Black Cats Abandoned By The Hundreds Because They Don't Look Good In Selfies!

This isn't really news, although Yahoo would have you believe otherwise, any cats rescue center or charity has been saying the same for years!

Read the story here.

What's the difference between a cat and a comma?

Trapping is a 24/7 job!

Got a call at just before 9pm tonight from Carol, about this cat I was trying to catch last Saturday, saying she had trapped it and could someone come and get it. Eh, at 9 o'clock? Not sure where she thought we were going to take it, especially when I had said try to trap it in the morning so we could take it straight to the vets.

Anyway, Liz from Leeds Feline Friends pulled some strings and someone was going to keep the cat in a hospital pen in their garage overnight until the vets open tomorrow. So, with both of us just finishing work, I dashed home, changed, showered, and shot across to Halton Moor to collect the cat sans trap and take it to Moortown.

I have just got home at 11.30!

It never ceases to amaze me how volunteers will put themselves out to help a cat. I think alot of the people who ring the smaller charities and ask for help forget that we are unpaid and the majority hold down full time jobs, as well as doing the cat rescue work.

Let's hear it for the unsung heroes!

Poorly cat at Leeds flats

This is one of the cats I was due to try and catch on Saturday, but due to the rain he never showed up... wise cat. I dropped by the flats yesterday and the woman who called Leeds Feline Friends showed me him sleeping by a low wall in the car park. He was quite thin and apparently when running has a tendency for his back-end to collapse every now and then, so not sure what that is yet.

A well set trap with some nice tuna in it and within 5 minutes, once he decided to wake up after smelling the fish, boom, in he went. He is now at the vets so we'll see how he fairs. The feeder would rather he didn't come back to the flats as she has seen kids throwing golf balls at him when he has been in his eating, plus the area around the flats has a preponderance of people with big dogs... pitbulls, staffies, the usual suspects. LFF are hoping to locate him somewhere, if all goes well at the vets today.

Can't get 'em to go into the trap... can't keep 'em out!

This is from a couple of months back, our neighbours cat Brian, exploring a trap I have just brought home from an unsuccessful job -you can see a crush cage and cat carrier in the background.

Brian was straight in, no hesitation. Strewth, if only every cat was that happy to go in, my job would be alot easier :+}

Brian and his owner have now moved away... much to the relief of the local bird population!

Back to the factory..

FCW earlier in the year had helped to TNR a colony of around 12-15 cats at one of the factorys in Leeds. They got a call last week saying a Mum and 4 kittens has now showed up and would we help trap them. We thought we'd got all but one of the original colony, but the size and actual members varied and the area has all number of out buildings and bolt-holes where the cats can hide, so knowing if we had got them all was always going to be a problem.

I went over Sunday with Nicole (who arranged the original TNR exercise) and the feeder. The factory was shut, but the cats/kittens were fed from one of the side gates where they happily came when they heard the feeder's car.

Best laid cat-trapping plans. Sunday we only ended up seeing an older black kitten, and despite some tasty food in the trap, would never go in far enough for the trap to activate. He spent most of the time sitting by the gate sunning himself!

We are obviously going to re-schedule the trapping, but the worry is the kittens will soon be old enough to have litters themselves and if we don't get in there in time the colony is just going to grow and grow...

Whilst there a 'new' black-and-white cat showed up, which looked similar to one we hadn't manage to trap on our previous visits, but this one, on getting a closer look, appeared not to have a crooked tail (which the earlier one did) and appeared younger. It could easily have been another one of the litter, but looked a little old. Anyway, we wanted to trap it as well, but as soon as it came out and when near the trap, the black kitten chased it away! Thanks, mate!

An empty trap gathers no cats.

Friday was unusual. Had a call about helping catch a cat near the airport which was a woman had lost several weeks ago when it escaped from the carrier coming out of the vets. She had been contacted by a family that had seen the posters and they, and neighbours, have been feeding it since it turned up.

We arrived around 6pm, when the cat usually turned up for food, set the trap and waited.

The cat showed up after about 45 minutes, was happy to eat the food, but not interested in the trap (shocker!). The cat wandered off and we arranged for the family feeding it, and the owner, to leave the rap out at feeding times and stay in contact with each other if the cat was caught. The owners could then go round - about 5 minutes in a car - and collect the trap and the cat.

We all went home, then 15 minutes later I got a text saying 5 minutes after we left the cat came back, went in the trap and was now caught! Owner and cat reunited, and I arranged to go round on Sunday and collect the trap.

