Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 12/20/09

12/20

Again there were last minute cancellations for the Tempe clinic and Suzie and I had to scramble and find a couple of trapping jobs to fill the clinic. We settled on a couple jobs nearby so it would not be too hectic in the morning for picking up traps left out overnight. We ended up with ten cats from one place (eight that night and two overnight) and three from the other. (two that night and one overnight). These were people who really needed our help. I cannot emphasize enough how much financial assistance is needed for caregivers and cats.

We again had too many cats at the clinic and the vet could not fix four of the cats we had trapped - one from the group of ten, and none of the group of three. These would be going to the vet on Monday. One can never predict what the caregivers and cats will do. Since some of our cats were needed to fill the clinic (75 cats maximum), our efforts were not wasted.

We both worked at the clinic that day and I took the fixed cats home for aftercare along with the four awaiting surgery the next day. As I drove home I thought of the number of times I've driven home from the E. Valley clinics with cats in the last six years. Suzie set additional traps at both locations that night to try to snag stragglers. It is important to fix ALL the cats, especially the females, in a colony to fix the problem.

12/21


I received a call at 6:00 AM that the resort in central Phoenix had trapped another cat. I headed down there to pick up the cat along with the four carryovers from the day before that were stored in my garage with the already fixed cats. Suzie would be picking up a couple of strgglers at one of the trapping jobs form the day before. On the way to the first vet on the 51 freeway I started to hear a periodic clicking noise in the rear of my vehicle and its frequency changed as I increased and then decreased speed. When I got to the second vet I looked under the car thinking a plastic bag or some other debris was hanging from it - nothing. When I got home Bill looked at the tires as I rolled forward and voila! There was a quarter inch bolt with a washer embedded in the tire. Fortunately the tire had not gone flat or I'd have been stuck on the freeway with a carload of feral cats.

So, Bill and I loaded the nine fixed cats from Sunday into the Jeep and he helped me release them. We then drove to the tire store and fortunately they were able to fix the tire. In this business one cannot be without a reliable vehicle and regular maintenance is a must. Nothing could be worse than being stuck in the "back of beyond" or in an unsafe neighborhood at night with a load of cats on board.

This was the week the Best Friends photographer was coming to Phoenix to get pictures for the article they are writing about us for their bi-monthly magazine. She was coming down today and would be in town through Wednesday. She was meeting me at my place at 5:00 PM to go trapping. We had a busy week planned. There would be only three days of vet appointments due to the Christmas holiday so we we'd be busy. It is important to fix cats before kitten season, not only to prevent kittens from being born but because it is less expensive to fix cats that are not pregnant. NOTE: It's time to start fixing cats before kitten season!


That night I had a 12 cat job planned. Fortuntely, I was able to get my vehicle with the new tires in time for her arrival. Molly, the photographer, met me at my house about 5:00 PM and we drove to a nearby residence to trap. The caregiver had trapped before and had confined most of the already fixed cats to cages and carriers (don't ask me how). This was one of those jobs where ALL the cats were caught within one hour. We caught a total of 13 cats. We left the eartipped cats in traps overnight and set traps before we left. Molly got some good photos but we started too late and lost the light. Tomorrow night we would need to start trapping earlier while there was still good light...


12/22


I ended up going to two vets in the morning and Molly met me at the second vet. I released the resort cat very early in the specified place. They had caught another cat but it turned out to be one of cats we had fixed last week. There were no more cats in traps at last night's location. I met Molly at the second clinic and introduced her to the vet who gave her the tour. Of course I thanked the vet for helping us day after day with these feral cats. Each morning when I am there, he comes in the back and asks in a happy voice,"How many do we have today?" We met back at my house to discuss the day's itinerary. I found out that she wanted photos during the day of eartipped cats. Knowing that most feral cats are usually hiding during the day, this seemed like a tall order.

We loaded up the stragglers from Sunday and met Suzie to release the cats. She got some great photos of the release including one in this blog where the cat actually ran into the camera as it bolted from the trap!


