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".

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 11/15

11/15

Sunday was our one Sunday a month clinic in N. Phoenix. I had planned a 15-20 cat job not for from me as it is always busy in the AM getting ready for the clinic. Suzie, Beth and John also were trapping that night. I trapped 19 cats that night and four overnight for a total of 23 cats. The day was hectic as always but the adrenalin kicks in as if running a 10K and one just marvels at the number of cats being trapped and sterilized. We ended up doing over 60 cats that day. There would have been more except one trapping job came in with a bunch of already fixed cats. Turned out the adjacent business had trapped cats and had them fixed on 11/9, just one week before! We do try to correlate locations in our database but this one unfortunately slipped through. Tempe also had a successful day so over 130 cats were fixed that day. The caregiver managed to trap one more cat overnight for a total of 24 cats from that location.

11/16

I only had the one cat to take to the vet today. It was a slow day due to the weekend clinic. I did not trap on 11/16 as I'd be trapping with Suzie. Barbara could not trap this week and so Suzie and I had planned a couple Tuesday night jobs in Glendale.

11/17

We set out for Glendale about 5:00 PM for one trapping job for about 12 cats. The car was full of traps as we also planned another job in the same zip code for four to five cats - a trailer park. At this particular park we had already trapped a LOT of cats and at the end of this adventure there will have been 90 cats trapped in this trailer park since 2005! The park manager is good at contacting us when new cats appear, usually from new residents who have not spayed and neutered their cats - many leaving them behind when they move. Unsterilized tame cats are often the source of feral cats in these parks, especially in low-income areas. These are the caregivers and cats needing financial assistance. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to the ADLA Spay Neuter Hotline TNR program this holiday season. Click here to donate.




11/18

We trapped 14 cats at the first location and six at the other location. Six cats went to one vet and 14 to the other vet. One cat would need an eye removal and would have to wait until the next day for surgery. There would be drop-off and pick-up of all 20 cats and then we'd be back at both locations for a second night's trapping (with the drop-trap in our arsenal of course).

We trapped six more at the one location and another six at the other for a total of 12 cats. We could not leave traps out overnight at the first location so we drop-trapped one kitten living in a vacant apartment gaining access through an empty air conditioning vent. We were sitting on the ground waiting and plotting our strategy for next week when I looked up and to my surprise, the kitten was eating under the dropper! I said to Suzie, "pull now. She was not even looking at the drop-trap! This kitten is still in foster with one of the vet techs at the clinic and hopefully will get a home. The one cat needing the eye removal ended up staying at the vet until the following Tuesday thanks to one very kind veterinarian. Neither of the caregivers had vehicles or places for aftercare so we needed to do all the work...

This drop-trappng story reminds me of my most memorable and classy drop-trapping experience several years ago while having lunch at a rather posh restaurant in Casa Grande. The cats were outside on a stunningly beautiful patio while we were eating a delicious lunch inside. As the cats we were after appeared, Suzie left the table and sat inside the back door with the string. Problem was she could not see the drop-trap from behind the door. I watched and told her when to pull the string. We then went back to eating lunch while waiting for the next "victim" to appear, repeating this process several times until all the cats were caught.

11/19

Upon releasing cats at the two locations and picking up six at one of these locations we set out again to two vets as it was Thursday and the relief vet was at the one clinic.

11/20

We released all 12 cats back at the two locations in the morning. All that was left was a LOT of trap washing to get ready for the next week and, of course, caregivers needing to pick up traps as well. We both spend a lot of time checking out traps and showing caregivers how to trap. After six years one would think I'd be tired it it but I'm not. I love it when caregivers call me and say, "I caught ALL the cats and I am so excited!"

Most of our caregivers do their own trapping and transport. Trappers like me, Wayne and Suzie go out on larger jobs and help those needing assistance. These include caregivers who have no vehicle or are elderly or disabled. That list is growing. If you are interested in trapping please let us know. We need people who can problem solve, deal with difficult situations, have patience and, of course, lift. It is very rewarding work and a good way to get exercise!

There was good news in that the caregiver I'd trapped ten cats for last week called me the night before and had finally caught the last cat, the mother. She took it to the vet on Friday. Her seriously wounded cat was fully recovered and getting used to being a house cat. I'd be picking up my rabbit cage and trap. Another job was now finished and there would be no more kittens in 2010. What a good way to end the week...

Next week - More successful drop-trapping and Thanksgiving. All the vets are closed - darn it!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 11/9/09

This photo was taken at a prehistoric rock art site in Arizona. It could represent a bobcat or mountain lion (or a coyote). Any guesses?

11/09

I had trapped for a caregiver on Saturday night for Sunday's clinic. A total of 22 cats were trapped and fixed at the clinic in Tempe. For once there were no "leftovers" for Monday. I dropped off the cats on my way home from the clinic and the caregiver did the aftercare. The garage was empty that night. It seemed odd. Funny, but I had only 18 cats when I left on Saturday night and the caregiver thought there might only be one or two more cats. Luckily I left six traps and quess what? She filled them all! One always has to be prepared for more cats...

