Pam's TNR blog - Week of 9/13/09

9/13 (Sunday)

The monthly 50+ cat clinic in N. Phoenix was on 9/13. We also had the clinic in Tempe that day and were hoping for about 120 cats total. I'd scheduled a trapping job for ten cats near my home as I have clinic logistics to deal with and trapping for these clinics is always hectic. And if this wasn't enough, it was at an apartment complex! Businesses, and apartment complexes especially, are always difficult places to trap. For one thing one never knows when they are finished. Then there is the constant flow of people including pizza delivery people and the like. There are "owned" cats roaming around and there is usually no way to leave traps overnight. I was facing all of these obstacles. And, I had trapped here before so there were some eartipped cats on the loose.

Well, I stayed there for three hours baking in my car watching traps in front of the apartment where the cats were fed. Traps could not be left unattended so I watched them until almost 9:00 PM. I trapped five but one was eartipped. The neighbor caught an additional cat on his patio overnight for a total of five cats. Not bad for an apartment complex.

Check-in begins at 7:00 AM on Sundays and caregivers start arriving at 6:30 AM - so I have to be there early. As always, I lay awake all night worrying about too many cats or not enough cats at the clinics. Since I could not sleep I got up and went back to the complex at 4:30 AM and set traps and waited. No luck. This clinic turned out perfect with 54 cats. After cleaning up the clinic and taking cats home for aftercare, I was back at the complex at about 6:00 PM and waited again in the heat until 8:30 PM.

9/14

So I went back the next morning and sat for two hours again before releasing my catch. I caught one cat! The sad part is that this one cat ended up being previously fixed (but not eartipped). Can you believe all that work for one prevously fixed cat? But sometimes perservance does pay off. I released the cats from the previous night's trapping. After picking up the one cat I was off on another adventure to trap 11 cats in zip code 85006. I sometimes feel like I am in a holding pattern between the 85006, 85008 and 85009 zip codes! This job was truly what I call a "drive by" trapping. Within 15 minutes I had nine cats and as it turned out, two of 11 were already fixed. Luckily it was cool enough to keep them in the car overnight so I had one less lifting step in the process. Summers are sometimes brutal for trapping, especially large colonies, because cats need to be unloaded and kept cool overnight in the garage overnight before surgery.

9/15

Took the nine cats to the vet and picked them up for aftercare in the afternoon. Suzie was trapping two jobs with Barbara that night. Sometimes I go with them on Tuesday nights but I decided to stay home that night and "relax".

9/16

I released the nine cats back in the early AM and got a call that morning while on the road from a caregiver I had delivered traps to earlier in the week. They had caught two cats on the second night's trapping and his wife had taken ill. Since I was down in that area I picked up the cats and took them to the vet close to me as I'd be picking up Suzie's six cats anyway for aftercare. I'd have eight cats for aftercare that night. After getting all of those cats settled in the garage I was off on a three cat job (first trip). The caregiver had no car and was very emotional about the TNR process. I had to do some "counseling" as I often have to do - she was even crying when I arrived. I caught one cat immediately and left the caregiver with two traps to try to catch the other two cats trapped in the small bedroom of the apartment. There was a mother cat in the closet with four, eight day old kittens. Those would wait for later. And I said I'd never trap at an apartment complex again...Oh well.

9/17

The caregiver caught one more overnight so I was off to pick it up (second trip) after releasing the two cats back I'd transported to and from the vet yesterday. Suzie picked up her cats early for release and brought me my coffee from Bucky's. Thank you Suzie! She'd be picking up two stragglers from the previous days trapping

Took these two to two vets along with seven cats Roni had trapped and delivered to my house early that morning. I now made trips to two vets to drop off 11 cats. Had to pick up 13 cats at two vets in the afternoon as Suzie had taken in the two last cats from a job she had done the previous night. I aftercared 13 cats in the garage from three caregivers. Roni was supposed to pick up her seven that night but due to a mixup I ended up with them at my place.

9/18

The nervous caregiver trapped the last cat in the bedroom overnight. I'd now be releasing the seven of Ron's on the westside, back to central Phoenix to release the two cats (third trip) and pick up the last cat trapped in the bedroom to take it to the vet. Suzie wuld be picking up this cat along with a pregnant one she drop-trapped that morning for another caregiver. Suzie would be picking both of these up as I had to get downtown to the Tom's Tavern Fun Raiser that began at 6:00 PM. She dropped both cats off at my house before coming to the event.

