Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Help With a TNR Project

Domino.
Domino.

Kittens shouldn’t be born outdoors where they are subject to predators, parasites, weather conditions and neighbors who hate them. Hopefully Domino will be the last of the kittens who are born at this house. After months of researching the property ownership and potential demolition and trying to herd cats into eating on a regular schedule when neighbors toss their leftovers into the yard for them to eat, we are finally down to the wire to trap all the cats at this house, with support of the owner. I am grateful to the Homeless Cat Management Team for helping with the TNR surgeries, and a free-for-ferals clinic is coming up. Pittsburgh C.A.T. also took in a litter of kittens and their mom. None of this is really free, though, it’s only done through donations and out-of-pocket expenses. Read about the situation and scroll down to see where you can donate to HCMT, Pittsburgh CAT or to me to help bring these cats to a safe place.

The situation this weekend

The feeders arrived on Sunday to find the grass and shrubs cut and “no trespassing” signs all over the place, and the neighbors saying it was people “from the bank”, presuming the bank repossessed the house. It was actually the original owner who wasn’t happy to find us there despite the no trespassing signs, but we convinced him we had already made progress and we might as well finish. The house will close and change hands in a month. The current owner has to clean up the lot or be cited and owe fines, so things are changing for the cats already.

The roll call includes:

  • Domino, above, and four other kittens in his litter
  • their black and white mom
  • four two-week tabby kittens
  • tabby mom
  • original black and white mom
  • long-haired tabby Big Guy
  • orange tabby occasional visitor
  • Braveheart, one of last year’s kittens
  • Sammy, an abandoned cat who joined the group

The total is 16. Sunday we trapped Braveheart, and found the tabby mother with kittens and used the kittens to trap her. The feeder had already pulled Domino, just picked him up while he was eating, though all his siblings had taken off. All the kittens are of age to be socialized, and a few of the adults appear to need some work. Cats have been breeding for generations in this house, though, and the ferals are pretty committed to being feral.

Two of Domino’s siblings in the shed where the live, spotlit by my flashlight. (UPDATE: We trapped the black kitten Monday night, photo below.)

The others in the litter are gray and white and two tuxie kittens. Their mother is a committed feral, and when the feeder picked up Domino the mother cat attacked her. She is always seen escorted by her brawny tabby man, but I couldn’t get a photo of the two of them watching us from under the neighbor’s deck. (UPDATE: We trapped this mom Monday night, photo below.)

The mother cat.
The mother cat.

Braveheart shows some signs of being socialized, but will probably take a lot of time to do so. (She was trapped Sunday.)

A young tabby and white cat.
A young tabby and white cat.

Sammy was around Sunday too. The feeders claim Sammy is somewhat social, but was not in the mood.

Sammy.
Sammy.

Those darling tabby kittens will be adopted in a minute once they are ready, but they have quite some time to go. (Trapped on Sunday.)

We put the kittens in a carrier and placed it behind the trap, but mom kept her distance in daylight.

Trap with kittens setup.
Trap with kittens setup.

Later Sunday night, after dark, she came around and went right into the trap.

The Tabby Mom
The Tabby Mom

UPDATE: Monday night we trapped the

Thanks to Pittsburgh C.A.T. for taking in this mom and her kittens to foster and rehome. If mom insists on being feral, I will take her to my friend’s farm.

This orange guy showed up recently, an intact male possibly looking to form his own harem there. He’s absolutely gorgeous!

An orange male who showed up.
An orange male who showed up.

The original black and white mom.

A tux kitty who lives in the abandoned house.
A tux kitty who lives in the abandoned house.

Help with costs for these cats and others

Homeless Cat Management Team

You can make a donation to the Homeless Cat Management Team (HCMT) and let them know it’s for these cats—I will send you a gift certificate.

HCMT is a 501c3 and all donations are tax-deductible. Visit the website at www.homelesscat.org

Paypal

Send directly to Paypal: [email protected]

Mail your donation

Send a check to:
Homeless Cat Management Team
P. O. Box 100203
Pittsburgh, PA 15233

Pittsburgh C.A.T.

Pittsburgh C.A.T. is not a 501c3 but all donations go directly into cat care. Raising the litter of five kittens including surgeries for all and mother, vaccinations, any illnesses that come up, all adds up to hundreds of dollars. You can use Paypal: [email protected]. If you’d like to send a check, please ask and I’ll give you the address.

Donate for a Discount

To donate to me, visit this article on Portraits of Animals which explains how to donate to me for a purpose. I will send you a gift certificate in an amount as described in the article: from $5.00 for donating $25.00 to $20.00 for donating $100.00.

~~~

I may continue to be a little scattered with posting as long as I’m working on this, and other rescues. Thanks for your understanding!


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From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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