It's Just Not Fair....

[KatClaws]

A couple of years ago, my husband (MacHete, to you all here, "Bryan" to me) and I made it somewhat of our "mission" to help animals in need. We had both always loved animals and each of us had our own rescued pets ("Code" and "Wendy") when we got married nearly four years ago.

We took this pledge to help animals seriously and asked God's blessings and guidance on our efforts. Since then, an unbelievable amount of needy pets have crossed our path. We happened upon a dog being hit by a car and another jumping out of moving car. A few desperate dogs and cats inexplicably chose our property in search of santuary.

Eventually, we were being contacted by family members who knew about our calling. My brother found two grown cats and a litter of kittens in an abandoned house and asked for our help. Our niece brought us a tiny kitten who she found lying by the tennis courts last summer. He was nearly starved and weak from the summer heat. The list goes on...

The really tough thing about this is, nearly all of our "rescues" have ended up dying despite our best attempts. The dog hit by the car? We took her to the vet who told us she had recently deliverd pups, had been hit by a car on at least two separate occasions, had a crushed pelvis, a severly injured bladder and needed a leg amputated. Still, we wanted to keep "Wonder," until it got to the point where the more we learned about her physical condition, the more we realized she would probably never make it. She didn't.
It was the coldest night of the year when we found her. We can only assume what happened to her pups.

The litter of kittens? After taking them in (mama kitten was AWOL) and nursing them for a couple of weeks, it was obvious something was wrong. We took them to the vet where we discovered they had feline leukemia and they died one by one...

The cute little kitten found in the park? Oh, he was awesome! We named him Blackberry and he was so healthy! We were so happy! We got him all his shots, took care of him, loved him, and when he was being neutered, he died.

We trapped two ferals who had to be put down due to feline leukemia. (We could not keep them as indoor cats because they could infect our Molly, Norm & McCain and the doc told us it would be inhumane to mix them into the outdoor population to spread the virus around)

Again, the list goes on...

Then there was Punkin. He was a wary little guy, but he came around a couple of times a day to eat the food we left out for him. Our goal was to eventually gain his trust, trap him, take him to the vet and get him his vaccinations, shots and have him neutered.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Punkin got his by a car on the highway that runs in front of our house.


It just doesn't seem our record is very good. The majority of animals we try to save end up dying. Even the precious kitty (my "little soulmate") I had when Bryan and I got married died during surgery a year and half ago.

We ask for your prayers with another ongoing "project" or ours. Her name is Winky and for as long as she's been hanging around (over a year now) she's had one eye. It appears to have been lost violently. We trapped her a couple of times, but she escaped somehow.

Now she hangs out nearby at my mother's house and she feeds her. Now she appears to be very pregnant and we set out a trap tonight. We're hoping to catch her before her kittens are born. We're assuming, but don't know for sure, that she (and therefore, they) have feline leukemia simply because all of Winky's feral feline friends that we've caught so far have been infected. At the very least, we want to get her tested. At the most, we would like to get her eye taken care of, get her her shots and get her spayed. Perhaps, through some miracle someone without a cat would agree to take her in. Who knows?

Anyway, we need your prayers and positive thoughts. Burying these innocent kittens and cats is getting to be difficult for us --- especially Bryan, who has to do the digging and laying to rest.

Thank you for indulging me with your time.

And please.... spay and neuter your pets, keep them indoors for their safety, and adopt or rescue your next pet.

 

[ratstuph]

May God bless you.
all da best,
rats...

 

[DaveH]

spay and neuter your pets, keep them indoors for their safety,

Worth saying again. Great work both of you.

 

[Mongo]

As a DVM and personally, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. What you are doing is admirable and the right thing to do. Yes, there is a lot of heartache and grief that comes with it, but the alternative is far more grim. There will be victory too. Keep up the good work!:thumbup:

 

[glockman99]

I really feel your pain. I love my cats (Lady May-Bug & Stanley), and I would do ANYTHING to make sure that they are ok.

Thank-you for caring for the kitties around you.:thumbup:.:thumbup:.

 

[T.K.C.]

I thank you for your efforts!! I will pray for you! Those animals may have died, but they died knowing that they were LOVED!! That is important too. You both cared for them and loved them, perhaps for the first time in their lives. Yes, it is sad that they died, but you DID help them with your LOVE!! Please KNOW that!!

 

[nifrand]

I've been caring for strays for as long as I can remember.Have a few barn cats now and boy are they good mousers.I just keep them fed and they really do their job.My wife loves cats.She has three upstairs in her craft room.
Great cats.This morning we caught two of the females and are taking them to town to be neutered on Wed.Here is one of them.
Randy

 

[KatClaws]

Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts.

Bryan & I were really down after Punkin died last week and your caring thoughts really helped. There are obviously some very special people here.

Bryan, my mother and I have been checking the trap pretty much around the clock. Winky is there, walking around the trap suspiciously, but she will not set foot in it. (Remember, she'd been caught there a couple of times but was skinny enough to wiggle out.) Time is of the essence because her kittens appear to be due any time now. It's so hard watching that sweet little pregnant one-eyed thing hungrily eyeing her food but knowing what will happen if she steps into the cage (two of her friends were trapped in it and disappeared forever for her.)

