Two new kittens show up

Espy was staring at something on the shed in the next yard. At first I
thought it was a squirrel, but it was two tiny black kittens. I have
no idea how they got on top of the shed. Between the dog in the next
yard barking and Espy and me staring at them, one fell off, panics,
and runs through the chain link fence into the yard behind us.

So tiny that it runs through a chain link fence. I'm already feeding
two cats from an earlier litter. I just can't deal with any more.

Even worse, the lady two doors down from me died recently, and I think
most of the cats are living under her deck. I don't know what's going
to happen when the house is sold but the new owner is very likely to
rip up that deck since it is only 6" high and covers the whole yard
(the lady was too frail to want to do any gardening).

I think my neighbors and I will have to get someone in to fix this
group. Things are getting out of hand.

On Jun 23, 7:00*am, dgk wrote:
Espy was staring at something on the shed in the next yard. At first I
thought it was a squirrel, but it was two tiny black kittens. I have
no idea how they got on top of the shed. Between the dog in the next
yard barking and Espy and me staring at them, one fell off, panics,
and runs through the chain link fence into the yard behind us.

So tiny that it runs through a chain link fence. I'm already feeding
two cats from an earlier litter. I just can't deal with any more.

Even worse, the lady two doors down from me died recently, and I think
most of the cats are living under her deck. I don't know what's going
to happen when the house is sold but the new owner is very likely to
rip up that deck since it is only 6" high and covers the whole yard
(the lady was too frail to want to do any gardening).

I think my neighbors and I will have to get someone in to fix this
group. Things are getting out of hand.

I feel for you. As well as our 3 indoor cats, we now have 8-12 outdoor
cats for 2 canned meals a day. We have, in the last 6 months,
singlehandedly, had 5 neutered/spayed (2 who had their kittens
aborted). One was then homed with one of the vet techs. Another kitten
who showed up we placed with friends of ours who have had her spayed
now. Then about 3 weeks ago, I trapped a feral female who we had been
unable to touch by putting her 4 tiny kittens in a carrier butted up
against a trap and placed the kittens with a kitten rescue
organization (for a fairly hefty donation from us but I am very
grateful they took them because they were full). As soon as the
kittens are weaned, they will be fixed, and put up for adoption, and
the mamacat, Edie, will be spayed and returned to me to go back
outside with her neutered, tamer siblings. This has all cost us
approx. $2,000 of our own money. Meanwhile, another feral cat we feed
now has 2 maybe 3 month old kittens she is bringing around. She--the
mom--has been impossible to trap over the last few years and is the
mom of several of our outdoor neutered cats. I feel happy about those
we have had fixed but--cripe--it never freaking ends. People have been
dumping cats here recently.

I often feel overwhelmed and really depressed about it all. In
addition, I know being an outdoor cat is not the safest thing in the
world so I worry about them all the time. If one of the regulars
misses a meal, I go up and down the alleys hunting for him/her.
Sometimes I truly feel crazy and I know other people think I am.
Fortunately. we are both still gainfully employed and can afford a
little (not much more, tho) but it's so stressful--I'm on break from
it again for a month or 2 especially since this AZ and we are now
heading into the most miserable part of summer--I'm not going to be
setting traps in this kind of weather.

There are times when I feel my whole life revolves around cats and the
weird thing is--I have a lot of other interests I like to pursue. This
is not my calling!!!!!!!

So, I feel for you. None of my neighbors helped at all other than
bitching at me like it was all my fault that cats keep showing up.
Half of them are unemployed now anyway and the rest are ****-sucking
riffraff so they wouldn't be the helpful sort. Hope yours are more
helpful.

Candace (whew, thanks for the venting opportunity!)

On Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:17:52 -0700 (PDT), Candace
wrote:

On Jun 23, 7:00*am, dgk wrote:
Espy was staring at something on the shed in the next yard. At first I
thought it was a squirrel, but it was two tiny black kittens. I have
no idea how they got on top of the shed. Between the dog in the next
yard barking and Espy and me staring at them, one fell off, panics,
and runs through the chain link fence into the yard behind us.

So tiny that it runs through a chain link fence. I'm already feeding
two cats from an earlier litter. I just can't deal with any more.

Even worse, the lady two doors down from me died recently, and I think
most of the cats are living under her deck. I don't know what's going
to happen when the house is sold but the new owner is very likely to
rip up that deck since it is only 6" high and covers the whole yard
(the lady was too frail to want to do any gardening).

I think my neighbors and I will have to get someone in to fix this
group. Things are getting out of hand.

I feel for you. As well as our 3 indoor cats, we now have 8-12 outdoor
cats for 2 canned meals a day. We have, in the last 6 months,
singlehandedly, had 5 neutered/spayed (2 who had their kittens
aborted). One was then homed with one of the vet techs. Another kitten
who showed up we placed with friends of ours who have had her spayed
now. Then about 3 weeks ago, I trapped a feral female who we had been
unable to touch by putting her 4 tiny kittens in a carrier butted up
against a trap and placed the kittens with a kitten rescue
organization (for a fairly hefty donation from us but I am very
grateful they took them because they were full). As soon as the
kittens are weaned, they will be fixed, and put up for adoption, and
the mamacat, Edie, will be spayed and returned to me to go back
outside with her neutered, tamer siblings. This has all cost us
approx. $2,000 of our own money. Meanwhile, another feral cat we feed
now has 2 maybe 3 month old kittens she is bringing around. She--the
mom--has been impossible to trap over the last few years and is the
mom of several of our outdoor neutered cats. I feel happy about those
we have had fixed but--cripe--it never freaking ends. People have been
dumping cats here recently.

I often feel overwhelmed and really depressed about it all. In
addition, I know being an outdoor cat is not the safest thing in the
world so I worry about them all the time. If one of the regulars
misses a meal, I go up and down the alleys hunting for him/her.
Sometimes I truly feel crazy and I know other people think I am.
Fortunately. we are both still gainfully employed and can afford a
little (not much more, tho) but it's so stressful--I'm on break from
it again for a month or 2 especially since this AZ and we are now
heading into the most miserable part of summer--I'm not going to be
setting traps in this kind of weather.

There are times when I feel my whole life revolves around cats and the
weird thing is--I have a lot of other interests I like to pursue. This
is not my calling!!!!!!!

So, I feel for you. None of my neighbors helped at all other than
bitching at me like it was all my fault that cats keep showing up.
Half of them are unemployed now anyway and the rest are ****-sucking
riffraff so they wouldn't be the helpful sort. Hope yours are more
helpful.

Candace (whew, thanks for the venting opportunity!)


Ok, well, I guess I can feed a few more. My neighbors are pretty good
about things and one knows someone who does the TNR thing, so perhaps
we can get it done.

I'd set up a feeding station and hostel for the outdoor cats but my
backyard is fenced in to keep my three in the yard. They would not
appreciate my entertaining guests.