Time flies - been about 10 days since last post. TNR is always a bit different. The first 7 cats were trapped easily on Monday and brought to Animal Care League's Feral Clinic for Spay Neuter package on Tuesday Morning. But that's not the end of the story. There was a reluctant orange tabby that we didn't get on the first trapping. As I mentioned, we wanted him because he had open fight wounds behind his ear. So, we resumed trapping on Tuesday. We got an orange tabby. That night I realized it wasn't the same tabby. This tabby was much older and had a tougher life - his right ear was tipped, not due to TNR 'tipping' but to frostbite. Next morning I brought him to our vet, along with my computer figuring I'd do work while waiting for someone to cancel an appointment, taking my chances to get in... Toni (vet tech) said she didn't think anything would open and they couldn't see me until 12:30. About that time, I got a call from the feeder saying there were 3 on the porch, including the orange one, and a new grey and white that looked pregnant plus the cat that had had kittens the week before. I went back to the feeders, with 3 cages. The little black mama was gone but the grey and orange ones were there.... they were easy catches. I set the first trap on the porch, by the time I got to the car and turned around, the grey one was already trapped. Covered her with sheet and set the second trap. Got the orange one right away. So, with 3 cats now in the car, I went back to the vet. The little grey one had an eye problem. The vet saw the old orange one that day - poor baby had terrible loose stool and was covered in it, hardly any teeth in his mouth and old fight wounds. Estimated age 12. He was bathed, given antibiotics and probiotics and good food and is in the infirmary until he strengthens. Next day, went back with the grey cat. She has a chronic eye condition - not much that can be done for her but she sees enough to get around. She (Willow) , Henry and Jim were all in the infirmary until last Tuesday when she & Jim went for s/n clinic. Because of Jim's fight wounds, he was tested for Fe/lu (sorry, I can never spell that right), tested positive and euthanized. At this point, we have no humane place for him and can't put him back on the street to infect others. It was amazing that Willow nor Henry tested positive at the vet the week before. This is the messy side of TNR. It's so much easier when they're sterilized and returned. Actually, in all the cats we've done, we've been fortunate to not have dealt with this before - 3 at once kept us hopping!
Of the original 7, the males were returned on Wednesday and the females on Thursday. 4 were male, 3 were female and 2 were pregnant.
Henry & Jim 
Return home - they bolt when they realize they can. Both of these are female. The males were released the day before - it will take them about two weeks to loose their territorial and fighting behavior, then, they'll just mellow out with little or no interest in fighting - generally - always the exception to the rule! So that's one TNR from start to finish. The following week we didn't trap any. Traps were at a feeders but, can't always get people to follow instructions about pre-baiting and withholding food prior to trap day so, the result was, no cats in traps that week.
Soon, I'll be leaving to trap 5-8 known cats and kittens in a colony. The feeder has been pre-baiting since Saturday morn. Wish us luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment