Monday, December 12, 2016

The Cat’s in the Cradle


Kerry and Josh were living a nightmare in their Dream home!   Kerry was getting ready to start working as a Substitute Teacher and she and Josh agreed to hire a House Cleaning service to make life a little easier.   Enter the House Cleaners and suddenly the oldest cat; the cat who is deaf and can’t smell because she has a sinus condition; the cat who was rescued in Brooklyn two and a half years ago; the old girl; the scared and anxious cat:  Primrose is gone!  This was in early October; the day before their 10th wedding anniversary.


Primrose was originally a rescue from Brooklyn.  She survived some very bitter winters living in an alleyway next to a gym.  Patrons would leave food for her and place towels inside of a steel pipe so that she could have shelter. 

The weather was so cold that the towels were always frozen.  By the time Kerry rescued Primrose and her companion, Katniss, they both had severe upper respiratory infections.
Have you ever looked for your cat in all the familiar places and gotten the queasy feeling that the cat was just not home?  How could that have happened?!  You figure maybe the cat is playing invisible, cats do that all the time and this is a big house, and the other cats sometimes scare her and on and on you obsess because she just can’t be gone!!!


The house cleaning service said they had not seen the cat.  Kerry said:  "we don’t really have the whole story.  We were originally lied to we never saw the cat.  We never let her out.  Finally, someone admits that they did let the cat out."  What!?  Have you no heart?  It’s been hours of looking and crying and they could have been looking outside for her. It’s new territory and Primrose may never find us again:  How did this Happen?!  The breath just goes out of my lungs, how do you think Kerry and Josh felt?
Primrose's “Rescue Year” would have been her last winter on the planet.  No one was prepared to help these cats:  they were old, feral and not even Exotic.  The usual reasons for not trapping them were given:  “They have food and shelter – someone is feeding them.”  What a Life.  Primrose and her friend Katniss were very lucky – Kerry and Josh are not your Average Joe.  Can you appreciate that  Kerry and Josh spent their anniversary posting flyers; sending out posts on FaceBook; going to their neighbor’s homes to advise them to please call if they see her.  Their voicemail now had a message repeating what was on the flyers that were ALL OVER the community.  Pardon my French but ain’t that a bitch? 

There were so many sightings but no Primrose.  There were possum; raccoon and other cats caught in the many traps peppering the countryside where Primrose had been seen.  There were neighbors who staked out their own property and took pictures of cats who came to feed there.  At night there was howling.  Ask Kerry if this was wolves or coyote?


There were times when they arrived to see a cat running off and looking exactly like Primrose.  The contrast between the Hopeful Highs and Depressing Depths of Defeat were enough to damage a healthy immune system.  Kerry and Josh persevered; they refused to give up even when their car broke down!  They refused to give up even when there was a death in the family.  Kerry refused to stop looking and postponed her return to work so that she could look for Primrose. 


Every day traps were checked and refreshed at 5:30 a.m. and stakeouts went on until 7:30 or 11 p.m.  One night they caught a cat!  Primrose!  Not Primrose.  They released her and when she kept coming back they just rescued this scrawny cat exactly the way they rescued Primrose two and a half years ago.  They took her to the vet (tics kept dropping off her the size of pencil erasers) and they found a home for her! 

What was Primrose going through all this time?  It was a grim realization that Primrose was suddenly way out of her element.  Primrose was surrounded with wildlife that could hunt her as a meal while she was at a total disadvantage because of her age and poor senses.    

Kerry and Josh were riding a streak that would have crushed many.  First their car broke down and still they continued searching on foot.  A death in the family would have left any other cat forgotten but not Primrose. 

Now Kerry’s birthday was coming up and it would be the first time that Kerry would not celebrate her birthday.  All she wanted was Primrose safe at home.  The offers of traps kept coming in and none were refused.  By November they had 20 traps spread out in areas of sightings. 


I took a trip to Kerry’s home to see what my nose would tell me.  The houses are far apart so people get a lot of privacy.  But for a cat the distance between homes is a Jungle and country roads don’t look like fun to navigate.  I saw turkey and chickens; horses and cows.  What else was out there? 

