Robin and her Cats

On December 20, a dear friend went to sleep and never woke up. She had a heart attack. To say Robin was compassionate pales by comparison to how compassionate, gentle, engaged and interested she really was. She was a librarian at the Dole Branch Library in Oak Park for about 20 years. She took a personal interest in anyone she spoke with. At her service last Sunday at the library, the room was overflowing into the hall with people cominbg to pay their last respects to a woman who meant so much to them. She will be missed. Robin's compassion wasn't just for 2 leggeds, she loved all life, including the many 4 leggeds that came to her door. Robin's home was surrounded by forest preserve land - a place where people 'dump' cats. Many of those cats came to Robin's door where she fed, vetted and cared for them. Much of her life, and resources, was devoted to her critters. ROBIN'S CATS NEED HOMES - WE NEED 12 PEOPLE TO TAKE 2 CATS EACH. CatVando is helping Robin's family find homes. Robin's cats are loving but would be terrible candidates for adoption at a shelter (if we could even find one to take them). The would freak out in a cage in a strange place, shrink to the back of a cage and probably hiss and would be seen as unadoptable. When the go from Robin's house to their new home, they'll hide for a while but will eventually come out and love their new companion. If you would be so kind as to help share your heart and home with 2 of these precious ones, please contact us catvandotnr@yahoo.com We have a limited amount of time before these cats have to be relinquished to DuPage Animal Control. Please find it in your heart to provide them with a life and a home

Blackie

Blackie

Is ready to leave the cage! Today, when I opened the cage to take his photo, he was on his way out which is why the photo is blurred. We think we have a foster home for him. I hope so. He's a nice, gentle cat who had a very rough beginning. He's from the house of a hoarder with lots of sick cats. The fact that he only needed all his teeth pulled is amazing. We'll be taking him to our next adoption event and listing him on petfinder soon. A few more pounds and he'll be a poster cat for long haired luxurious black cats. He's going to the vet for his follow up tomorrow.

Henry's Cats - 2nd Trapping

On Wednesday, Jan 13, at 1pm, Kallie & I met at Henry's to trap 10 cats. Kallie got there first and found out the news of the new kittens, born Sunday. There were 2 out of 4 left. One or more cats killed the first two. Henry said they were pretty bloody. The other two, tiny little things, look like they're going to be long hair grey tabbies. They were in the corner in a Friskies 48 cans box in the corner. They have rudolph noses, mouths and butts - could be sick. We set up the traps and got 8 cats within about 20 minutes. One of the traps got triggered with no cats and the other we were saving for the new mom. We'd put the kitties into a carrier with the trap in front of it with a sheet over the trap and carrier - the idea being that mom would only be able to get to the kittens by going through and into the trap. 8 hours later, we still hadn't gotten mom. We weren't sure which cat was the mom. We tried to identify her. We tried many things during the hours we were there. We left the trap in front of the carrier for a couple of hours then were concerned that the babies weren't getting nurished so we took it away. Several times during the day, Kallie and I sat in the car in the driveway while waiting for things to normalize hoping to catch mom. At one point, Henry was sitting next to the trap and when mom entered, he was to close the door. He did. Unfortunately, he didn't close it properly and mom burst through the door. Cats can be pretty strong when they're panic stricken. We tried putting a long rope through carrier tied to the door while we waited for her to enter so we could pull the door closed and run to fasten the lock... Didn't work either. We found a place for mom and the kittens. Safe Harbor agreed to take them. Best with mom but even without. They are great with bottle babies. We had to get them there by 6pm and they were about an hour away. We were still trying for mom. The delima was, leaving the kittens in a house where they were being killed. Henry's house can be divided. At one point, we thought we had all the cats but the one we suspected being mom in the living area with the rest being locked in the basement. Henry lives in a tri level with a finished basement. We had a trap set for mom near the kittens. Kallie and I went to the car. When we came back in Henry said, 'There are about 3 cats running around up here!' We ended up using the two unfilled traps to catch two more cats for TNR at Treehouse the next day. We were pretty sure the mom was one of the two young grey tabbies. We checked the cats in the traps from the bottom and couldn't see any swollen milk glands. At some point in the afternoon, we took the 8 cats we had in traps to an empty apartment Kallie's mom owns near Fullerton & Laramie. It's closer to Treehouse near North Ave & Ashland and more convient for the morning. We had to be there by 8:30 am Thursday. At one point, we put canned food in the basement at a point where we could see the feeding cats through a window. We saw cats we hadn't seen but knew there were more hiding. There are 2 cats that Henry's described, a white one with black spots and a brown one. One of the cats looked like it had bald or light spots but it didn't look like ringworm. We left Henry's at about 8:45pm with the remaining 2 traps now with cats. Kallie agreed to keep them in the basement for the night so we didn't have to drive all the way in the city. I got home about 10:30pm. We found homes for 5 of the 10 cats we had in traps. Jane, a TNRer in DeKalb was going to take 3 of the sick cats, one's with URI's to access for sociability. Adrianne and Jenny at Tails made the arrangements. When the cats are socialized, they will adopt them out. That's if they're socializable. If not, they'll go the way of many cats too scared to socialize. They'll be killed but they will at least have a chance. We have 5 cats with no place to go. WE NEED HOMES FOR 5 CATS. Plus at least 8 cats left at Henry's. Cats are great companions, even those that can't be held and touched. We're hoping they'll go in 2's and 3's. They are family and the transition will be hard on them. They are stressed and have had lives abnormal to a cats natural surroundings. Separating them even further would be cruel too. They need each other. Please email us at catvandotnr@yahoo.com. DONATIONS ARE ALSO NEEDED to cover the cost of surgeries, vet care and meds, supplements and essences and food. THANK YOU TO THOSE OF YOU GENEROUS ENOUGH TO SHARE YOUR MONEY TO HELP THESE CATS AND KITTENS.

