Strays - what to do? LONG

Mama cat and five little ones have been successfully loaded up without
incident and are now trucking on down to the Bear Creek Sanctuary.

I told Carolyn there might be someone from an internet group wanting to send
her a contribution and asked if she has Paypal. "No one ever sends us money"
she says. Apparently her husband's social security check has been the source
of all their funds to date, except for adoption fees.

Anyway I gave her some food and toys for the babies, and promised money when
I sell the windows. If people here would like to support their effort,
contact them directly:

John & Carolyn Jordan
RR 1 Box 441
Ava MO 65608
Cell: 417-543-1622
bearcreekrescue @ getgoin (dot) net

I am sooooooooo grateful to have found these folks. They're not young, he's
71 and she's not far behind, and they do all the work themselves, and pay
for it all to boot.

Absolutely amazing.... If I lived out in the country with a retired husband
and a bit of extra money, I'd be doing something like this.

"Pat" wrote in message
...
Mama cat and five little ones have been successfully loaded up
without
incident and are now trucking on down to the Bear Creek Sanctuary.


Bast tries to look after her own. If you had found this place a day
or two ago, one or two kittens would have been lost.

Jo

Pat wrote:

Mama cat and five little ones have been successfully loaded up without
incident and are now trucking on down to the Bear Creek Sanctuary.

That is wonderful news! I haven't commented, but I have been reading this
entire thread.

I am sooooooooo grateful to have found these folks. They're not young, he's
71 and she's not far behind, and they do all the work themselves, and pay
for it all to boot.

Absolutely amazing.... If I lived out in the country with a retired husband
and a bit of extra money, I'd be doing something like this.

I guess they just love animals, and have fashioned their own, home-grown
animal rescue operation. That's great.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

Pat wrote:
Great news -- a shelter I contacted near Columbia, five hours away, emailed
me back with contact info for a local rescue person who is only 10 miles
away. She said she will take them all, find homes for the babies, get mama
spayed and keep her.

That is great news! I'm so glad you found this person. Hope you can
capture the boy with the crooked tail, as well.

Poor pot-bellied piggies. They're very smart animals. A friend of my
sister's has one, and my sister stopped eating pork after she met it.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

I miss them.... It was nice having kittens around even for a short time. I
spent a good part of the afternoon with them, watching them play and
handling them from time to time, trying to get them used to a human's touch.
Three of them were especially shy of being handled. I could sense their fear
and felt so bad knowing they had probably been hurt by people when they were
smaller. I will never understand how anyone can harm a kitten, or any other
creature.

Pat wrote:

I miss them.... It was nice having kittens around even for a short time. I
spent a good part of the afternoon with them, watching them play and
handling them from time to time, trying to get them used to a human's touch.
Three of them were especially shy of being handled. I could sense their fear
and felt so bad knowing they had probably been hurt by people when they were
smaller. I will never understand how anyone can harm a kitten, or any other
creature.

That's not necessarily so. They might just not have been used to humans.
They aren't born to be pets, they have to be socialized into it. Otherwise,
they are afraid of people. They're prey animals, so the fear of an unknown
species is probably built in.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

Pat wrote:
Mama cat and five little ones have been successfully loaded up without
incident and are now trucking on down to the Bear Creek Sanctuary.

I told Carolyn there might be someone from an internet group wanting
to send her a contribution and asked if she has Paypal. "No one ever
sends us money" she says. Apparently her husband's social security
check has been the source of all their funds to date, except for
adoption fees.

Anyway I gave her some food and toys for the babies, and promised
money when I sell the windows. If people here would like to support
their effort, contact them directly:

John & Carolyn Jordan
RR 1 Box 441
Ava MO 65608
Cell: 417-543-1622
bearcreekrescue @ getgoin (dot) net

I am sooooooooo grateful to have found these folks. They're not
young, he's 71 and she's not far behind, and they do all the work
themselves, and pay for it all to boot.

Absolutely amazing.... If I lived out in the country with a retired
husband and a bit of extra money, I'd be doing something like this.

You did a great job in finding those wonderful people and helping the
kittens and their mother.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Bagheera & Shadow)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:46:44 +0000, bastXXXette wrote:

Pat wrote:

I miss them.... It was nice having kittens around even for a short
time. I spent a good part of the afternoon with them, watching them
play and handling them from time to time, trying to get them used to
a human's touch. Three of them were especially shy of being handled.
I could sense their fear and felt so bad knowing they had probably
been hurt by people when they were smaller. I will never understand
how anyone can harm a kitten, or any other creature.

That's not necessarily so. They might just not have been used to humans.
They aren't born to be pets, they have to be socialized into it.
Otherwise, they are afraid of people. They're prey animals, so the fear
of an unknown species is probably built in.

From first-hand experience, the age at which feral kittens first
encounter friendly humans makes a big difference. I once hand-raised
some kittens that I had captured when their eyes had only been open a few
days. They domesticated readily. Once they have learned, from watching
Mama, that humans are something to run from, it is considerably more
difficult to tame them (but not impossible).

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

"John F. Eldredge" wrote

| From first-hand experience, the age at which feral kittens first
| encounter friendly humans makes a big difference. I once hand-raised
| some kittens that I had captured when their eyes had only been open a few
| days. They domesticated readily. Once they have learned, from watching
| Mama, that humans are something to run from, it is considerably more
| difficult to tame them (but not impossible).

That may be the ticket then. I am sure mama was once someone's pet, because
she was easy to touch and purred for me when I stroked her back. Plus there
are lots of humans around in this city environment.

"John F. Eldredge" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:46:44 +0000, bastXXXette wrote:

Pat wrote:

I miss them.... It was nice having kittens around even for a short
time. I spent a good part of the afternoon with them, watching them
play and handling them from time to time, trying to get them used to
a human's touch. Three of them were especially shy of being handled.
I could sense their fear and felt so bad knowing they had probably
been hurt by people when they were smaller. I will never understand
how anyone can harm a kitten, or any other creature.

That's not necessarily so. They might just not have been used to humans.
They aren't born to be pets, they have to be socialized into it.
Otherwise, they are afraid of people. They're prey animals, so the fear
of an unknown species is probably built in.

From first-hand experience, the age at which feral kittens first
encounter friendly humans makes a big difference. I once hand-raised
some kittens that I had captured when their eyes had only been open a few
days. They domesticated readily. Once they have learned, from watching
Mama, that humans are something to run from, it is considerably more
difficult to tame them (but not impossible).

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

It's definitely not impossible (but much easier with younger ferals). I
have even seen messages where people claimed that feral cats more than six
weeks old *never* become friendly. Also not true! My first cat was feral,
approximately eight months old. It took about two years before I felt that
he was truly "bonded," but he became an absolutely wonderful companion. He
adapted to indoor living, even learned walk on a harness and leash when we
traveled, and lived to be about 20 years old. He was another of my cats
that was obviously a "one-person cat" (just as Holly is) because he always
preferred to stay at somewhat of a distance from other people, but he became
a big lapcat with me. I could even turn him upside down on my lap to brush
his stomach, and he would relax on my lap while I trimmed his claws. I
don't think anyone would have known he was formerly feral if they had not
been told.

MaryL