Kerry wrote:  “Surprisingly, Primrose seems to have learned how to get around quickly.  She eats late at night and hides by day.  Apparently at one location, Primrose tried eating a dog’s food and since she’s deaf didn’t realize the dog was nearby.  The BIG dog chased Primrose up a tree.  It is confirmed that it was Primrose because the guy says that he yelled at her to see if she was deaf and she didn’t react.  Yup, that’s her!” 

I saw the home with the porch where Primrose came to eat for about a week.  There were so many places for a cat to hide in; under and to burrow into.  I had no idea where to begin looking.  On a note of irony this was the house where once upon a time a Cat Man fed a colony of cats.  He didn’t do TNR so there were always lots of cats and kittens around.  I wondered whether Primrose had been drawn here by the smell of other cats but no, Primrose has sinus issues and can’t smell – can she? 


The current owners are also pet friendly, they had a water bowl and food for their small dog and didn’t seem to mind when the cats came to eat.  Yes, there were more than a few cats in this vicinity.  On November 15 there was another sighting and it was closer to home.  Every trap, all 20 traps, were moved to this site and finally on November 16 the waiting was over!

Recovery is slow.  Primrose has Physical issues that include a tic infestation; many bites from other animals as well as dehydration, anemia and weakness.  Primrose appears to have PTSD.  Kerry accommodates her by giving her a room of her own where the two other cats can’t overwhelm her.  Primrose is a trooper and is starting to relax again with Kerry and Josh.   See the Wear and tear on an old, lost cat

Every day is a day of Gratitude for Kerry and Josh and I wonder if Primrose knows how very lucky she is to be loved by such very loyal caretakers.  I have to wonder how many of the cats that were trapped and released were once lost housecats whose family just gave up with searching and got another cat.





Tuesday, August 2, 2016


Why Bother?

Maybe it’s the sign that you’re born under.  It’s as illogical as that for some people.  For others it could amount to a Community Service.  Some people do not find it hard to pass a person in distress and just keep going; it is even easier for some people to pass a kitten or cat that is obviously distressed and unable to cope and they just keep going.  It’s just not their problem.  There are people who never have companion animals, their lives revolve around other things, other events or other reasons to live.  They did not create the problem and so why should they have to be the ones to clean it up?

I became a rescue worker and a feeder of stray cats.  I saw a lot of sorrow.  I saw cats who were sick and weak and with no way of helping themselves.  There’s plenty of this still going around.  There are a lot of rescuers across the country working alone and as groups that somehow manage to find each other.  These people have a common bond:  A passion bordering on obsession to champion the helpless strays, orphans, abandoned and abused animals that our society has decided to ignore.

We take time out of our busy day and money out of our already depleted bank accounts to help these cats.  Someone asked me why I did this seemingly thankless work that left me with little time for friends and family and less resources for my own luxuries.  At first I said, “I don’t know – I just have to do it.” 

Now I know better.  I did this because I empathize with other people and with animals.  I have the strength of my convictions:  don’t wait for someone else to do it – take action now!  I also find satisfaction in seeing a dirty, unhealthy kitten or cat regain their good health and blossom into a gorgeous feline.  Their spirit keeps pace with their physical health and their personality is usually a bonus to the rescue.  I find satisfaction in knowing that there are other people who care – not only for the animals but for other people as well.

I learn a lot about life and humanity from people who rescue other types of animals - like ferrets, turtles, rabbits – the list is long and the atrocities are endless.  I learn a lot about working with other people and about how to approach the work that I do.  I have learned to ask for help and to see when I’m overwhelmed.  I did not start rescuing abandoned cats and sick strays in order to meet people and to learn about life, but that seems to be part of the package.  I am often called the Cat Lady of Brooklyn – I have met many other Cat Ladies and Gentlemen of Brooklyn.

When I was married and tried to pick up an abandoned and very friendly cat in the snow, my then husband prevented me from doing so.  I realized then that I was not going to be happy in that marriage – it was confirmed later.  The cat was just one silent message.  You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat animals.

Sometimes I feel defeated.  Sometimes I don’t have the funds and I see a kitten that desperately needs to come off the streets.  It is hungry and has a very bad eye infection.  It will not survive the winter and will die slowly of an upper respiratory infection if not taken to a veterinarian.  I have met veterinarians who have helped me through these times.  They give me discounts and allow me to run an account.  I have also gone into Emergency Rooms where a bleeding and badly hurt animal is turned away because Cash or Credit in full in not available.  How does someone go into Emergency Room work and turn away an animal in that condition?