Henry's Cats The New Year

This post was typed on January 8th. Writing about this is harder every day. We've found no place for Henry's cats. Janet, Kallie & I have called numerous places in Cook and other Counties. We got a couple of bites, Tails in DeKalb offered to take the sick ones if they could handle them enough to test.... we don't know that they are. Some of the sick and healthy ones aren't touchable. House ferals. Six MIGHT be handlable, they came within about 10-20" of me when I was spoon feeding them canned food on the floor. But, we don't know how touchable they truely are. If we don't find places for them by Thursday, instead of being having their surgeries and shots, they will be killed. I know you're gasping as you should with such horrible news. That's what we've been doing since we took this on. It's a deep grasp; one that grips the heart and gut and stays there. It's been growing and tightening since this whole thing began. Knowing that we have the responsibility for cats no one wants and we have no place for. Shelters, fosters and individuals are full of cats no one wants or can have. Cats that are shy or may only be residents vs interactive members of the family, are even harder to find homes for. If you want to help and save some cats from being killed. Allow one or two of them your home or get a friend to share their home. That's the only thing that will save them from being killed because there's no place for them. BE SMART. Don't become a hoarder yourself. One of the issues involved in rescue is the tenancy to help when you see need and when it comes to animals, many people that start out helping, end up hoarding. They are sensitive to the needs of animals needing home or medical attention and it's hard to see animals killed or go uncared for. Hoarding isn't good for anyone, the caregiver, who's unable to care for them or themselves properly, and the animals. Overcrowding isn't natural to animals and they're stressed by it. This is incredibly difficult. It's weighed on all our minds, Kallie, Janet, Zarema, Sue and others who are involved in the project. Henry needs the cats gone. He's keeping 3-5 cats but the rest need homes. Knowing that the only thing I can do is kill them is killing us. It hangs over our heads and hearts. So many cats with no where to go. None of the people and shelters we've called have been able to provide homes, temporary or permanent. So far, Sue has agreed to foster and access two of them. She'll be moving soon so this home is only temporary. Last week Kallie and I went in for another assessment. We were suppose to be trapping but due to a scheduling snafu, we did another assessment. Henry'd gotten a new phone. The cats ate through the wires. He asked when the cats would be going. He's tired and he has no life. He cleans litter pans several times a day. He spends money he doesn't have on food. He pays $240 a day to keep his wife in the home. He still has hopes she's coming home. Maybe she can and they can both have a caregiver but not the way the house is now. Too many cats in the house. The remaining kitties we took from the house last month, Peter, Paul and Sister Mary Francesca, Isabelle and Lynx are all doing great. Their coats are thickening, they are playing like happy kitties should and they're getting more affectionate every day. Well, except for Sister Mary Franchesca. She's going to join Lynx (and Tigger from the VA) at Megan and A's wonderful fosters of the best kind. They love, cuddle and help them get ready for their new families and they let them go when they're ready. Many of our fosters fall in love with the kitties and wonderfully, the kitties have a good home but yuck, we loose a good foster home! Lynx, a sibling or cousin of Sister Mary, is now wonderfully friendly and very relaxed. He's ready for adoption and will be on http://petfinder.com soon as will Paul, Peter and Isabelle. Paul's eye continues to change, for the better, we hope. He's going to Visionary Vet on Friday, 1/15. . He's sweet as the dickins, playful and getting to be quite handsome. Peter is continuing to run but can be held for longer periods without squirming or wanting to bolt and he sure does like to play. Sister Mary is beautiful but still very shy. She'll play but forget any pets or hugs. Isabelle's recovery was miraculous. She went from a severe URI to cool (which is what happened to the others before they died) to recovery and lots of play and lovin'. We give them all good food and plenty of immune building supplements in addition to a flower essence blend for stress, changes and to release trauma, old and new. TO THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE SENT DONATIONS - THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. WITHOUT YOUR HELP, WE COULDN'T DO WHAT WE'RE DOING.

