GOOD NEWS!

I spoke with the office people today, and pointed out that it is Spring. It is warm, and it has been warm. There are two (2!!!) unneutered male cats belonging to my neighbor, and there are several cats in the colony who are either new or whom I couldn't catch last time. There will soon be kittens. Can I, I asked, TNR? Please? Or would you like some kittens?

They said yes! I haven't made any arrangements yet (I didn't want to start any balls rolling, so to speak 'til I'd gotten a feel for where management/owners stood), so watch this space for more news.

I have to let the office know when *I* (and you) know more, so that they can leave notes on people's doors about what's going on. The office person I spoke with said that people had come and asked what they could do to help about the cats, so that's a good sign.

And, uh, if you have a few dollars to chip into the TNR-fund, now might be a fantastic time to do so. The fund is empty (I've been paying for cat chow out of my own pocket, which I don't mind, but at $50/cat for speutering, even if I only catch a few, it becomes costly for one person. ) Even just a few dollars helps a lot.

(More updates -- and cat pictures-- next week. Maybe sooner. But life has gotten crazy 'round here...)

In Memory

I haven't updated P-C in a few days partly because I've been busy (as always), partly because there's no news on the Office Management front (still), and a lot because every time I sat down to write this post I didn't know how to write what I need to write... So I've been putting it off.

Being a feral cat is hard. It's not the worst life, I imagine. It's better than many other kinds of wild animals. It gets a lot easier once you've in a managed community-- getting food and water, and, once you're speutered, free of the dangers of territorial fights and the unhealthy effects of near-constant pregnancies.But still, there's no way of knowing how old the cats in the colony are, with the exception of Paint (who I have yet to introduce to you all because I can't get a good picture of her) and Tuxie, both of whom showed up as kittens this past summer. And there are dangers, mostly from humans. So it's no surprise, although it is sad, when one of the ferals doesn't show up for a long time. Gremlin, for example, has not been seen in a long time. Even more worrisome, Little Grey (Amaranth) hasn't been seen for months now, either.

(Then again, sometimes they just aren't seen for months and months and months and magically reappear, the way Creamsicle did a few weeks ago...)

But it's more surprising, and more definite, when something happens to cats who've been adopted.

Last week I got a phone message from the woman who adopted Dolce, the littlest of the last litter. She'd gotten very, very sick. The vet's best guess was that she was poisoned by something, although she was an indoor cat, and her constant companion (a Chihuahua) is fine. It's hard to process this news, knowing so little, and knowing how young Dolce was, and thinking about her as a tiny bottle-fed kitten. There was little to be done, and what there was was astronomically costly and unlikely to work, and so little Dolce was euthanized.

Then, a few days ago, AZMum wrote to let me know about Gandolf aka Skinny Kitty. You may recall that Gandolf was not actually feral-- in fact, once he started getting regularly fed gooshy food by AZMum, he was quite a lover. AZMum had also been giving him daily insulin shots to take care of his diabetes. When AZMum and her family moved away from the apartment complex, they took Gandolf with them to be their outdoor kitty. Unfortunately, this past weekend Gandolf was attacked and killed by either coyotes or a neighboring dog. I'm grateful that Gandolf got so much more time, thanks to AZMum's care, but of course I'm also very sad to think of him gone.

I don't know how to end this update. I wish I had some cute pictures of kittens or cheerful news about being allowed to TNR, but I don't at the moment.

As for the rest of the colony, life continues, I'm glad to say. I've been feeding them up on the second floor, as per DNL's wishes. No one has taken away the new water bowl. Tuxie seems to live by the food dish, meowing to get my attention whenever I leave my flat. Mistoffolees can be counted on to be around most of the time too. Other regular vistors include Pigpen, Barnaby, Agatha, Walsingham, Bessie, Athos and Aloysius. I'm still regularly seeing Daisy, but not up by the food dish. Paint comes and goes, and again, not usually up by the food. Creamiscle is ghostlike, disappearing into the wood work just as soon as you've come to expect him.

I'll try to update again soon, with something more cheery.

Not Looking Good

I spoke with someone in the office on Monday and she said there'd been no word (yes or no) regarding the cats, feeding them, TNR, etc.

I spoke with DNL on Sunday. She has decided she will no longer feed or water the cats. She thinks that management is trying to push her out of the complex and that's part of it. She doesn't care if I still feed/water them, but she wants me to do it somewhere other than in front of her flat/beneath the stairs, where the cats have always been fed/watered.

This, of course, puts more responsibility (time and finances) on me. Great.