People like me take the animal to the vet, work at rehabilitating it, work to find it a good home and thrill at the sight of yet another flourishing feline.  I’m sure that other rescuers feel this same thrill.  What makes me continue to “waste” my money and time on these animals that just keep multiplying?

Is it fair for an animal to be abandoned after years of companionship because its caretaker died and no one in the family wants to take responsibility for this once pet?  Very often that cat is thrown into the street.  Is it fair for a companion animal to be left in an empty apartment when someone has moved or been evicted?  How do you know how long this animal will suffer before anyone even becomes aware that it has been abandoned?

The number of strays in my area has declined over the past 20 years.  Could it be that the small band of Individual Rescuers who receive no financial help feel this same sense of responsibility?  I see more people getting involved.  What a great impact these silent people are having on this community just by keeping the cats from over producing in the alley ways!

I often wonder how people get the idea that cats can take care of themselves.  These people seem to think that cats prefer the adventure of living in the streets to living in a home.  I hear it in the tired litany of those who say things like:

  • Cats can always find food in the garbage
  • Cats can take care of themselves – they’re descended from hunters
  • Cats can keep warm - look at all the fur they have
  • Someone will take them in – they’re cute (or exotic)
  • They have a natural tendency to roam

Do people really believe that cats prefer the street life?  Any cat prefers regular meals and a warm home.  Cats love to be held, stroked and spoiled.  I wonder how people get the idea that cats can take care of themselves in an environment as hostile as ours.  Let’s look at the previous points one at a time:

Cats can always find food in the garbage

I guess that if we looked around we would see that cats forage in the garbage and still manage to starve and get sick – how much of that garbage is nourishing food?  Have you seen the not-so-funny ads for garbage recycling/  A really skinny  cat is trying to find food and instead finds magazines in one can, newspapers in another,  cans in yet another and finally  the last can is sealed tight.  This shows very clearly that cats can’t find food easily in the street.  There is nothing edible in the darned garbage!!

Cats can take care of themselves – they’re descended from hunters

Did hunters have to contend with cars?  Cats cannot outrun a car or escape from a group of people intent on hurting them for the joy of being vicious.  Cats do not understand that the large item they are hiding under will start to roll and crush them to death.  They don’t understand that the warm compartment they are hiding in is the engine of a vehicle that will break their bones when the car ignition is turned on.  Cats do not know about crossing at the green.  Domesticated cats that are tossed out to the street still think that people are caretakers and will come up to anyone for a rub behind the ears or for a meal.   They don’t expect to be grabbed for research labs, dog fighting rings or for use as a punching bag by spiteful children and cowardly adults in need of psychotherapy.  Hunters lived in a world different from our technological dangers and psychologically sick people.  Domesticated cats cannot rely on their hunting instinct – it is usually extinct.  Strays, like hunters do fight for territory and this puts them at risk for infections from bites and viruses.  They suffer from infections and viruses contracted through fights.  That’s the reality of their hunting situation.

Cats can keep warm – look at all the fur they have

Cats do get cold and often can’t find warm places to go into when it’s cold.  Buildings are often boarded up.  Sometimes cats attempt to sleep under the hood of a car and manage to get mangled when the driver turns on the ignition.  Be compassionate, tap on your hood before starting your car.  How long can you stay warn in cold weather even when wearing a scarf, coat, hats gloves and boots?  I have found cats frozen to death wearing a cute little doll sweater that some child probably thought was cute.

Someone Will Take Them in – They’re Cute

If people only knew that no one wants to adopt a cat from the streets because:
  1. No one wants to spend money on vet bills for a sick cat or kitten
  2. People are afraid of what appears to be a sick animal
  3. People tend to pass the buck and say, “someone will help them"
  4. People often say, “I have asthma (or a dog, or a cat of my own)”
  5. People say things like “my cat won’t let me bring another cat into the house” – yet they encourage YOU to take it even though you already have 13 cats in a one bedroom apartment.

Cats have a natural tendency to roam

I couldn’t believe that a person from an animal center said this to me!  This natural tendency is out of place in our society.  It creates problems for cats that roam.  They are exposed to many dangers and once lost become victims to disease dogs and vicious people.  People want them off their property and resort to acts of cruelty to get the cats to leave.  As one rescue worker told me, “you have to see the horrible things that happen to these animal to believe them – people think I make up stories to get sympathy.”

The cat’s natural tendency does not prepare it for dealing with recycling garbage where everything is tightly sealed and there is nothing edible in sight.  A cat’s natural tendency serves them badly in our society, it creates problems for cats who roam.  They are exposed to many dangers and once lost become victims.  They are not able to provide themselves with shelter on a “must have” basis; they are not able to provide food for themselves; they can’t provide themselves with medical care and they are not used to having to fight for territory.

Why do people like me do this kind of work?  I stated one reason previously, here is another:  I have found day old kittens covered with maggots in shoeboxes in the garbage, kittens with awful upper respiratory conditions dying on the sidewalk, scared cats with awful abscesses that will eventually poison them to death, old cats dying of dehydration and yet,  people who walk by and barely glance at them.

One cat was abandoned in a furnished room.  She was hiding because she was afraid.  The landlady was terrified of this “demon”.  Luckily, due to red tape, the ASPA refused to pick up the cat.  When I arrived I talked to this “demon.”  She slowly came out and let me put her into a broken box that I had to use as a pet carrier.  The box was labeled “Kissy.”  It indicated an adoption date of six years.  No one was going to take cats like Kissy, Zoe, Tia (who eventually died in some alley) or the day old Kittens (they died too) into their homes or at least to a vet.  Except the Individual Rescuer writing this story and others like me.

I love the people who come in to adopt because “my cat’s alone a lot of the time and I don’t want him/her to be lonely.”  These moments are too few to really savor.  What I often wonder about is how people who have had a relationship with a companion animal can throw them out for incomprehensible reasons.  How can anyone toss out a companion animal because at 14 years of age the pet becomes an inconvenience?  That’s when the cat needs you the most.  He/she is now a geriatric cat.  Would these people throw out their children if they became an inconvenience?  Would they understand if their children threw them out because they became an inconvenience?  People wouldn’t care about cats usually don’t care about other people either.  I say this a lot:  When people care about animals, these same people show empathy and compassion for other people too.

I do this kind of work because I get tired of seeing kittens whose eyes are running with pus, crying pitifully as people walk past them.  I feel that a young pregnant cat that has been thrown into the street deserves help.  I feel that we, as individuals, have to initiate some kind of action that lets other people know that someone has to move their butt and pick the animal off the street, foster care it and help it to develop trust so that it can become adoptable.

Maybe people need to see and realize that the stray population can and does happen in large numbers mostly because of irresponsible prior owners who do not spay their pets and then toss out these domesticated creatures when they tire of them.  It’s not going to get better those sick and helpless strays aren’t going to lessen in numbers unless people start caring in larger numbers.  I believe that cats that are thrown out by people because they’ve just gotten new furniture deserve better than the terrors of hiding under a car and getting squashed to death when they try to run out in panic.  Maybe these cats with fear in their eyes and their urgent crying need to be picked up and care for because they are becoming too common place. 

We like getting gifts – can’t we give the gift of compassion and help a helpless animal once in awhile?  I pray constantly for responsible caretakers who vaccinate their cats on a regular basis.  There are rabies, distemper and feline leukemia vaccines that cats must have.  These deadly viruses can kill your cat – slowly and painfully.  Responsible caretakers keep their cats indoors because they realize that a feral cat fights for meals, territory and survival,  When they mate and they will infect their cat with any number of killer viruses.  An infected bite will develop into an abscess that will poison a cat.

There are people who would never even think of disposing of their cats because they’ve just gotten new furniture or are tired of cleaning out the litter box.  These are the people that realize that a cat must be neutered at about 5 months of age.  These are people who realize that the animal population is too large to “let kitty have at least one litter” before spaying her (or neutering him).  The CACC puts these animal to death on a daily basis in large numbers.   And how do research labs get so many tame animals to do testing on?! It seems that people who say they sympathize but do nothing about the situation are really nothing more than a bag of wind.  If you say you care, then do something about it.  Don’t think that someone else will help that poor cat.  That poor cat might get run over by a car, die of upper respiratory infection feline leukemia feline aids, hepatitis or an abscess.  Could it be that people like me do this work because we understand that if this kind of injustice can be done to an animal it can also be done to people?