After the second release we headed for Suzie's to hook up with Beth and John who were to wash traps for that night's trapping job. Beth and John are Best Friends volunteers and wanted to meet Molly and talk about their sanctuary. Meanwhile, Suzie and I got on the computer searching our database for a big previously trapped job nearby where cats might be out during the day. We found two places. After washing traps we all headed over to the first location and about ten cats were milling around. I had trapped over 30 cats there and they were ALL eartipped. This was a perfect place for her to take some great shots. From there she and Suzie headed over to a trailer park near 67th Ave. and Glendale where we had trapped over 90 cats in the past several years. This was nirvana for a feral cat photographer. I headed home as I also had traps to wash and cats to pick up at the vet that afternoon. We had a big trapping job that night for 20+ cats and Molly was to meet us there later in the afternoon. She spent most of afternoon at the trailer park.

I headed home to wash traps at my place and as I was about to cross I-17 at Thunderbird I got a call from the warehouse where I'd tried to drop-trap the big nasty tomcat. They had him in a trap. So I detoured south literally moving from the middle lane to the right turn lane to pick him up. It was 11:30 AM. I called the vet immediately and they agreed to take him late. So I headed back to the vet again (I was up to three trips there). I'd be back at both vets about 4:00 PM to pick up cats - a total of 14 cats. I then loaded up 17 traps and headed to that night's trapping job. Barbara and Suzie had met Molly there early and they were in high gear when I arrived. We ended up with 22 cats at this location. There would be no second night trapping due to the holiday, but we were confident we had caught them all. Still, one would never know in a neighorhood like this. There are so many unsterilzed animals is these low-income neighborhoods and without a conserted effort to mobilize the community - well, there will be more cats to fix. We also had a nice dinner with Molly while waiting for stragglers to go in the traps. A couple were caught overnight. All 22 went to a single vet the next day.

12/23

After taking the 22 cats to the vet in the AM we released the 14 cats the next morning and met Molly back at my house. The tomcat would go back later that morning. Molly planned to spend the day at the trailer park with the manager looking for great shots of eartipped cats. - before heading back to Kanab. She had a lot of great photos to choose from for the article.

12/24

We released the 22 cats back in the AM and were done for the week except for lots more dirty traps and covers to wash. There were no vets open on Christmas Eve or that weekend due to the holiday.

Next week - New Year's trapping extraganza!

Please Support Spay Neuter Hotline Veterinarians

The Spay Neuter Hotline is lucky to work with a number of veterinary clinics in the state. We recognize those private clinics in the greater Phoenix area that have gone the extra mile for the animals, and ask you to support them when you need a veterinarian, or make a recommendation to family and friends.

This list includes the vets who do surgeries for our Trap Neuter Return program, and the vets who have been with the Hotline doing low cost spay neuter surgeries for companion animals for years! When you visit their clinics, please thank them for their service to the community. Let them know you are a member/supporter of ADLA and the Spay Neuter Hotline, too!

Please support:

Dr. Melanie Peters
Spay Neuter Clinic
1425 W. Southern, Tempe  (480) 829-1002

Dr. Katie Andre
Bethany Animal Hospital
2524 W. Bethany Home Rd, Phoenix  (602) 242-1657

Dr. Arden Anderson
North Phoenix Spay Neuter Clinic
1610 E. Bell Rd., Phoenix   (602) 787-4240

Dr. Suzanne Johnsen
Van Aken Pet Hospital
3869 W. Indian School, Phoenix   (602) 278-6632

Dr. Aleck Burgess
Indian School Pet Clinic
7342 W. Indian School, Phoenix  (623) 846-3979

Dr. Liz Archuleta
Spay Neuter Clinic
925 S. Gilbert Rd., Mesa   (480) 633-1734

Dr. Lisa Levin
Spay Neuter Clinic
12416 N. 28th Dr., Phoenix  (602) 863-0116

Dr. Mel Pence
Arizona Spay Neuter Clinic
6835 E. Thomas Rd., Scottsdale  (480) 874-3647

Dr. Kathryn Allen
Indian Bend Animal Hospital
3923 E. Thunderbird Rd., # 123, Phoenix (602) 867-2992