Henry's Cats GIVE A CAT A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

First, the good news. Paul's eye is much improved. Looks like it probably isn't a tumor and the inflammation is decreasing. His lense is being reabsorbed without too much difficulty. His medication has decreased to once a day. He's playful, friendly and very curious. He doesn't like doors of any kind, on a crate or in the bathroom. He purrs up a storm and loves to be cuddled and played with. The rest of the story is the reason why I've skipped 3 days of writing. Too much. We've lost kitties. We have 5 kitties left, 4 here, one at foster (one died at foster too). One of the ones we have, Isabelle, has been battling her URI and is getting intensive care. She gets her oral and nasal antibiotics, she's tented in a cage and vaporized 3 x a day. Today, she's finally getting better. We added colostrum that we add to water and syringe feed. She's gotten about 2 oz today and it's made a great difference. She'd quit eating so it serves as nutrition and an immune boost. Peter is a bit punk, not gaining much weight and still shy. Another, a long haired grey tabby we've yet to name, is going strong, playing and eating, gaining weight, but still shy. 2 died during the night on Tuesday, one at the vet on Wednesday, and 2 died yesterday. Three had similar symptoms, 2 had different symptoms, even than each other. We're still unsure what killed them but believe it was a combination of things, their URI's, depleted immune systems and for some, possible panlucopenia. The last one, yesterday, was fine at 9am, and gone by 5pm - no vomit, no diarrhea fine in the am, then gone by 5pm. One of the symptoms shared by 4 of the ones that died is that their body temperature cools. Once a cats body temp goes cool, there's not much that can be done. As hard as this is to hear, imagine how hard it is to experience. The cat we had tested at the vet had no nutriphils, one of the bacteria fighting cells. We returned to Henry's Friday. We took the 4- 6 week old kitties - sorry we didn't get pictures, they were adorable. Long hair fuzzy kitties, 3 female, 1 male, pretty wild but because they're young, they should socialize fairly easy. They went from Henry's to Elmhurst Animal Care (EAC) for their vaccines, Frontline, and one got a Feline Leukemia test. Our Outreach Director, Janet P, found a home for them at CatNap, where they went from EAC this morning. We learned that another litter had been born about Thanksgiving. Out of 3, one tiny 2 week old remained. Her mouth and nose were red, she was missing a toe, she had scratches and small wounds all over, in addition to being overrun with fleas. The vet said she still had a lot of spunk so our wonderful volunteer and now foster mom, Kallie took her and her supplies home to feed, express and lovingly care for. Little one has 3 people caring for her (we think) round the clock. She's had a rough life. Henry rescued her from the house cats when they were throwing her around between them. He put it in the carrier before we got there. One of her siblings had no legs. Henry didn't know if it was a birth defect or if the cats ate the legs. I don't know if it's true but I've heard sometimes the dad kills kittens to encourage cats to have more little ones. I also wonder if, when living in crowded situations, they might kill the young, more volnerable ones. We're going to trap the remaining cats. Five will be returned to Henry after their surgeries, vaccines, and wellness checks and/or meds. The fate of the others is still unknown. With so many variables, healthy, sick, low funds, no place for them to go, there are decisions to be made. Each cat has to be trapped, evaluated and vetted. We are going to try to save as many as we can. We have more leeway with the project. Now that so many are out and we're helping, Henry is feeling less anxious. As hard as this has been, the next phase I think, will be harder. As I've said before, Henry is not a bad man. When his wife first started bringing cats into the house, he was getting them sterilized - the whole thing just got to be too much for him. A wife with Alzheimer's and a son with rage issues strong enough for institutionalization. He wants what's best for the cats he loves and cares for, he just needs his life back - at 89, the sooner, the better. If you'd like to be part of the team to help the house cats, please contact us by email or comment. We need all the help we can get. Of course, we always need more money, foster homes, adopters, sponsors too. If you have a couple of house cats, why not one more? We'll help with incorporating with your current babies and wouldn't adopt out sick cats to homes with healthy cats. Give a cat a home for the holidays sorry, blog won't let me post photos!