The Fun Raiser was a lot of fun - really! If you did not make it you missed the Maker's Mark bourbon tasting and some nice raffle items. Sheriff's Joe's MASH Unit people were there and I spoke on TNR and the SNH. The Manhattans were great and we had a full house. Karen will be updating everyone on the event - stay tuned to the ADLA website and Facebook.

Next week - a brief break from trapping to do some other volunteer work...for Uncle Sam.

ADLA 'Fun Raiser' Event at Tom's Tavern

ADLA 'Fun Raiser' was a great event!

Thanks to all that attended the ADLA Fun Raiser at Tom's Tavern on Friday! The event included a performance by singer/songwriter Amy Sellner, a Silent Auction, Maker's Mark Bourbon tasting, and interesting presentations.

ADLA volunteer Pam Kalish shared her feral cat trapping adventures and discussed the importance of TNR (trap, neuter, return) in addressing cat overpopulation. ADLA's Feral Cat Program has sterilized almost 5000 feral/stray cats since March 2009.

Officers Linda Thornton and Amir Ashrafzadeh from Sheriff Joe Arpaio's MASH unit provided information about the no-kill shelter created to house and care for abused animals. Inmates spend 12 to 24 hours a day socializing mistreated animals until they are ready for adoption.

ADLA greatly appreciates the efforts of Terry Ratner, who donated her time in organizing and publicizing the event. Also thanks go to:

Mike Ratner, owner of Tom's Tavern

Pam Kalish and Suzie Jones, ADLA TNR Volunteers

MASH Officers Ashrafzadeh and Thornton, and Sgt. Sherry Beckley

Amy Sellner

Silent Auction Donors:

Embellish Home Furnishings
Mackie's Parlour
Diva Design Jewelry
North Central News
Jewelry by Rebecca Rosete
7th Street Consignment Gallery
Socio Salon & Day Spa
Phoenix Flower Shop
Esprit Decor Gallery
Rochelle's Salon & Spa

Also thanks to North Central Phoenix News and ABC 15 for featuring the event.

Pam's TNR blog - Week of 9/6

Note: The photos in this blog were taken a few years ago at one of my most memorable trapping jobs ever. I thought I'd share them with you now.





9/6

There was no Sunday clinic today. As I mentioned before, I hate holidays. This was Labor Day weekend and there were no vets on 9/6 or 9/7. I thought of all the the cats needing help and I could do nothing. So I headed up North to do some volunteer archeology work with Bill. We do rock art documentation for the BLM. As volunteers, we've covered a lot of ground surveying for petroglyphs and documenting them for land mangers like the BLM and the Forest Service. It was hot and I was tired after a lot of hiking and actually was glad to not be trapping on Sunday night.


9/7 and 9/8


I was back at it again on Monday night. A caregiver needed help with a large colony out in far west Phoenix. I knew this would mean a lot of driving but there were an estimated 15-20 cats needing to be fixed. As usual, there were more cats than expected. The 15 -20 cats turned into 32 cats trapped over a two night period. The first night I trapped 23 cats and ended up at two vet clinics once again. I took additional traps to the caregiver in the AM and then more later in the morning - more driving of course. I picked up the 23 cats at two vets for aftercare. The caregiver trapped the next night and caught nine more cats on her own overnight. Of course this was another person in need of financial assistance. The biggest colonies are always in low-income areas fed by caregivers with no means to fix cats.


9/9

I picked up the nine cats in the AM and released the 23 from the day before. I had to leave dirty traps there as I had reached vehicle capacity. Before heading to the vet I stopped at Suzie's to help her transfer a cat into a trap. I had one space left in the Element. This was the mother cat that had been in a rabbit cage with the four kittens born in the trap at the vet's four weeks ago. There were six kittens to begin with but two had died as often happens with larger litters - especially when born under stressful conditions like in a trap. They were being weaned and it was time for mom to get fixed and go back to her colony. It was an easy transfer. Sometimes I think these mother cats are glad to be done with having kittens and want to get in the trap and get fixed! So I took ten cats to the vet today then picked them up later for aftercare. The kittens are doing well and fortunately the mother had been trapped by a rescue group and they are taking them for adoption. These kittens are lucky.