11/10

After a day off from trapping I was set to help a lady in the W. Valley to trap 10-12 cats. It seemed like an easy job but unfortunately most of the cats did not cooperate while I was there. This meant a trip back in the morning for the stragglers and then another trip back the next day for one more straggler. This job turned into a four day adventure as they most always do..

11/11

I ended up at two vets on Wednesday forgetting again that the vet at one clinic was gone all week and the relief vet was there. When I showed up with nine cats and saw eight cats being unloaded at the first clinic, I know I was in trouble. Fortunately the other vet agreed to take six more cats. I thought all was well but it never seems to be in the feral cat volunteer world. At 4:30 PM I picked up the three cats at the first vet. They were ready but one cat had a bad wound that needed to be cleaned and stitched and the cat would have to stay confined for a week or so and be seen by a vet in a couple of days. I called the second vet to tell them I was on my way and was told they could not get to my six other cats that day. Bummer! So now I had three fixed cats and six cats still waiting to be fixed. The caregiver was trapping again that night herself so all I had to do is feed and water the nine cats in my garage.

11/12

I left for the far W. Valley before 6:00 AM. I had with me the three cats to be released, the six cats waiting for surgery, and the rabbit cage and supplies for holding the injured cat for a week. Fortunately, the caregiver was able to care for the cat. She had caught one more cat overnight (but not the mother cat of course). I released three cats and headed to the vet with seven cats. This job had yielded a total of ten cats so far.

In the afternoon I had an interesting trapping job. I'd planned to take my drop-trap to one of our volunteers so he could catch a cat in his car parts warehouse. This bully was terrorizing another cat they were feeding. The bullied cat recently had to be taken to the vet for a costly surgery. When I arrived, I of course, could not resist trying to round up not only this cat but several other unsterilized male cats living in the warehouse. The cats have free roam of the place and it was quite a sight to see. The cats run up and down the mobile staircases and across the shelves admidst all the spare parts. The tom I was after was amazing! He was long-haired with a lion's mane making his "chuckle head" look even bigger. I scooted around on the floor moving the dropper around the warehouse to no avail. I did manage to ruin a perfectly good pair of shorts in the process (the backside is now are covered with grease and has been religated to the "trapping only" category). Still, it does not get any better than this.

I loaded up three cats from the warehouse minus the tom (darn it - he is still on the loose but is not staying outside of the warehouse and is no longer a threat). Then I picked up the seven cats at the vet about 4:00 PM and put them in the garage. From there I set off for two jobs. One was to pick up a mother cat whose kittens were now weaned and the other was for two kittens left over from a previous job. The latter was a bust so I had only one cat for the vet on 11/13. At least they are too small to reproduce yet...

11/13

I set out early for the W. Valley to released the seven cats and headed to the vet with the one cat. I left the trap at the place where I released the seven cats and the caregiver did manage to catch the mother cat a week or so later and they are now done trapping. So three more colonies are now completely fixed. It is so important that we take the time to finish colonies and that caregivers follow up and fix ALL the cats including ones that show up in the future. The SNH does keep a database of those who are trapping and the number of cats fixed and when, but caregivers need to be vigilant, especially looking for new cats showing up to eat. One unsterilized queen will defeat all efforts ... Oh, I forgot to mention I had to release the three cats back to the warehouse on my way to the vet. Fortunately it was on the way.

11/14

I released the last mother cat back in the AM. I'd be trapping that night for the monthly clinic in N. Phoenix on 11/15...more on that next week.

The Spay Neuter Hotline TNR program has clinics available every day of the week and most Sundays. We fix cats almost every Sunday in Tempe and one Sunday a month in N. Phoenix. We do provide trapping assistance for those needing assistance. This is mostly for large colonies, the elderly and disabled, and those without a vehicle. We also provide financial assistance for those in need. Please spread the word that help is available. These are tough times for many individuals but help is available. The wait may be longer but we do try to help everyone.

Spay Neuter Hotline Update

This October was a fantastic month for Spay/ Neuter Hotline’s TNR Program:

Total cats sterilized in October: 943 (Our highest monthly total to date)

Cats sterilized during week of Oct. 12th -18th : 313 (our highest week since our TNR Program began on March 9, 2009)

Cats sterilized for National Feral Cat Day we celebrated on Oct. 18th: 190 at two high volume s/n clinics

Garage Sale

SNH Volunteers & Litter League combined efforts to have a 3-day (Nov. 6th, 7th & 8th) rummage sale to benefit both organizations.
With the great work of all involved Spay Neuter Hotline received $1,500.
The monies raised will benefit Spay Neuter Hotlines’s TNR Program.

Thank you to all who volunteered their time to transport items, assist with sorting & who gave time to help during the days of garage sale.
*A special thank you to Suzie Jones, who coordinated much of this event! Thank You- Suzie J

TO-DATE NUMBERS:

Over 6,700 feral cats have been trapped, neutered, and returned between March 9th thru Nov. 15, 2009!!

