How much is that kitten in the window...

When we went to collect the little cat for her new home, the kittens were all out, climbing eveywhere in their pen.... Look how cute they look, I want one... or all 7 :+}

Little cat safe in her new home.

Dropped off Jon and the cat tonight. Little cat settled right in purring away and exploring the house. Think she will be right at home.

Kittens do what kittens do... GROW!

Meant to post these last weekend. The little guys, and girl, are growing fast. They didn't seem to mind me dropping by foto take a photo and it will be great for prospective new owners to see how friendly they are. They should have no problem finding new home... fingers crossed.

The little girl who was struggling and had to be hand-fed is coming on leaps and bounds, but is still smaller than her brothers, however,she makes up for it by being 3 times as cute as them!

Brindle rescue update

The cat trapped Thursday night had her visit to the vets yesterday and as suspected, she has bee spayed. We've rung round a bunch of local vets, posted her details on Facebook, but have yet to have anyone come forward an claim her.

By the looks of it Jon will be taking her home with him on Monday, barring any sudden change of circumstance.

6 Reasons to Have Your Male Cat Neutered

I get asked all the time 'Does it matter if I don't neuter my Tom? He can't have kittens'... famous last words, bub, but it does take two to tango, and an un-neutered Tom does like to tango!

Read the below if you need any reasons at at all NOT to get your Tom 'done'...

1. It reduces the risk of contagious disease
The feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is transmitted through deep bite wounds, which are often incurred during cat fights. Experience leads me to believe that most cats infected with FIV happen to be males who were not neutered as kittens.

2. It eliminates urine spraying
The acrid odour of cat spray sticks to everything it touches. Fabrics, books, carpets, bedding, and even walls and wood trim that have been doused by a tomcat are often ruined. If you want to avoid spending countless hours cleaning up after your cat or living in a cesspool of stench, get him neutered and the spraying will stop.

3. It reduces or eliminates roaming
Tomcats are consummate escape artists: If they sense even a whiff of a female cat in heat, they will do anything and everything to get out of the house and mate with her.

4. It reduces the risk of injury by cars and people
Cats who are neutered tend to roam less and therefore are much less likely to get hit by cars or abused by humans who get some kind of psychopathic glee from doing abusing cats.

5. It reduces the risk of injury from fighting
Sure, you may think your tomcat’s notched ear makes him look cool and rakish, but the odds are very good that at some point he’s going to come home a lot worse off than that. There's no thrill quite like cleaning out a ruptured abscess on an aggravated and painful tomcat's neck: Trust me, I know this from experience.

6. Neutered cats live happier, longer lives
In addition to reducing the risk of injury, fighting and disease, neutering also eliminates the risk of testicular cancer and lowers the possibility that a cat will develop hormone-related chronic conditions such as prostate problems or “stud tail.”

This is courtesy of Catster.com and was posted by Jane A Kelley... wise advice.

...and here she is.

Yep, a quick trip to Joan who is boarding her overnight before her trip the vets tomorrow and the little cat took to her room for the night like a fish to water. She wolfed down 2 sachets of food and even made a start on a third. She appears healthy and well fed, and very affectionate. We can only presume she has been 'dumped' or genuinely got lost. We scanned her to see if she was chipped and she isn't. We're going to put her picture on a several lost-and-found animal sites tonight and see if anyone recognises her as there is a report a a similar cat being lost a mile-or-two down the road and it could be this one. Barring anyone claiming her, I am going to take her over to Jon's on Monday, all being well with her vet trip tomorrow.

One of the quickest trap--and-catch jobs I;ve had and just a few hundred yards from my house. RESULT!

Trapping job just down the road...

Got a message from one of the Feral cat Welfare volunteers this week that a gentlemen was concerned about a cat that was crossing back and forwards on the busy road by Kirkstall Sports Center. I said I'd go down and take a look. Coincidentaly, I heard a loud meowing cat in the same spot about 4-6 weeks ago on the way home from work. I did stop and tried to see if the cat was injured as it sounded in distress but couldn't see anything. I went back later with a torch as it was late by then and even after searching the area didn't see anything. Jon, the gentleman in question, said he had been feeding the cat for the last few weeks and was concerned about it crossing the road it seemed to be hungry and lost. He said if we could trap it he would be happy to take it in. I finally saw the cat on Tuesday night when he fed it and said if we could feed it over the next couple of days I would try and trap it Thursday night. It seemed uninjured from looking at it, but did have a loud almost-distressed meow, but put that down to it seeking attention or food. I fed it Wednesday and it seemed pretty keen to follow me once I called it and offered it a big tin of Whiskers. I went down tonight, armed with a trap and a tin of pilchards. Tricky set up as it is pretty over-grown where the cat is and what with bramble and grass, you could find a spare bit of ground to set the trap but then couldn't see it when you stepped back to the road so it was tricky to see if he/she was going to go in, or not, or even eating the food. Anyway, as luck would have it, we checked the trap after 10 minutes as we thought we'd heard it go off and BOOM, there she was. JOB DONE.

I am a vet after all...

Following the post about the injured cat at the beginning of the month I have had an update and after taking the cat to the vet it turned out to be a flea allergy...something I suggested it looked like in the first place, having experienced something similar with ur old cat, Nora. Hell, I don't know why i am doing this trapping lark for free, I should hire out my pet diagnostic services. I'd make a fortune!

Moving on the pastures (and hunting grounds) new.

The street bids farewell to Brian the cat, and his owner, this week as they move house. The local bird population will certainly breath a huge sigh of relief as Brian loved his birds... so to speak! He's only around a year-and-a-half old and whilst he no longer has his tackle, it doesn't seem to have dampened his ardour for the feathered ones. Half the street has had an early wake-up call for the last month-or-so as the local Magpie population screech a dawn-chorus warning when ever he is about. I have even seen a magpie chase him down the street! Neko, our own dear moggie, will be none to upset to see the back of him. She is a fickle, nervous, timid little cat and the best of times and a big bouncing Brian running at her wanting to play just ends up with fur flying, fat tails and lots of meowing. We wish him well, but hopefully happier times are ahead for Neko and our feathered friends.

It's 'Hug Your Cat' Day

Nuff said!

Injured cat

Got a call last night from one of the local charities to contact someone who has a stray who appears to be injured, with raw skin and missing fur near it's tail. The person who feeds that cat has preciously borrowed a trap and cat and neutered this cat so he is wary of going into a trap again. He went near a trap the RSPCA brought the other day, but it went off when he was still outside so scared him away. They were almost wanting me to 'diagnose' the cat over the fone as they are worried it may have something contagious... eh. not a vet, sorry. Have told them I can bring a trap round once the cat returns and we can put it on manual release so may have more chance of catching it... we'll see.

You lookin' at me?

Socks was defiant and whilst tame enough to stroke, did not want to go into the trap.... we got him :+}

Hey cats, guess what... your home is becoming car park!

Got a job to support one of the other trappers last week when a garden where 5 cats live, behind some flats, was going to be bulldozed and turned into a car park in the next 7 days. Nice. Various offers of help to relocate the cats on Facebook, but as is usually the case, lot's of offers but no real boots on the ground. A couple of us met up with the 2 women who feed that cats to help trap and move them. Several of the cats were friendly and couple be stroked so they were hoping to keep them in, work with them, before releasing them again.

As usual we got one cat straight away, the others played hard ball. After 2 hours we still only had one cat, we came back that night and after several more hours still only got one more. The ginger 'bastard' as he was christened took two more trips to get. Anyway, all now safe from the wrecking ball and in good health.

Kitten update....

Mum stopped feeding the cats over the weekend and after a trip to the vets it turns out one of her teats was blocked and she is now on antibiotics. Also one of the kittens was only 1.5gms, where everyone else was 3gms. This little guy is now being hand-fed 3-4 times a day and has already put on some weight, so things are looking good. The kittens are all male aside from a female tortie....

Patience is a virtue

Right, local job to TNR 4 toms who come visit one of the local cat fosterer's, Joan, who is looking after the Mum and 7 kittens. She has around about 6 cats of her own which come and go around the house, but there are 4 'visitors' she wants looked after as well. Spent 2 hours there today and no sign of anyone! 3 of the 4 are usually around in the morning, one is more a night visitors. Got a bit tricky when her own cats were about in the garden as the others were likely to stay away. We got her own cats indoors, 1 by one, but no lucky.