To Trap or Not to Trap - That is NOT the Question!
Perhaps this is a good time for me to get up on my soap box about pet owners being responsible by spaying and neutering their pets. I have always believed that there are far too many unwanted puppies and kitties in the world. The only way to prevent that is by getting your pets spayed and neutered. 
All of our domestic pets/animals, with the exception big ol' Callebaut, have been rescue cases. Ginger, the Princess, was the only remaining kitten of her litter because she was hiding while the rest of her litter was discovered and ...killed. She was bottle fed by some lovely people her in town and we were able to adopt her once she was of age. (She is sitting behind me, meowing and purring, and extending her paw out to touch my face but with CLAWS extended!!!
India was adopted from the local county shelter. Her history is unknown, but we are guessing she ran away just one too many times.
Julian was adopted from the local shelter and has grown up to be a bruiser. That boy is getting bigger every day!
Tasso was rescued from a "kill shelter" in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was driven across country by a group of volunteers and ended up in a commune in Marin. From there we brought him home.
For all of these animals, we had them spayed or neutered at the earliest possible moment.
The feral cats have been a bit of a challenge. The very first one to show up was Porky. I wrote about him in September '05. He showed up one night and two nights later he showed up with his mom, Joleen. Three weeks after that Joleen brought out the next litter. We had NO idea where she came from, but clearly someone had dumped her. She so desperately wants to be close to us...but not TOO close. I have tried to approach Joleen ever since she appeared. When I was younger we had feral cats and were able to tame 2 out of 17. I have tried all of the tricks I know, to no avail.
A friend of mine works for Forgotten Felines. The first night that he came over to help us trap the kittens and Joleen, our precious Porky was hit and killed on the busy road in front of the house. That night we caught 2 kittens. We tried putting out the traps every 2 weeks, the night before the Forgotten Felines clinic. I have caught all of the kittens, had them all spayed and neutered, have caught a racoon, and have caught all of the kittens AGAIN at least 3 times, all in a vain attempt to catch Mama Joleen.
About 3 months ago, after Joleen had gone on a walkabout, she re-appeared pregnant. Right about that time, one of her other precious kittens, Boomer, was hit and killed in front of our house. Out of the original 6 kittens, only 4 are left. Now we have the third litter to deal with. Once they reach 1 pound each (I am thinking next week) I will begin putting the trap out again to see if we can get the kittens AND Mama Joleen. I hope we can catch some.
In the meantime, I am going to do my best to see if I can find the owner of our suitor, the big puffy and beautiful black cat we have seen around here lately sporting a dashing red collar. CASANOVA!!!
All of our domestic pets/animals, with the exception big ol' Callebaut, have been rescue cases. Ginger, the Princess, was the only remaining kitten of her litter because she was hiding while the rest of her litter was discovered and ...killed. She was bottle fed by some lovely people her in town and we were able to adopt her once she was of age. (She is sitting behind me, meowing and purring, and extending her paw out to touch my face but with CLAWS extended!!!
India was adopted from the local county shelter. Her history is unknown, but we are guessing she ran away just one too many times.Julian was adopted from the local shelter and has grown up to be a bruiser. That boy is getting bigger every day!
Tasso was rescued from a "kill shelter" in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was driven across country by a group of volunteers and ended up in a commune in Marin. From there we brought him home.
For all of these animals, we had them spayed or neutered at the earliest possible moment.
The feral cats have been a bit of a challenge. The very first one to show up was Porky. I wrote about him in September '05. He showed up one night and two nights later he showed up with his mom, Joleen. Three weeks after that Joleen brought out the next litter. We had NO idea where she came from, but clearly someone had dumped her. She so desperately wants to be close to us...but not TOO close. I have tried to approach Joleen ever since she appeared. When I was younger we had feral cats and were able to tame 2 out of 17. I have tried all of the tricks I know, to no avail. A friend of mine works for Forgotten Felines. The first night that he came over to help us trap the kittens and Joleen, our precious Porky was hit and killed on the busy road in front of the house. That night we caught 2 kittens. We tried putting out the traps every 2 weeks, the night before the Forgotten Felines clinic. I have caught all of the kittens, had them all spayed and neutered, have caught a racoon, and have caught all of the kittens AGAIN at least 3 times, all in a vain attempt to catch Mama Joleen.
About 3 months ago, after Joleen had gone on a walkabout, she re-appeared pregnant. Right about that time, one of her other precious kittens, Boomer, was hit and killed in front of our house. Out of the original 6 kittens, only 4 are left. Now we have the third litter to deal with. Once they reach 1 pound each (I am thinking next week) I will begin putting the trap out again to see if we can get the kittens AND Mama Joleen. I hope we can catch some.
In the meantime, I am going to do my best to see if I can find the owner of our suitor, the big puffy and beautiful black cat we have seen around here lately sporting a dashing red collar. CASANOVA!!!
posted by Chicken Mama at 8:55 PM
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