So, Mongo, anyone.... Do you have any other ideas about how to expediate this process? She is way too quick to grab (we've tried) plus she will never get close enough to be petted. The only thing the Humane Society suggested was the trap.

Time is running out. Prayers and positive thoughts help, I know, but does anyone have an idea of how to nab this little girl and get her to a vet?

Thanks again!

 

[KatClaws]

SUCCESS!!! Thanks to everyone who offered prayers, positive thoughts and support. It worked! :thumbup:

Winky is in quarantine and Bryan is on antibiotics, but the frisky feline is safe and warm and so is Bryan (relatively, anyway!).

Nearly two weeks ago, Bryan and I were up at my mom's house, with my mom, watching Winky slinking around the large dog kennel we'd moved onto Mom's front porch. We had given up on the smaller have-a-heart animal trap days before. It had been tripped somehow, but no critters were caught and it became obvious that Winky would rather starve to death than enter the trap (she had, after all, been caught in it before and miraculously escaped).

We had left the door open on the big dog kennel, hoping she would come in and eat from the dish inside when no one was around. She did, several times, and was letting her guard down just a little bit. With us around, she would step in with one or two paws and nibble the dry food offered just inside the door. She would never move on to the food dish deeper inside the crate.

This day, however, Mom had an idea. She had some fresh turkey that proved too hard to resist. Mom threw small pieces deeper and deeper into the crate. At one point Winky took the risk & stepped fully into the kennel. Bryan moved quickly to slam the door shut, but Winky, even more quickly, squeezed through the small opening.

Knowing that this was our once in a lifetime opportunity, Bryan risked life and limb and grabbed her, tossing her as gently as possible (she was pregnant, remember) into the crate. We had her!!! Bryan suffered a couple of pretty deep bites on his finger (the same one that he had had surgery performed on just a few weeks ago!), but he said it was well worth the pain. (Not so sure he thinks it's worth the side effects of the antibiotics, though!)

The next day, we took her to the vet, who had to abide by city law and keep Winky in isolation for 14 days for observation. In the meantime, she and her four kittens (one was stillborn) are doing fine. Winky is on antibiotics for her eye and she will get spayed and her eye will be surgically closed when the kittens are old enough to eat solid food.

We will bring Winky and her kittens home on Tuesday. We're a little nervous because Winky is still not domesticated by a long shot, although she does let the vet staff hold her kittens (we got to hold them, too!) We are going to keep her in a smaller kennel (vet's suggestion) in our walk-in closet off the bedroom. Our house is small and we already have three cats and a dog, so this is the best, most secure place we have to offer.

In the meantime, we hope to help Winky learn to trust us, although it will be an uphill battle, for sure! We also hope to find responsible homes for the kittens (after we have them spayed/neutered and vaccinated, of course). That may be an uphill battle, too.

Still, we're thrilled! Oh, and here's the best part.... over the past year we had to have two cats (Winky's feral buddies who hung out with her constantly) euthanized because they had feline leukemia. Also, a whole litter of kittens from this same "colony" succumed to the disease when they were only a few weeks old. So, naturally, we felt sure that Winky would also have it and need to be put to sleep. While her bloodwork was being run, Bryan and I prayed for a miracle. We got it.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers, feel free to continue.

BTW, anybody need a cute, cuddly little kitten?




Anyone?

 

[ratstuph]

Winky is a purdy girl cat but she needs a pirate patch!
I'm mighty glad you live so far away because my almost 3 y.o. rescue cat Androo, might think he needs a companion.
One of his predecessors, Sage, was a feral kitten I trapped using a have-a-heart trap; I got her and two of her litter-mates, but the mother was too smart and mean. She was really small, but she scared the beejeebus out of me. The litter mates went to the humane society in Spokane. I did the same with three feral kittens when I moved to Pullman, and they were a huge handful of teeth and claws, even with heavy work gloves on. I have great sympathy for Bryan!
all da best.
p.s. Androo when he first came home, and helping out last Christmas.

 

[Tim-Gabz]

Sorry, got a few drainhole kittens now grown up.

Black cats are considered Witches in Botswana so they are fair game on the roads. I have lost a couple over the last two years.

Whilst running I picked up a black fluffy kitten on the verge a fortnight ago abandoned. Couldn't find it's mum so I took it in and fed it from a straw. Our Tom aka cat kept trying to kill it so we took it into the SPCA to find that it had several siblings that had been randomly dropped off one by one.

I could go on about the dogs that wander from home and explore the streets of over speeding drivers, and limp.

I enjoy cats for their companionship and ability to really help you chill (apart from the odd fight under the bed).

I find that even the hardiest strays come in for grub. We had to have our last Tom done because he used to use the food bowl to keep the ladies busy before he got busy.

 

[T.K.C.]