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 12/13/09

As the New Year approaches I've been thinking of how lucky we've been to continue a TNR program with the Animal Defense League of Arizona. For those who do not know, I've volunteered with ADLA a long time and with the Spay Neuter Hotline almost since its beginning in 1991. You may not know this but over the past several years the Spay Neuter Hotline has been raising money through grants and donations to help pay for spay and neuter of tame and feral cats for those in need. So it seemed like a good idea to have our own TNR program. With the support of ADLA we are on our way to making this the most successful TNR program ever. I am now confident my vision of solving the free-roaming cat overpopulation problem in Maricopa County will become a reality. I become more committed to this cause each day. And every cat counts. Being on the "front lines", I see progress being made each day as I trap more and more already eartippd cats in neighborhoods I thought had never been trapped. I am now confident most people do want to fix their cats, both tame and feral, and only lack the resources to do it. We are making a difference.


I'd also like to thank the late Harry Bartel for his support and encouragement to go forward even in our darkest hour - when we thought there would no longer be a Valleywide TNR program. Thank you Harry for giving us the confidence to go forward...


12/13

Grant and I were trapping at three locations for the 1/13 clinic in N. Phoenix. We trapped ALL 14 cats at the first location that night. We did not trap aby cats that night at the second location but when Grant checked the traps early Sunday morning, all three cats were trapped! We never actually trapped at the third location as the cats lived in a hostile neighbor's backyard and the gate was locked. I did not like the idea of leaving traps there anyway. The cats were fed in the alley behind the house and when we met the caregiver, there were no cats in sight. This job would have to wait.

There were 60 cats at the clinic that day and lots of females. We had some new volunteers and everyone worked a long day. Tempe came in light that day and we only did about 110 cats. I say ONLY, but fixing 110 cats at two clinics is not too shabby. There would be a LOT fewer kittens this spring. I'd like to thank everyone who helped at these two clinics.

After cleaning up at the clinic it was nearly 4:00 PM before I got home with the 17 cats needing to be overnighted.. I'd had a lot of supplies to haul including spay packs from both clinics needing to be sterilized during the week in preparation for next week's clinic. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes in preparation for the weekend clinics.

12/14

Suzie helped me with the release the next day as we'd be working on stats later in the AM. We spend a lot of time working on stats in order to keep good records of how many cats have been trapped and where. It is important to keep track of this data for a lot of reasons, but mostly to show how successful we have been to grantors, donors and supporters like you. After that, I had to pick up 20 traps from some caregivers who had trapped for the clinic on Sunday. This had been a community effort and their community assocation and neighors were supporting the effort financially. It was exciting to see the commitment and enthusiasm of neighbors in a central Phoenix neighborhood. It is amazing what can happen in a community when neighbors band together to help cats. They even invited us to table at their home tour event in the Spring in order to spread the word. I had no trapping job that night - we had finished both jobs...

12/15

This night I'd be headed out on an interesting trapping job. As I do not reveal exactly where I trap for obvious reasons, all I can say is this night's job woud be at a very upscale resort in central Phoenix. A guest from California had seen feral cats while eating at the resort's restaurant and emailed me for help. She had already cleared TNR with management after initially wanting me to find homes for the cats. She offered a large donation if I would help them. There were only four cats. I of course, sprung into action due to the incentive of the large donation.

When I got there it became clear this would be a covert operation. The engineering dept. was in charge of the trapping and they had to set traps late at night as they did not want guests to see traps or cats. Even delivery of supplies to the hotel are accomplished before sunrise so guests cannot see trucks. So I became only the transporter. This would mean being on call each morning to pick up cats before it got light - along with all the delivery trucks. At the same time I'd pick up any newly trapped cats. Trapped cats would be left in a hidden location in the morning near the laundry and someone would meet me to release any trapped cats. They ended up catching two cats, one at a time, that week. They caught another cat the following week. As of this writing there is still one more cat to trap, the mother cat of course. I'll keep you up-to-date on this unusual trapping job. Needless to say I'll need to be "on call" each morning, waiting for their call.

