TNR Blog No. 2
I did not trap on Saturday night as the ADLA quarterly meeting was on Sunday, 7/26. However, we hold a weekly clinic in Tempe on Sunday and I had to pick up the overflow of 15 cats to be stashed in my air-conditioned garage until we could get them to the vet on Monday. Cats had to be fed and watered as they had gone without food for nearly 3 days. It was 115 degrees on Sunday making it even more important that the cats have a cool place to go. But trapping goes on year round - we just have to adapt and we do. In the afternoon we had the ADLA quarterly meeting at the Glendale Public Library and Suzie and I talked about the benefits of TNR and trapping. Please consider joining ADLA whose mission is the protect and defend Arizona's animals. More information is available on the ADLA website.
I met a caregiver in south central Phoenix in an alley at 4:45 AM to trap 10 cats. Some areas are safer for trapping in daylight rather than at night. The alley has lots of cats and I trapped 10 cats there previously. Last time I trapped there a man called 911 claiming I was trapping his cat. We stayed until 8:30 AM and caught 8 cats - mostly kittens. A man came out of an apartment asking for help with fixing his tame female cat that has had several litters. I promised to help him knowing that some people have few resources for S/N and do not know about low-cost options. Most I come across do not have transportation to the vet or even know about spay and neuter or even cat reproduction. I think some of the "feral" kittens in the alley were from his cat. These cats went to the vet at 9:00 AM. Meanwhile Suzie picked up the 15 cats in my garage and took them to a different vet for S/N.
After picking up cats at the vet in the afternoon, I helped a lady drop trap some cats she had been trying to catch for months with her own trap. Turned out she had no clue how to trap and did not know about the Spay Neuter Hotline (SNH). We caught both of them - one under the dropper and the other overnight. Of course there were 23 cats in the garage waiting to be fed when I got home at 8:30 PM - 15 left over from Sunday and the 8 from the alley (in case you've lost track!).
Tuesday 7/28
Released the cats down on Van Buren and 20th St. before 6:00 AM. Suzie picked up the cats from the Sunday clinic and returned them to Mesa. After washing traps and covers in the AM, I began preparing for the trip to Aguila and Wickenburg. We had planned on taking a mobile clinic to Aguila but decided it would be easier and less expensive to trap and bring the cats to Phoenix for S/N- I say easier but definitely not easy! Nothing about TNR is easy, believe me.
Suzie and I left Phoenix at 2:30 PM with a total of 42 traps in two vehicles. First stop (after the gas station) was Wickenburg to deliver 12 traps to a couple living in a condemmed apartment. Not sure how they manage in such marginal conditions. The Humane Society in Wickenburg could not help them. Somehow they got our phone #. Most of the cats were trapped inside and a couple were in an abandoned trailer on the property. We then visited a 94 year old lady we trapped for earlier in the year in Wickenburg and guess what - she has more cats to trap in the alley behind her apartment!
On to Aguila...Aguila is a small rural, agricultural town 25 miles west of Wickenburg. We'd been through there before while trapping in Salome which is further west. We were headed to help a 92 year old man who claimed to be feeding 29 cats. This man would never have found help otherwise and these are the caregivers we like to assist. He lived in what was an old lumberyard that serviced the railroad when it was built in the 1920's. There was a large house and several outbuildings. Upon arriving I commented; "this will be like shooting fish in a barrel". The porch was amass with about 12 cats, half of them Calicos! Within an hour or so we knew there were more than 29 cats and we started doubling up cats in traps. Later we dined at the Coyote Flats restaurant - the only place to eat in town. Dinner was exciting as I swatted 18 flies while trying to eat. The locals say they imported flies to eat the insects killing crops in Aguila...definitely a mistake. That evening we trapped a total of 32 cats. We left 2 traps out overnight.
We left at about 9:00 PM stopping in Wickenburg to pick up cats - they had filled all 12 traps. Turned out all 12 were female! After arriving back in Phoenix we had to unload the now 44 cats in my garage as it was still over 100 deg. and we could not leave cats in our vehicles.
Wednesday 7/29
Week of 7/26/09
Sunday 7/26
I did not trap on Saturday night as the ADLA quarterly meeting was on Sunday, 7/26. However, we hold a weekly clinic in Tempe on Sunday and I had to pick up the overflow of 15 cats to be stashed in my air-conditioned garage until we could get them to the vet on Monday. Cats had to be fed and watered as they had gone without food for nearly 3 days. It was 115 degrees on Sunday making it even more important that the cats have a cool place to go. But trapping goes on year round - we just have to adapt and we do. In the afternoon we had the ADLA quarterly meeting at the Glendale Public Library and Suzie and I talked about the benefits of TNR and trapping. Please consider joining ADLA whose mission is the protect and defend Arizona's animals. More information is available on the ADLA website.
Monday 7/27
I met a caregiver in south central Phoenix in an alley at 4:45 AM to trap 10 cats. Some areas are safer for trapping in daylight rather than at night. The alley has lots of cats and I trapped 10 cats there previously. Last time I trapped there a man called 911 claiming I was trapping his cat. We stayed until 8:30 AM and caught 8 cats - mostly kittens. A man came out of an apartment asking for help with fixing his tame female cat that has had several litters. I promised to help him knowing that some people have few resources for S/N and do not know about low-cost options. Most I come across do not have transportation to the vet or even know about spay and neuter or even cat reproduction. I think some of the "feral" kittens in the alley were from his cat. These cats went to the vet at 9:00 AM. Meanwhile Suzie picked up the 15 cats in my garage and took them to a different vet for S/N.