November 15th:

On Sunday, November 15th , Spay Neuter Hotline celebrated the life of our dear friend Harry Bartel by TNRing 143 feral cats at two high volume clinics. This day was “The Harry Bartel (Feral Cat) Memorial Spay Day”. We will continue to honor Harry every November for his contribution & dedication he gave to the life of feral cats.

Results have been made possible due to the hard work, time and dedication of our supporters, veterinarians, clinic staff and most of all, our volunteers…
Thank you everyone!

You can find ADLA online here
Become a Fan of ADLA through Facebook

Have a wonderful weekend & Happy Holidays,

Sonia Hernandez
ADLA Outreach/Volunteer Coordinator
shernandez@adlaz.org
http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/ (Low-Cost & No-Cost S/N Services)
To Donate: Click here to support Arizona's animals!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 11/1/2009

11/1

I had set up a big trapping job for a caregiver in Phoenix needing assistance. Cats were to be fixed in Gilbert the next day, Sunday, 11/1. This was "Make a Differerence Day", and a clinic was sponoring a special event - a free S/N clinic for cats and dogs. All the cats would be ferals and all would be cats from the our TNR program - cats whose caregivers needed financial assistance.

I already had two cats for the clinic on Sunday in my garage (the leftovers from last week's trapping). This new job was for about 20-25 cats. I ended up with 24 cats plus the two from last week for a total of 26 cats for the special event. I was not able to set traps overnight due to the long trek to south Gilbert in the AM (back on the 202 eastbound once again!). Many of you know I'll go anywhere to get cats fixed - especially for free! There were a total of 27 ferals and I volunteered at the clinic all day. The SNH supplied the spay packs and spay boards which also had to be transported. That night I'd be back at the caregiver's house to finish the job catching 15 more cats overnight for a total of 39 cats at this location. So much for having 20-25 cats in this colony.

I want to thank the Arizona Animal Wellness Center (AAWC) in Gilbert for sponsoring this event and helping fix 27 feral cats for the SNH. Thanks go out to Dr. Parva, Dr. Ford and her staff and volunteers for their kindness. They also fixed 16 dogs that day for those in need. You can visit their website here.

Well, if having 26 cats for aftercare plus setting another 20 traps that night was not enough, Suzie had 16 cats left over from the clinic in Tempe that day. All of these cats would need to be fed and watered as well. So we met at my place and unloaded and fed 41 cats.

11/2

Suzie and I were off to two vets in the early AM. Fortunately the 16 cats left over from 11/1 would go back to the caregiver for aftercare as I had another trapping job that night within view of the one on Satuday night. I must say this was living proof that colonies can live side by side and not interact in any way. I'd been to this location twice before not knowing there were nearly 40 cats living less than 200 yards away! I caught nine there that night and overnight. The nice thing was I could release the other crew right nearby. I always try to plan these jobs to save on travel time and gas. It does not often work out that way but I try.

11/3

I took the nine cats to the vet in the AM and after pickup I set off to try to drop-trap the last female (of course). Suzie and Barbara were on a big job nearby. I was able to drop-trap her almost immediately while hiding in my car next to a heavily traveled street. Normally transfer is pretty easy but this one would not cooperate. I called Suzie and Barbara to come over and help me transfer the cat to the trap. Voila! She went in almost immediately. I call these quick trappings from the car, "drive-by drop-trappings". This is an appropriate name for this technique and it has proved useful throughout the years, especially when one is in a hurry. We then went to dinner to celebrate our success. I then left for home while the dynamic duo set off to finish that what ended up being a 17 cat job over a two day period.

11/4

We again ended up at two vets on Thursday once again and had the usual aftercare at my place. I had helped in the release of Suzie's cats as well. Her caregiver set traps that night and caught another seven cats - all except for the breeding mother cat. Darn it! These cats had to be split up between two vets as the slower relief vet was at our usual hangout. Some people hang out at bars and movie theaters - we hang out at vet offices. I'm not complaining. It's where I'd rather be - with LOTs of cats.

After dropping off cats it was off to set up for the three-day yard sale. We had collected a ton of stuff in the fall and stored it in a warehouse in anticipation of this huge weekend event. We also had collected loads more stuff and had been picking it up over the last couple of weeks. All had to be unpacked and sorted for sale on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Suzie did a lot of the organizing as did Linda Brock whose organization, The Litter League" was partnering with us on the yard sale. The sale was at Linda's house and we had lots of volunteers helping with sorting and selling over that weekend. I'd like to thank all of them for thir time and effort especially Linda, for use of her place for the sale. We raised nearly $3,000.00 total for both groups. The Litter League finds homes for kittens from feral moms and does a lot of TNR through the SNH. Linda has always been a big supporter of ADLA and the SNH.

After sorting all day I had another "high-end" trapping job at the hospital. I sat with my dropper trying to trap one cat for several hours to no avail. I was skunked. Then I found food had been placed out! What a bummer. Since the caregiver was donating a lot it was worth the effort. As I said I take on these "high-end" jobs to try and help the cats being cared for by the less fortunate. It is always a trade off but unfortunately it never quite balances out as there are so many of the latter out there waiting to be fixed. Kitten season is just around the corner and these cats need to be fixed now.