That evening I had two smaller jobs. Both were for only two cats; however one job turned in to six cats over two nights. They were again in central Phoenix and close together. I only caught one at one location and left a trap overnight. I caught five cats at the other location and left a couple traps overnight. I'd trapped many times over the years at the latter location. The caregiver had called me and the mother cat had yet another litter (these are tame and in the house and still need to be fixed).
She said, "I thought she could not get pregnant so soon after the previous litter". I responded, "Why didn't you call me?" It turned out that she did not want to fix a pregnant cat. Sometimes I feel like I take two steps forward and three steps back. Yet I will not give up.


9/10


I checked traps in the early AM after my usual stop at Starbucks before 5:00 AM. What would I (and Suzie) do without Bucky's? I had caught the second cat at the one location overnight. Before going to the vet I released the mother cat back to her colony. No luck at the other location so the caregiver would try again on her own that night - one less trip to set traps. I dropped off seven cats at the vet and picked them up later in the day for aftercare. I then headed home to load up the nine cats trapped the second night at the west Phoenix job to release them back and pick up the empty traps. There was a stop at the gas station (again) on the way. I felt like I was in a holding pattern back and forth across town. Thank you XM radio for carrying news and talk radio. They keep me sane in my travels ranging from Queen Creek to Aguila and beyond - and Yuma in a couple of weeks (please stay tuned). Before I knew it, it was time to pick up the cats at the vet for aftercare.


9/11


I released the two and five cats respectively back in the early AM. The one caregiver had caught the mother cat overnight so I took her to the vet and rushed home to check out traps. I guess I have not mentioned that most of our caregivers do their own trapping and transport and I am also a trap depot. People come and go from my place picking up traps where I train them how to do their own trapping. The SNH provides detailed written and verbal instructions for trapping. I also check out my drop trap to caregivers going for that one last cat they cannot catch. I only had one cat to pick up and she was ready early for pickup. I released her on Saturday morning, 9/12.


I'd be checking out more traps on Saturday for the big monthly weekend clinic for ferals in north Phoenix that next day, 9/13. I had a trapping job that night for this clinic but I'll save that story for next week's blog. There were the usual calls and questions about the clinic -making sure everyone had their traps and knew where to go and when. We were hoping for 50 cats and 70 in Tempe on 9/13.


We need your help in solving the feral cat overpopulation problem. Please think of how you can make a difference in your own "sphere of influence". If we all take the time to pass the word in our neighborhoods, including where you shop and do business, more people will know about TNR and how the SNH can help. We have fliers and business cards available for distribution. Have you asked you veterinarian if he/she will put some cards in their office? Vet offices are a great way to pass the word. If you need any cards or fliers please contact Sonia, ADLA Outreach Coordinator at: shernandez@adlaz.org

Thank you for caring about the cats...

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 8/30

8/30

I volunteered at the clinic in Tempe on 8/30. As sometimes happens, there were too many cats to fix that day. Volunteers Wayne Begun and Bob Janda had organized a TNR effort in a trailer park in East Mesa. They were going for 25 -30 cats and ended up trapping 48 cats... Go Wayne and Bob! Turned out that 31 cats could not be fixed that day as we only had one vet. The remainder had to go to another vet the next day. This happens quite often but I always say; "Better too many cats than not enough". After the clinic Suzie and I loaded up our vehicles with cats and headed for my place to hold them until the next day. Cats were fed and watered as they had not eaten for several days. It was about 20 degrees cooler in the garage thanks to the cooler, and they waited comfortably.

8/31

The 31 cats were transported to the vet who was again kind enough to do ALL of them just as another vet had done last Monday. Our vets are so wonderful and are always happy to see more feral cats. The cats had to be picked up later that day and aftercared in the garage. If this was not enough, I had a trapping job that night for 15 cats that turned in to a total of 28 cats! This was another example of an elderly lady whose family moved her out of state. My friend Joyce met the feeder and arranged for this trapping job. Joyce deserves a lot of credit for making this happen and was a lot of help in the process including bringing me dinner! Most of you know I do not often think about food when there are cats to be trapped. Thanks Joyce for your help including paying for some of the surgeries.