All 4 of the cats that we have were all homeless kitties. One was found at a week and half old, tossed alongside a freeway in CA. He is now 19 years old. P'nut, our Calico was found homeless. I knocked on the dorrs of an entire neighborhood, and no one claimed her, so we did. Shadow was a ferral cat that adopted us whilst on vacation in NH. Catsby, our 25 lb. cat, who came to us big and huge. He adopted us by hanging onto the screen in the front of the house. When I went out and sat down on the front stoop to see if he would come to me; he slowly came over, and climbed into my lap. He instantly had a home. They are all happy and healthy cats, that are GREATLY loved!

 

[Psychopomp]

You can't win 'em all, and it's wonderful that you're out there trying.

I adopted this little bundle of energy from a shelter in September, her name is Briza:

 

[MacHete]

Thank you all again for your thoughts, prayers and encouragement. Things are continuing marvelously and miraculously well with our foster felines, so I thought I would share some pics.

This is the formerly wild-livin' single mother. She has calmed down quite a bit, is much less skittish around people, and actually seems to enjoy our attention. Best of all, she isn't biting me anymore.

Here she is being very maternal.

On to the progeny! We have tentatively named them all for tropical fruits. This came about because of this one- Kiwi.

The other three have developed "normal" feline fur with a downey undercoat and longer, coarser, guard hairs. Kiwi has nothing but fluff, so I made the comparison to the small, round fuzzy fruit.

Kathy picked up on the theme and ran with it, naming this one Mango because of the orange spot on it's forehead.

Mango is, so far, the most adventurous of the brood, though you can't really tell from these pictures.

Next we have Coconut. Do I really have to explain the name?

I mean, what else would you call him?

Finally, there's Papaya.

There's really nothing particularly "papayaish" about Papaya, but all the other fruit names we could think of were taken, and we didn't like the names "Pineapple" or "Guava" for a kitten.

Winky is scheduled to get her next shots at the end of the month. Then we get the kittens started on theirs, and when they are ready for solid food, we can finally get Winky into surgery for her eye and have her spayed.

She will be staying with us for another month or two anyway, then the plan is to return her to Kathy's Mom's barn. We have almost convinced her to take one of the kittens with Winky as well, but we still have to make arrangements for the others. We are going to have them all "fixed" and get their shots for them, so that they will not be an added expense for the shelter- if that is where we have to take them.

This whole experience is an odd mix of joy and worry and challenge and fulfillment. The logistics of keeping a feral cat and four kittens clean, fed and isolated from our dog and three other cats is daunting- as is the financial burden of food, lodging and lots of medical care for five unexpected pets. The good news is, Kathy and I won't have to argue over how to spend our "stimulus" check. On top of all this, my cat allergies, which I thought were minor, flare up significantly around Winky. I believe because her harsh life has left her with less than the healthiest skin, and thus, a dander/shedding problem.

Even so, I can't imagine not doing this. I can tell by many of your responses that you all understand, and Kathy and I thank you.

 

[Absintheur]

I completely understand your feelings of frustration as well as the joy you must have for Winky and her brood. Those are some of the cutest kittens I have seen in a long time and it is obvious you feel pride in them and their Mom. I have 3 rescue cats at home and it tears at me I can't fit in more as I expect at least two more to join us when my long term GF moves back in after she finishes up her degree. Hers are both rescue cats as well. I was lucky that I was able to save two of mine as they were badly injured when found.

Bucky was shot with a shotgun, there are still a couple of pellets of T shot under his skin. It cost him an eye and a small portion of grey matter but he does very well. My left hand is often covered in scratches as he insists on holding it between his paws when going to sleep at night. If he wakes ups during the night and he is not holding it he finds it and pulls it back to him....he do have sharp claws...lol.

Winks was found during the winter in a ditch. He was frostbitten and infection had set into his left eye when he lost. He was just a tiny scrawny thing but has florished well as you can see. His eye loss left him with a depth perception problem that still has him misjudging jumps at times resulting in coming up short at times.

Nim just showed up one day demanding to come in the house...not asking...demanding. She was the first rescue cat and moved in making it clear I would be allow to stay but only if I was willing to follow her rules. Since she has moved in I have no need for an alarm clock because I can count on her using my nose for a speed bag starting a 6 am. That's her way of telling me it is time for breakfast and to get out of bed and feed her. She was declawed by a former owner and I think abandoned when they moved. The vet feels she is a pure Korat, not an inexpensive breed. I watched the paper for a long time and even placed a found ad but no results. She acts like royalty expecting to be cared for in high style simply because it is her right as feline. She is the epitome of the saying "Cats were worshiped as Gods by the Egyptians and the still remember that today".

I donate heavily to the local Paws for Cause and have fostered cats as well. One of my fondest wishes in life is to see the Peta Death Camps shut down.

 

[MacHete]

Absintheur- Thanks for your good works and great pics. Winks and Winky could be bookends. The significance of Bucky's name is not lost on me, considering his history. If I had to guess, I'd say that "Nim" is short for "Nimrod"? A mighty hunter and great leader.

We feel the same sort of helplessness about "so many cats and so few homes". It's hard sometimes to live with our limitations. All we can do is help the ones we can, and try to spread the word to SPAY and NEUTER!

 

[Absintheur]

My daughter gave me a gift for my birthday that was very fitting...she donated money in my name to clinic that does spay and neutering for the various shelters.