Animal Defense League of Arizona

Pam's TNR Blog Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T10:16:00.003-07:00

Week before Christmas 2011

This was one of the busiest weeks of the year! Suzie and I trapped 13 cats for the Tempe clinic on 12/18. Three additional cats were caught the next night for a total of 16 cats from this location. I did another job at two locations in one neighborhood on Tuesday night for a total of 23 cats plus three cats the following night for a total of 26 cats on that street in central Phoenix. It was interesting that a neighbor on the next street emailed ADLA about some missing cats he was feeding...turns out they were being fixed that very day! He was grateful we could help. The entire neighborhood contributed donations towards this effort. This was an example of what people can do in their neighborhoods to help stabilize the free-roaming cat population. It works at lot better than simply complaining about the cats and causing ill will among neighbors.

On Wednesday night we had a mass trapping in 85019, our target zip code. Free-roaming cat spays and neuters in this zip code are being funded by PetSmart Charities over a two-year period. This is to show that targeted s/N of cats works to stabilize the cat population and to see if fewer cats end up in open-intake shelters. Suzie was trapping at three locations and helping me trap in an alley where a caregiver we had helped previously was feeding five cats. Grant was trapping in a nearby apartment complex where the gentleman was also feeding 12 cats (or so he said).

Trapping "Alley Cats"

After we finished in the alley, Suzie headed off to check traps at her other jobs and I met up with Grant at the condos. Grant had called me saying "there are LOTs more cats here...can you bring more traps?". I asked "how many" and he said about 25 traps! I only had four more traps in my car having loaned some to Suzie who was short on traps. When I got to the feeding station at the main dumpster, he had 12 traps filled. As it turned out, there were cats living in an abandoned condo where they had access through a hole in the wall. It was trapping nirvana! Unfortunately, we did not have enough traps. And additionally, we did not have enough vet slots for the next day (Thursday). We'd have to come back next Wednesday night to trap the remaining cats. It was difficult leaving knowing there were cats needing to be fixed. There was a little humor that night despite the desperation...a cat got up in the dumpster and found some crab legs. Grant found him munching on his dinner!

Early Thursday morning Suzie and I headed back to the alley and trapped one more cat for a total of five cats. We had a total of 30 cats at two vets including my three from the second night trapping at the previous nights location. This was from six locations! There were also six more cats at these two vets, three were also from 85019 making this a total of 30 more 85019 cats in 2011. And I'll be back out there next week to round off the year with not just one (at the dumpsters) but at another location across Camelback Rd. on Monday night to trap 20+ cats.

Below is a photo of a kitten sitting in a mess of "stuff" left on the patio at the abandoned condo. We'll try to catch her next week. The photo was taking through the broken locked gate that provided access to the hole in the condo wall where the cats live...

Kitten on the Condo Patio

Suzie did catch the last calico mother cat at one of her trapping locations. It turns oout I had been after this cat last summer. We started comparing addresses andI'd trapped for a neighbor there previously. This cat went to the vet on Friday. I'd like to thank Suzie and Grant for their tireless efforts in trapping, transporting, and aftercaring cats. We need twenty more of you!

We can all make a difference in the lives of homeless cats. We are fortunate to have PetSmart Charities helping us fix cats in 85019. But we also need help fixing homeless cats in other parts of the valley. It is the end of 2011 and we all want to pay less in taxes. Consider a tax-deductible donation to the ADLA Spay Neuter Hotline. Specify "TNR" when you send in your donations. % of donations go pay our veterinarians for spay and neuter. And please patronize our wonderful vet clinics. Without them our TNR program could not exist. We are on track to fix over 10,000 cats in 2011. Please help us make 2012 an even more successful year...Thank you.

Donations can be mailed to:

The Spay Neuter Hotline

P.O. Box 33093

Phoenix, AZ 85067

Thank you for your support and have a Happy 2012!

Pam's TNR Blog - December 2011

2011-12-13T14:52:00.003-07:00

December 2011

We started off December by trapping 83 cats in the first week. And, ALL 83 cats were trapped in our target zip code, 85019.

The first job was for 37 cats; 33 cats the first night and four cats the second night. Grant, Barbara, Suzie and I trapped this first night and even filled all but one trap left out over night incuding a couple extra Suzie trapping in the morning in the alley when checking traps. The second night yielded only one cat but thanks again to Suzie's perserverence, three more were trapped in the alley once again. I do have to thank Suzie as I had a broken knee cap and could not do much lifting. Still, I was able to lift empty traps and bait traps.

The caregiver was so greatful for our help. He had called several years ago and never followed through. One of our schedulers called him as he was on the list of caregivers in the 85019 area. Because he did not do TNR previously his colony had multiplied exponentially. He was also grateful for the cat food I brought him as feeding 37 cats on a fixed income can be challenging. He was truly in need and these the the caregivers we want to help through our PetSmart Charities grant for 85019.

Alley across the street

where many cats were trapped

Suzie gettin ready to release cats in the cold morning

One ear-tipped cat happy to be home!

As if 37 cats was not enough, we needed cats for our Saturday clinic in N. Phoenix. We needed about 20 cats so I picked a 15-20 cat job in the 85019 zip code. Well, 15-20 turned in to 41 cats total! We trapped Friday night having to make an emergency run to Suzie's for more traps and having to double some cats up as well. We had 30 cats in on Saturday and trapped again Saturday night ending up with 16 more cats for Monday's clinic. Of 38 total traps only one trap was empty and we fear it tripped on its own. We did see more cats there so another round may be necessary. This job involved three caregivers in a neighborhood.

Still, we were happy with 83 cats in one week although this was certainly not a record. I had intended to enumerate the # of lifting and hauling steps but somewhere along the line I lost track!

I am now at 2046 cats trapped in 2011. I am hoping to break my previous record of 2084 in 2010 and I think I will. This broken knee is a problem but I've never let broken bones stop me before. The immobilizer works great...I just have to move more slowly.

My usual plea for $$$...Please consider a Holiday gift to the many homeless cats on the street in our community. We can spay or neuter one cat for a $25 donation. This will prevent a litter of kittens in the Spring. Thank you for your support!

Pam's TNR Blog - November 2011

2011-12-05T08:56:00.001-07:00

November 2011

November 2011 was a busy month for trapping. I trapped and fixed 171 cats in November despite the yard sale and Thanksiving! Those darn holidays always curtail trapping. The yard sale, however, was a huge success. We raised over $2,300 for spaying and neutering feral cats! So far in 2011 I've TNR'd 1,902 cats and hope to break my record of 2,084 cats TNR'd in 2010.

As always there are too many special and rewarding experiences to cover in this blog. The most memorable job was a colonly of 41 cats trapping in one night. This one was exciting because the caregivers indicated she had 20 cats and it turned out she had 41 cats! The photos included here are of "before" and "after" the cats were fixed. These were some of the most healthy and well cared for cats I'd ever seen. what was truly amazing is the spottlessly clean environment the caregivers maintained. I was impressed. This was "cat management" at its finest...

Before Trapping

After Trapping

Earlier in the month I helped Grant trap another large colony. We trapped a total of 26 cats. Thank you Grant for helping this caregiver in need. It took several nights of trapping and trips to three vets but ALL the cats are now fixed. It is so important to fix ALL the cats in a colony. One producing female can ruin the entire effort - those males roam great distances to get romance. Then follow-up is required for newcomers. Nothing about TNR is easy. I always say "they could not pay anyone enough to do this job". It can only be done by dedicated and committed volunteers...those who care enough to go the extra distance to make a difference.

Feeding feral cats comes with a tremendous responsibililty. If you decide to feed free-roaming cats, be prepared for a long-term committment. Cats must be fixed, fed, provided with shelter and veterinary care if necessary. And do not forget that you will have to be there for them meaning vacations may be few and far between.

To help more caregivers in need we need donations. Many non-profits are asking for donations this time of year but a donation to ADLA for TNR goes a long way. 100% of donations are used to pay our wonderful veterinarians for surgeries. What better way to end the year then to prevent kittens in 2012. Make this your New Year's resoution - I am making it mine.

Donations can be mailed to:

The Spay Neuter Hotline

P.O. Box 33093

Phoenix, AZ 85067

Specify "TNR Program" in the memo.

Thank you for caring about the cats!

Pam's TNR Blog - October 2011

2011-10-14T07:15:00.031-07:00

October 2011

It has been a busy October so far! The most exciting event was the first Arizona Humane Society (AHS) clinic on October 11th. There were 75 cats in the door including cats from several large colonies trapped by me and Suzie. I brought in 27 cats from three colonies and Suzie brought in 29 cats from three other colonies. It is exciting that ADLA is now partnering with the AHS to reduce the number of unwanted cats and kittens being turned in. Many are euthanized due to lack of space, are not adoptable because they are too young, un-socialized or unhealthy. Trap-Neuter Return (TNR) continues to be the most humane and effective methods of stabilizing free-roaming cat populations and of reducing cat euthanasia at open intake shelters such as the AHS.

The photo above was taken at the colony at a motel on Van Buren. These cats would never have been fixed had not Sharon, a neighborhood activist, had not taking action. I've worked with Sharon for years helping to sterilize tame and feral cats in her neighborhood. Very few caregivers in this neighborhood can afford to fix their pets...least of all the free-roaming cats they are feeding. TNR would be "world away" from them if not for Sharon's involvement and persistence. We are truly making a difference. Sharon makes sure all cats and dogs are spayed and neutered in her neighborhood and is relentless in her efforts. I am happy to have been a part of this effort over the years. Thank you Sharon. The photo above was taken after 21 cats were released at the motel on Van Buren near I-17...where they were eating a welcome breakfast!
October has always been our busiest month and this year should be no exception.

