My Male Cat Is Pregnant

My male cat is pregnant. It is a trap that a lot of us who rescued stray and feral cats fall into every once in a while. When we see a cat who is eluding us purposely. It’s sometimes tough to sex them from afar. With tomcats, it’s relatively easy because sometimes as they’re running from us, we can see that they are very well endowed. Or we can see the furry fuzzy face and the big cheeky jowls, which set tomcats apart. Often if you look at the color of an orange cat, you can tell if it’s male or female. There are some crossbreeds that if you look at the face, you could tell by how it’s patterned. But sometimes we get it wrong. This time I got it wrong.

She is heavy with kittens. I sat down last night and really thought about it. I am about to break the very rule that I have lived with for so long. The one where I preach spay and neuter to the skies. I am going to allow this girl to have her kittens. In doing so - since Mamacita is also pregnant - there’s going to be a lot of kittens this year.

In the situation, I’m in right now with my health, with all the restrictions I have on what I can and can’t do, I think that it’s best for me to let these two girls have their families. Hopefully by then, I will be able to do what needs to be done to bring the kittens to health and to spay and neuter all the families. However, right now it’s just not possible.

Most of the traps I’ve had for years some of them donated are all beat up. Feral cats trapped inside of a trap for longer than 24 hours can get very active to try to get out. I did manage to buy some new traps recently. However, when I started putting them out to trap the cats to get them spay and neutered, it wasn’t working out very easily for me.

So I have to be realistic. I am still wrestling with the fact that I’m breaking everything I’ve always believed in. There are too many kittens out in the world. But again under the circumstances, I have to take care of myself because if something more happens to me, where am I going to end up and what happens to all my cats?

I am really praying that the other strays here that I couldn’t trap in time to get them fixed are also boys. That was my guess when they were all living back by the creek and I could only see them with binoculars. I heard the other day that they’ve come up with a spay and neuter powder for lions in a rescue facility. I’m thinking that if they can do it for lions, why can’t they do it for cats? It’s a feedthrough powder that you mix with their food works great. It sterilizes all the males and prevents the females from giving birth.

How nice that would be, and how less expensive it would be for everyone who tries to make a dent in the population of cats here in their own backyard.

Wishing all the moms and single moms out there a happy Mother’s Day. May we not only have peace in our hearts, but also in our world very soon.

Winston At Home

 Just a picture of Winston in his new home. He’s looking quite pleased with himself, isn’t he?

A Home for Winston

One of my good friends who, after my surgery, stayed with me for two weeks, apparently bonded quite well with Winston. She really wanted him and she did talk to me about him, but she has a few cats and her parents are not keen on her getting anymore. However, she talked to her mom and dad yesterday and they cleared the way for her to add him to her family. Haley has two boys. Both the boys are completely charmed by Winston and really want him as well.

Unfortunately, even though in the picture he’s getting along with Aspen, the same can’t be said about Addie. She simply wants to kill him every time she sees him. I think he must’ve done something to her when he first arrived because every time he shows up in the house, she just goes ballistic. I know they have issues but again I’ve never seen any real confrontation between them because I stepped in before it gets too heated.

The news that Haley is going to take Winston makes me happy. Not only because I know what a great pet owner she is, but because they already do have an established relationship and that will help him get along in his new home.

It also means that my girls get their catio back, and their room back - just in time for the warmer weather to come in. That will bring the balance back to the group.

For those who are wondering how I’m doing... I’m doing as best I can for the circumstances I’m in. I have started physical therapy. I’ve only been to the consultation portion of it. I think my therapist is a little bit optimistic because she’s telling me in three weeks, I’ll be able to drive! However, I still have the surgeon telling me it’s going to be another two years, so we’ll see who’s right. Let’s hope that Brooke - my new therapist - is more right than my surgeon. It’s very frustrating to have to depend on other people to help me when I know that all I have to do is jump in my truck and drive to town and do my own groceries and my own errands and go to my own appointments. Unfortunately, I still cannot grip the steering wheel. Much less shift into gear.

I fantasized about buying a brand new car, but that’s what it is: a fantasy. I would like to have a stick shift on the floor instead of by the steering wheel. However, at this stage in my life, I’m not on taking on any more debt. I’m doing my best to get out of debt so that I can live the rest of my life in relative comfort.

I spoke to the driver of a bus that picks me up for groceries and other errands. I asked her if it would be possible for her to bring me and Kota into town so that I could walk him. At the time I asked her, I was sure she was going to tell me that it wouldn’t be allowed. But I found out the opposite is true, so on Monday she’s going to pick me up at 10:30 and drop me in town, and pick me up again at 12:30. That will give me plenty of time to walk him and get exercise, and visit with shopkeepers I haven’t seen in a very long time who are good friends. And just get me out of the house. That’s the biggest plus: getting out of the house. I haven’t been able to walk Kota in two and a half years. That’s a long time for him not to go for a walk.

Also, on the news front, they have not found the person responsible for the death of my oldest step-granddaughter. They do know who did it, but there’s no conclusive proof. Apparently, by the time they thawed out her body, which was found frozen in the snow (it took 45 days) - all DNA and forensic evidence was gone. Looks like her killer may actually get away with murder, which makes me really sad. I can’t understand a world that has grown so ugly. I hope I never do understand it. 