 

Why bother?  Why do people like me do this kind of work that will never be listed as a lucrative career?  We have to start somewhere because the ASPCA refers you to the CACC; the CACC refers you back to the ASPCA and by the end of the day you’ve gotten no results and the dog or cat that you were hoping to help has died at your feet.
This is the anticipated Table of Contents.  Along the way other posts may be added.  For instance, I think it's important to have a section to explain Terminology and the gradual Timeline that will be encountered when an Individual Rescuer goes into the Field.



Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Why Bother

Contagious Cats

The Rescue Process

First Things First

To Rescue or Not

Throwaway Cats

Natural Flow of Events in a Rescue

Socialization

To kill or not to kill

Costs Of Rescuing And Caring For Cats

Initial Costs of Rescue per Cat

Other Necessities

Spay/Neuter/Return

Hospices

Important Information

Medical history File

Trap Cards

Be Prepared

Your medical Box – keep it Well Stocked

Rescue Resources for the Lone Rescuer

Start the Phone Calls

“Rescuers” to avoid


 Funding

Non Profit Status

Screening potential Adopters

How Do I Know You’re The ONE?

Accommodating Cats

It isn’t just about Food & Baord

Space

Playtime

Company

Grooming

Vet Care

The Downside

Deaths

Aging Cats

Guilt

The Bright Side

Good moments

Watching Scared Cats Flourish

Watching Bottle Babies Thrive

Epilog

The Work Begins in Earnest

Honing Your Craft

The Essence of the Individual Rescuer

A Ministry of Cats

INTRODUCTION

This blog is dedicated to all the people who have had faith in me; have trusted me and have supported me both financially and emotionally.  This blog was supposed to be my big Book that, like an egg that is left uncooked for too long - goes bad.  I started writing this “book” in January 18, 1999 with a very optimistic outlook and looking through pink glasses; today, I am wiser and not as naïve.  I decided to take the opportunity to use this blog to share events that led becoming  “The Cat Lady” published, once and for all.  Maybe the delay was a kind of good thing because a lot has happened since I stopped writing and I can just tack it all on now.

The cats that have become a permanent part of my permanent colony are “unadoptable” because of too many reasons that I can’t  understand:  too old at  2 months; has Fiv; has  Felv; is not a lapcat; not friendly enough, rescued from the streets, not declawed, sheds too much or just not pretty enough.  In one instance a pedigree was up for adoption.  We had of course had him neutered at 6 months of age.  “You ruined him!” the woman cried.  She decided not to adopt him.  Does love die that fast?  Some of these permanent guests are not socialized, they are learning to trust me but will lose all trust with anyone else  - they are semi feral.

I started doing rescue one cat at a time, never dreaming that I would eventually become the person people called when a cat was homeless or in trouble.  Yes, doing rescue tends to snowball and pretty soon you’re the Expert in the area.  Be careful, hoarding is the next step on this lonely ladder if you’re not careful.

It has been 20 years since my first rescue.   My experiences have exposed me to many types of rescue situations; rescue groups; cats and people.  The entire rescue “landscape” has changed with the introduction of “umbrella” groups and bunching of rescue groups.  TNR is currently the New hope of curbing the stray overpopulation. 

I do not regret any of the time spent on rescues, although some of the people I’ve met have served to educate me as to what is wrong with people in general.  They’ll run out to take kittens off your hands but refuse to even consider the homeless mom cat.  The entire Journey has been a Spiritual Path in that I have grown as a person and see the world through very different eyes; I have learned to talk to total strangers without letting their opinions overwhelm me.  I used to be a very shy individual and when I first started asking for donations I actually stuttered despite having a HS theatre background. 

Basically, I want people to know that rescue work will not generate financial prosperitys; like a Random Act of Kindness, it is a reward in itself.  When I look at Sweetie Pie, one of my rescues, I see that I gave her the opportunity to become the beautiful cat that she is today.  If I had not trapped her, she would have been run over by a train after going through sickness and trauma while trying to survive on the train tracks where she was abandoned at 8 weeks of age.