12/16

I took the one trapped cat from the resort to the vet. The good news is it was a young tortie, a female. That night I had a trapping job with Barbara. Suzie was out of commission as she had company all week. This was a 15+ job in central Phoenix. The caregiver had trapped cats a few years ago but "missed one". The result, more cats needing to be fixed. As luck would have it we trapped all 12 cats that night. There were only 12 cats, not 15+ cats. Funny how some caregivers overestimate the number of cats being fed and some grossly underestimate the number of cats. Could it be that all those black cats and brown tabbys all look alike?

12/17

I took cats to the vet in the AM and after running around all day picking up and delivering traps I'd have 12 cats in the garage that night. The neighbor was to set traps at the elderly man's house that night but never bothered to set them. I should have learned by now I should do things myself to make sure they get done. There may be one male left there but he'd be difficult to catch now.

12/18

All I had was to release the 12 cats in the morning. I was done for the week.

Suzie and I would be trapping the next night to help fill the Tempe clinic on 12/20. Again, there were a lot of last minute cancellations for Sunday. I am not complaining - I love trapping!

Next week would be a short one due to the Christmas holiday. The vets would be open for business and we were having a special visit from a photographer from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. Stay tuned for some good photos...

Congratulations to ADLA's Veterinarian of the Year

Dr. Melanie Peters of the Tempe Spay Neuter Clinic has been named ADLA's Veterinarian of the Year.

Dr. Peters has been a huge supporter of ADLA's Trap Neuter Return program for feral cats in Maricopa County. She performs spays & neuters at clinics throughout the year. She has provided pro bono care for injured feral cats, and has performed thousands of surgeries.

Of all the veterinarians who support the Spay Neuter Hotline, Dr. Peters stands out because of the number of surgeries she performs and the compassion she shows for ferals.


Dr. Peters is pictured above at the clinic on 12-20-09. She is a very good sport as she is wearing the hand-made tiara crafted by Spay Neuter Hotline Coordinator Sonia Hernandez.


Thanks Dr. Peters!


If you need Spay Neuter or TNR assistance, please call the Hotline
866-952-SPAY (7729), email feralcats@adlaz.org, or visit the Spay Neuter Hotline,

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 12/6/09

12/6

On Sunday we had the regular Tempe clinic. There was no overflow once again thanks to Suzie's extraordinary scheduling. There were two vets that day and there were exactly 110 cats, just what we had planned. No one can imagine how difficult it is to predict the exact number of cats that will be trapped. There are so many variables that make up the equation. Suzie is the expert, hand's down. No one could do what she does week after week as she has done for more than seven years.

12/7

I had what started out as 11-12 cat job on Monday night but it turned out there were only three or four ferals. Eight others were tame cats living in the house. These I'd do later through the MCACC voucher program. The caregiver was quite elderly, in poor health, had limited financial resources, and no vehicle. She needed help. I did manage to catch two cats that evening and would try for the others the next night when I'd be out trapping two more jobs in the same area with Suzie and Barbara.

12/8

I took the two cats to the vet in the AM. It seemed weird having so few cats in that day. The doctor looked at me and said, "Only two cats?". There was one other cat there for a total of three cats. It was sad as he could have done 15 cats that day and these vets slots were going to waste. It would be kitten season soon and every cat done now is critical, not only to prevent kittens but it is less expensive to do cats that are not pregnant. In this business it's all about money and timing.

I picked the two cats up in the afternoon, deposited them in the garage, and headed over to Suzie's with traps for another night of trapping. We first set traps at my previous night's job and drove off to the two other jobs. Of course my first stop was at the gas station.

The first was a mobile home in Glendale we had trapped twice before. This difficult and demanding caregiver is disabled and feeds at the top of a wheelchair ramp rising up from the carport. This ramp extends into the back yard with railings making it difficult to set traps (and also on the landing which is very small). One has to climb through the bars to set traps in the backyard after stepping over cat dishes and other debris on the small landing. We were going for six to eight cats and set ten traps before leaving for the third location. For sure we'd catch a couple of already fixed cats. We'd be back later in the evening to check traps.