This is why we need your help. Please consider being a monthly donor to ADLA. Almost 100% of donations go to spay and neuter as ADLA has very low overhead. We have a great group of dedicated volunteers who work hard to keep our costs down. Or, consider having a small fundraiser to raise money for TNR. We all can make a difference in the lives of feral cats.

11/6 and 11/7

Friday and Saturday were devoted to the yard sale and then Saturday night I had a trapping job for 20 cats for the Tempe clinic on Sunday...part of next week's blog.

Thanks again to everyone who made the yard sale a success. We plan to have another one early next year so stay tuned and start cleaning out your closets...

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 10/25/09

10/25

Well, as often happens, we panicked late last week and decided we needed more cats for the clinic on 10/25 in Tempe. We were not sure a few caregivers would come through so Suzie and I went out Saturday night to trap at a vacant house near 24th St. and Roosevelt. I managed to get in touch with the caregiver to withhold food. These cats were not fed much anyway. The photo from last week's blog tells it all. This colony needed help! This week's photos are of some of the cats after they were fixed.

We trapped 17 that night and soon realized we'd have to hold the cats until Monday. Of course everyone showed up the next day as planned and the cats had to be held overnight. After working at the clinic all day we set out to trap again that night - and forgot the drop trap! We trapped one cat and one very ill kitten. We decided to leave a trap out (hidden) out overnight despite our concerns about the area and did fill it for a total of 20 cats to take in on Monday to two different vets. Later that day I had to deliver 20 traps to a caregiver I was transporting for the next day, 10/26. Then it was off again to the vacant house to trap again. We caught one cat and two cats there overnight and we think this colony is finished except for one intermittent tom. The sick kitten did die before surgery but it was a blessing.

10/27

I picked up 19 cats from the other caregiver and ended up this time at three vets. Suzie helped me as it was impossible to be at three vets at once - and to pick up the two cats trapped overnight at 24th St. and Roosevelt. The other caregiver was in N.W. Phoenix. It was back to the QT once again - seems I was just there yesterday! All told we had 22 cats in between three vets that day. Suzie had a trapping job that night after we picked up at all the vets and transported the cats to my place for aftercare. I had a night off except for aftercaring the cats.

10/28

The caregiver with the 20 cats in N.W. Phoenix had two more cats to trap. Suzie had dropped off four more traps to her just in case, on her way to trap (nearby). She managed to catch one of the two cats overnight. The elusive "last cat" with a bad eye problem was out there but not going in the trap. The cat was under the trailer and came out to sniff around but no go. So, I rebaited the trap, had the caregiver shake the food, and waited in my car in the street. Round and round she went, then left, then came back - Grrrr! Then, she started into the trap and, the trap did not trip. So, with great stealth, I climbed over the fence and tip toed over to the trap and quickly bumped the door. I had her! It was off to the vet with the two last cats. This is a feeling only serious trappers can appreciate. Nirvana! As it turned out the last cat needed an eye removed and had to recover inside for a week - thank you Roni for taking care of her.

A word on elective surgeries. Often feral cats come in for S/N and the vets find serious medical conditions that are treatable. Many procedures are expensive, but without them the cats could suffer or die if left untreated. We try to raise donations to help pay for these surgeries. If you want to help with the cost of the eye removal, tail amputation, or other medical treatment for ferals, please contact ADLA either by phone at 602.273.7842 or email or donate online and specify "feral cat medical treatment fund". We've since had two more of these conditions and they are quite expensive. Your help is appreciate.

Later that afternoon I met Suzie at the place she trapped the night before. She had trapped two cats and the third one needed to be drop-trapped. We had her (the mother cat of course) within five minutes! ...two wonderful last cat success stories this week. We love having the drop-trap in our arsenal.

10/29

I took the mother cat to the vet that day and Suzie aftercared and released her the next day. I'd was off that night to trap at two locations in W. Phoenix - both in 85019, one of our targeted
zip codes for TNR. I set traps at the first location and caught them immediately. Then I was off to the other closer location. I ended up with a total of eight cats at that location including that night and overnight. There were still two left so I left my drop-trap knowing these two would have to wait until Sunday's Tempe clinic if caught (It was Friday). The caregiver managed to catch them both. I helped him transfer the cats into traps later that afternoon, held them in my garage, and took them in on Sunday, 11/1.

Next week - The yard sale.

Thank You Harry!

The Animal Defense League of Arizona's Spay Neuter Hotline lost a good friend today-Harry Bartel. Harry found the Hotline through extraordinary volunteer Pam Kalish. Harry lived in Chicago, but had business in the Valley.

Harry loved cats. We are extremely grateful for Harry's generous donations, but more importantly, he inspired everyone with his passion for our Trap Neuter Return Program for feral cats.

He believed in our program, staff and volunteers and what they could do. He encouraged all of us to do more. He also worked side by side with volunteers. While visiting the Valley, he jumped in to help at a clinic. Harry helped volunteers raise funds for the Hotline, by organizing garage sales.