Henry's Cats - To foster

These babies are going to foster tomorrow! Meghan and Al are wonderful kitty people. Won't be long and they'll be ready for adoption. They are 2 of the friendlier of the bunch - still scared but not as much some of the others. We still have plenty available for foster. We provide all necessary food and crates, etc. WE NEED MORE FOSTER HOMES - PLEASSSSSSSSSSSSSE I spoke to Henry today. He's in the midst of a huge change of life. Two weeks before we met, he'd gotten into a car accident. His fault. His foot slipped off the pedal. He and another driver went to the hospital. He's since gone to court and lost his license. Today, he took his bicycle to get groceries. It was mild - tomorrow it won't be. So, we deal with the cats and leave him to be? I don't think so. I'm calling the Health Commissioner of his municipality, the woman who originally called us, to see if they have some sort of senior services that assist in their area. Back to the cats. All the house kitties are about the same. Still either friendly or shy, sickish or getting healthier. Mike, one of our new volunteers involved in this project found out about Z today. Not an easy thing to tell a new volunteer who, the last time he saw Z held him in his arms while he purred and nuzzled. He, Mike, has been wonderful with the kitties and is greatly responsible for a lot of their care. We're still giving doxycycline for their URI's. Most are relatively easy to medicate. 3 are difficult and 2 we can only give in food. One of them quit eating canned and we're having to feed in a pureed chicken and Prowl (see http://siriuscooks.com for info) mixture. (We have it for one of our other kitties - Binka, who has an enlarged heart and liver and digestive problems so is on a special diet - a cutie who we're hoping will grow into her enlarged organs). We're investigating a mushroom mixture to help boost their immune systems and combat the viral issues. ............We're due to see Henry on Thursday. He said there are 4 (not 3) little ones, born Nov 5, that are now running around. It's too early to take them from mom but we're hoping to evaluate their medical condition and possibly take mom and the babies for a couple weeks, then return mom. She's one of 3 we're planning to leave there. I say hoping because they hide behind a pile (the only inaccessible place in the house but for between the walls) and we're hoping they come out.... maybe we can lure them with oily tuna. Not looking forward to Thursday, the stench, the situation. The inventory. Still no place for the cats in the house. 16 cats need a home and that doesn't include the 10 kittens we have. Thank those of you who have donated money towards this project. It really helps and we most certainly appreciate it - in these tough economic times, donations are even more appreciated. We haven't even come close to covering cost so any money sent this way is welcome.