I went round and to my surprise was told it wasn't actually their cat! It looked near identical, down to a whit mark on it's chin, but just wasn't the original moggy! They had already taken him to the vets, but no microchip. Anyway, the new family member had already made himself at home eating quite happily out of the other resident cats bowl and sleeping on the couch. The family have said they will put posters and photo's on various 'Lost Pet' web site and see if anyone comes to claim him, if not, they are happy to keep him.

A happy ending for all.

Rain, cats... and trapping, don't mix

Got a call about a couple of cat jobs in Leeds 14 today. I ended up going across to the first job, but with it pelting down with rain, pretty much knew it was a bust from the off. Cats and rain don't mix, when it comes to trapping. Cats aren't daft and if it's raining, even hungry, they will usually choose shelter over food. If it's raining, it is very rare you are going to catch/trap a cat. It's just a fact of life.

I did set up, but after 30 minutes called it day and re-scheduled to go back next week. Same for second job, which I didn't even go to, especially when the feeder said she hadn't seen the cat today! Again, re-scheduled for Monday.

I am due to help one of the FCW volunteers catch another 5 cats which have turned up at a factory where we did a big 15-cat TNR job a few months back. There is now some issue with how much the cost of the 5 new neuters will be and should the job be handed off to Cats protection. I am concerned if CP get involved they may not do the job in full as the volunteer has a history with the feeders at the factory. I have suggested we do the trapping and just let CP pay. I'll see what happens.

How to help a stray cat...

Tweeted by @StrayCat_SCA

#StrayCatAlliance #TNR #spayandneuter #kittylove

We wait on them hand-and-foot and look what they do...

Okay, so you put numerous bowls of clean, fresh, tasty water around the house and outside for your little critters and what do they do? Drink the dirt-ridden water you've just put out for the plants!

Neko even looks round to see if anyone if watching, bless her heart :+}

Happy ending for feral kittens.

Well, it's only taken 6 months+ for FCW to find home for 2 feral kittens we rescued back in December. Mum was being fed by a lovely couple, but had already lost several a litters of kittens, and the latest litter went from 4 kittens to 2, we think, when 2 were taken by a huge barn owl that lives in the churchyard that backs onto the garden. I will never forget 2 looong coooooold frosty December night vigils sitting in a back garden in Liversedge with thermals and torches trying to get the last kitten (the other ones had been caught several days before). We wanted both and Mum was to be TNR'd and we wanted the kittens to stay together.

Here they are at play with Mum:

This is Pru (top)& Peri in their home last week:

sally said 'It was a terrible wrench to part with them, my main sadness being their fear of the move, frightened of the new space, people, situation. I called round the next evening after delivery and they were hiding. Came out of hiding and straight onto my lap when I sat on the floor (this is why we visit a day or so later when rehoming timid cats - it gives them confidence and a push in the right direction). They were better after my visit and are now truly settled, two weeks later. Lovely home, lovely couple.'

This is how long it can take to re-home cats, these guys have gone fr a couple of months old to 8 months old, before they have found their furever home... but at least the have found it!

3 hour 'taxi' trip to collect and relocate injured cat

FCW had a call for help from a woman in Deswbury, well out of our area, asking if we would help with a cat with an open wound on it's neck. The email said:

I am writing on behalf of my auntie who has a injured cat in her garden with a open wound that's infected. The cat seems to come in the evening for food and is very timid to catch. She has contacted her local vet who have told her to just
bring him. The cat is really distressed and has puss b flies buzzing around his wound the skin seems to be taken off completely.

She has also contacted RSPCA who have offered to pay for the bill if she managed to bring him in. He is a feral cat that comes to eat in evening around 10pm as she goes to work in morning she does not know how to go about helping him.

I would be extremely grateful if you could offer some help as the animal is in distress and seems to be in extreme pain.

This is the cat and you can see his neck wounds in the photos...

Despite an urgent ringing round of Dewsbury Rescues it took several days before someone would take the cat on, knowing there are vets bills to pay and possible long term care. Lucky he was caught on Friday and taken to the vets, but would then end up being euthanized if no-on came to claim him or a foster stepped up. Sally, from FCW stepped in and it was arranged that the cat would go to a carer in Dewsbury short-terms as she is swamped with kittens, with more due, and FCW would arrange to have him collected.

This is where I stepped in, and went to Dewsbury on Monday, collected the cat - his wound is huge, it is drying up, but to big to be stitched, so not sure what the prognosis is going to be - and took him across to Baildon vets to stay whilst FCW sort out what we can do with him long term. The traffic was horrendous and what should have been an hour and 40 minute trips end up being just shy of 3 hours. Anyway the little fella was as good as gold in the car, no meowing, no scrabbling to get free, it was almost as though he had resigned himself to his fate.

I might need to take him from Baildon to a fosters later this week... will let you know what happens.