This next trapping location was a new (first time trapping), an eight to nine cat job in the 85037 zip code. I think this zip code has more cats than any other place in the valley. Fortunately, this neighborhood association had money from the city of Phoenix for fixing a limited number of feral cats. The caregiver had suffered two broken legs and had an ambulatory husband confined to the bedroom. Both needed a full-time caregiver who was present. I have to comment that I'd never seen so much useless stuff in one house and garage. Collection of "stuff" seems to go with the territory - i.e. feeding lots of feral cats. I could not resist suggesting to her that she should donate some of these prized possessions to our next yard sale. She said, "You can have everything in the garage". This included several walkers, numerous models of toilets for the challenged, and even a wheelchair!

The cats went in and out of a partially enclosed back room. We had to navigate through a narrow passageway through a myriad of odd items stacked as high as the vaulted ceiling. We did manage to trap all the cats (seven that night and one overnight) despite several other impediments including setting traps in the backyard as well. To get in the backyard Barbara and I had to cut down an overgrown bougainvillea blocking the gate using a bent pair of clippers the caregiver managed to find in the garage full of "stuff".

Suzie would be checking traps in the AM. After a relaxing dinner with Barbara we loaded up, set traps overnight, and headed back to the mobile home to check traps. We had five cats in traps. Then we set off to the first location where we had caught the third and last cat. The fourth cat, the mother of course, had not been seen for a while.

12/9

I took the five mobile home park cats to one vet and met Suzie at the second vet with the other eight. She had the stragglers that had been caught overnight. We had a total of 15 cats in that day, ten at one vet and five at the other. There would be no second night trapping at either location.

12/10

After loading up 15 cats in the early morning I picked up Suzie for the release. We'd be at the three locations again releasing cats. Of course there would be the usual cleaning out and washing traps as we had a big clinic in north Phoenix on Sunday and lots of caregivers would need traps from me for that clinic. I love it when there are no traps in my depot. This means they are ALL catching cats and this is where they should be, not sitting idle.

That night I'd be down once again in "the hood" downtown trapping a mother cat and two kittens and trying to drop-trap a male cat a couple houses away. I'd been after him for a long time and now it was time to get serious. Well, I caught him within about 20 minutes despite having to wait for all the eartipped cats coming to eat first. Finally he could not resist! The other three were nowhere to be found and I'd have to make the trek down there in the AM to catch them. Another trip was required but it was well worth it as I had the tomcat in my possession and he had caused problems there for years.

The nice thing about this place is that a concerned resident watches out for new cats in the area and always calls me before things get out of hand. TNR is truly a community effort.

12/11

I was up early and back at the previous night's location by 6:00 AM. The three cats were waiting for breakfast just as predicted. I caught all three within 30 minutes and was off to the vet with the tomcat, his girlfriend, and the two offspring. I say this not knowing of course who the father was, but if it was him, he'd have no additional child support to pay!

12/12

I released these four cats in the AM and was home by 9:00 AM to check out traps to the four caregivers trapping for the clinic on 12/13. We'd be shooting for 60 cats in north Phoenix and 75 cats in Tempe. Grant Erling and I would be trapping Saturday night to help fill the clinic the next day. We'd had a couple of cancellations and would have to find more cats to fill the clinic. These big clinics usually result in last minute challenges and this was typical. Stay tuned...

This week's blog post highlights some of the desperate situations out there. By this I mean there are caregivers in dire need of help. The Spay Neuter Hotline TNR Program depends on donations to help these cats and caregivers. I know you probalby get tired of my pleas but please consider becoming a monthly donor to help those in need. For information please contact Sonia Hernandez at shernandez@adlaz.org

To those of you who are already monthly donors...Thank you for caring.

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 11/29/09

"It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it."— Albert Einstein

Thank you to all of those dedicated individuals out there who work tirelessly to improve the lives of homeless cats...

11/29

It felt strange not having a clinic on 1129 as it was Thanksgiving weekend. I would not be trapping that night but would be picking up one cat in the AM along with some tame kittens...

