Colony Under Attack?

As I left my flat tonight to join a friend (Beatrice's mom, in fact) I found a note on my door. It wasn't unexpected as I had spoken with management and the office staff told me there'd be notes upon everyone's doors announcing the new fitness center.

But there was another message included with the fitness announcement. I'll quote in its entirety:

"Finally, please refrain from feeding any stray cats that are on the property. We are working to reduce the stray cat population and would appreciate your assistance with the issue."

First, I had permission to take care of this colony-- permission from the management company, not just from the apartment complex. But the complex has been sinking a lot of money into upgrades lately...

Second, "working to reduce the stray cat population" does not sound good. The only way to effectively reduce the population, as you, dear readers, know, is TNR, and that takes time, and does not require not feeding, and has already been done, as you know. In fact, in the two years since the TNR project, the population has remained steady and stable. No, in this context, "working tor reduce the population" has got to mean something much less ethical-- trap and kill.

I will be asking for specifics on Monday-- the office is closed on weekends, of course. However, if I'm not just borrowing trouble, but am, in fact, correct with my above assessment, I will need your help.

Thus far, I have kept the apartment complex's name out of this blog, out of my commentary on the situation. However, if they are planning on killing these cats, I will be asking for your help in a letter/email/phone call campaign. A few minutes of your time to deluge first the apartment complex and then the management company in voicing displeasure would be helpful.

So watch this space on Monday afternoon/evening (I'm in AZ, so a few hours behind East Coast time), and get ready to mobilize the troops to save these kitties again.

Mystery in the Colony

Technically the cat who woke me up this morning, in the still dark hour of 6:30am, isn’t feral—it was Jack, my fuzzy companion of six years. When he gets hungry and decides it’s time for breakfast he tears up paper, generally from books. Given that I’m a doctoral candidate in literature, there’s a lot of it about. I have various methods for dealing with this, starting with distracting him—sometimes he’ll then jump up on the bed and curl up with me and we can sleep ‘til the alarm goes off. This time, however, while I tried to get him to stop destroying things, without having to leave the warm cocoon of my bed, I heard yowling and howling.

Clearly this noise was not coming from my cats, but it was quite loud. It’s not frigidly cold here—after all I live in a dessert—but it’s cold enough that my windows were shut. All the same, I quite clearly heard angry cat voices. So I hopped out of my oh-so-comfy bed and went out on my balcony to see what I could see. Unfortunately, while I could still hear the howling, I couldn’t see a thing.

So, despite the early hour, the darkened morning, and my desire to return to sleep, I pulled on shoes and a sweatshirt and jogged outside and down three flights of stairs. I wanted to know what was going on, if anyone was hurt, and that sort of thing. No cats (angry or otherwise) were visible in my building’s courtyard, so I moved into the next.

I only saw one of what had to have been two culprits. A large, orange tabby stood in the space between the two halves of the next-door building. Upon seeing me he turned and trotted off towards the parking lot.

Wait, a large orange tabby? Who was this?

There are only four orange cats who have been part of this here blog. First was Bozo, also known as Waffles, who, as you’ll probably recall, had to be put to sleep a while ago, following an injury to his mouth that became infected, keeping him from eating, all atop his FIV/FLeuk status. Second was Gandolf, also known as Skinny Kitty. It turned out that he, too, was not feral, and was rapidly losing weight due to diabetes. My one-time-neighbor took care of him, giving him daily insulin shots. She and her family recently moved a few blocks away into a house, and she took Gandolf with him. Third is Walsingham, a young feral who is fairly large but not quite filled out, and has a whole bunch of white on his legs and belly. And finally, Sam, who became Whiskey, who was a kitten that I took in for a few days and rapidly adopted out to a neighbor. He’s been around a lot lately (with a collar on—he’s become indoor/outdoor. I’m not entirely okay with that, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, Sam/Whiskey is still pretty small, but has a tail that’s so long and fluffy that it makes him twice his size.

This was not any of those orange cats.

So who is it? Well, there are three options, as far as I can tell.

First, he might be an indoor/outdoor who belongs to someone in the apartment complex. There are a lot of indoor/outdoor kitties around, which is strange to me, given that the complex houses a feral colony, but who am I to comment?

Second, he may have recently joined the colony and I just hadn’t noticed him. This seems unlikely, however—why would I have never seen him before? And why would the colony have accepted a grown cat?

Third, he may have been trying to join the colony (which is to say get to their food) and was being kept out. From what I understand about feral colonies, this seems likely—cats being territorial.

Anyway, the answer is unclear and will require more investigation. More information as I (if I) find it

Help for some Fuzzy Babies?

I know this blog doesn't exactly get high readership, and I don't want to turn it into pleas for kitty assistance, but ... this makes me sad and I want to help.

