciate your reply, Doc. I could have worded my "appreciation" post better. I apologize if it felt like a slap - I definitely didn't mean for it to be.

It takes a special soul to care for people's pets - especially with the people often worried or terrified, and standing at arms length.

I'm going to leave it as written rather than edit so that your response makes sense. 

Doc,

I understand and respect your position. A doctor is highly educated and trained and they offer an extremely important service and they deserve to be properly compensated. I'm sorry for the financial difficulties that your practice experience. I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars over the last 30 years on my many cats and I've never regretted any of it. I never once asked for a discount, complained about the charges, or bad mouthed a veterinarian for the cost of providing needed care that I authorized. I always paid my bills in full before I walked out the door. 

Most vets that I've used saw that I honestly loved my animals and that I made care decisions based on expected outcomes, what was best for the animals and not in any way based on the cost. Most offered discounts or intentionally left itemized services off the bill on their own. I always appreciated that but I never expected or asked for it. They were doing their job and I expected to pay for the services they rendered.

I've always thought that discounting the bill was a courtesy that showed me that they genuinely cared about me and my cats.  They made bad situations better and I'll never forget that kindness. 

I do think it's a calling for the good vets...

Mine is in a solo practice - she started off with the original owner, who was one of the old school town vets since the 70s, and bought him out when he became ill.  She busts her ass; I see her going in at 6-7am on weekends pretty regularly. 

In other cat news, the kittens my son rescued from the factory last year are flourishing with my mom spoiling them.

How it started:

How it's going:

They have become...larger.

Orange guy, who I thought wasn't going to make it, is 15lb, black guy is about 12.

A few months ago I learned that my neighbors that live on the other side of the pond are crazy cat people too. We both tend to the local ferals from opposite ends. One of the kittens - I have cataloged about 10 in the area, but not all at once - has a flea collar now. He shows up for most of my evening feedings and is the only one that I can reach out to and pick up.

Big Tom never rushes to the food. He limps down the trail then lays and watches over the food until all the kittens have eaten. From what I have observed, adult males do not get to the food until after he is done.

The local vets are re-stocked with meds now and I'm planning to trap and spay/neuter in the weeks ahead. Most of these cats I wouldn't have ever seen or known about if I didn't start looking for and feeding them. Now I fully understand how it gets unsustainable. I'm working with the young ones to get them some measure of tameness and possibly homes. Fifteen to twenty minutes after a long day at work, chilling with the cats; feeding and a little interaction.

Driving home from work this morning there was a dead cat in the road. I was pretty sure I recognized her, but didn't stop. If traffic hadn't been behind me, I would have removed it from the street and laid her in the brush by the side.

30 minutes ago a neighbor called my wife. There were dead kittens in the street by our front gate. they had been run over. I gathered and buried them. Quite dead with no suffering. My mind putting context to it saw this picture. The mother on the right is the one I saw on the way home. Of the kittens, the white with the black ear is the only one of unknown fate. Peace.

Evening Edit: It was sad and unpleasant to shovel broken kittens from my street, but the cold truth is that there are too many feral cats. Cars are their apex predator and some sort of culling needs to take place. Perhaps a longer life would have been misery? I do care for all of these animals and there are some that I am truly fond of, but they are not my pets. I was glad to see Little Tammy this evening when I set the food out. She's from the same litter as our kitten, Scout. On sight, she approaches me and meows, then realizes I'm a human (dangerous) and keeps a safe distance.

Sad, but not uncommon..hopefully the missing guy is safe.

Good on you for helping them!!

And a postscript to my vet comments from a couple weeks ago: daughter took the dog in last week before we left for a trip and the vet seemed 'off' not her usual friendly self.  We had an odd exchange with the office over prescription cat food, and when my wife went in to pick it up today, she found out the reason:

She apparently sold the practice to some corporate entity called 'VetCor' or something who promptly fired her and ripped her sign down. Supposedly 'not a good fit for the practice' whatever that means.

So literally all the patients and staff are in the process of pulling the ripcord.  Nice job, MBA morons.  Killed off a 50 year old vet practice in one fell swoop. 

FloatingDoc, I feel for you if this is representative of how these places operate.

In reply to XLR99 (Forum Supporter) :

Vetcor, looked them up on the web. 839 practices in the USA and Canada. Don't know anything about them. I work for Banfield, owned by the Mars family.

I'm planning to trap and spay/neuter four ferals this week.

Audrey was the trapped cat this morning.  We are guessing about 16 weeks old. Younger than Bill likes to spay, but she's done now.

Just picked her up in a Prius and she is very groggy.  I'm probably taking her to work with me tonight and keeping her in a large dog crate.

If she is manageable and doesn't try to kill me, she may get a new home with a friend.

Audrey:

In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :

It's a great thing you are doing there Jon, I can't imagine how much it is costing you. Good Job.

The wife and I have trapped 6 of 12 adults in the colony......what is unique here (Decker Prairie, Tx) is that the TNR facility located in the next county has a relationship with the adjoining counties. Bring a "trapped" cat pay no fee......and all those that have been "treated" have a nipped ear to indicate to the neighborhood that these are what you think they are. 

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

This is a tough thread for me to read.