I'd like to thank the Spay Neuter Hotline (SNH) for starting a TNR program in 2009 so we could continue to sterilize over 10,000 cats/year. Personally, I have been doing TNR since 2003. My involvement with the SNH goes back to 1992 when it was started to help bring low-cost a first attempt to those in need. The SNH is celebrating its 20th anniversary this coming year. We've come a long way since then but not far enough...especially where free-roaming cats are concerned. However, things are changing and thanks to visionaries like Jan Raven, TNR in Maricopa County is approaching a level not seen by any other community in the country and perhaps the world. Thank you Jan for your efforts to get TNR going in the valley. In 2011 we hope to sterilize more than 10,000 feral cats thanks to all our caregivers, volunteers, donors and grantors and everyone who has helped make ADLA's Spay Neuter Hotline's TNR a tremendous success!

To sign up for the TNR program please call the Hotline at: 602-265-7729 (SPAY) or email: feralcats@adlaz.org.

Pam's TNR Blog - September 2011

2011-09-24T08:03:00.020-07:00

September 2011

As of 9/26 I'd already TNR'd 167 cats in September. Had a couple of HUGE colonies. Most memorable was the one this week - 51 cats! I am going to emphasize again - Please do TNR before your colony becomes this big. It is less expensive to fix a mom cat and three kittens then it is to TNR 51 cats. Besides, it is a LOT more work. The photo here is of one of the cats fixed this week. Notice the ear-tip. Cats are ear-tipped to identify them as spayed or neutered. A good way to tell if a cat has an ear-tip if you cannot get close enough is to take a digital photograph and blow it up on the camera or on your computer. I
did this yesterday after releasing the last 21 cats and when I got home and downloaded the photos - I saw one cat I missed. Thank goodness it looked like a male.

Last week was especially busy trapping one 49 cat colony and one 51 cat colony. Thank you Andrea for all your help. I started this week on Saturday trapping in Buckeye, AZ. This is 52 miles from my house and I am already, on Monday, up to three round trips to Buckeye. Andrea went with me on Saturday night and we toured the town while waiting for the cats to go in traps. Not much going on there but is interesting to see other towns in Arizona once in a while. Today, 9/26, I have 15 cats at the vet from this location. Had to leave at 5:15 AM to beat the traffic to pick up four more cats trapped overnight. I arrived home from the vet at 8:45 AM. The good part is I got to listen to an entire CD of my eight CD book. It's over 10 hours long! There will be one last night trapping for the last three cats...I hope to finish the book!

Tuesday it is off to trap three 85019 colonies with Suzie. The 85019 is our target zip code for TNR in 2011 and 2012. Thank you PetSmart Charities for funding this important targeted TNR project. We are hoping for about 30+ cats. The logistics of trapping at several locations in one night can be challenging but it saves a lot on gas and time. I hope to have trapped over 200 cats by the end of September.

Please pass the word about the Spay Neuter Hotline's TNR program for free-roaming cats. We operate in the metro Phoenix area and fix about 10,000 cats/year. Most caregivers, or feeders, do their own trapping with our guidance. Traps are housed at "trap depots" throughout Maricopa County and we use a number of veterinary clinics throughout the valley. This program is a seven day/week operation. The Spay Neuter Hotline is part of the ADLA, The Animal Defence League of Arizona and the TNR program has been in existence since March of 2009. Since then we have fixed almost 25,000 feral cats!

If you are interested in our TNR program please call the Hotline at: 602-265-7729 (SPAY) or email: feralcats@adlaz.org
Stay tuned for October, National Feral Cat Month. We have lots of exciting things planned including a 20 year party and fundraiser and a big feral cat S/N event (TBD).

Donations are always welcome!

Pam's TNR Blog - August 2011

2011-09-04T12:55:00.020-07:00

In August I trapped 147 cats...It was hot and at times I wanted to simply give up. Aftercare is a problem and often involves unloading all the trapped cats the night before in the garage to be kept cool The garage is a lot cooler thanks to the swamp cooler(s) running 24 hours/day in the summer months. The motor broke on one cooler and had to be replaced (thank you Grant!). Sometimes there are up to 40-50 cats in my garage including the ones trapped by Suzie. Nothing about TNR is easy...and summer makes things a LOT more difficult.

There were many memorable trapping jobs this summer...probably too many to even write about. The week of the 15th I spent in Buckeye. This required six round trips @ 52 miles each way totalling 312 miles. The good thing was I almost finished one book on CD. I'd recommend it: "Quantum Man; Richard Feynman's Life in Science". Feynman is one of my heroes and his life inspires me to keep tackling difficult, sometimes almost unsolvable problems...like that of homeless cats. Besides, having majored in Physics I am fascinated by the lives and accomplishments of great physicists and he certainly was one. Books on CD are great for long trips...BTW I trapped a total of 18 cats during this adventure over four days. Of course I trapped one last male the morning of the second release and had to drive all the way back to Buckeye to release this one single cat. It always happens this way. I had this happened in Gila Bend and El Mirage. Suzie once took one male cat back to Aguila!

The other memorable trapping the week of 29 August was in the W. Valley. The caregiver donated extra for immediate assistance. I love these kind of jobs...more $$$ for the SNH to help more caregivers in need (a growing list BTW - we need donations badly). There were about 10 cats and I trapped six the first night. The second night I trapped four more. I trapped the last kitten in the AM with the trusty drop-trap. This was challenging as he almost got out from under the dropper that was on unlevel ground (beware - this can happen with small kittens). I had to fix that and use the squirt gun on the far side while holding both trap doors up. this was in we dirt of course and I must of looked crazy - fortunately there was no one there to see me. The three kittens were too young and sick to fix so the caregiver is fostering them until they are bigger and healthier. And, there is an 11th cat, a male, still out there. Grrrr...

I did drop-trap two last cats for a very grateful caregiver last Friday night (9/2). What a rush! there is nothing like getting the last cat, especially when it is the breeding mother cat.

As the weather gets cooler in September I am hoping to ramp things up and hopefully beat last year's trapping record. I am shooting for 2,100 cats this year.

If you are feeding feral cats and want help with trap-neuter-return (TNR), please call the Spay Neuter Hotline at; 602-265-7729 (SPAY) or email: feralcats@adlaz.org

We operate valley-wide (metro Phoenix area) and have caregivers using our TNR program from as far away as Miami (AZ), Casa Grande, and Cordes Junction. One person even came from Agua Caliente! I had to look this one up on the map and it is beyond Gila Bend.

Contact us if you are interested in volunteering or in donating to help caregivers and cats in need. Donations can be mailed to:

The Spay Neuter Hotline
P.O. Box 33093
Phoenix 85067
Specify "TNR" in the memo

I'd like to thank all our volunteers and supporters who are making our TNR program a success!

Poachers in AZ: May Commission meeting

2011-05-29T12:40:00.016-07:00

Thanks to everyone who commented on our FB posts about two of the poaching cases on the May Arizona Game and Fish Commission agenda! We thought it would be easier to answer some of your questions and provide more information on the blog.

The two cases we posted came-out of Mohave County. That's impressive! Each case had unusual elements and either local law enforcement or Game and Fish stepped-up at the investigation, arrest or prosecution phases.

Each month the Commission hears poaching cases as part of its regular meeting agenda. They are always heard on Friday at 2 pm. You can attend in person at Game and Fish Headquaters (Carefree Highway 1 mile west of Interstate 17, north of Phoenix, online at AZ Game & Fish website or at one of six regional offices around the state.

Poaching cases come before the Commission for license revocations and civil assessments AFTER poachers have been convicted (found guilty) and sentenced in criminal court. These cases are misdemeanors so they are adjudicated in municipal or justice courts around the state.

Thanks to an Operation Game Thief tipster--Steven Wannebo, a Minnesota resident, was arrested by Arizona Game & Fish while he was checking his trap line and booked into Mohave County jail on four counts of setting leghold traps on State Trust Land, three counts of trapping within a half mile of a residence, cross country travel and driving on a revoked license. He pled guilty and was fined $3,200.

Edwin C. Jess drove a golf cart (in front of several animal lovers- he said) to a pond adjacent to Riverview Resort Golf Course. He then attacked a great blue heron that was landing on the pond, beating him to death with a golf club. Jess was charged with animal cruelty and killing an animal out of season and was convicted on both charges. There is no season for great blue herons. ADLA was pleased to see animal cruelty charges filed along with the criminal violation of Game & Fish statutes.

The Commission revoked both mens' licenses to hunt, trap and fish in Arizona for five years and imposed a civil assessment for the "value" of the animals taken. Those revocations typically result in revocations in the poachers' home states and other states where they may hunt or fish.

Operation Game Thief's number is 1-800-352-0700.

Pam's TNR Blog - Summer 2011 Update

2011-04-16T11:44:00.033-07:00

Summer 2011

I cannot believe it is already August! Yes, I am a bit behind on my blogs but it has been a very busy year so far. So far this year I've trapped and fixed 1261 free-roaming cats. Kitten season was one of the worst ever in my opinion. There were times when I was wading in kittens and could do nothing...though I always try to follow up and TNR kittens later, if they survive. It's a challenging part of what we do. Fixing entire colonies is important and often requires a lot of time and effort (and expense).

Suzie fostered one litter of newborn kittens with a feral mom for several weeks. These kittens were dug out of the mud under a stack of plywood in a back yard full of junk. The kittens went up for adoption with a local rescue group. These were the lucky ones. Numerous other kittens from this same trapping job were TNR'd I think there were nearly 40 cats fixed at this location. A situation all too common but one we are trying to prevent. Hopefully some of them survived - they were only about six weeks old. One never knows but hopes. This was a very poor caregiver who needed out help desperately - he was lucky. Many caregivers are not so lucky and feel helpless...There are so many sad stories out there - I hear then, day after day.