You can read the whole situation here, but basically, a momma to four kitties (of various ages and temperaments, 2 dsh and 2 maine coons) has to go into assisted living and can only take one kitty with her. The cats are in Phoenix (same as my feral colony), and need loving homes. I've maxed out homes for cats, as you know, with the kittens over the past few years, so I'm hoping against hope that posting here will boost the signal and help get these fuzzies adopted. (She's not looking to necessarily place them into the same home, although I'm sure that would be great, so if anyone can open his/her heart and home to one of these guys, you can contact her via the link above.)

:(

Meet Tuxie

(Each, um, every-once-in-a-while Project Cat will post a profile and pictures of a Colony Cat, whether it's one who has been around from the get-go, or a new comer. Today? Tuxie.)

Name: Tuxie. Because s/he is, well, a tuxedo style cat. I'm not very creative in this regard.

Sponsor: None, as of yet

Gender: Unknown

Joined Colony?: This past (2009) summer, s/he showed up as a small kitten. Alas, between my traveling and his/her wiles, I was unable to catch him/her, and so, now that s/he's an adult, s/he has joined the colony and is quite skittish of humans.



Altered?: Not yet. S/he'll be one of several I try to catch, after raising enough money, hopefully this Spring, definitely by Summer.

Distinguishing Characteristics: As you can see, Tuxie is the only medium/long haired cat in the colony. Where did this trait come from? I do not know... But it certainly makes Tuxie easy to distinguish from all the others!!

Also, s/he, like a few of the younger cats (Walsingham, in particular, the orange boy visible behind Tuxie in the picture at right) is slightly less skittish than many of the cats. I was quite close when snapping the picture s of Tuxie at the water fountain.



Doesn't Tuxie have such a pretty (handsome?) face? I can't quite tell what color his/her eyes are-- at one point I was convinced that s/he had one blue, one green, but that might just be the way they look because of the black fur surrounding one eye, and white surrounding the other.

Most Likely to be Found: Curled up on the second floor landing, napping, but keeping a wary eye out for strangers all the same.





General Colony Update: Everyone seems to be doing well. Since the great TNR, we've had only three newcomers to the colony (not, of course, counting the kittens taken from it): Tuxie (above), a gray tabby (who's very shy and hard to even photograph) and a domestic gray tabby who technically has a home but who roams about with the colony. So it definitely seems that the TNR (mostly) worked.

As I hinted above, I do want to try TNRing again sometime relatively soon-- when I find both the time and money. I want to catch the several cats I didn't catch the first time around (Pigpen, I'm looking at you!) and the newcomers.

Oops!

We're very sorry...

...that Project-Cat has been in hiding....


And promise to try to do better when
Project-Cat returns in February.

Dean Kitty Goes Home (And Other Updates)

Wow, I have seriously neglected this blog, especially in light of the fact that until *yesterday* I still had a foster kitten. Happily for all involved, this is no longer the case as Dean has gone to his forever home-- a forever home that just happens to be many states away from here. (He has gone from being a Desert Cat to a Plains Cat.)

Thanks to online friends posting about Dean needing a home on various blogging sites, Dean found a home. It took months of finagling to get it all worked out, but yesterday I flew him to Chicago. Yes, really.

And Dean was *great* about it all, a perfect angel. He took to wearing a harness and leash with no trouble (which, as you'll see, was a very good thing) and didn't make a sound in his carrier. At security, I had to take him out of his carrier to go through the metal detector (while his carrier went through the x-ray machine), and this was the only moment he got a bit freaked. It didn't help that I was juggling him as well as my belongings. He went through the metal detector riding on my shoulder, but then hopped down and tried to hide beneath the X-ray machine. Hee. Fortunately, my hold on his leash kept him from getting too far, and the traumatic part was done.

I'd heard that you're not supposed to take your pet from his carrier at the airport, but no one had officially told me that, so while we were at the gate Dean mostly sat in my lap, purring. At one point a little girl and her grandfather came up to look at Dean, the grandfather assuring me that they wouldn't touch. I told the little girl she could if she wanted, that Dean was a bit nervous but purring. She got a big smile when she pat Dean on his head.

I am incapable of staying awake on an airplane, so dozed off shortly after take-off. I woke several times to the sound of squeaking, but it was never Dean. (Apparently there was another, less happy, pet on the plane.)
(Check out the tiiiiiny Dean in the picture at left!)

Upon landing in Chicago, C., Dean's new daddy, met me at the security gate. We found a quiet(ish) space to chat, and to introduce Dean and C. C. has had many cats, so he didn't need any advice about integrating Dean into his household or anything. Mostly the time was taken up by me snuggling Dean, knowing that I was going to miss him a lot. C. told me some more about his cats, which made me feel better. (C. seems really awesome, and I was reassured by the whole situation.)

And... that was that, at least as far as Dean and airports go. C. had a long drive back home with Dean, and was kind enough to call me upon reaching his destination to give me an update. Dean was curious during the drive, and immediately started exploring upon reaching his new home. C.'s other cats have been interested thus far, although I haven't heard if there have been any official meetings betwixt them yet. And best of all, Dean spent much of the evening in C.'s lap-- so I don't have to worry about the two of them not connecting!!