I grew up in various areas of NY and one of the constants everywhere that we moved to were abandoned kittens, cats and dogs.  In those days, dogs were tied to fences and the ASPCA truck would pick them up on a designated day of the week.  People have not changed very much today. 

Perhaps the frustration of not being able to help them has led to my insistence now that people stop putting these animals into harm’s way.  I want to say, “Listen people, animals starve, suffer and die because you insist on being irresponsible and ignorant.  Please CARE!  Love the animals; love each other!  If you can’t/won’t love them, then leave them alone.”  It seems like a weak cry into a very strong wind.

My Big Career Move Began with Individual Rescues

I have a lot of compassion for Individual Rescuers.  They have to use their own resources and doing adoptions is so hard that many become overloaded.  My exposure to rescue started out innocently enough.   As an Individual Rescuer I found a cat that needed help and took it to the vet.  After that I realized that in a building across the street from the local post office someone kept dumping kittens.  I kept taking them in and taking them to the vet and getting them adopted, keeping the ones that no one wanted.  I never charged adoptions fees and the people who adopted them kept in touch.  If I had a nickel for every person who told me, “this is your life work” I’d be in good shape now financially – if it actually generated money.  But apparently these people were right – this is my life work. 

I began to get a reputation as “that wonderful woman who saves cats.”  People began calling for me to help them.  Maybe they thought I had money.  I got the sickest cats on the street.   Many times they wouldn’t tell me who gave them my phone number.  I guessed it was from someone I helped in the past or maybe a vet tech.  Even my vet began calling me to bottle feed kittens and to foster cats! 
With Feral Cats I learned about Trap Neuter Return (TNR).  Trapping, Recovering and Returning cats that can't be socialized was another challenge that I had to get through.  The work got harder and harder.  The money kept going out.  The satisfaction of seeing cats transformed from sickly, skinney and scrabby was priceless.
 
 
 
The Orphaned Newborn kittens began coming in.  Bottle feeding is rough on your nervous system.  You don’t get any real sleep for about 2-4 weeks until the kittens can go for longer periods off the bottle.  When bottle feeding a kitten you do not hold it the way you hold a human baby.  The kittens naturally nurse on their belly, holding them in the human baby position (on their backs) will cause them to drown because the milk goes down into their lungs.
Courtesy:  Flickr, shirobane
When they’re newborn to about 5 weeks, the feeding schedule is about every 30 minutes to about 1 hour.  At three weeks feeding is about every 2-3 hours and at 4 weeks every 3-4 hours (depending on the Individual Kitten’s need.)  Once they’re 5 weeks old, it gets easier; they can go 4-5 hours until the next bottle.  At this point I mix a little Beech Nut Chicken and Chicken Broth baby food with Nutrical (comes in a tube and is vitamins in a paste) into the KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer).  Giving cats or kittens regular milk will give them diahhrea and they can dehydrate pretty fast when they have the runs.  This picture was taken from This link:  https://pethelpful.com/cats/Newborn-Kitten-Care-The-First-Six-Weeks
It has more information on Newborn Kitten Care.  It has a link to a video about how to hold a kitten while feeding them.

At 6 weeks I start introducing them to kitten food with KMR.  The consistency of this is like oatmeal.  This bottle feeder began to look haggard at this point.

I was given a partner when I rescued a dog, Max, he was a Junkyard dog.  When the lot was sold Max was turned out into the street.  We ran into each other and he became a wonderful, loving part of my life.  He blossomed and began to look like the German Shepherd he was born to be.  The only “problem” is that Max became a cat rescuer.  Walking Max turned into a rescue operation.  “Max what are you looking at?”  Under a car or cowering in a driveway would be a cat or kitten.  “oh, Max please stop finding these cats.”  Of course, I couldn’t leave them there.  One thing that I believe is that you ought not to tell yourself that “someone else will help them.”  That’s not true and while the animal (dog or cat) is left without that “someone else” their situation gets worse and worse until they die or get run over by a car.  The ball is in your court – deal with it, help.  When I first started there were no resources for anyone.  Today there are resources that are available even for Individual Rescuers.