After picking up cats at the vet in the afternoon, I helped a lady drop trap some cats she had been trying to catch for months with her own trap. Turned out she had no clue how to trap and did not know about the Spay Neuter Hotline (SNH). We caught both of them - one under the dropper and the other overnight. Of course there were 23 cats in the garage waiting to be fed when I got home at 8:30 PM - 15 left over from Sunday and the 8 from the alley (in case you've lost track!).
Tuesday 7/28
Released the cats down on Van Buren and 20th St. before 6:00 AM. Suzie picked up the cats from the Sunday clinic and returned them to Mesa. After washing traps and covers in the AM, I began preparing for the trip to Aguila and Wickenburg. We had planned on taking a mobile clinic to Aguila but decided it would be easier and less expensive to trap and bring the cats to Phoenix for S/N- I say easier but definitely not easy! Nothing about TNR is easy, believe me.
Suzie and I left Phoenix at 2:30 PM with a total of 42 traps in two vehicles. First stop (after the gas station) was Wickenburg to deliver 12 traps to a couple living in a condemmed apartment. Not sure how they manage in such marginal conditions. The Humane Society in Wickenburg could not help them. Somehow they got our phone #. Most of the cats were trapped inside and a couple were in an abandoned trailer on the property. We then visited a 94 year old lady we trapped for earlier in the year in Wickenburg and guess what - she has more cats to trap in the alley behind her apartment!
On to Aguila...Aguila is a small rural, agricultural town 25 miles west of Wickenburg. We'd been through there before while trapping in Salome which is further west. We were headed to help a 92 year old man who claimed to be feeding 29 cats. This man would never have found help otherwise and these are the caregivers we like to assist. He lived in what was an old lumberyard that serviced the railroad when it was built in the 1920's. There was a large house and several outbuildings. Upon arriving I commented; "this will be like shooting fish in a barrel". The porch was amass with about 12 cats, half of them Calicos! Within an hour or so we knew there were more than 29 cats and we started doubling up cats in traps. Later we dined at the Coyote Flats restaurant - the only place to eat in town. Dinner was exciting as I swatted 18 flies while trying to eat. The locals say they imported flies to eat the insects killing crops in Aguila...definitely a mistake. That evening we trapped a total of 32 cats. We left 2 traps out overnight.
We left at about 9:00 PM stopping in Wickenburg to pick up cats - they had filled all 12 traps. Turned out all 12 were female! After arriving back in Phoenix we had to unload the now 44 cats in my garage as it was still over 100 deg. and we could not leave cats in our vehicles.
Wednesday 7/29
Suzie left at 4:15 AM the next morning to go back to Aguila to collect 4 more cats. Two were trapped overnight and there were 2 were kittens in a shed the caregiver could get in traps. She delivered 5 traps to each caregiver to trap again that night. We now had 38 cats to go to the vet. I took one load of 26 cats to one vet and 22 cats to another vet. LOTS of lifting but it helps one keep in shape...Suzie met me at the second vet with the additional 4 cats caught overnight. We now had a total of 50 cats at the vet. We each picked up cats later in the day and now had 50 cats to aftercare in my garage (not a record but close).
Thursday 7/30
Thursday 7/30
We loaded up early and after hitting Starbucks shortly after they opened at 4:30 AM and getting gas (again) it was on to Wickenburg to release 12 cats and pick up 4 more trapped overnight. Ants had attacked the traps set overnight and I ended up with ants in my socks as I jumped around trying to get my shoes off - fully awake now. Next stop Aguila where 2 more cats were trapped overnight for a total of 6 more cats to go to the vet on 7/30. We were now up to 56 cats over 3 days. The Aguila release (pictured) was classic. There had been an abundance of Calicos in this mix and seeing their eartips was like heaven on earth. Tortie kittens that would never give birth were a sight to behold. This is why we do this week after week...
Flies - If there nasty ants in Wickenburg, the flies in Aguila made the ants look tame. After unloading the 24 cats in my vehicle I could not see the tarp on the floor for the flies. They were thick as, well, flies! We loaded up the traps and 2 cats (total of 6) caught overnight and headed for Phoenix and the vet. A fly swatter is not part of the trapping kit but should be. We swatted flies with trap covers and tried to let them out the windows but bought back several hundred from Aguila to Phoenix.
Suzie picked up the 6 cats at the vet that day and kept them inside her place that night.
Suzie picked up the 6 cats at the vet that day and kept them inside her place that night.
Friday 7/31
Suzie returned the cats to Wickenburg and Aguila in the AM. I spent most of the day washing traps and covers. In all, Suzie made 4 trips and I made 2 trips to Aguila and Wickenburg to TNR 56 cats. Thank you XM radio! These 56 cats would never have been fixed without the help of the Spay Neuter Hotline TNR Program and supporters like you.
The Spay Neuter Hotline TNR Program needs your help. We need donations to help caregivers in need with TNR. Caregivers with the most numbers of cats have the least amount of resources to fix the cats. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help the cats. You can find information on how to donate at http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/
The good news is that 100% of donations go to pay the vets for surgeries. Please help us help the cats.
Next week - Stay tuned for more exciting TNR adventures.
Suzie returned the cats to Wickenburg and Aguila in the AM. I spent most of the day washing traps and covers. In all, Suzie made 4 trips and I made 2 trips to Aguila and Wickenburg to TNR 56 cats. Thank you XM radio! These 56 cats would never have been fixed without the help of the Spay Neuter Hotline TNR Program and supporters like you.
The Spay Neuter Hotline TNR Program needs your help. We need donations to help caregivers in need with TNR. Caregivers with the most numbers of cats have the least amount of resources to fix the cats. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help the cats. You can find information on how to donate at http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/
The good news is that 100% of donations go to pay the vets for surgeries. Please help us help the cats.
Next week - Stay tuned for more exciting TNR adventures.
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