This black mother cat was fixed along with her five kittens. These cats and kittens has a caring feeder who I'd helped previously. He was very grateful and donated generously. Still, there are many more are out there needing our assistance, help with trapping and transport but mostly needing financial assistance - and especially in the E. Valley.

the worst thing that can ever happen to a cat born on the street is to not be fixed. And despite years of effort it is beginning to seem hopeless. Yet a part of me still believe we can stabilize free-roaming cat populations. This year, The Arizona Humane Society (AHS) had record numbers of cats and kittens being turned it and more than ever before being euthanized for lack of space - meaning too many cats and not enough homes for them. We thought things were getting better but I am beginning to wonder. Sometimes we need to hit bottom before acting. So what can an individual do to stop this endless cycle? Here are some ideas.

Spread the word about spay and neuter. Unsterilized pet cats that are the #1 cause of cat homelessness. If you have or know of someone with a mother cat and kittens, tame or feral, help them get the cats fixed. Call the Spay Neuter Hotline for assistance: 602-265-7729 (SPAY). Encourage caregivers NOT to turn them in to an open-intake shelter like the AHS or MCACC. chances of getting out alive are slim. The most common call me receive is for a single cat having kittens in someones yard. Breaking the breeding cycle early avoids having to TNR a colony of 40 cats later. It is a lot less expensive and a LOT less work. I know this because I do the back breaking work every night. And most importantly, donate money to help with the cost of TNR for those who need help. Donations can be sent to:

The Spay Neuter Hotline
P.O. Box 33093

Phoenix, AZ 85067

100% of donations targeted for TNR are used to pay for spay and neuter of free-roaming cats. Your donation is tax-deductible. And spread the word. TNR is the most humane and effective method of stabilizing free-roaming cat populations.

Thank you for your continued support!

Pam's TNR Blog - January 2011

2011-02-05T08:17:00.032-07:00

January 2011

The year started off with a bang as I was able to TNR 244 cats. As always, I feel like "The Red Queen", running as fast as I can to stay in place...all the while knowing kitten season is just around the corner. It always depresses me when I run into someone who says they are going to let a cat have kittens, negating my hard work to fix cats day after day. Let's face it, TNR is a difficult business. It requires back-breaking lifting and hauling not to mention long hours of waiting for cats to go into traps and cleaning and washing equipment. Still, one cannot ignore its importance and effectiveness. It is the most humane and effective method of stabilizing free-roaming cat populations.

Week of January 3rd

The first week of January began with trapping 23 cats that was to orinally be a colony of 12 cats. Often caregivers underestimate the number of cats they feed. This large colony was fed by an elderly gentleman who could never have done TNR on his own. Overwhelmed, he at last found the Spay Neuter Hotline and we were able to help him. There is however, one left to fix and this will definitely require the drop-trap. These last cats, usually the "mother cat who started the problem", are often the last ones to be trapped. Frustrating! (I did go back at a later date and caught this cat).

Week of January 10th

During week two I helped an elderly lady in a mobile home park (MHP) trap two cats. I've been helping her for years and a few more cats had shown up. It is VERY important to monitor colonies for new cats. Later in the week Suzie, Grant and I tackled five colonies in the central Glendale area. This was again one of our "marathon" trapping extravaganzas. We trapped a total of 61 cats over two nights at five different locations. This required visits to several vets and a lot of driving from place to place trapping, then releasing cats. The last seven cats were released on Friday morning at three locations. Thanks go out to Suzie and Barbara for enduring a second night of rain to catch the remaining cats...

I trapped another 10 cats in a central Phoenix neighborhood on Thursday and Friday nights. These were from three locations. I had to drop-trap the last difficult-to-catch cat late Friday night and it was released early Sunday morning. A week of trapping beginning Sunday night and ending Sunday morning resulting in 75 cats being fixed.

Week of January 17th

The week started off with 23 cats left over from the Tempe clinic on Sunday that had to go to two vets on Monday. I trapped Sunday night for six cats and also had them at the vet on Monday along with this crowd. The job Sunday night was a "high end" trapping job. The caregiver was donating extra for immediate assistance - a way to make $$$ to help the less fortunate caregivers. I also drop-trapped a cat later on Monday morning at another location - one that I'd been after for a long time.

Monday night the caregivers from Mesa came to pick up their 20 cats at my place and I went drop-trapping again to catch the last cat at Sunday night's location. I had to lay down on their kitchen floor hiding beneath the bottom of the French door in the kitchen to hide before pulling the string on the wary tortie outside on the patio. But I snagged her after about half an hour. What a rush! After picking her up at the vet I was off to meet Suzie and Barbara to trap in a MHP up in N. Phoenix. It turned out there was one more calico that fed across the street. I'd be back there in February...

The manger of the MHP claimed there were 20+ cats but it turned out many were already fixed. A lady there had done 12 cats a while back and had even picked up traps from me. We had traps out at about five locations and ended up with 10 cats that night and one more overnight for a total of 11 cats. There would be no second night trapping at this location. That was good as we had to drop-trap early in the AM at a park in Glendale and I had to meet Alicia to help trap 20 cats at a lady's place in W. Phoenix. This one was very important...

A couple of weeks previously Channel 12 "Call for Action" had done a story about a lady needing help with feral cats. She had contacted the AHS and they wanted to charge her more than she could afford to take the cats to their facility and no TNR assistance was available from them. They did mention ADLA's TNR program on the news as well. My friend Alicia saw the broadcast and called the reporter who put her in touch with the caregiver. She offered to help her TNR the cats and she was thrilled that someone cared enough to help her.

The park in Glendale - ADLA has an agreement with a Glendale park to trap cats there on a regular basis and there was one last cat under the office to snag. It was cold and dark but Suzie and I had him within minutes. After taking him to the vet I released the 11 cats from the day before at four locations in the MHP. I met Alicia and the caregiver with the 20 cats at the vet that morning. The caregiver was so happy she cried. These are the experiences one never forgets...

There would be little time to rest. The Sunday clinic in N. Phoenix was on 1/20 along with the Tempe clinic the same day. We were trapping a BIG job in the Coronado area in central Phoenix on Saturday night. This was one of those "low-hanging fruit" trapping jobs. Over two nights we trapped 46 cats total We were only able to do 16 on Sunday along with the other total of 70 cats. Thanks go out to all those dedicated Coronado folks for organizing TNR in their neighborhood and raising money to help the cats! Special thanks go out to Andrea Del Galdo who is the driving force behind this effort. And thanks go out also to Barbara and Stephanie for doing a second night's trapping at this location.

Week of January 24

Between the leftovers and the additional cats trapped on Sunday night we'd have 27 cats going to two vets on Monday. In the midst of releasing the cats fixed on Sunday I was diverted to a motel downtown where they had trapped two cats unexpectedly. I'd be at the vet again later in the morning with those cats for a total of 17 cats. All told there were 27 cats at that vet on Monday including other caregivers who were also trapping for that day. But the week was just beginning...

Tuesday all 27 cats would have to be released. I might mention that one cat had to have an eye removal requiring it to be kept in a rabbit cage for several days to adjust to its surroundings. We named him "pirate". I'd have to go back home after release and pick up a rabbit cage to take to the neighbor who would be fostering the cat in the cage. Oh - and there was the release of the motel cats further downtown...continuing my "holding pattern on 7th St and another trip to the gas station - gas is getting expensive!

Wednesday would begin another adventure with the mobile...I did have finally one last cat to drop-trap and get to the vet on Wed. I'd be setting off for El Mirage mid-afternoon for a several day trapping job. We had arranged for the mobile to do a tame cat and dog spay day at a MHP in El Mirage. Originally we planned on doing ferals too but the response was so overwhelming we decided to do the tame animals on Thursday and bring all the ferals trapped over two nights in to Phoenix for the mobile on Friday. Barbara and Suzie came later and trapped one side of the park and I trapped the other side. We hit about 10 locations in the park total and and ended up with 44 feral cats on Friday along with two more cats we drop-trapped in the middle of the day! The mobile ended up doing 44 tame cats and dogs on Thursday in El Mirage. The park manager and residents were so happy we had helped spay and neuter a total of 86 animals. The ferals had to be done on Friday in Phoenix as there were too many animals to do on the mobile in one day. Thank you Grant for letting us use your parking lot to park the mobile on Friday.

The cats were released on Saturday morning in El Mirage. I'd be back in time to help trap and aftercare and another 25 cats for a clinic on Sunday, January 30th.

The Spay Neuter Hotline needs your help! We need to raise money to help caregivers and cats in need. Tax-deductible donations can be mailed to:

The Spay Neuter Hotline

P.O. Box 33093

Phoenix 85067

100% of donations go to spay and neuter feral cats. Thank you for your support.

Pam's TNR Blog - 2010 in Review

2011-01-08T05:55:00.013-07:00

2010 Spay Neuter Hotline TNR Update

We did it! the Spay Neuter Hotline fixed over 10,000 feral cats in 2010. And I trapped 2,084 cats myself in 2010, a new record for me. Some additional highlights of my year included

- Biggest colony I trapped this year was 99 cats in Laveen (the photo to right shows a kitten from this large colony).

- Furthest distance I traveled to trap a colony was Cordes Junction.

- Most cats I trapped in a single month was in December with 259 cats.

- Fewest cats I trapped in a single month was in June with 118 cats.

AND the TNR program accomplished the following:

- Most cats fixed in one month was October with 1,024 cats TNR'd.
- Fewest cats fixed in a month was May with 717 cats TNR'd.

- Most cats TNR'd in one weekend was 196 cats at four clinics.

Although December 2010 statistics are not all in, we will be over 10,000 cats TNR'd last year.

It is now January 2011 and we are on our way to another record year. Thanks to all our volunteers and supporters for your commitment to our TNR program. We need your continued commitment to helping stabilize free-roaming cat populations in the valley. If you have a colony to TNR or are interested in volunteering to help others with trapping or transport, please call the Hotline at: 602-265-7729 (SPAY). Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help those in need. Donatons can be sent to:

The Spay Neuter Hotline

P.O. Box 33093

Phoenix, AZ 85067

We need your help!