I follow it, and all of those who post here can be sure that I have you in my thoughts, but sometimes it's too close to home for me to be able to reply. It's been a few months since I helped one of my favorite dogs ever with a dignified and gentle exit from her pain, and there's been a bunch of them since, including one today.

Of all the things I've ever asked someone to do, I've always understood that inviting a vet into this kind of pain--a vet, so someone who has an uncommon love of animals--is a pretty big ask. I am floored that anyone would ask, nevermind expect, you to do that for free. 

Margie

Fortunately, if a pet is in our office and is suffering and when the kind and appropriate thing is euthanasia, we would never consider declining because the owner can't afford to pay. That's not just my policy, it comes from the top.

VolvoHeretic said:

In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :

It's a great thing you are doing there Jon, I can't imagine how much it is costing you. Good Job.

Thanks. I can't imagine how much either. I supply Mrs AAZCD with an unlimited budget. She manages the food and accessories with Chewey auto-ship and I don't worry about it. The vet bill for four spay/neuter/vaccination this week will probably be about $600. Hopefully I catch up with the population before I run out of project car money.

Audrey is staying at my office tonight and being adopted tomorrow.

If nobody minds I'm going to use this thread more intentionally like a blog to track and record the feral colony along with everyone else's cat tales. Let me know if it's inappropriate.

Today's catch was 'East-Side', a male who arrives from the east side of the pond. Pictured here with Molly.

I had put a small trap out this morning after seeing kittens (Tammy, Fluffy,  and Patch).  The kittens wandered around it, but didn't go in. East-Side looked too big, but climbed in anyway to get the bait. When he tried to turn around to get out, the door sprang shut. I left the big trap at the vet's office for the recovery and release.

Edit: Done now and released back to his home.

I had two traps set this morning  for about an hour. Little Tammy scurried by and I saw either Sylvester or one of his stunt doubles (there are at least 3 'Sylvesters') go towards it, then retreat when he saw me watching. I think we will rest for now and try again on Monday.

He looks too well fed to be a stray.  Either that or he is hitting every cat food buffet in the area. 

Feeding this evening, Callie was at my back gate waiting. I hadn't seen her for a while and she was hungry.

She ate with the kittens, then moved to the secondary feeding area and ate with Molly.

When kittens showed up at that bowl she snapped at them and Molly swatted her back. I stepped towards them, saying their names. The fight stopped, Callie retreated and they all stepped back from the food. Maybe I shouldn't have interfered. They are wild animals and establish their own order.

Then Big Tom came down the hill. He had been watching. He ate and the others watched. That's when I saw his wound.

I'm concerned about infection and the possibility of rabies. The vet is open on Saturday mornings,  so I tried to trap him. It was a sad comedy. I managed to place the trap about two feet in front of him. He laid calmly while we watched Tucker walk into the trap. I scared him out just in time before he reached the trigger. Tom moved a few feet away and laid down again. I talked with him and set the trap in front of him again. He yawned.  It was getting dark. I had to stay near to manage the trap and keep the others out. I finally gave up for the night. He does not run from me, but walks away if I get within five feet. I'll watch for him in the days ahead and keep trying. He's a north-side cat and I know part of his daily routine.

Intact male cats fight for their territory. That's why a lot of them get Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. It's spread from bites between cats. 
 

Big Tom has been around for many years, a good run for a feral cat. I'll help him if I can and will be at peace with it if he stops showing. It was getting dark when I saw him tonight, but he still acted and moved normally. Sunday night I'll spend time trying to trap him. Monday morning I'll check around, but I have never seen him in the morning.

East-Side was on the west side of the pond this evening. I walked a can of food out to him, but he spooked. I left it where he had been sitting. As Eastside Tim noted, East-Side does not appear to be malnourished.

Who was out at dusk tonight? Big Tom, Tucker, Tammy, Polly, Molly, Black-Tail, Fluffy, Patch, Callie, one of the Sylvesters, East-Side, and a Gray/white that looks like it's a year old. I'm currently doing a two liter pitcher of dry food and two to three cans in the evening and often a morning feeding of 1 cup of dry and 1 can.

It's dark. Tom let the kittens eat, then advanced to the food. I took the food away and left the baited trap. Hoping he gets it and not another.

Waiting.

Just chased Fluffy and Tammy away. Afraid I'm getting the wrong one tonight 

After about an hour, the Deep Woods Off had sweated away enough that the mosquitoes were biting. Tom was no closer to being trapped. I retreated. I had chased Tucker,  Fluffy, and Tammy away enough that I expect to easily get one of them in the morning.

Big Tom crosses Louanne's yard mid morning almost every day.  I'll let her know what I'm doing and place the trap. I don't think it's his feeding time, but worth a try.

The trap is set by Louanne's fence. She told me this when I sent her a picture:

Earlier this morning I tried trapping one for spay/neuter. Callie came out. She poked her paw through the bars of the trap and scooped food to lick from it. Smart.

Then the kittens came out. Shelly and Tammy played around the trap. Tammy got the tiny morsel I had in the bowl, then went in and out. Never far enough to trigger it.

Still hoping for Tom today.

In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :

Is it feasible, or have you tried a drop trap with these guys? You have to be a little closer, but they work well when they know not to go into the click traps.