11/30

I picked up the last cat for a caregiver I had helped a while back. It had been too young to fix at the time and was now ready. I also picked up four tame kittens that were being fixed through the MCACC voucher program (from a feral mom from a colony I'd trapped previously). I often transport cats and kittens to the vet for those who do not have transportation. This is an important part of what I do as many cats and kittens go unsterilized, not only because people do not know about low-cost and even free S/N, but because caregivers have no way of getting the cats to and from the vet. The four kittens went back to the caregiver that night and the other kitten would go back the next morning. It was very satisfying to know ALL the cats in both colonies were now fixed! Seeing a sea of eartips is one of the most rewarding experiences I know of.

12/1

Tuesday night I had a trapping job for nine cats for a caregiver in Buckeye. It is a long way out there but Suzie and Barbara were headed to Tonopah, even further out, to trap 10-15 cats. Grant Erling went with me and we left early to beat the traffic westbound on the I-10 freeway. The cats were being fed by a lady in a senior living center and she had the support of management which made it nice as there would be no confrontation with angry mobs wanting the cats removed.

There were supposed to be about nine cats. However, shortly after we started trapping we found out someone else was feeding them at the other end of the complex. We set traps over there and right away caught three cats! There was also a straggler tomcat not counted in the mix making it a total of 13 cats to be trapped. As we were so far out I did not want to make another trip back there the next morning to retrieve trapped cats. We had to stay to get them all. It was 47 miles each way or nearly 100 miles round trip out there from my place.

We caught the last cat with the trusty old drop-trap. It was a perfect setup. However, the dropper was on a sidewalk that dropped off about six inches. Seconds after I pulled the string the cat hit the side of the trap and moved the dropper a cat's width off the sidewalk. This had happened once before and the cat got out from under the trap. I immediately ran up to it, diving at the ground just in time to move it back on the sidewalk. This resulted in a sore hip but no mind - just another battle scar! Drop-trappers be advised... be careful when trapping on uneven ground and narrow sidewalks - it can ruin your evening!

Suzie and Barbara caught all 13 Tonopah cats as well. We had planned to meet them for dinner but it got too late. This was a situation where the couple had lost their home and a neighbor nearby had agreed to feed the cats after they left. A stranger the caregiver met in Wal-Mart raised the donation by having a yard sale. What a great example of altruism. We see examples of this all the time showing just how much people care about homeless cats.

Barbara and Suzie did end up eating dinner at the truck stop in Tonopah and had an enjoyable meal. We never did get dinner but it was worth it - we trapped ALL the cats!

12/2

We had 16 cats at one vet and 10 at another in the AM. They were all aftercared at my place that night.

12/3

Suzie and I each loaded up 13 cats later in the morning after the traffic cleared for the long drive back to Buckeye and Tonopah. I'd be making several stops on the way back to pick up traps making the most of the drive. It had been over 200 miles of driving for each of us to fix these 26 cats. Funny, my neighbor was just bragging about the great mileage she gets on her new hybrid vehicle. I remarked, "...but one has to consider passenger miles/gallon and I win hands down!". I did feel like a freight hauler on the I-10 along with all those big trucks. I've hauled thousands of cats in the back of my Honda Element since purchasing it 2005 - over 1,500 cats this year alone.

12/4

I had an early morning trapping job on Friday AM. I'd trapped here twice before and now will only go in the early AM. I'll explain. These cats live in an alley near 20th St. and Roosevelt. It is a rather impovrished and somewhat scary area as in the evening there are all kinds of strange people milling around. Many are inebriated or otherwise "out-of-it" and they can be harassing. Once a guy called the police on me saying I was trying to trap his cat (that was not fixed and it was clear he wanted it intact).  From then on I decided mornings were better as all the usual suspects were "sleeping it off" from imbibing the night before.

I picked up the former caregiver who lives nearby and we got to the alley at 5:00 AM. It was very cold and dark but we saw a few cats milling around. The new feeder who lived adjacent to the alley did come out and shook the food. We stayed until 8:00 AM and trapped six cats. This made a total of 24 cats trapped there so far. As it got colder, I had to sit in the car with the heat on. As I sat waiting I noticed someone coming out of her place with a load of beer cans. She threw them over the chain link fence into the alley, right near a dumpster. I thought to myself; "how could someone be so lazy so as not to put the empty beer cans in the dumpster?". Then, not but a minute later, I saw not one but two dumpster divers come through the alley and within ten minutes ALL the cans were gone! They even have special devices for picking up cans - really high-tech! This person had made their job easier by simply dumping the cans in the alley.