Pam's TNR Blog - October 16th through October 31st

2010-11-09T07:21:00.043-07:00

These last couple of weeks have been busy ones. Let's see, we had National Feral Cat weekend, and mobile clinics in Avondale and Buckeye. All this while trying to make October our biggest month ever - TNR'ing over 1,000 feral cats.

The photo to the right is of cats in Avondale before the trapping.

Saturday 10/16 and Sunday 10/17

We did 191 cats during this Feral Cats Day weekend - just shy of the target of 200 cats. This was at four different clinics. I trapped a total of 21 cats for 10/16. There were two clinics on 10/16 and two on 10/17. This required a lot of scheduling and, of course trapping. We were now on target for over 1,000 cats in October.

Sunday 10/17 - Friday 10/22

I caught three more cats overnight and took them to the Tempe clinic on Sunday, 10/17. I released cats at all three locations that morning before heading to Tempe where I waited to collect the cats after surgery (trying to save myself another trip).

Monday, 10/18, began taking stragglers from the Tempe clinic on 10/17 to the vet. These cats would be released at two locations on 10/19 before heading to Avondale in the afternoon to trap and transport at four locations. I'd be releasing the last three cats fixed that day. The Healing Hearts mobile was helping us spay and neuter cats in outlying areas. We had decided to focus on Avondale and Buckeye as there were many caregivers waiting for assistance. This week it would be Avondale. The mobile was parking at Grant's shop in N. Phoenix and we'd be hauling the cats in to town. We ended up with a total of 59 cats from Avondale and Cashion (a place I never knew existed!). Traps were set overnight at three locations and Suzie would be driving there in the morning to pick up the stragglers (most traps were filled!). Then, the rain started but fortunately were were able to hold the cats inside. All told we did 62 cats that day on the mobile - trying to stay dry. Thank you Grant for letting the mobile park at your shop.

We hauled the cats to my garage for aftercare and headed back to Avondale to trap again that night. We caught more cats in Avondale that night and over night. This was a total of 50 cats from the one caregiver. Every single cat had been fixed. We released all 59 cats at the four locations and I headed back to the mobile this time parked in E. Phoenix with 13 cats We had spayed and neutered a total of 72 cats on this what would be end up being a four day adventure. These 13 cats would be picked up and after cared and released on Friday.

Thank you Healing Hearts for helping us fix all these cats. You are the best!

Sunday 10/24 - Tuesday 10/26

I worked at the regular Sunday clinic in Tempe this week. The clinic was overbooked as usual so we can fill up every available spot. Well, much to our surprise, we had 20 cats too many. I'd be hauling these 20 cats to the vet on Monday, 10/25. The vet was smiling when I got there. There were a total of 27 cats at the clinic in N. Phoenix on Monday and he was happy to see them. These 20 cats would need to be after cared and released in the AM.

Tuesday 10/26

After releasing the 20 cats back, cleaning out the traps, and delivering them to the trapper, it was time to wash my own traps in preparation for the next exciting adventure in Buckeye (thank you Bill). We had arranged for the mobile to go to Buckeye to spay and neuter what would end up being a total of 70 cats (and eight dogs!). This one would be a real challenge. The location of about 20+ miles south of the I-10 past Rainbow Valley. Talk about the end of the road...and it was a dirt road too. However, it was navigable. Clearly this was a dumping group for unwanted cats and dogs. There were many abandoned homes and dairies too. This felt like the "back of beyond"...or the end of nowhere. We had about 55 traps on board figuring kittens could be doubled up.

As we drove up we say a lot of dogs too all isolated in large pens. A lot of the cats were also confined in large enclosures to protect them not only from each other (breeding) but from coyotes. We arrived early as it would be a long drive home that night. We managed to trap most of the cats and the caregivers would handle the overnight trapping allowing us to leave shortly after dusk. The mobile was to arrive around 7:00 AM the next day and we wanted to be there before they got there.

Wednesday 10/27

The mobile arrived at 7:00 AM. We were already there with cats ready to be loaded on the van. When the vet saw all the unsterilized dogs, she said "we have to fix them too". So in between fixing 69 cats that day they managed to fix eight dogs as well for a total of 77 animals. They left at 5:30 PM and hardly took a break all day. The caregiver made us lunch, wonderful vegetarian chili, as we trapped during the day and loaded and unloaded cats off the mobile. The caregiver did managed to catch one more cat on Thursday and brought in into town to be fixed on Friday for a total of 70 cats TNR'd at this location. This was a clear example of what happens when TNR is not done right away before things get seriously out of control. Animal abandonment certainly contributed to this problem as well as the remoteness of the property. My experience in recent months makes we fell there are more than the one million estimated free-roaming cats in Maricopa County according to most recent estimates.

Friday/Saturday 10/29 and 10/30

I could not resist extra vet slots on Saturday morning so we trapped on Friday night. I'd been to this place before and trapped over 20 cats so my expectation were rather low. We ended up trapping only three cats overnight but the clinic still had 27 cats that day.

Sunday 10/31

I worked at the Tempe clinic that day - the last day of October. That night I'd be trapping in downtown Phoenix (a first!) making it as long day but a nice end to a long month. We did make our 1,000 cat goal for October and I'd trapped 224 of them. I was on track to trap over 2,000 cats in 2010.

Now is the time to do TNR. Kitten season is approaching. All those beautiful tortie and calico cats, the true breeding machines, are asking for your help. I can hear them all saying; " please do not let us have yet another litter". They ALL need your help now!

To sign up for the Spay Neuter Hotline's TNR program please call: 602-265-7729 (SPAY) or email: feralcats@adlaz.org

Also, please consider a tax-deductible donation to ADLA. Just $25.00 will help fix one free-roaming cat. Thanks for your support!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 5 September 2010

2010-10-03T07:54:00.019-07:00

Note: Photo courtesy of Molly Wald of Best Friends

There were no clinics on Sunday and Monday due to the Labor Day holiday. I hate holidays! No vets are open and that means no trapping. Suzie and I planned to make up for lost time by trapping on Labor Day night (Monday 9/6) at a restaurant we'd trapped at before. Not my favorite venue but still we'd be out trapping. It was a slow night and we ended up with only two cats. But it was to be a busy week...

Tuesday 9/7

Donna, an acquaintance of mine had contacted me about a neighborhood that had at least 50 cats. She had seen the cats while driving through the neighborhood and decided to be proactive. This was in central Phoenix and was a relatively "upscale" neighborhood in comparison to those we normally frequent. She agreed to find the feeders and fund raise in the neighborhood and Barbara agreed to set up the trapping. Suzie and I would show up with a full arsenal of traps. One always doubts the large number of cats but it has been my experience there is always more than estimated. There were three main feeders and all fortunately had withheld food. Barbara and Suzie started on the biggest colony while I tackled a smaller one behind on the next street. These three caregivers had been feeding these cats for years (while they were breeding out of control) and none of them knew each other or knew that they were also feeding cats - despite the fact that they all lived practically next door to each other. The roaming males must of thought this was nirvana! It is sad but this is often the case in most neighborhoods. We were in the "meet your neighbors mode that night.

After catching quite a few cats we set more traps at each location and all met three doors down from the biggest colony. Here we found at least 10 more cats waiting to eat. This was trapping heaven. All told that night and over night we trapped 47 cats! We be back two more nights to finish the job which would eventually yield 56 cats. Donna spent the night going door-to-door soliciting donations.

...I might mentioned that after a busy night trapping Suzie went back to the restaurant for a second night's trapping. It yielded only one cat. I went home to aftercare the two cats from the night before.

Wednesday 9/8

I picked up stragglers and the one cat caught overnight at the restaurant and dropping off eight cats at the first vet I met up with Suzie at the second vet to drop off 40 more cats (one fortunately agreed to take 40 cats). I'd have those to pick up and aftercare and but before this I went down to set traps at the three locations later that evening.

Thursday 9/9

I checked traps at the three location early in the AM and released the one restaurant cat. We had caught seven more overnight. I left traps for the one caregiver to set that night to catch a few more. I dropped the seven off at the vet before meeting Suzie at my house to pick up the 47 cats for release at the three locations. Sometimes I wish I had that Ford Transit Connect instead of my Element. It would save a LOT of driving. I'd be going home to wash traps to trap that night (after picking up the seven cats at the vet) to trap way out in the W. Valley. The caregiver said she had about 8-12 cats but I'd go prepared for more. Well, 10-12 turned in to 20 over two night of trapping.

Friday 10/10

Early in the AM I set off to pick up the stragglers at the W. Valley location, then pick up two from the third night trapping in central Phoenix. Seven cats still had to be released there also. As I picked up the two cats I discovered one of the cats was giving birth in the trap! This is always a shock but with all the trapping I do it is rather common. The kittens rarely survive as they are usually born early due to the mother's stress. Despite our efforts the kittens did not make it. Fortunately we were able to fix the mother cat. No more litters would be born to this cat that had been breeding out of control for years. I try to remember that "the most painful thing a feral cat will experience is NOT being fixed". I remind caregivers of this when they say "I just cannot stand the thought of the cat being in a trap". I'd be at the vet that day with 18 more cats. What a week so far!

Saturday 9/11

The one caregiver set traps Friday night and I picked up four more (for a total of 20) when I released the 16 in the AM. I had the one cat to release at the Phoenix location (the mother cat was still trying to care for the one surviving kitten although to no avail). She'd be released in a day or so). Another caregiver trapped without a plan and caught the last cat which I picked up on the way to the vet. Both caregivers would be picking up at my house on Sunday as the next day, 9/12, was our monthy high-volume spay day in N. Phoenix. I'd be getting ready for the clinic on Saturday. Suzie was trapping at three locations that night for the Sunday clinic.