They have me signed up for physical therapy twice a week. The appointments are an hour long. I’m used to the exercise exercises, plus I have my own exercise regime at home. There’s one exercise where I have to sit down in a chair and put a towel down on the table and slide the towel across the length of the table without moving my shoulder. Flash really likes that exercise because apparently she thinks that that tell makes a really good cat bed. It’s hard enough to move it when it’s not a occupied by a kitty. So it just gives me more resistance and hopefully will help me get more mobility in my arm and my shoulder as time goes on.

I was also told to buy a pulley. The kitties really like that pulley. They have pulled it off the door so many times. They stand underneath it and jump on top of it and hang onto the ropes until it just gives up and crashes to the floor. It’s hysterical to watch them. They are into everything.

It’s been frustrating for me because doing just a simple task - such as hanging up my clothes or doing the laundry, or even just getting dressed in the morning - comes now with so many obstacles attached to it. I try not to give into the frustration, but sometimes I just give up and cry. It’s hard to go through this alone.

That’s it - that’s my one-party pity-party! Happy Easter to all, and may we please have peace on Earth very soon.

Everybody’s still hanging on? Here we go again!

I honestly thought that I would never be in this situation again. I had the surgery last Thursday. The surgeon said that not only did I surprise him by rupturing all of my rotator cuff, but I also apparently threw him a great big loop because of the fall I had in October of last year: the ‘snap’ sound that I heard that were four tendons rupturing.

So here we go again, the months and months of putting up with all the different type of nerve pain that’s getting ready to hit me. The cats are hopefully settled into the new routine of staying away from mom for a while because if you don’t, there’s gonna be trouble.

Sweet Winston was taken recently out of the barn and put back in the bedroom. I know they said that spring is on the way, but I haven’t seen any signs of it and I was getting really worried about him being in such cold weather. So he’s back in the bedroom. I am looking for a home for him for those in Sweet Home, Lebanon or Albany that might be interested. He is definitely a very sweet boy. He is also very accepting of cats, though I don’t think they’re very accepting of him. None of the girls like him. I have a line on one person who wants him pretty badly, but she’s got cats already, as well as other situations to deal with, so we’ll see what happens there.

Concentrated into all this other stuff - being so cold all the time and not having a heater right now - has been another obstacle that I’ve had to overcome. Apparently my heater was throwing out too many carbon monoxide bombs and so they have put it on the expire list; they are trying to put together a new one for me as soon as possible (I hope). Even though spring is just around the corner, the weather tonight is mimicking arctic weather. Nothing spring about it.

So I’m getting ready for the long haul bit by bit. I hope this time I can find more sleep than I could before. What I couldn’t do after the last surgery which, thankfully, I can do after this one is just to make a complete fist. That’s one problem I won’t have. Just take everything that comes with a grain of salt and just take it a day at a time - that’s all I can do.

It’s Raining Cats!

Another orange tom was trapped last night - and then I was able to trap a black and white tom! Both of them are showing signs of wounds on their faces and necks - the natural results of an unneutered male in the wild. They are going to the vet first thing today. They will be picked up at 7:45 a.m.; that works because I have to go to the hospital tomorrow for more tests. That appointment is at 10:45 a.m.

It's Mamacita!

I can hardly believe it. This morning I captured Mamacita! She has had two litters on my property since she’s arrived. I am grateful that with the help of this program I’m able to get these cats picked up and hand-delivered to the vets, as well as brought back to me. There’s no way I’d be able to pick these traps up, especially when the cats inside them are feral; they move around a lot as you can see by Mamacita’s nose - she was crashing into the side of the trap. They can’t get her spayed until tomorrow so I have released her into my large cage in the bedroom. Her nose is pretty bloody from crashing into the trap. 

Speaking of crashes - or actually feral cat wounds - it was determined yesterday during Sundances and Angel’s neuters that Angel had several bite wounds on his neck and tail section. They had all apparently abscessed, but they have healed to the point that the vet just decided to give him an injection of antibiotics that will last two weeks.

Sundance, on the other hand, is completely bitten from the tip of his tail to the middle of his back! He also got a shot of antibiotics. But I’ve decided to keep him in the cat room until he is completely healed. He is currently hiding under the sofa bed. But I am pleased to report that he is eating. He is drinking and he has used the litter pan. I am hoping to work with him before surgery enough so that when I release him, he will stick around on my property, and not go back out to the front yard so close to the highway. We’ll see what happens. I have a little over two weeks to go.

Mamacita will be picked up tomorrow morning to get spayed. Yay! No more kittens for her!

The One Who Got Away

This is the kitty that got away the other night. I honestly did not expect the cat to return back to the trap but hunger can drive a cat to do things it wouldn’t normally do. It’s 1:00 a.m. Monday morning. We are not in the 20° range right now but we are in the 30° range. I’m still hoping against hope that Luna is still out there. So I left the trap in my front yard baited not only with food but with prayer. Marion, Luna’s owner, believes that her baby is gone. She says she feels it in her heart that she’s no longer here. Regardless, I went ahead and left the trap there, and this is the result.

There is no ear tipping, I have no idea what sex this cat is. I am calling the kitty Sundance. I’m hoping that this morning when Jennifer comes to retrieve the kitten, she can also take this slightly older cat to the vet as well. If not, I will keep the kitty here until there’s an opening at the vet. I’m just so relieved that I’ve gotten another one off the street. There’s just too many out there, too many people are feeding and not trapping-neutering-releasing.