I made it to the vet by 8:30 AM - just in time to drop off the cats. I picked them up in the PM for aftercare. These were very lucky alley cats!

12/5

I checked out traps to four different caregivers in the morning after releasing the alley cats in the early AM. It was quiet in the alley that morning...

If you are interesting in volunteering for our TNR program, please let us know. We really need volunteers to be trap depots. Traps are stored at volunteer's homes or businesses' and checked out to caregivers who are trapping. Suzie and I both have trap depots and I never tire of checking out traps, showing people how to trap. It's always neat to see how many cats they catch with your guidance.

If you are interesting in becoming a trap depot or volunteering for the SNH please contact our volunteer coordinator Sonia Hernandez at shernandez@adlaz.org .

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 11/22/09

11/22

I had another successful drop-trapping on 11/21. The caregiver had been trying for a long time to catch an elusive mother cat. She had trapped all the offspring over a course of several months. I told her I'd catch that breeder, don't despair. I got to her place late afternoon on Saturday hoping to trap her for the Tempe clinic on 11/22. I set up in the backyard and positioned myself inside the sliding glass door with the drop-trap located about 10 feet away in the backyard. The caregiver had a myriad of reasons why the cat would not cooperate. I always say, "If you keep saying the cat cannot be caught it won't". Bad Juju, I guess. The fixed kittens all came to eat several times and mom circled the fence finally ending up in the front yard. I waited, and waited. Patience is the virtue one needs most to successfully catch even the most difficult to trap cats. Finally she approached and I waited and then she could not resist - she went for the bait! I'd switched to that gross, smelly, tuna and egg cat food. This is the bait of last resort when they do not respond to tuna in oil, Fancy Feast Salmon or Original Recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken (with the skin off and really warm). I had her and she'd be going with me on Sunday to Tempe. No more kittens for her!

We were able to do all the cats on Sunday despite several of us, including me, showing up with extra cats. I had Sunday night off...

11/23

That night Suzie and I set off for El Mirage to trap at yet another trailer park. We'd been to this one before and trapped close to 20 cats but it had been a while. The caregiver had been waiting since early this year for help and now it was finally time to make the trek out there. It was a pretty easy trapping at two locations in the park. We managed to have dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. We trapped 14 cats that night and Suzie made the trek back out there the next morning to pick up four stragglers for a total of 18 cats.

All 18 cats would go to one vet in the morning and returned to my garage for aftercare. One caregiver set four traps out that night hoping to get one last kitten.

11/24

We set out early to release the 18 cats and pick up any second night stragglers. Well, we caught just one, big black male. The last kitten was sitting there looking at the traps. After releasing all the cats I dropped off Suzie and took the one male cat to the vet. All told, we had trapped 16 males, two females, and one previous female (not tipped) over two nights. The vet said he had never seen this many males in one colony. They even weighed the males and the biggest came in at 18 pounds! At least those two female cats will be able to relax and enjoy life this Spring.

11/25

I made the long trip back to El Mirage at 6:00 AM on Thanksgiving morning to release the one male cat. It was cold and no one was up yet so I just released him in the yard and he took off for places unknown. There would be no Sunday clinic and no more trapping until next week. I love my Honda Element, spending many hours in it driving and listening to the XM satellite radio broadcasts. I often think of it as my home away from home. I've never had the back seats in since they day I purchased it and had cats in the back that night. I figure the passenger mileage well exceeds the Toyota Prius as rarely do I have fewer than ten cats in the back!

Right now is the time to TNR feral cats. It will not be long and kitten season will be upon us. Not only do we want to prevent kittens being born in the Spring, but the cost of surgery for female cats is less expensive this time of year. So we can save lives and save $$$ by fixing the cats now, before kitten season. To sign up for our TNR program please call our hotline at: 602-265-7729 (SPAY) or email us at feralcats@adlaz.org.

Next week - More trapping in "the hood".