There will always be free-roaming cats in the valley. Our goal is to stabilize colonies of cats being fed by caregivers. to do this ALL the cat must be captured and spayed and neutered. It can beas lot of work, especially for larger colonies. A word of advise, if you start feeding a colony of feral cats, be prepared to spend the time, effort and money to fix them. This is huge responsibility on the part of the feeder. You can see from my blogs what can happen if cats are fed - they will breed even more...to a number the food source will sustain. When a colony gets too large inbreeding and disease often take their toll. I rarely see colonies large than 25-30 cats.
Thank you for reading my TNR blog and I hope this one encourages everyone to go out and spread the word about TNR and the importance of spay and neuter. To sign up for our TNR program please call us at: 602-265-2229 (SPAY) or email: feralcats@adlaz.org. We service the metro Phoenix area in Arizona.

Pam's TNR Blog - 27 Aug. thru 5 Sept. 2010

2010-07-30T09:20:00.052-07:00

Pam's TNR Blog Update:

You may have noticed that I am months behind on my weekly blogs and those weeks contain a lot of great trapping adventures. There are simply not enough hours in the day to schedule, trap, transport, wash traps, aftercare, fund raise, volunteer at clinics and spread the word about TNR and S/N. However, this last week had some memorable moments I want to share. As of this week I have TNR'd 1310 cats in 2010. Some think I am TNR'ing cats I feed - well, I do not feed feral cats and do not encourage feeding of feral cats unless they are fixed. These 1310 cats represent cats being fed by caregivers I've never met - until I trap for them. Over the years I have met some wonderful caregivers, many I never would have met had I not trapped for them. It is not just about helping cats, it is also helping people who love cats. and making a difference in their lives.

Friday: 27 August

It was a busy week with several trapping jobs. Although weeks normally end on Friday, we had good news - a new vet would be open on Saturdays. We would now at last be a seven day a week operation. Not to allow vet slots to go unused, I set up a job in Cordes Junction. Cordes Junction is about an hour N. of Phoenix off I-17. Storms were looming when Bill and I set off.to trap late in the day. I often go out of town to trap looking for a new adventure. Over the years I've been to Gila Bend, Coolidge, Salome, Prescott Valley, Wickenburg and Aquila, to mention a few. We are so lucky in the Phoenix area to have so many low-cost S/N options that many in outlying areas do not.

The job was at an RV park and was for initially seven cats. A deluge occurred as we approached passed the Blood Basin turnoff. We arrived in Cordes Junction in a downpour. Still, we managed to set some traps set under the RV. We found a nice place to eat in view of the RV and the traps. Within an hour or so we had the mother and all six kittens. There was at least one male left. Traps would be set overnight and we set off for Phoenix. It cleared out later in the evening in time to see a double rainbow as cool raindrops fell - what a relief from the 100+ temperatures in the valley.

Saturday 28 August

I took the seven cats to the new vet in the AM. I was surprised when the vet came out and actually helped me unload the cats from my car! Four other caregivers brought cats that morning. I picked the cats up early in the afternoon for aftercare. The caregiver did not catch the remaining male cat overnight but would try for the next day and I'd pick him up when the seven were returned on Sunday AM. The problem would be I was trapping for 15-20 cats for Sunday's MCACC clinic the next day. This would get tricky...

I set off with a full arsenal of traps that night. Barbara was trapping with me in a rough neighborhood. It was slow going and I was hoping for 20 cats to fill the clinic. After checking traps after dinner it was clear we'd need to look elsewhere for more cats. Cats were not cooperating. A mile or so away I knew of a trailer park with LOTs of cats needing help. We call this "low-hanging fruit". I called the caregiver and we set five traps overnight which were all filled in the morning. The caregiver had fed the cats but I knew we'd catch at least a couple of cats. We also set traps overnight at the first location. I'd be worried as usual, sleeping little, wondering if the traps would be there in the AM...and if they'd be filled. I still had to do aftercare on the cats in from Codes Junction. Sunday would be a very busy day...

Sunday 29 August

I'd be setting off before 5:00 AM to check traps at both locations. Good news was I had cats at both locations for a total of 16 cats for the clinic. I got there at 6:15 AM to unload. From there I'd go home to pick up the seven cats to return to Cordes Junction. I called the caregiver on the way (after stopping at the gas station of course) and he had not just one cat (the male) but two cats trapped! Since I did not want to hold them in the traps until Monday, I called to see if I could get them in late to the Tempe clinic. Good news! The vet agreed to do a couple extra cats - what a relief. Still I'd have to release the seven, pick up the two, and head to Tempe (and stop for gas)I was able to make it in time (by 10:00 AM) and was able to wait at the clinic until they were fixed. I call this "drive by S/N". One was a female the caregiver had not seen before. From there I headed over to the other clinic to pick up the sixteen cats and then home with all 18 cats to be after cared.

Monday 30 August

I set off early to released the 16 cats in town. the first caregiver had trapped again that night and caught one big male. After releasing at both locations, I headed to the vet with the one cat. From there I went home to meet SJ. She went with me to release the two cats in Cordes Juntion and pick u the remaining traps. We could do scheduling and calls in the car with her wireless internet connection. I'd have LOTs of traps to wash for the remainder of the week's trapping...this was only the beginning. I'd only have one cat in the garage that night. It seemed empty.

Tuesday 1 September

I released the one cat that morning. I had planned to pick up two more cats in the area at another MHP across the street where I'd trapped before. There was still one left which I'd try for that night. Fortunately this caregiver could trap on her own. Then, I got a call from someone with a cat in a trap which had to be picked up as well for a total of three cats to take to the vet. I'd have three in today.

That night I met SJ and BG for trapping a big job in Glendale. I had two other trapping jobs in the area to do before meeting them. The was a last minute attempt to TNR cats at an old motel being torn down for a bypass over Grand Ave. and new cats next door at a business where we'd trapped before. It was very spooky seeing the old rooms/apartments and the original adobe building thinking of the history of those who had rented there for probably over 50 years. Pictures still hung on the walls. These cats would be coming back in two days to demolished buildings as they were to be torn down the next day - this was truly a last ditch effort to fix these cats. Still, we had to stop the breeding. There were torties and calicos everywhere when we arrived.

One of my first two jobs was for three cats. The later was just for two males. The former was one of my "high-end" jobs where the caregiver was donating a lot for me to help her. This would help pay for the other job in Glendale. I caught two out of three at this one and caught both males right away at the other job.

Wednesday 2 September

We caught at total of 17 at the motel and adjacent business. I'd have one more from the previous night for a total of 22 cats to go to the vet on Wednesday. Besides delivery there would be pickup and aftercare. I'd have to re-bait traps for the last cat at the "high-end" job that night.. When I am promised a big donation I go the extra distance to make sure ALL cats are caught, even using the drop-trap when desperate. We were using the new vet so we had lots of help loading and unloading cats. What a welcome relief. Even if one lifting step can be avoided, it helps. SJ would trap again that night and caught a total of 10 more cats for Thursday for a total of 27 cats from the motel and adjacent business.

Thursday 3 September

I did catch the one last cat at the high end job overnight and got an even bigger donation than expected. SJ released the last 17 motel cats very early in the morning. I'd be delivering five traps to a caregiver in central Phoenix and setting traps for a lady Grant trapped for the night before. Little did I know that Friday morning would turn in to a lot more than just six cats going to the vet. f course there were the two males and 2 females to release at the two locations that were fixed on Wednesday.

Friday 4 September

I checked traps at Grant's location where he'd already released the two cats from the previous night. I had one cat. I had my drop-trap in the car and tried for one more to no avail. Then I headed downtown to pickup the 5 cats in traps...then set off to Glendale to released the last "high-end" cat and pick up my big donation. It had been a lot of work including several traps to the gas station - but well worth it! Then I got a call from a caregiver that was high-maintenance. They had not caught the mother cat (they hardly tried) they were after. I had been offered a bigger donation for pick up and aftercare of this cat. Well, I found out the 5 kittens were way old enough to TNR as well. I agreed to go by with my drop-trap and caught one kitten. (thinking of the big donation!). I asked the caregiver to try again with my drop-trap that night. Instead, as I was almost to the vet he caught one more kitten. I had to go back there and help him transfer the cat to the trap. I then headed to the vet with 8 cats. Of course there would be the usual aftercare and release the next day.

However, taking advantage of the Saturday clinic once again, I had a 20 cat job that night. I'd trapped there before but there were more there an 10+ at the neighbor on the other side of the alley. Fortunately they were able to do a lot of the trapping. I'd be transporting as they had no vehicle (or $$).

Saturday 4 September

In the early AM I released at the first two locations then headed to the third where I'd asked the caregiver to use my drop-trap to catch the last 4 cats (including the mother cat). He had done nothing! I swung into action. When I got there I helped him trap the mother cat and one kitten. I headed to the other job to pick up 20 cats (they caught them ALL) when he trapped the last two kittens. I headed back down there (again). I dropped off the 22 cats at the vet (20 from the big job and four from the other for a total of 24 cats). Both colonies were done!

There would be aftercare and released of all 24 cats the next morning (Sunday). There was no Tempe clinic that day due to the Labor Day holiday. We would be trapping on Labor Day evening but that will be in another blog if it ever gets written...

New estimates put the number of free-roaming cats at over 700,000 in Maricopa County. We can make a difference. Remember, "it starts with you". If everyone does one small thing each week help feral cats in their area reduce this number substantially.

Consider a $25.00 donation to the Spay Neuter Hotline to help one feral cat. Or, put TNR cards out at you vet or a local business. Talk to co-workers about TNR and how they can help. Donate items to our BIG yard sale in November. Little things make a big difference - they all add up.

To help please call the Hotline at: 602-265-7729 (SPAY).

Or visit our website at: http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/

I'd be releasing the five cats from the

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 2/28/10

2010-07-10T08:06:00.019-07:00

Note: Photo taken after release of 53 cats at the W. side trailer park. Note the perfect eartip!

Saturday/Sunday 2/27 - 2/28

What a wild week this was! We had a special clinic on Sunday to help caregivers in financial need. When I first heard about it I knew where we would be - at the trailer park on the W. side where we'd been several times before. It took a while to set the job up as the caregiver did not have a phone. We'd be going for about 25 cats. My trapping team geared up and despite the rain we had a very successful trapping. All told we trapped 46 cats for the Sunday's clinic (so much for 25!). We go to use our new "water proof" trap covers and they worked great.