After picking up the 31 cats I loaded up traps to go trap in yet another older Phoenix neighborhood. It seems like the 85008 zip code has more feral cats than any other place in Maricopa County. I fed the now fixed cats upon returning home that night. Fortunately I was able to leave the newly trapped cats in the car overnight as it had cooled down. There were now 55 cats at my place - 31 in the garage and 24 in my car. I did trap two more overnight for a total of 26 cats then two more the following night for a grand total of 28 cats TNR'd in this colony.

This colony is 100% fixed - at least we saw no other un-eartipped cats. For the first time ever I actually trapped four kittens in one trap. The vet was able to fix about 11 six-week old kittens. If this were not the case I'd have been at a loss on what to do. One cannot release unsterilized cats but they had no place to go. It used to sadden me to TNR such young kittens but there are just too many cats and kittens and not enough homes for them. I always try to look at "the big picture" but it still hurts.

9/1

After taking 26 cats to two different vets I met Suzie at my house to load up the 31 cats in our two vehicles to drive them back to Mesa for release at two locations in the trailer park. From my place this drive is nearly as far East as Aguila is West - so it was back on the 202 eastbound as we had been on the Queen Creek job a couple of weeks ago. When people ask me how I know how to navigate around town without a GPS I say; "from trapping cats all over town". After a while one knows the best way to navigate around the Valley (I should probably apply for a UPS job or maybe solicit them to transport cats for me).

After releasing the cats I got a call from one vet saying someone had not signed their paperwork so back to the vet I headed. Between 4:00 and 5:00 PM I was back picking up the 26 cats at the other vet to bring them home for aftercare. I was now up to four trips to the vets today. Then I was off to set more traps for the stragglers.

9/2

I loaded up the 26 cats for release and headed back again to check traps. We caught two more cats overnight for a total of 28 cats. I took these two cats to the vet and picked them up later along with five cats at another vet that Suzie had trapped. So I had seven cats for aftercare that night. But after unloading these cats it was off to trap two cats at another location and drop off my drop-trap to a caregiver trying to catch one last cat.

9/3

I met Suzie for release of her five cats, picked up a straggler from that location and headed down to 85008 to release the last two cats from the large colony. Then I took the three cats to the vet and picked them up later for aftercare.

9/4

I released the one cat for Suzie and she released the two I had trapped Wed. night as the caregiver was closer to her place. There were lots of traps and covers to wash to get ready for next week's adventures. With the holiday on Monday, several vets were closed Friday and Monday there would be no vets. And, there would be no weekend clinics making this an uneventful weekend. I do hate holidays! I do, however, always trap on Christmas night and New Years night if the holidays fall during the week. By the way the person drop-trapping did catch the last cat and got it fixed on 9/4. Thank you Joe Wisdom for helping perfect the drop-trap design.

The Spay Neuter Hotline TNR program has sterilized nearly 5,000 cats since launching our program in March 2009. We need your help. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help us fix more cats. Our goal is to eventually TNR 20,000 cats/year and we cannot do it without your support. Remember to spread the word about spay and neuter of tame cats - the major source of feral cats. TNR alone will not solve the problem. There are low-cost and even free spay and neuter options for tame cats. For more information visit our website.

And, there will be Fundraiser on 9/18 at Tom's Tavern in downtown Phoenix. Check it out! I'll be speaking about our new TNR program and my ideas on solving the free-roaming cat overpopulation problem in Maricopa County and beyond. And there will be some good whiskey tasting too!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 8/23

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 8/23

Suzie passed this on to me so I am sharing it with you...

"I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness I can show to any creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again." - Stephen Grellet (19th Century French writer)

Now on to this week's trapping episodes...

8/22

We released the 10 cats from Friday's fiasco back to the trailer park in the AM. We returned there with 24 traps about 6:00 PM to trap. There were five locations in this park to be targeted. The other smaller park next door would be a challenge for another time. A mysterious feeder was dumping food there and withholding food for trapping would be difficult. The park manager was very cooperative and she and her husband followed us to the various locations talking to the caregivers. Having Spanish speakers to help made things much easier.

What made this difficult was making stops at so many places to set traps, check traps, pick up traps, label traps etc. We ended up catching 23 cats that evening and overnight for the clinic in Tempe. The nice part was that the manager made dinner for us in the community center. So we dined while waiting for cats to go in traps! Suzie checked traps overnight while I headed to the clinic to work as I often do on Sundays. I took 21 cats with me to the clinic. After Sunday we will have TNR'd 33 cats in the park counting the ones fixed on Friday.