For the lack of a better place to feed the cats, I started feeding them on the landing between the second and third floors. (The stairwells are open air.) I moved the water dish upstairs, and put out dry food. Because some of the cats are too skittish to come upstairs, I've also started pouring out a bit of food closer to the drainage bolt holes.

When I left today, Pigpen and Agatha were going for the food downstairs and Tuxie for the food upstairs. There was a water dish there.

Today when I came home, about 8 hours later, the water dish is gone. Just like the food dish was gone two years ago. But this water dish had been in use for almost two years, and today they decide to get rid of it?

Mind you, there were maintenance people in my flat today, so they may have noticed it up on the second floor for the first time and that's why it's gone. I don't know.

But now I have no water dish.

Should anyone like to donate a water dish, please feel free. :( See, I use the kind where you have a reservoir so that I only had to refill it every other day. This is ARIZONA. The desert part! It's hot! Even today, in early March, it's 75 degrees (Fahrenheit.) The cats deserve freshwater.

I am so angry. And so frustrated. And sad. Who steals water from cats?!

ARG.

Typical

I was on my way out the door to meet some friends for dinner, but as I was locking up, I saw Barnaby out in the grass. Clearly I had to run back inside and grab my camera as pictures of Barnaby are on the scarce side.


So I had my camera and was locking up when Tuxie came bounding up the stairs, squeaking.


Clearly I had to run back inside and grab some food since Tuxie seemed hungry.

So I had the food and my camera and was locking up when Mr Mistoffolees came peeking up the stairs.

I poured out the food and stepped back and Tuxie came on up and started chowing down. Knowing that pretty much any other kitty would be too nervous with me there, I went down the second set of stairs, ready to head for my car.

And found Walsingham bounding towards me.



Then Athos showed up, but he's a spooky kitty and not so sure.


Walsingham led the way up the stairs.




Tuxie showed him where the food was.


The others weren't so sure 'til I was farther away.


Barnaby even finally joined the party.


Need I mention I was late for *my* dinner?


-----


In other news, two things:

1. Still no word from management. I'm playing it a bit coy, for now. When I pay my rent this week, I'll ask. As a professor of mine just put it, I want to be the squeaky wheel who gets the grease, not the wheel that squeaks so much it gets replaced.

2. It seems that DNL is no longer feeding the kitties. I think that's why Tuxie was so brave to come so close, squeaking for food, and the other cats all came running when they heard me pour out the fuds. I haven't seen any food out near DNL's usual feeding spot. Worse, the water dish-- one of those deals where you fill up a reservoir and gravity does the rest-- was completely empty. DNL always took care of that. I haven't yet spoken with DNL, so I don't know if this is a temporary lapse, if she's away, or if she's abiding by the rules that appeared on our doors last week, but it means more responsibility (and more financial issues) for me. I'm not pushing for donations just now 'cause I haven't heard anything yet about being allowed to TNR, but if you wanted to put a few dollars in to go towards buying food, I'd appreciate it. (And sooper special thanks to Duckierose for her recent donation! Pigpen and all the others thank you.)

Meet Pigpen

(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? Pigpen.)


Name: Pigpen, named for the Peanuts character who is always followed by his own little cloud of dust. Pigpen, as you can tell from her pictures, always looks dirty.


Sponsor: Yes, by the wonderful Duckierose.

Joined Colony: Pigpen's been around as long as I've been watching and taking notes on the colony.
Altered: Alas, no. During the great TNR-Adventure of 2008, Pigpen became my nemesis as she consistently investigated by avoided all the traps we set out-- both the usual kind triggered by an animal walking in, and drop traps, where cats can walk under what amounts to a box and have a stick pulled out from it. The only reason I can, with any certainty, call her a "she" is because calico markings are genetically sex-linked-- only female cats can have both orange and black spots (generally.) Calicos and tortoiseshells are almost always female.

(The picture below is one of my absolute favorites I've ever taken of the colony. And you wonder why I call her my nemesis?)


Distinguishing Characteristics: Pigpen is precisely the style of cat I think of when someone says calico. Technically a calico is any cat with orange, black and white spots, and Pigpen certainly exemplifies this style, being mostly white, with the other two colors as splotches. Also, as I mentioned above, she is almost always dirty looking. I don't know if she's actually dirtier than the other cats in the colony, or just appears this way because she's mostly white.


Most Likely to be Found: Miss Pigpen seems to very much enjoy hanging out underneath a set of bushes directly across the courtyard from my apartment. However, she also seems to enjoy a good laze in the sunlight, so you'll occasionally see her spread out on the rocks (and her coloring-- dirt included-- provides excellent camouflage for this) or sometimes just being a kitty-loaf right in the middle of the grass.