The cats were fixed on 2/28 and I had 46 cats in my garage for aftercare. This job required two vehicles. My next vehicle is going to be a Ford Transit Connect. I already measured and it will fit up to 38 traps and perhaps a few more. These big jobs can be a lot of work but well worth the effort.

That evening SJ and I went back to set more traps for the next day before going back to my garage to feed and water 46 cats.

Monday 3/1

We caught a couple more overnight but there were still a few more there. Early in the AM we set up the drop-trap in front of the trailer and caught a couple more. I set some traps near a vacant trailer on the next row and caught three cats. After an hour or so we had seven more to go to the vet that morning for a total of 53 cats TNR'd at this location. We'd already done about 30 others in this park and we were ahead of kitten season - at least in this park. Still, there were a lot more caregivers to help and it was already the beginning of March - litters would start coming soon. I like the saying; "nine lives not nine litters". These cats would be so much happier and healthier not breeding any longer...

The 46 cats were released and the seven cats taken to the vet that morning. We actually released the cats later in the AM as there was not room for more cats and the drop-trap. Vehicle space is often an issue.

I'd be back trapping Monday night at two places in N. Phoenix and aftercaring the seven in my garage. These two trapping jobs were the kind that make one want to give up. One had trapped before and would not listen and the cats were not cooperating. To make matters worse, the drop-trap door broke and one cat escaped. The other job had cats fed by a neighbor and a responsible neighbor trying to help. I ended up with three from the first job and five from the second for a total of eight cats.

Wednesday 3/3

I'd have the cats at the vet today and would be aftercaring them at my place. One caregiver caught two more cats overnight that would go to the vet in the AM. I had another job that night. This one made the top of the list for being difficult. After going to the wrong house on the street and trapping a cat (that needed fixing), I found the right house (barely standing!). The caregiver had been referred to me by the AHS and was living in substandard conditions feeding 15 cats. It was a borderline hoarding situation but the caregiver loved the cats. and took pretty good care of them. He was concerned about pregnant cats being spayed. It is often more challenging dealing with the caregivers than trapping the cats. However, my motto is "when the going gets tough the tough get going". Those who know me know me know I never give up if there are cats to be TNR'd.

Thursday 3/4

I caught a total of 18 cats and ended up at two vets. I had set traps overnight and they were full in the AM. One small kitten needed an eye removal and had to stay at the vet until the following Tuesday. I'd have 17 cats to aftercare after picking up at two vets.

Friday 3/5

I released the 17 cats in the AM and took cat food to the caregiver whose resources were clearly limited. He said he would call me when the pregnant cat had her kittens and said OK. I have not heard from him since. After the release I came home to work on setting up for the yard sale at my house the next day, 3/6. We had LOTs of stuff to sort so we'd be ready at 6:00 AM the next morning. Some volunteers came to help which was great. I actually love these yard sales despite the amount of work involved.

Saturday 3/6

The yard sale was a tremendous success. We made almost $1,000 and had a great time selling all kinds of stuff. Yard sales are an excellent way to make money to help feral cats. There are so many caregivers in need like the man this week with the 18 cats. It is heartbreaking to see female cats breeding until their entire life and often die of having litters...and because the feeder cannot afford to spay them. It is not their fault and they desperately need your help.

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help cats in need. A donation of just $25 will help fix one female cat and save her life. To donate, please visit our website at:

http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/

Donations can also be mailed to:

ADLA
P.O. Box 33093
Phoenix 85067

Thank you for your support!

To sign up for our TNR program please call the hotline at: 602-265-7729 (SPAY)

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 2/21/10

2010-07-10T07:01:00.009-07:00

Note: Photo courtesy of Molly Wald of Best Friends - Thank you Molly!

Sunday 2/21

We had the N. Phoenix clinic on Sunday. I was not trapping Saturday night but SJ and BC were out trapping 20 cats. Beth and John were also trapping. Many ADLA volunteers were at the PetWalk in Tempe. Many of you know that I am afraid of dogs so being at the clinic was an excuse not to go. I did, however, sponsor several people in the PetWalk. This is a big fundraiser for ADLA - so watch for for this event in 2011!

Monday 2/22

There were more cats trapped overnight for Monday. Second night trappings are a good way to catch ALL the cats. I'll stress again just how important it is to fix ALL the cats in a colony. The goal is to stabilise the colony and one unsterilised female can ruin the effort. I've often left on male unsterilised, but I figure he'll go elsewhere for to "sow his wild seed". I aftercare the stragglers that night and SJ released them in the AM.

I'd begin the week with a big job on Monday night. This was for about 20 cats and fortunately near my house (not requiring a trip the back of beyond). I'd trapped around the corner of this residence several years ago. When I arrived with my arsenal of traps, I found out that another person was actually feeding most of the cats. He had lived there but now, by coincidence, lived in the trailer park where we had trapped back in January. He was also feeding there along with that same person (he lived just a couple of trailers from him). Anyway, there was a sea of cats when I arrived and I trapped a total of 16 cats plus three for the next day - making a total of 19 cats! Many night of trapping was beginning to pay off - I was getting ahead of kitten season which was right around the corner!

The gentleman from the trailer park was going to talk to the other person feeding there as he had no phone. We were planning to trap for him for Sunday. This would turn in to a real trapping extravaganza (see next week's blog).

Tuesday 2/23

I'd be at two vets on Tuesday with a total of 16 cats. After picking them up for aftercare I set a few more traps that night and caught the remaining three. There may have been one more left but I was not 100% sure - enough to make one lay awake at night wondering...was it a tortie??

Wednesday, 2/24

Only three cats to take to the vet that day. I'd be trapping again that night. It was a fairly easy job at a business where the caregiver placed most of the traps while I prepared them. I did not have to wait long as most of the 11 cats were trapped overnight.

Thursday, 2/25

I was at only one vet on Thursday with 11 cats. There would be no second night trapping. I'd already done a few of these cats so the total # was 14 cats at that location. That night I'd be picking up one tame female pregnant cat to go to the vet on Friday. Every cat counts and despite the relatively long drive...it was worth it...

Friday/Saturday - 2/26 and 2/27

I'd be at the vet on Friday with the one cat making it six days in a row at the vet(s). Satuday I'd return the one cat to the most grateful caregiver who had no transportation.

It is sad that many cat owners are unable to fix their cats. Either they do not have the $$$ and do not know about low-cost and even free S/N, but they have no way to get to the vet. I wonder how many are out there that never find help? We need to get the word out - help is available. Please spread the word...

For more information about low-cost and free S/N programs and the S/N Hotline's TNR program, please visit our website at: http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 2/14/10

2010-06-16T10:47:00.011-07:00

Sunday 2/14

I had a trapping for for the 2/14 Tempe clinic in E. Phoenix. It was very labor intensive and turned out to be a three night trapping as the cats could not be done on Sunday. If I recall Wayne trapped a few more than planned! I ended up with 14 cats that night and they all had to go to the vet on Monday, 2/15. The good thing was - I caught them all! It was a long day as I volunteered at the clinic as well. Trapping ALL the cats in a colony is always a thrill - not only because every job is a great challenge but especially knowing that there would be no kittens in the Spring

Monday 2/15

After holding the cats overnight I took them to the vet in the AM, picked them up in the afternoon and aftercared them that evening. The usual routine...

Tuesday 2/16

The caregiver set traps Monday night and caught a 15th cat overnight. So after releasing the 14 cats I'd be back at the vet on Tuesday with one more cat - the last cat. No wonder I drove over 20,000 miles last year hauling cats around the valley from as far West as Aguila and Wickenburg.

SJ and I had a trapping job that night. It was a big one but became even bigger when we found out a friend was trapping for someone near our trapping location. She needed our help.

Oh, and I also had to pick up one more cat from a caregiver who had been trapping and calling me for pickup in the AM. One more stop in the AM...

Wednesday 2/17

We ended up picking up the stragglers in the AM for a total of 14 cats (to one vet) and nine cats at our location that went to another vet for a total of 23 cats that day. Our caregiver had offered a nice donation for us to help her and this makes a real difference as we need donations to help other caregivers in need (like the other elderly caregiver). If I recall I did have all 23 cats to pickup, aftercare and release the next day at the two locations . SJ did set traps at our location that night as well as the other location and caught six more for a total of 20 cats TNR'd at the one location and a total of 12 at the other location (3 more caught the second night).

...and, if this was not enough, I had planned two trapping jobs in E. Phoenix for Wed. night. One was new and the other I'd trapped before - 20+ cats. The caregiver at latter claimed there were 15 more. So I set 15 traps and headed off to the other smaller job. It was a bust as the neighbor down the street was feeding. I only caught 5 cats at the other job and never saw any cats there - not even any of the 20+ cats I'd trapped there the last summer. It is hard to explain this as she claimed they were still around. Go figure.

Thursday 2/18

SJ took the stragglers from the W. side job to one vet and I took the five from the E. side to another vet after checking traps in the AM - more driving...I'd be picking up at two vets and aftercaring before heading to E. Phoenix again to set traps a second night at the two locations from the night before.

Friday 2/19

I was able to trap two cats overnight at the location that was a bust the night before and I caught one more at the other location for a total of three at the vet on Friday, 2/19. These would be released at the two locations early Saturday morning

Please consider becoming an ADLA member or making a donation to help our spay and neuter programs. Many may not know this but we are now operate statewide. To become a member visit our website at: http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/

We need your help to improve the lives of homeless cats...Thank you.

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 2/7/2010

2010-05-22T08:18:00.033-07:00

Sunday/Monday - 2/7 and 2/8

I did not trap for Sunday's clinic and other that working at the Tempe clinic on Sunday, I only had to transport and aftercare one cat so things were pretty uneventful.

