TNR Phase 2, 3 and 2 again

This is more pre-baiting. Traps ramain open, cats are fed in traps only so they are comfortable going in the trap and when traps are set, things go faster.

The original plan was to trap Monday evening for Tuesday clinic. Their last meal was to be Sunday morning. Well, it poured all day Sunday so they didn't get any food. Not wanting to starve them, we pushed trapping up to the morning feed.

All went well. All in all it's the fastest bait and trap we've done - from first bait on Thursday to trapping on Tuesday is fast. We trapped 7 cats in about an hour. As you can see, we had 2 cats in one trap, not typical and not recommended. These two are siblings, both less than 6 months old. We got all but one orange adult cat who hung around but wouldn't go into the trap. And, a black one thought to be pregnant. The orange one had fight wounds, big ones, behind his ear so we really need to get him. We took the cats to their before/aftercare place for care before clinic. Got them set up with food and water and paper. (sorry, no photos, next time). And went back to set a trap for the orange one. Before too long, we got the black one, but released her after a good meal and lots of petting (she's a stray or someones cat) because she's just had her kittens within the last week and it would be too much time away from them. The feeder is checking the area for kittens. A bit later, we got the orange one..... however, it's not the orange one. It's orange, and wounded, but it's ear tipped. So, it's off to the vet with him tomorrow and a new trap for the other orange one will be set.

Today, we took the 7 in for spay neuter. Out of 7 cats, 3 are female, 4 are male. 2 of the females were pregnant. One of them was the less than 6 month old in the back of the double trapped cats. Adorable long haired white with grey spots. The Vet, Laurie at Animal Care League, thinks that by the way they stick together it was probably her little brother. Both mom's were aborted, saving at least 6 new kittens from being born. Everything went well, they're all resting in their traps. Some, as you'll see by the photos aren't looking too happy but that may be the after effects of surgery.

This beautiful boy has a tiger face and legs and a buff colored body - this is a few hours after surgery - he's not looking too happy. He did however, dive into the food when I put it in his cage. They get to eat a small portion the first night. He looked much happier after. He's gorgeous with beautiful blue eyes.

This is one of the mom's - she's about a year old and very cute. She was further along than her daughter, pictured below. She'll be here for about 48 hours before being returned. We check for bowel and urine movement prior to return, and any other possible complication. Her belly can be viewed because of the open trap. Wound is checked for healing.

And here's the young mom. Fortunately she will not live out a life of litters. Cats can have litters every 2 months. She too will be returned after about 48 hours Next, the orange one..... Then finding and fostering the mom and kittens for adoption. We'll be hanging posters and putting an add in the paper to see if she belongs to anyone. Mom, a beautiful tuxedo of about a year, is very friendly. She's either lost or abandoned. With adoptable friendlies, efforts are always made to locate the owners, just in case she's some one's indoor outdoor cat.

More on the next step with the 2 Orange cats and the Mama and kittens. (Cats are usually named, I'm not taking the liberty of naming them, allowing their caregiver to name them. At clinic, each cat must be named, for convenience and rabies identification, they were named after the 7 Dwarfs!)