EDIT TO ADD: Check out this video which C sent me of Dean playing and being all adorably cuuuuute!

-----

In other Former Foster Felines News...

Malcolm (and his brother, Fritz) have moved into a new home (with their people) and have adjusted quickly.

Zoe and Zadie met each other when the former came home for the summer with her person. Apparently the two of them (and their sister, Arwen) have staked out various bits of their family's house. I've seen Zadie a couple times since her move, and she remained, at least at that point, a teeny-tiny bundle of engergy and adorableness. Apparently Zoe has grown into quite the large cat, however, and is intensely loved by her human (as is Zadie by hers.)

Momo, formerly Iso, has completely adapted to his new home, so much so that it's rare to see him without his sister, Pynn.

Similarly, Dolce is completely attached to her doggie-brother (a chihuahua.)

And last I heard, Whiskey, formerly Sam, is also doing well, and is best friends with his doggie-sibling, a labrador.

And finally, what to say about Miss Beatrice? She has also moved into a new home with her mommy. At first she was so scared that she peed on her mommy (yeah, I shouldn't laugh, and yet, I do.) Right now her mom is traveling, but I've been checking on Miss Beatrice and she is her usual self. I think this cat is bi-polar. One moment she wants love, the next moment she's trying to gnaw on your face. She has actually made her other cat-sitter bleed. Oh, Beatrice. We love you anyway.

Are you my family?

In many ways, Dean is the perfect kitten. He wants to be with his human (who, at the moment, is me.) When he's sleepy, he wants to sleep in a human lap. That's where he is right now, as I type this.













He's also very good at playing by himself. (He was supervised with those ribbons, of course.) The jingle ball in the left picture is his favorite at the moment. He also already likes catnip (which is early-- most kittens aren't affected by it) and likes to bunny kick at mousies filled with it.


He'll be happy in any loving family-- he's been adjusting very well to whatever comes his way. He wants very much to play with my adult kitties (he keeps offering, they keep hissing or ignoring him) so he'd adjust just fine into a house with other kitties. Conversely, he's very much a people cat, happy to play with you, curl up with you, sleep beside you and purr, so he'd be equally happy in a home with an attentive, loving person or people.


He's ready to be adopted at any time now, and just wants a loving family.









You don't have to be local, if you're interested in this perfect fuzzy feline companion. As long as you're in the continental US, I can find a way to get him to you.


If you can't adopt him, please forward this address along to anyone you know who might be interested. If you're on FaceBook or MySpace or Twitter, maybe you could pass this information along? I know that someone perfect for this little boy is out there.

Thirty new pictures of Dean in the Flickr Set.

Adopted Kitten Update

So, on Saturday morning, Iso went to meet his new family. They live quite close, so that's nice, and hopefully I'll hear lots of good things about his adjustment to his new home. Iso's name is now Momo, and he has a big sister named Pynn. Pynn is all black (with a wee tuft of white), and is the most hyper kitten I have ever met. She's amazing, and was bouncing, pouncing and playing the entire time I was there. She immediately took to Iso/Momo, demanding that he play. She's a bit bigger than he is, so he wasn't entirely sure what to make of the situation, but was pretty game. He happily explored around his new home, while his new sister pounced on him.

I haven't heard much about Dolce, other than that she's settling in, and that her human-siblings are taking good care of her.

Zadie has become much more adventurous in her time at her new home, and has taken to waking up her human with love-bites. Ouch! Her family's other cat, Arwen, has taken to grooming her and acting as a mommy. (Aww!) Zadie has been to the vet and been declared healthy. Hurrah!!

So all the adopted babies seem to be doing very well.

That just leaves Dean, who has just stolen my cell phone and now my crochet hook. Silly boy. He's doing fine, but he obviously misses his siblings. He tries to play with my cats, but they aren't interested (and in fact are desperately counting the days 'til I can find him a new home.) I'm really grateful for teh homes I've found for the first three, but Dean is a special baby who needs a home, too.

"Sam" Update

You might recall Sam, the orange kitten I had for a few days back in, um, March? Yeah, that sounds about right. Just ran into his human, and his canine-sister (a yellow lab named Bailey.) Sounds like the puppy and the kitty are getting along really well-- they apparently go through cycles of antagonizing each other, and loving on each other. They *both* chase the laser pointer, hee! The kitty's new name is "Whiskey" but apparently he's mostly called "Kitty" because that's what he comes to.

I'm *so* glad to hear that that family worked out. (I hadn't touched base with them since the night the kitty moved, even though they are only one building over from me. Fortuitously, I had just dropped my pen off of my balcony (where I was grading papers) and when I went down to get it, Bailey was out chasing a ball, so I got to chat with her human.)

Pictures

There are 7o new pictures of the kittens in the April 2009 Kitten Set. Including lots of cute ones of Dean and Iso, the babies who need homes. (They've just been dropped back off. The poor things are probably so confused.)