Thank You Harry! We will miss you so much; but don't worry, you inspired us. We will keep it going!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 10/18/09

10/18

October 18th was our National Feral Cat Day event. We had two clinics that day hoping to fix 150-200 cats in one day. Again, last minute stress over cancellations and not filling the clinics sends us all into a spin. I'd had a cancellation for 10-15 cats from someone getting traps from me. Weird thing about this is that he volunteered for the Humane Society and decided TNR would be "too stressful" for the cats. So, thinking we'd have too few cats for the north Phoenix clinic on Sunday, I called a caregiver and told her to "pick up the food right away" - this was Saturday morning.

Well, it was like "shooting fish in a barrel" at her place, despite food not being withheld for two days. These cats were hungry for tuna! We trapped 14 cats right away and the cats had been fed. Amazing! Well, we ended up fixing 78 cats in north Phoenix and 107 cats in Tempe for a total of 185 cats. We had met our goal. And, Wayne and Bob Janda came through and trapped at the Peppertree Mobile Home Park (31 cats). Thanks go out to all who contributed financially to this effort - especially those from Phoenix Feral Friends. You guys rock!!

10/19 and 10/20

Of course there were stragglers from the previous night's trapping. Two were caught overnight. The caregiver set the traps so we were able to go home and relax after working at the clinic all day. Suzie also brought in two from another caregiver who trapped a second night and could not transport on a Monday due to her work schedule. This is often a problem as people have to go to work early and work late. We do our best to help these caregivers and they appreciate our great volunteer service. Every cat is important and I try, often too hard, to help those in need. Unfortunately, some caregivers take advantage of us but that is the price of what we do. We have to put the cats first despite difficult people.

I had a trapping job that night in a mobile home park (MHP) I'd trapped at for many years. There were two locations (caregivers) that needed help. I ended up with 13 cats between the two places, and transporting to two different vets. The "mother of them all" was still out there resulting in a sleepless night (I promised myself this would never happen again but it did). A superbreeder on the loose that would have yet another litter if I did not do something! I might mention I had to pick up another cat downtown on my way to the vet. Another stop at the QT. A word about the QT: It seems lately I 've been stopping there in the AM for gas then again in the evening for dinner...not a diet I recommend!

Of course those cats needed to be picked up and aftercared (a given). But I had to get the "superbreeder". I did have to also pick up 12 other cats at yet another vet for a caregiver needing assistance. Suzie, if I recall, picked up the other cats at one vet and I picked the four cats at the other vet at 1:00 PM. We just shuffle them around as needed. If that was not enough I had to pick up 12 cats at yet another vet and return them to 32nd St. and Van Buren. I had visited three vets today.

I was back at the MHP that evening scouting out that elusive superbreeder. I did manage to catch her with the drop-trap after waiting for nearly an hour and caught one cat overnight for a total of two cats. Now I'd done a total of 15 cats at the MHP. There was one white male cat left but I figured he'd move on where the girls were more cooperative and interested in him.

10/21

I took in the last two cats to the vet in the AM. I delivered traps to someone I'd helped numerous times down in central Phoenix at the city disabled housing at 22nd St. and Roosevelt. Fortunately this was near the family homeless shelter where I'd delivered the 12 cats back from the third vet. See a pattern here? We do help a LOT of caregivers needing not only trapping assistance but financial assistance...at homeless shelters, disabled housing projects, and other low-income areas. This is where the greatest number of cats are because people in these areas cannot afford to S/N their cats. The caregiver at the disabled housing uses a motorized wheelchair as do many in the complex. Please consider a donation to help not only cats in need but the caregivers in need as well. Consider a donation to ADLA as part of your holiday giving. It goes a long way to help cats and people too.

10/22

Got up very early to release that last two cats at the MHP. Then, I picked up three cats at the Phoenix housing complex and six from another place I was transporting. I have a friend who often finds caregivers who will trap but cannot transport cats to and from the vet. Today I'd have a total of nine cats at two different vets. I'd also have the usual pickup and aftercare. However, it is now getting cooler so aftercare is much easier.

10/23

I released all the cats at all the locations in the AM. There would be no second night trapping. I did, however go by a location near the Phoenix disabled housing project that had 20+ cats needing help. This photo is of some of the cats before being fixed. This would be next week's trapping job - abandoned house and of course, no donation.

Next week - See what these cats look like after they are fixed!

Now off to the vet with the superbreeder and her cohort.

Calling All Animal Lovers with Shopping Genes

Garage Sale Reminder

Spay Neuter Hotline TNR Volunteers & The Litter League

will be holding a Garage Sale to benefit both organizations.



Friday & Saturday, November 7th & 8th

7am-2pm (both days)



Location:

3412 E. Stanford Dr.

Paradise Valley, 85253



Designer Shoes & Clothing & many other AMAZING items for sale





Suzie & Pam are requesting volunteers for the following tasks:



November 5th: SORTING & ARRANGING

Help sort donations and set-up for sale
(Thursday volunteers will also have a chance to preview & purchase sale items!)



November 7th & 8th: GARAGE SALE

Assistance is needed to help during the garage sale for both days.



If you are able to volunteer, please contact Suzie Jones @ suziej49@cox.net or (602) 689-6069.




Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.



Sonia Hernandez

Outreach/Volunteer Coordinator

ADLA (Animal Defense League of Arizona) &

S/N Hotline (a program of ADLA)

shernandez@adlaz.org

www.adlaz.org

www.SpayNeuterHotline.org

Pam's TNR Blog Week of 10/11

10/11

No trapping for Sunday's clinic in Tempe but we did once again have too many cats. Fourteen cats had to be overnighted and taken to two clinics on Monday. I had not expected to trap that Sunday evening but a caregiver nearby who had checked out traps from me needed some handholding. Figuring this would mean just setting the traps, I agreed to come by and help. Well, little did I know this would turn in to a five day commitment! The caregiver indicated there were only three cats - but I discovered three more younger kittens had just appeared when I got there. Mom had already had two litters and this had to stop...

10/12 and 10/13

I was tired from working at the clinic all day but I caught two cats immediately that night and two more overnight. I took a total of four to the vet on 10/12 and transported home some for Suzie. I went back for the remaining two cats that night - one was the mother of the two litters. Still no luck. I set the traps and found one cat in a trap the next morning. Still no mother cat. I set traps hoping to get her overnight while the other five were recovering. I had a big job in Goodyear that night and had to be there around 6:00 PM so time was running out.

The Goodyear job was a bust. There were supposed to be 15 cats at two locations on an open city property - commercial properties being the hardest place to trap in my opinion. Grant Erhling came with me as he had wanted to go out with me on a BIG trapping job. Well, it turned out to be not too productive. We only caught three cats! There were cats there but they were not cooperating. Traps could not be left out overnight and there was no way I was driving out there in the AM. It was disappointing. I did take two traps to a lady I'd helped before in Avondale to trap two cats for the next day. So on 10/13 I took in three cats from this job and one more kitten from the other job - but still no Mom cat.

10/14

The next morning I decided to go for the next line of defense - the trusty drop-trap. I planned to release the five cats hoping Mom would come by looking for her kittens. It was time to get this little super-breeder once and for all! I could not let her have yet another litter. She was a tortie of course...a perpetual breeding machine. I waited inside the house with the string for about 1/2 hour. This time, I put an entire can of sardines under the dropper. She was very hungry by now. Finally she could resist no longer. I got her! We were very cautious in transferring her to the trap as I did not want her to escape. It was off to the vet but not before releasing the three Goodyear cats and picking up two more cats in Avondale. They were kittens when we trapped there months ago and the caregiver had them captured. Before the trip it would be back to the gas station again - Goodyear is a long way from north Phoenix. I dropped all three off at the vet and picked them up later in the day for aftercare. Then it was on to two more trapping jobs in Central Phoenix.

One was a four cats job around 36th St. and Indian School. The other was around Camelback and Central for two cats - a mother an kitten. I was helping a couple of elderly caregivers who could not do trap and transport. I caught the mother cat immediately and left the trap for the kitten before setting off for the other four cats. I had them trapped within an hour - a tortie and three orange older kittens. I went back to the other location and no kitten. So I rebaited the trap for overnight.

10/15

The caregiver called early - no kitten. However, she was out there crying for food. The kitten only had three legs and "hopped" so I think it was impossible for her to hop into the trap without shutting the door. The drop-trap to the rescue once again! I sat inside the sliding glass door waiting (at 6:30 AM). I caught her under the dropper in about 1/2 hour. I released the mother from the day before, then released the four back at the other location and then off to the vet with with the one kitten. Turned out that the mother of the three orange kittens was already eartipped! Go figure. This happens occasionally. In this case the caregivers had seen another similar looking cat about one month ago. I guess this was the "surrogate" mother. The Sunday night trapping had indeed turned in to a five day adventure!




The photo above is of the three-legged kitten in the trap before I released her on Saturday morning, 10/16. She was happy to be back with mom and fed by a nice lady who truly cared. She cared so much about them she called the SNH and had them sterilized before two cats turned in to 20 cats.

A word on Torties and Calicos. As you know they are almost all female. From my experience, there a a lot more Torties and Calicos in the feral cat population. I cannot prove this scientifically but it makes sense. They are the most wary of humans, most difficult to trap, and seem to reproduce more often. In large colonies one sees an extraordinary number of them - hence my term "breeding machines". Along with them will be a lot of orange tabby male cats which I thing they are genetically connected to - although cat genetics elude me. I've had many a sleepless night thinking about the last cat I did not catch and it is usually a Tortie or Calico that had skunked me.

Next week - National Feral Cat Day

Police to cat trapper: "Hands up and drop that fork!"

What a scare I had feeding the kitties on Sunday! As I was crouched behind the bush up against the building filling the dishes, I had no idea there was a silent alarm going off inside.

The next thing I knew, a police officer had two lanes blocked on Van Buren and was yelling at me from the curb to put my hands up! Of course I did – with a can of cat food in one hand and a fork in the other. They checked me for weapons and made me drop my fork on the ground … .