Henry's Cats - And then there were 10

Sadly, we lost Z Saturday. He left feeling loved and in comfort. In the days prior to his passing he received and responded to a lot of love, it was beautiful. He loved being held, didn't even need to be petted, he just loved laying in someone's arms where he purred and nuzzled. His eyes looked better than he had in days but he just couldn't fight the infection. Its one of the rough parts of rescue, loosing them. We understand it's part of life. THe fact that these cats came out of such a sick home, if we save 1/2 of them, it's better than their previous fate. But it's hard. Neither of the photos picture Z - the red is Paul and the greys (yet unnamed - suggestions?) are 2 of the almost socialized and healthy ones. Gladly, a lot of the kitties are doing really well. They're learning how to play, responding to their meds and a routine is settling in. Playtime in the bathroom that now houses the cat tower - metal frame about 4 ' high, surrounded by netting with hammocks in the middle for extra fun. Some, like Paul, Peter, Emma, Cat # 3, 5, 7 (we haven't named them all yet). Others just sit and watch, like they're back in their cages but more of them are learning how to play all the time. Their coats are much healthier already and hey've all put on weight. Paul has his next visit with the ophthalmologist Dec 18. Where his lense should be is a pale mass encased in vessels. It could be due to a ruptured, necrotic lens being reabsorbed, or a congenital malformation of the lense or, unlikely, an intra ocular tumor. He's on opthalmic prednizone for the inflammation - we're hoping for the best. He's a sweetie. THe friendliest and most playful of the bunch. Depending on the outcome of the visit, he's ready for adoption. We'll post here and on our petfinder account. This picture is a few days old, he looks even better now. His picture is at the top of the page. Some of the kitties are taking longer to recover from their URI infection. 5 out of the 11 are really shy and 3 of them are questionable for socialization............. if they aren't socialized, then what. Emergency volunteer hours are needed to get these cats socialized. Volunteers can come as little as often as abailable, scheduling is a must tho. - no drop in's please. We'll be going to Henry's (sorry can't take it out of 'bold') this week to inventory for age, temperment, description to see if any are able to be socialized and adopted. Still no word on placement. No one has stepped up to volunteer to take any of the feral type house cats. We're having a difficult time thinking about what's going to have to happen if no one comes forward. Decisions and end dates are going to be set soon. Writing to one of the volunteers who's going to accompany me to the house, I spoke of deadline, end date. Never have those words been as appropriate and horrid.