8/24

Nothing is ever predictable in this volunteer work... The next morning before releasing the cats, I had to take 11 cats in. A caregiver who trapped Sunday night arrived with extra cats, and upon reaching the clinic I discovered another caregiver with 14 cats. If 25 cats was not enough, Suzie got an early AM call from another caregiver who was turned away from another clinic because of too many cats and had to be diverted to the same clinic. And while I was there yet another person showed up, for a total of 31 cats! It took a while to check in and after this we had to release the 25 cats back to the park. Five stops again to release. By this time it was late morning and in a few hours we'd be back at the vet picking up Suzie. We picked up the diverted five cats and drove them almost to the Arizona border (Waddell), and I picked up the 11 cats to deliver them back before loading up to trap near my favorite area - 20th Ave. and Van Buren. I'd trapped there before and remembered "Buddy", a favorite feral that escaped unsterilized from my garage because the back door on the trap was not latched. I had hoped he'd find his way back but he did not. Some of these were his offspring.

8/25

I took five cats to the vet on Tuesday. That night was quiet. Suzie and Barbara were trapping on the west side but I was saving up my strength for a big job on Wednesday night.

8/26

Back at it again...I had another solo Central Phoenix trapping job for 20-25 cats. Upon showing up I realized the feral cats were coming from some apartments next door. Well, these were sort of apartments. According to the caregiver who was feeding reluctantly, this had been a horse property and the the apartments were converted stables! They sure looked like it. The source of the cats was a man who was feeding but did not sterilize his cats. It often seems people need some sex education when it comes to understanding how one cat turns in to 25 cats. I cannot remember exactly but we trapped about 17 that night and two overnight for a total of 19. I did not catch the mother as is often the case. I'll have to go back to make sure this colony is finished, if ever. In my opinion it is animal cruelty to feed feral cats and not fix them. Many feeders are not aware of this concept. Fed cats breed more often, have bigger litters, and more kittens per litter.

8/27

Checked traps in the AM and caught a few more overnight. Was at the vet at 7:00 AM to unload. I calculated that trapping say 50 cats/week required loading and unloading of cats and empty traps as well. I calculated for full traps at 21 lbs each and 5 loadings and unloadings equals moving 6,000 lbs. There are five steps in loading and unloading empty traps for a total 3,250 lbs. This is a total of 9,250 lbs or 4.63 tons of cats and traps/week or 18.5 tons/month or 222 tons/year! Anyone considering being a trapper needs to realize it requires a LOT of lifting but it is very rewarding seeing direct results of your work. It is good exercise too!

I picked up the cats for aftercare (another couple of lifting steps) and fed them in the evening. I do go through a lot of cat food - thank you Costco for your bargain on Friskies.

But before this I had two more smaller trapping jobs that night. It was 105 degrees at 6:00 PM. But the heat never stops me and I've become adapted over the years. One job was for six cats and the other for three cats. I caught all six at the one location and only two at the other. Again, one left. No luck overnight either.

Picked up the six cats in the AM as the caregiver did the trapping while I was watching traps at the other location. I then released the 19 cats from the night before. Had to leave empty traps there as I ran out of room in the Honda Element - a car perfectly designed for carrying traps and cats - and for cleaning out afterwards...then it was off to the vet with the eight cats. Picked them up for aftercare in the afternoon.

8/29 (Saturday)

Released the eight cats back at the two locations and picked up the rest of my empty traps from the big job. Saw the white female cat taunting me in the driveway. Darn it! I need to fix that cat. Lots of traps and covers to wash. All traps sterilized with bleach water and rinsed and all covers are washed with bleach between use. Anyone wanting to donate bleach, tuna, or moist cat food for aftercare, please let me know. It will be put to good use.

Next week - What we do when there are too many cats at a clinic??

Please pass the word about spay and neuter. Tame cats, often abandoned, are the source of a large number of feral cats. The Spay Neuter Hotline provides referrals for low-cost and even free spay and neuter for companion cats (and dogs). Please visit our website at: http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/

If you are feeding feral cats and need assistance, the ADLA Spay Neuter Hotline has a TNR program. Please call our hotline at 602-265-7729 (SPAY).