After 20 minutes or so when they decided I wasn’t a felon, the officers started giving me the lecture about how unwise it was to feed ferals, so I explained TNR. They ended up telling me how civic-minded I was to be performing such a community service!! I was wishing I had some of those S/N hotline flyers with me.

What an adventure this project is turning out to be!

Cathy

Pam's Feral Cat TNR Blog - Week of 10/4/09

10/4

Sunday was a busy day at the clinic. I transported 13 cats to the clinic for three different caregivers. Once again we had too many cats and 14 had to go to two different vets on Monday. This of course meant holding in my garage and feeding and watering them. I also had to drop off 12 cats to two caregivers I had transported on the way home. We fixed 74 cats in Tempe that day meaning there were a total of 88 cats trapped! There were 28 males and 46 females that will no longer be breeding. What a great feeling!

Many thanks to all the trappers, transporters and volunteers for making our weekend clinics so successful. And most of all thanks to Suzie for all the work she puts in to making the Tempe clinics a success every weekend. All the scheduling, reminder calls, making sure caregivers get traps, and most of all scheduling the right number of cats!

10/5

I delivered one cat back in the morning the morning, a male. This caregiver had not caught the cat she was after, the calico mother cat - why was I not surprised. So I brought my drop-trap along and had her within less than ten minutes. Took her off to the vet along with ten others from the day before - the rest Suzie took to another vet. Suzie also picked the ten up and delivered them to the caregiver for aftercare. Fortunately the caregiver was able to pick up the other four at the other vet. We are always juggling; be it traps or vet slots or transport or aftercare or ... all the things that make TNR successful.

I had a large trapping job that night for 12 cats which turned in to 15 cats. At least it was cool enough to keep the cats in the vehicle overnight.

10/6

I ended up at two vets again with the 15 cats. Since once vet requires pick-up at 1:00 PM and the other at 4:00 PM, one's day is about shot. I spent most of the day sterilizing spay packs, the instruments the vets use for spaying the cats at our high-volume spay days. Each one has to be sterilized between use and we had done a lot of females at the clinic on Sunday. I picked up the cats for aftercare and headed off to set traps again for the straggler I did not catch.

10/7

I caught the last cat overnight (except for one small kitten that was too young to fix). Suzie and Barbara had a successful night trapping and had ten cats to take to the vet. We split up the cats between two vets again. Then there was pick-up, aftercare and release again. Suzie helped a lot as I had yet another trapping job that night. This one was for six cats and turned in to 11 cats over two nights. It was fairly easy except for the caregiver complaining about not wanting the cats back and of course, having to do anything including donate.

He said, "But these are not my cats"! My response was: "But they are not my cats"!

10/8

This was an interesting morning. It was Thursday and one of our vets only allows us ten cats on Thursdays. A last-minute scheduling conflict left me with no vet! After trapping a few stragglers overnight, I had more than the six I had planned, making matters worse. So I called another vet who told me to call back in half an hour and to see if they could take them. So I went to the clinic and sat in the parking lot, hoping. At 7:45 AM they said OK. I was relieved. It would require driving back there in rush hour traffic to pick them up in the afternoon. On the way home in the afternoon I'd set traps again for the stragglers. Then of course there was aftercare. I think I may have had some of Suzie's she had caught on the second night of trapping, but too much time has gone by now to remember. It all starts to blur after a while.

10/9

Caught one last cat overnight and brought him in. After many years of second night trapping I've concluded that one always catches male cats the second night. My theory is the males come around looking for the females who are not there - so they decide to look for a meal - and in the traps they go. I have no scientific proof of this but it does happen a lot. If not males, then it is the elusive calico mother cats that avoided the traps the night before.

10/10

I released the one last cat in the morning. The caregiver again asked me not to release them at his place and did not thank me for helping him nor did he offer to donate anything towards the surgeries. I did not even ask. I left, feeling rather dejected, but then thought to myself that at least I fixed all 11 of the cats and there would be no more kittens. One has to remind oneself often that despite the frustration with caregivers at times, we are still fixing a LOT of cats that would never have been fixed without our help.

Next week - More drop-trapping adventures!

Note: We are having a blow-out yard sale on 11/6 and 11/7 and are collecting donations of household items, books, clothing (good condition), and other items (no furniture). If you have items to donate please call us. The yard sales last Spring were a HUGE success and we hope this one will be even better - we will have lots of designer clothing and shoes for sale so please stop by. A formal announcement of time and location will be sent out later.

...and remember we need your financial support. To donate see our website. If you want to donate for a specific caregiver of trapping please specify. Thanks!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 9/27/09

Photo above is of kittens feeding after their release on 10/8. "Yum, this food is sure tasty. Check out my eartip"!

9/27

There were fewer cats than expected on 9/27 at the Tempe clinic. Darn it - I could have trapped for the clinic! Frustrating to miss some vet slots when there are cats to S/N. I think there were about 63 cats.

9/28

I had been contacted by someone I'd helped drop-trap a cat in the past. Guess what? She had more cats to TNR. Having had health problems she needed "full serviece" this time and I was happy to help her. She said there were six or seven cats. I ended up trapping eight cats, several overnight. We caught them all (I hope)! I wish she had caught them all the first time around. It is difficult to do as often some do not come around until the next night and caregivers do not perservere. Sometimes this is because they can't stop feeding the cats. Leaving traps out overnight works well but can only be done in secure area like someone's backyard.