Henry's Cats

Another part of working with the kitties is really crappy.............. as in litter, and lots of it! They are a lot of work. Changing and filing water and food bowls, changing bedding, sweeping and washing the crates, changing and cleaning the litter boxes, cleaning the litter boxes and dishes, clearing and cleaning the playroom after each session. Times 11. This is about a 3 hour job. Meds are 2 or 3 times a day. Vaccines, de-worming, de-fleaing, topical application for sores. During the day, pans are cleaned as needed, as are water bowls, and any litter on the floor messes, sometimes, mixed with water - mmmmmmmmmm. Nice clay. Then there's placement. Where can these kitties go? Calls, emails and inquiries trying to find foster homes. People willing to take them, care for them, socialize and love them. Checking with shelters for placement or fosters. Then, when we are fortunate to find someone to agree to homing, socializing and caring for one or 2 of Henry's babies, there's training and prep and packing for the move. Then there's the paper work keeping track of them all, the visits to the vet, the wonderful 'kitty buddies' that come to help socialize the newly formed team to help care for Henry's cats. As I've stated before, we're a TNR group. Our specialty is working with cats living in the streets, to help get them sterilized and cared for. To help people who feed the cats take care of the cats. We aren't equipped to care for these or any kitties............. but we do, because no one else will, but I digress. This is only the kitties. There are still 16 cats and 3 young kittens at Henry's. We've yet to find homes for them. A home for them is a place that will take them in, let them live there, care for them. The cat may or may not become friendly. They won't attack. They're use to having people around but they haven't had much individual attention. A yard would be considered if the conditions were right. A heated garage, to come and go. Good food, TNR, vetting as necessary.......... the relocation process essentially means they have to be confined in a space (to be discussed, not a crate) at their new home for 4-6 weeks before they're let out. If cats are just moved to an outdoor shelter, they bolt in search of 'home' and live miserable lost lives. Colonies are well established and not always welcoming. If you have a good home you'd like to offer, please contact us asap. Like those that have yard cats, that can't touch them, they love them anyway. We'll be putting a deadline on the house cats soon. Henry needs them gone. We have no place for them. We do have 2 kittens going to foster care tomorrow, 2 on Tuesday and we heard back from Treehouse, they are having their biggest event of the year this weekend. THe admissions committee will review our request to take some of the kittys next week. We requested they take Peter, Paul & Z, plus Emma, Earl Grey and Ellie. The 'eye' boys, because Treehouse is better able to care for their needs and Treehouse cares for cats and the three grey/grey tabbys because they're at a crucial time in their socialization. They're really skiddish and need more individual TLC if they're going to be adoptable - because if they're not................................. then what. We need volunteers until the kitties are all placed!!!!

Peter, Paul & Z, Henry's Cats

We pulled (took the kittens to their new temporary home) the kittens on our 4^th visit there. On our 3^rd visit, Henry said he found a dead kitten (a 3 week old) in the hall. He reached into a closet and took out plastic bag that contained the dead kitten. It was in a state of decay. He said he use to bury them but can’t anymore – he’s tired and weakened by 89 years of a hard life. Remember, his wife, the woman who brought the cats in, was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s , for years before she went into a care center. We took the cat. Put it into the trunk and buried it. The smell stays in your nose for hours. On our second visit, in addition to extra litter boxes and water bowls, we brought cat toys. Most didn’t know what to do with them.

There are 3 remaining kittens , born Nov 5, who are staying until they’re are 8 weeks old. We’d pull them but there’s no place for them and the mom to go. Sad, it’s a sick house. Not just because of the urine but because of what has to be, dead cats in the walls. Cats often go to dark secluded places to die. We’ve seen them enter through a crawl space. Not to mention the Herpes /URI infections that effects the entire household. But there’s no place to go. Which is the real reason most people don’t want to deal with hoarders. Because there’s no place for the cats to go. Because some of the cats have to be killed as a result. Because we’re in this to save cats, not kill them.

Someone wanted 7 cats, 2 for her and 5 for her friend. I told her about the relocation process and I haven’t heard back from her. I also asked if she might be willing to pay the clinic fee of $26 per cat……. Said it wasn’t mandatory – that we were appreciative she’d take the cats.

We’re applying to get some of them admitted to TreeHouse’s foster/adoption progra m. We’re waiting to hear from CatNap who said they’d help. Animal Care League said they didn’t have room.

The 11 kittens we pulled range in age between about 4 – 6 months. They’ve been with us for about 10 days and they already look much better. They’re putting weight on, their coats are getting a shine and their URI’s are clearing up.

Peter, Paul & Zee, three medium and short hair orange tabbies, soft as a cloud, have terrible eye problems. Peter is blind in his right eye due to a herpes infection that probably happened before they all opened their eyes. Peter has an active herpes ulcer that has eaten away his lense. We’re hoping the ointment will stop the infection and just leave him with a blind eye. Paul has inflammation of the cornea that could be due to genetics, infection or a tumor – we’ll find out next week. So far, their first office visit with the ophthalmologist including meds was $300……. They are sweet. Paul is the most friendly and playful. Z is really warming up. After meds tonight, during lovin time, he relaxed enough to stretch out on my his back so I could pet his belly.

Part of this is great – working with the kitties. Unfortunately, it’s such a small part.