Getting eaten out of house and home

Nom, nom, nom....

Yes, the kittens are eating us out of house and home. They go through two big bags of Kitten Chow weekly, and two 34 count boxes of wet food. So if anyone is shopping this weekend and would like to grab us kitten chow or canned food (of any size and any quantity) the kittens would greatly appreciate it. We really need the wet food for feral kitten taming. They need to loooove humans, and they won't loooove humans who hand out only dry kibble.

And paper plates...wow! We go through so many paper plates! With the weather hot, it is important that dirty wet food dishes not sit out, so we feed on paper plates that can be immediately disposed of.

Our mail carrier also left some used towels hanging off the mailbox, bless her! We can always use towels, should you ever change the colors in your bathroom, downsize your linen closet, or find any in the "free" pile at a garage sale.

Friends and neighbors sometimes bring by what their own finicky cats won't eat. Valarie and Craig's Delilah cat has been especially picky:

And more sadly, we sometimes learn friends have lost a beloved cat, by what turns up on the porch. Ollie was our neighbor's sweet pudgy orange longhaired cat with diabetes who used to stay here when they went on longer vacations. It was really kind of them to think of us when dealing with the sadness of losing him. I'll miss him as well. He was a sweet boy.

Thank you to everyone who has helped out the summer. I'm still picking away at my thank you notes and taking kitten photos for the blog on to get them adopted. All of the shelters are swamped with kittens, so many have no place to go, especially the shy ones.

If anyone would like to donate via mail, we have an Amazon wish list here at this link!

Jack and The Leewit share summer!

Our cats have a catio, and Jack and The Leewit have a "Purrfect Fence" at their home and can enjoy the summer sun.

All cats should be so lucky to have both a safe indoor and outdoor life! Thanks for the photos, Mary. You remind me to get out and enjoy this warmth while we have it!

Found cat returned to owner!

I finished up a very small colony in Van Etten, and just a few days after returning the feral momcat to her new spayed and kittenless life back home, her owner called that a new friendly cat had appeared. I asked her to feed him, and due to work travel, delayed in picking him up until the owner contacted me again in despair. The little guy was there every day, and she was worried he would get hit in the road, where traffic was heavier than normal due to cars being diverted around construction

He was indeed a sweet guy...and neutered! My friend Suzan from Found Animals Foundation was visiting for the Cornell Maddies Shelter Medicine Conference in Ithaca, and she gave him a scan. No microchip. So I contacted the SPCA in his county.

A week later the owner contacted me again. She had seen what looked like this cat posted as Lost on Facebook. She tracked down the person who posted the message and gave her my phone number (Note to readers: PLEASE don't give out my phone number! In this case it worked out OK, but other times that can make my life hell). I sent the woman a video of the kitty in my care and she was overjoyed that he was her "Jack."



Turns out she lived up in the woods above the home of the colony caretaker and her cat was trekking through the woods to visit a new place. I brought along a couple of collars and tags for her to train him with, and she also is going to get him microchipped. It's so nice to meet a thankful cat owner who was actively searching for their cat! Jack had originally been found as an unneutered stray, and she took him to the Chemung SPCA to be neutered and vaccinated. It would be nice if every stray found such a happy ending.

He might have started hanging out at the neighbor's house because Momcat was now fixed and didn't have kittens to protect. She probably had been driving him off, previously. There's nothing more fierce than a momcat protecting her kittens! While the caretaker had checked with neighbors, this house was up behind another on a shared driveway, and could not be seen from the road.

Indoor/Outdoor cat? Collar and/or microchip that guy!

Coraline

August already! Just when I was feeling summer might be under control...it's pretty much gone!

It seems like I've been living behind my computer for work. Coraline has been keeping me company

Coraline is a tiny little girl from the Stinkbug litter. She's very quiet and sweet, and is going to be a slim, thoughtful little girl. I have to confess she is one of my favorites.





If my butt is taking up too much room on the chair, she is happy to snooze near me on the table as I work:

It's odd to have a crowd of friendly kittens! They follow me around like a little cloud.

My apologies for being absent from the blog. So much to do...so few hours in the day. If anyone has a hint on how to add a few more, I'd appreciate learning your secret!