There isn't any BAD news...

Okay. So, after a nailbiting day during which I heard nothing, I decided to show them all how determined I am and went to sit in the apartment office so that I could be convenient whenever the owners were ready to talk to me.

Well, instead, the manager spoke with me-- as far as I can tell in the grand hierarchy of the apartment complex, she is the highest local person since the new company took over in the summer. She told me that it's the management company, not the new owners, who put out the "stop feeding the cats" directive. And that she gave them my information (which I had put together yesterday), and they weren't interested in dealing with it just now. However, as soon as they tell her something, she'll tell me.

Sound just like February 2008? It should because it's precisely what happened then, too. I did, however, forthrightly tell the manager that I will be continuing to feed the cats until I hear more. She agreed that I should do what I need to do.

Honestly, I think the company saw a lot of cats and went, vermin! What shall we do?! And thought, hey, if we don't feed them, maybe they'll go away. (Admittedly, one of the women in the office told me she tried calling every shelter in the area to come get them. I could have told them no one would come get them-- actually, I did tell them that in 2008. So they did try to take action.) But as my dad pointed out when I was filling him in on all this, it's not like there are marauding gangs of cats wearing black leather clothes and eye patches just roaming the complex in search of small children to eat. I don't think that the company considers this a pressing matter, but still, better to be proactive on our part.

So, in concrete terms, what does this mean for Project-Cat?

Honestly, not much. It means that we're in a holding pattern as far as TNRing the rest of the cats goes. I had started to think that maybe I could trap/etc. during Spring Break, when I'm not teachign, but that's in mid-March, so fundraising would have had to start now. I'm not comfortable doing that 'til we know more. So that's on hold. (But hey, if you were planning on donating, feel free to keep an eye on that money and send it later...)

As far as everything else-- well, I'll keep feeding, I'll keep tracking, and I'll keep posting. And, I'll keep in touch with the office to find out if they've heard anything. I don't want to be a nuisance (although I suspect many already think I am) but I also don't want to be forgotten. I'll also be continuing to speak with advocates of various sorts to see what other advice might be out there for convincing people to keep these cats safe.

No need for any action on your parts yet, other than to keep following along. I'll keep carting my camera around, and tracking the cats. You keep reading and letting other people know they should read, too. :)

The Suspense... arg! THE SUSPENSE

I know that the owners are visiting the apartment complex today, and that the question of the cats will come up. I do not know when this conversation will happen, whether I'll get to be involved, what the answer will be, or when I'll hear anything.

The waiting and uncertainty are driving me mad!

So, as an antidote, have some pictures, never before posted here. (I was saving them for the posts about individual cats, but when I do those, I'll just have to get more pictures is all.)

Below: Athos, Walsingham, Mr Mistofolees and Cyrano

No News is... No News

UPDATE: I stopped by the office again to drop off my packet of information (a new letter explaining the situation, the 2008 letter, some information on ferals and TNR, and my new spreadsheet showing that we have had a 10% decrease in the local colony) and was told again that they think it'd be a good idea if I spoke with the district manager, and that they'd probably be giving me a call. I'd very much like the chance to advocate for these cats in person, so keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow.

As soon as I could (2:30pm) I went to the apartment office and asked about the note I'd gotten regarding the cats and not feeding them and "working to reduce the stray cat population." The first person I asked (the woman who adopted Dolce) didn't know anything. She asked the assistant manager who didn't know anything but suggested talking to the person who had typed up the notices. I asked her (she's very nice and has been helpful in the past) and between her and the manager-manager, we discovered that this is an edict from the company who owns the apartment complex. This is not the same company who used to own the complex, but, in fact, a new one as of this past summer.

So basically, no one here knows anything. But apparently the district manager is coming by tomorrow and they're going to give her the paperwork I had just created, so then maybe we'll learn something? They promised to call me when the manager is there, but I don't actually see that happening. Instead, I'm going to create a bigger packet of information on TNR and the agreement I'd had with the last company and drop it off in the morning. Then, assuming I don't hear anything all day, I'll stop by in the evening to find out more.

I guess the reason I feel that I'm having the same argument I had 2 years ago is because I am...

Again, I'll update just as soon as I learn anything.

(Pictures from top: Agatha out in the grass, Walsingham in a bush, Bessie-the-Tomcat with laser eyes, Barnaby from the second floor landing, at dusk.)

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