Monday month we set off to trap at yet another, although smaller, trailer park on W. Grand Ave. The caregiver had been trapping on his own, one cat at a time. We know well once never gets ahead going this route. We agreed to go help him trap. Originally we'd planned on about 6-8 which turned in to 16 cats. This park really needed help! I do recall a nice dinner with Barbara that night making it a nice evening. Still we had to put up with LOTs of curious and noisy kids in the park - something that always makes things more difficult. The photo shows the kids in action.

Tuesday - 4/9

I'd be at two vets that day with a total of 16 cats. There would be the usual pickup, aftercare and release of these cats. We'd be back here later in the Spring for sure.

I could see things already getting pretty busy this week as on we had another big job to do on Wed. night. Channel 15 was coming out on a trapping job with us for TV spot! This opportunity had come up due to a caregiver contacting us for TNR and she wanted viewers to see TNR in action. Suzie would end up helping this lady's mother drop-trap a last (pregnant) cat as well. she was very greatful for our help. The rest of the week would be very busy but exciting...

Wed. 2/10

I had the 16 cats to release at the trailer park in the AM. If this were not enough three cats in traps (from three different caregivers who trapped without a plan and needed the cats picked up of course). These would have to be retrieved from the vet before loading up and meeting the reporter at the west Phoenix trapping location for the taping of the TV spot. I'd trapped several years ago at this location and there were now about 15 more cats to TNR. Over the next two nights we'd fix a total of 18 cats here. This neighborhood would always have cats as do many of these older neighborhoods in this part of town. We met the reporter there around dusk. She was the reporter and camera person so many shots had to be taken several times. The good news is we caught 16 cats that night and overnight. The piece aired later that week (it was not live but I really hate being taped). After the reporter left we set off for our usual dinner at the QT. See photo below.

Thursday 2/11

Suzie met the reporter in the AM to check the traps while I, with the load form the night before, traveled further west to pick up four tame cats for an elderly caregiver I'd helped with ferals previously. After taking the four tames plus 10 of the ferals to one vet I met Susie and the reporter at the second vet. I had several more to unload and several were trapped overnight. So I'd have 16 ferals and four tame cats for aftercare and release. Traps were set again the next night.

Friday 2/12

We released the 16 cats on Friday AM and picked up two more caught overnight. I returned the four tame cats and headed to the vet with the two additional cats and one more cat trapped w/o a plan (Grrrr...). These would be aftercared and released on Saturday morning.

It had been a record week . We were involved in TNR'ing 53 cats and these were the only ones Suzie and I had done. All told, 215 cats had been fixed this week.

There are still a LOT more cats out there to TNR so we cannot become complacent. We are making a difference! So, if you are feeding feral cats or know someone who is please contact the Spay Neuter Hotline at: 602-265-7729 (SPAY) or visit http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/. We can help.

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 1/31/10

2010-05-13T06:41:00.016-07:00

Saturday/Sunday - 1/30 and 1/31

I released the cat from Friday in the AM. The caregiver had trapped one more cat that would have to be held for the Tempe clinic on Sunday. After the release I delivered 15 traps to a central Phoenix neighborhood group that was trapping for the Tempe clinic the next day. Three caregivers also picked up traps form my depot later that morning.

The dynamic duo would be out trapping Saturday night for Sunday. As often happens we needed a few more cats. I'd have 13 to go to the vet on Sunday. It was a two-vet clinic and we did over 100 cats that day. I worked at the clinic and aftercared the cats Sunday night while the caregiver set traps for the stragglers.

Monday 2/1

I had two releases to do in the AM. The second night trapping yielded two more cats for a total of 14 cats from this location. I took those two cats to the vet and aftercared them Monday night. I took a night off from trapping that night. The cats would be released in the AM.

Tuesday /Wednesday - 2/2 and 2/3

The three master trappers had a 10+ job in one of our target areas in Peoria Tuesday night. As we drove up to the "owned" trailer with what looked like an abandoned house in front, we knew there would be LOTs of cats. The caregivers had moved into the trailer when the house was condemned and the cats lived under the abandoned house. We caught a total of 14 cats that night and overnight. I'd have to pick up a pregnant cat for an emergency spay in central Phoenix as well. Those that know me know I'll go anywhere anytime to prevent kittens from being born.

Thursday - 2/4

The release of the 14 cats would occur later in the AM. I had to pick up seven tame cats for a lady with no vehicle. She got them in carriers but the vet was only able to fix three of them (all pregnant females) as four were too wild and needed to be in traps. I'd take those four in on Friday after transferring (carefully) into traps. These were all inside cats. Can you imagine four males competing for three females inside a small apartment? Unbelievable...I took the three females back later that afternoon.

Friday - 2/5

Very early in the AM I picked up two free-roaming tame cats living with a homeless man. I'd taken traps to him earlier in the week and he was supposed to have them in the traps when I arrived. Instead they were sleeping with him in the makeshift tent. He did get them in the traps OK and I headed to the vet with those two cats plus the four wild males from the day before.

Just when one thinks they've seen and done about everything to get a cat or cats fixed, one encounters another, even more challenging situation.

Helping the less fortunate requires donations. Many of these caregivers cannot afford to spay and neuter their cats and end up with too many cats. Most of these are free-roaming cats that become part of a "feral" colony. As the colony gets bigger, the caregivers become overwhelmed and some eventually call the Spay Neuter Hotline for help. These big colonies cost a lot to spay and neuter we are always looking for funding to help caregivers in need.

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to ADLA to help fix feral cats. You can donate on-line at our website: http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/

Or mail a donation to:

ADLA

P.O. Box 33093

Phoenix 85067

Thank you for your support!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 1/24/10

2010-05-05T06:30:00.015-07:00

Note: Photo courtesy of Molly Wald of Best Friends

Sunday 1/24

I helped a caregiver with six cats for Sunday's Tempe clinic. These were the result a tame tortie in a neighboring apartment that had had another litter of kittens as well. They were able to do aftercare but my day was not over yet...we had too many cats at the clinic and 17 would have to go to the vet the next day! January was becoming a stellar month as planned. We always try to do as many cats before kitten season...hoping that we are making a difference.

Monday 1/25

I'd be at the vet with the 17 leftovers from Sunday. I'd be aftercaring and Suzie would be taking them back to the E. Valley then next day.

Tuesday 1/26 and Wednesday 1/27

On Tuesday I began what would have been one of the most stressful trapping weeks in months. I made the mistake of scheduling what appeared to be an easy trapping job in Laveen. I'd forgotten just how far Leveen was from N. Phoenix. Suzie and Barbara were also trapping that night in Laveen, not far from me. I'd be able to meet up with them for dinner. The sad part was I only trapped two cats - out of 10 total. Suzie caught 14 cats, almost all of them. I'd be at one vet and she'd be at another. I also had two more from the caregiver form Sunday I'd have to pick up and two tame cats I was transporting for a lady in S. Phoenix. then there was aftercare of the 14 cats cats and return of the tame cats to S. Phoenix.

Thursday 1/28

If I recall the caregivers in Laveen did set their own traps the second night but we'd be there in the morning to release them. After release at the first caregiver (with Suzie) I picked up one cat at that location and drove to the other location to pick up two more cats - now a total of four out of 10 cats had been trapped. I then set off to the vet in N. Phoenix with three cats. In the midst of all this I was able to get the four tame kittens born to the breeding tortie into a rescue group - I had to make sure these next generation torties did not become breeders also. At least I was able to fix the mother cats.

If this was not enough I had a two trapping job that night in central Phoenix...thankfully, they were close to one another. One had trapped before and the caregiver could watch the traps (she needed transportation). The other was at a hospital and required my sitting with the drop-trap for several hours - no luck at that location. I found food out under the outbuilding where I was trapping. I did catch one cat at the other location.

Friday 1/29

I only had one cat at the vet on Friday despite my efforts the night before. But before taking the one in I had the three cats from Thursday to release in Leveen - at two locations. Then, I'd be back at the vet with just one cat. By afternoon I was so sick of driving back and forth from Laveen I swore I'd never trap there again - ever! At least it was not Buckeye or Gila Bend.

Saturday 1/30

I released the one cat in the AM. I also had to deliver 15 traps to some trappers who were trapping at several locations in a neighborhood in Central Phoenix. However, we needed more cats for Sunday in Tempe and we'd set a trapping job for Saturday night to help fill the clinic. The week was not over yet.

Trapping can be fun and rewarding. Still, there are times when one takes on too many trapping jobs trying be the Red Queen while "running as fast as one can to stay in place". This is what it feels like at times. Statistics show that only about 8% of tame cats are not fixed. Still, many of those 8% are out there breeding with the free-roaming cat population and becoming part of this population. There is no way of knowing just how many free-roaming cats are out there or how many of them are fixed. A lot of numbers are floating around out there but no one really knows. the best we can do is fix them, making sure ALL cats in a colony are fixed. Regular follow-up by caregivers is essential to the TNR process.

To sign up for our TNR program please call our hotline at 602-265-7729 (SPAY) or email us at feralcats@adlaz.org. Our TNR program operates in Maricopa County in Arizona. Donations are welcome. Visit our website at: http://www.adlaz.org/.

Ocelot in AZ/ Feel Good Story may be short-lived

2010-04-25T12:05:00.007-07:00

I was planning to break my blog drought by writing about the great news announced by Sky Island Alliance earlier this month.

An Ocelot- was photographed by a remote camera in Cochise County, Arizona, in November. This is exciting news because Ocelots are listed as an endangered species, and have not been documented in our state.

The unfortunate payoff was reported in the the Arizona Republic this morning. A cat-fitting the Ocelot's description was hit and killed on Highway 60 between Globe and Superior. Its body has been sent to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's forensic laboratory in Oregon.

We will keep you posted on the results

Ask Gov. Brewer to Veto Bad Wildlife Bill!

2010-03-30T17:11:00.004-07:00

ADLA ALERT: Ask Governor Brewer to Veto Bad Wildlife Bill!