I've found a second night's trapping is essential to success at getting ALL the cats and making sure there will be no more kittens. For those in doubt, this does work. I often talk to caregivers I'd helped years ago and there have been no kittens for several years. And, most of those with large colonies of 30 or more say, "we are down to less than ten cats now". This proves that the life of a feral cat is often short. We rarely see "old" feral cats in our clinics. Most are young and amazingly quite healthly despite living outside.

9/29

I ended up at two vets on Tuesday due to a caregiver not getting to the vet on time. Thankfully one vet took her cats at 11:30 AM. Again, our vets understand the complexity of TNR and are usually willing to accomodate. It seems easy enough - set traps, trap cats and fix them. Wrong! The logistics of trapping and being sure ALL the cats get fixed rivals solving a a very complex physics problem with multiple variables. With people involved it becomes most challenging. I picked these cats up at both vets (at different times of the day course) for aftercare. It was a frustrating, although productive, day.

Later in the day I got a call from a caregiver I'd helped in early August. A cat that had been deemed a previously fixed female had kittens! What a mess. Occasionally this happens. It was made worse as I was the one who had helped her and she had claimed the cat had given birth before. The cat rejected the kittens and she was bottle feeding them. She wanted the mother fixed right away.

9/30

So I picked up the mother cat in the morning to go to the vet and later transported home cats Suzie and Barbara had trapped the night before at two different trapping jobs. I was back to two vets again due to overflow at one vet. And, if this was not enough, there were still five cats with no place to go. These five would have to be held in my garage until the next day. Things now were getting tight. I had to pick up 13 at two vets and had a trapping job planned for 6:00 PM.

When I arrived at the second vet they were still doing surgery due to our bringing too many cats. I had to wait 45 minutes at the cinic and still had to unload all these cats at home. There would be these 13 cats plus the five waiting to be fixed for a total of 18 cats in my garage. I arrived at the trapping site at almost 7:00 PM planning to trap six or seven cats. My friend Joyce was helping me as we planned on leaving traps overnight and a second night's trapping. Since Joyce lived near the trapping location this would save my driving back several times and we use a vet nearby - freeing up vet slots at the other vets for more cats.

10/1

Well, six or seven cats turned in to 13 cats (actually 16 as two more were trapped overnight and two the next night and one was a previously fixed cat). So there had been 18 cats in the garage and ten in the car overnight for a total of 28 cats at my place overnight.

Again, too many cats and not enough vet slots as our one vet normally open on Thursday was closed. So, it was back to the Healing Hearts mobile with 11 cats. Thank you Jan Wilson for helping us out again in a pinch. Three were from my trapping job, five were the left overs from yesterday, and three were from Suzie's second night's trapping at the other job she had trapped. I keep saying trapping is not as easy as it might seem! Oh and Joyce took two cats to the vet near her. These had been trapped overnight, so we were at three different vets today.

I took ten cats to one clinic and 11 cats to the mobile and Suzie picked up the cats at the mobile mid-day. I picked up the ten cats for a total of 23 cats at my place that night - all having to be fed later in the evening. Joyce set traps out overnight and caught two more cats.

That night I had a trapping job for only one cat. The caregiver had offered a large donation if I would help her trap and fix this cat. Her husband was not in favor of TNR nor of having her even feed the cat. So we set up a "cover" trapping operation. It felt again like a "drive by trapping" as I had the cat in less than five minutes. The term "drive by trapping" originated from a drop-trap situation a couple of years ago. I literally sat in my car and pulled the string through a cracked open car door on a cat under the drop-trap. This took place in less than a minute - hence the term "drive by trapping".

10/2 and 10/3

I took in the one cat in the AM and then met Joyce for the release of the 15 cats. We found two more cats in traps from the second night's trapping. I think we had trapped them ALL. We both dropped them off at the nearby vet. she would pick them up and release them. When I retrieved the one cat at the vet it turned out to be a previously fixed female! She was obviously an abandoned pet. I returned her the next morning to the happy caregiver. She gave me the promised donation despite my trapping an already fixed cat. She wanted to help other cats in need and there arep plenty of them out there.

Having trapped nearly 30 cats this week meant lots of traps and covers to wash and get ready for next week. Thank you Bill.

More and more caregivers are in need of financial assistance due to economic hardship. The Spay Neuter Hotline TNR Program depends on donations to pay our vets. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help those in need. For information on how to donate click here.

If you know someone feeding feral cats please call the Spay Neuter Hotline at 602-265-7729 (SPAY) for assistance.

We are also having a huge yard sale on November 6th and 7th. We need items for sale. So clean out your closets! To donate items for the sale please contact Suzie at 602-689-6069.

Next week - Too many cats again!

Check out "Many Faces of E. Coli Infection"

Wayne Pacelle of HSUS has an excellent Blog post on the NY Times article, including how factory farming contributes to infectious disease outbreaks.