Thursday, October 30, 2008

Beatrice's Surgery & Ferals Update

Okay, that title makes it sounds like something was wrong with Beatrice, but no. Today she was just off to Altered Tails for the routine spaying. (Don't forget, you can donate to Altered Tails, to make a difference in the lives of animals, both with and without human families.)

I got a call from Bea's mom while they were on the way home. Bea was very unhappy and confused when she was left. She's now groggy but awake. Confused enough, though, that she pooed in her carrier-- ahh, the fun parts of pet ownership!

Enjoy these pictures from just a few days ago. Her tummy is probably mostly spot-less now, though, 'cause they'd have had to shave her. Poor polka-dots, but they'll grow back. :)

Feral Spotting: Despite not posting much, I have been keeping an eye out for our ferals. They eat a *ton*, so even when I don't see them, I know someone's eating!

Yesterday, however, I had a really pleasant surprise-- in the morning I saw Cyrano, not a usual occurrence. Even better in the evening I saw Agatha!! I hadn't seen her in probably a good 2 months-- not since I was with my neighbor trying to rescue James from the drainage tunnel back in August, I think. I'd seen Walsingham around a bit, and they had previously almost always been together, so it worried me that I wasn't seeing her. But there she was!

Cats I see on a pretty much daily basis: Bessie, Little Grey, Mistoffolees, Gandolf (still thin, but still eating and here), Amaranth, Daphne

Cats I see fairly regularly: Daisy, Pigpen, Aloysius, Walsingham

Cats I see rarely: Cyrano, Moo-Cow Kitty #4, Agatha, Athos

Cats who are currently MIA: Gremlin (not seen since July), Barnaby (not seen for about 6 weeks), Creamsicle (not seen in about 4 weeks.)

Mario was spotted by someone else recently, but I only 1/2 consider him part of the Colony. (Hen mostly gets his food and love from neighbors farther south of my particular building.
And he's not feral.)

Obviously I worry about the cats I don't see much, but I should also point out that lately I'm not beating the bushes looking for them-- not because I don't want to but because this semester is kicking my butt. ARG. This is definitely my hardest semester of grad school thus far (and the economic worries, and fear of loss of funding, is not helping!!) So bear with me and we can hope that when classes end, and then when my schedule radically changes in the Spring, things will be different.

(Of course, the best time to see the ferals is in the wee hours of the morning, as I discovered last week when one day, at 6:30 am I had a cranky policeman at my door, informing me that my license plate was found a few towns over, and that the plate on my car was from a different town still. Cue me standing out in the chilly morning in just my pjs and robe, and several cranky cats wondering why there were so many people around, making them nervous about eating their breakfasts!)