The organization that opposes everything we support in the world of wildlife, is about to take control of the Arizona Game & Fish Commission appointment process. We need your help to stop them!

“With the passing of Senate Bill 1200, the Arizona Legislature turned wildlife management back to the 1950s, where the attitude was, ‘If you cannot shoot it, it is not worth having.’“

- Arizona Wildlife Biologist

Despite widespread opposition, SB 1200 (NOW: game and fish commission; recommendation board) passed out of the House on Thursday 36-19-5 and is on its way to the Governor.

What You Can Do:

Please contact Governor Brewer IMMEDIATELY and politely ask her to veto SB 1200! You can contact Governor Brewer by calling her at (602) 542-4331 or toll free at 1-(800) 253-0883. You can email her by clicking on Governor Brewer and then filling in the online form. You can also paste this website into your browser http://azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp. Please send a copy of your email to smyers@az.gov , psenseman@az.gov, and ssmith@az.gov

How will SB 1200 harm animals?

SB 1200 would enable an elite group of trophy hunters and ranchers to take control of Arizona’s wildlife by hijacking the Arizona Game and Fish Commission appointment process:

It is based on misrepresentations of the Game and Fish budget, and how much hunters actually contribute.

It is based on misrepresentation of participation of these trophy hunters in the appointment process in the past. They have participated, and have had their choices selected the majority of the time.

It excludes almost all Arizonans from the Game and Fish Commission appointment process.

The Game and Fish Commission and Department have many programs that greatly benefit wildlife and habitat such as the reintroduction of black-tailed prairie dogs that were once completely wiped out in Arizona; and habitat protection and mapping projects through the State Wildlife Action Plan. In the last five years they have adopted policies to better understand and protect mountain lions. If SB 1200 is signed into law by Governor Brewer all that could change.

SB 1200 is opposed by consumptive and non-consumptive members of the wildlife community including the Arizona Game & Fish Commission, Animal Defense League of Arizona, Sierra Club, Arizona Audubon Society, Arizona Wildlife Federation, Arizona Republic Editorial Board, and many other groups and individuals.

For detailed bill information and background including the groups that are behind SB 1200 click here

Please email the link below to your contacts in Arizona.

http://www.adlaz.org/Legislative%20Alert%20SB%201200.htm

Thanks for your help!

Animal Defense League of Arizona

http://www.adlaz.org/

Become a Fan of ADLA on Facebook

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 1/17/2010

2010-03-27T16:47:00.008-07:00

Sunday/Monday 1/17 - 1/18

I was back at the W. side trailer park Saturday night trapping for our N. Phoenix clinic on Sunday. I'd made contact with the caregiver when I'd been trapping in the park the week before. There were LOTs of cats there and easy to catch. I caught 10 cats. It was a successful clinic that day. Suzie also trapped that night at a couple places and she had cats at the vet on Monday from a second night's trapping including leftovers from the Tempe clinic going to the mobile clinic on Monday. I'd be doing the release of Sundays cats and pickup and aftercare of cats from the second night's trapping.

Tuesday - 1/19

Suzie and I had a trapping job in the N.W. Valley. Problem was it was pouring rain! Of course this did not stop us. I got there early and started trapping, hoping to get as many cats before the deluge hit. Fortunately there was some space on a cluttered patio to put some traps. That night and overnight we caught a total of 17 cats. We met Barbara for dinner while waiting for cats to be trapped...

Wed. - 1/20

We'd be at two vets today as I also had a warehouse cat caught overnight and three from a lady (unexpected). Going back through my notes we also had cats from two other caregivers for a total of 23 cats! It becomes a bit fuzzy after a month or so has passed. We did catch some cats overnight at the big job. The yard was a mud hole and navigating through it with traps was a challenge. There would be pick up at two vets and aftercare of 20 cats that night. Traps were set again later in the evening.

Thursday - 1/21 - 1/22

We caught four more cats the next night for a total of 21 cats trapped in all. In fact, we caught them all at this location - a great success. There would be no kittens born this Spring at that place.

This time of year the race is on to beat kitten season. January and February are critical to preventing kittens and I always go the extra mile to help as many caregivers and cats during these months. Most caregivers appreciate the help as many we help are truly in need and would never be able to spay and neuter such large colonies. I am so lucky to be able to help so many cats and caregivers...still, I often feel like I am the Red Queen...just "running as fast as I can to stay in place". I tell myself every day that we must be making a difference in the numbers of homeless cats. TNR does help, although by no means does it even begin to solve cat homelessness and overpopulation. Spaying and neutering is the solution to this problem. Unfortunately, many of those I meet either to not have the resources to spay and neuter or do not understand its importance.

We need to get the word out on cat spay and neuter. I carry S/N information in my car and do my best to get the word out as I travel throughout the valley. It is amazing how grateful people are to find out about the availability of low-cost and even free S/N programs for cats.

If you need S/N or TNR information to pass out, please contact The Spay Neuter Hotline at: 602-265-7729 (SPAY) or email: feralcats@adlaz.org.

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

2010-01-26T10:51:00.002-07:00

12/20

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

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

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

12/21

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

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

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

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

12/22

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

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

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

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

12/23

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

12/24

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

Next week - New Year's trapping extraganza!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 1/10/10

2010-01-26T10:50:00.028-07:00

1/10

There were last minute cancellations for the Tempe clinic so on Saturday morning we called a couple of caregivers at the last minute and told them to pull the food. Beth and John were also trapping at a railroad park and I'd be transporting cats to the clinic for them. I'd also had a last minute call from an apartment manager with a stray, abandoned female cat needing fixing. I arranged to pick this cat up on my way to trap.

Barbara, Suzie and I planned to meet up at a trailer park in the West valley to trap approximately eight cats. I'd be stopping to pick up the cat at the apartment complex that was pretty tame and the caregiver had her confined. Suzie took five traps to a lady who could not figure out how to use the traps - yes, you heard it right. Between these three jobs we'd be able to make up for the cancellations.

I got to the trailer park early and started trapping. When Barbara arrived she indicated there were also cats at the dumpsters near the railroad tracks - a mom and four kittens (see photo of Siamese kitten with eartip - kitten trapped at the dumpster). We later found out there was a lady feeding them that had 10 cats at her trailer needing to be fixed but those would have to wait. Subsequently we found two other colonies needing to be trapped as well. This park needed help! There were also free-roaming dogs everywhere, many in terrible condition - some appearing homeless. This park had been there a long time and surely would become one of my long-term projects.

When Suzie arrived we already had more than eight cats trapped. Barbara and I set off for the dumpster and caught all five cats within 15 minutes - they were hungry. This trailer park was right on Grand Avenue and the train tracks were less than 50 feet from the dumpsters. We set a few more traps at the trailer, went to dinner, and found all the traps filled upon return making a total of 17 cats trapped (so much for 8 cats!). All told we'd have 24 cats for the next day including the five Suzie trapped on her way over and overnight at the other place and the apartment cat. Now instead of too few we had too many cats. Sound familiar?

The Tempe clinic was a great success due to wonderful trapping weather. Only one of our crowd got fixed (the apartment cat) and we'd have 28 cats to go to the vet the next day including the railroad park cats Beth and John had trapped. They had been back trapping on Sunday morning and caught a total of six cats.

1/11

I took 17 cats to one vet on Monday and Suzie took 11 to another after feeding the cats at my place the night before. I'd have a few (28 cats) to aftercare that night before setting off for East Phoenix to trap 10-15 cats for a caregiver needing help. That night I only trapped 10 cats in a rather high-end residential neighborhood (Arcadia). What a contrast to the trailer park and the dumpsters on Saturday night.

1/12

I released the trailer park cats the next morning. while releasing the mother cat and 4 kittens at the dumpsters the train came by. The noise was deafening and I had to wait to release the cats. they all ran under a nearby trailer where I captured this photo of one kitten.

I took the 10 cats to and from the vet the next day. This caregiver would be trapping on her own that night trying to catch one last cat. One of the cats had an eartip I'd missed. It turned out the neighbor across the street had trapped a couple weeks before and I'd missed the address connection. Working on a really good database of trapped colonies is on our "to do" list. Barbara and Suzie trapped at two locations that night caught a total of 14 cats; 12 at one location and two at another. I'd be picking them up at two vets for aftercare and release the next day but unfortunately I'd be missing a nice dinner with them that night.

1/13

I released the 10 cats and picked up the one cat caught overnight and took it to the vet. Suzie has busy all day so I came home and loaded up all her cats to release at her two trapping locations. Just before I arrived at the second location I noticed the car listing to one side and feeling sort of mushy. As I pulled up to the curve I confirmed the worst - another flat tire! These were the brand new tires I'd just purchased. Fortunately I was able to release the cats as I waited for Honda Roadside to arrive to change the tire. I loaded up the dirty traps, unloaded them at home, and headed back to the tire store once again. This time there was a nail in the tire, probably picked up at the dumpster several nights earlier. The bad news was it was not repairable. Fortunately I had the extended warranty and they replaced it for free. I had to wait again but it was worth the wait.

That night I was set to trap three cats for a lady in another mobile home park (55+). I'd trapped for years in here and have written about some of these episodes in previous blogs. We were after three kittens. Well, I caught two of them, one right away and one the next night. I took them to the vet early and when I went to pick them up they were not fixed yet. The vet had been called away on an emergency. I decided to take them home and wait until Sunday's clinic in N. Phoenix to have them fixed. Fortunately I was able to catch the last kitten that night so I'd have all three for Sunday. Oh - and I had to release the one cat trapped overnight on Thursday as well as pick up my traps.

Next week - Back to the same trailer park for more cats.

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to ADLA to help caregivers in need like those at the trailer park we helped this week. To donate please visit our website at:

http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/

Thank you for your support!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 1/3/10

2010-01-10T20:25:00.036-07:00

1/3

There was no Tempe clinic on 1/3 due to New Year's. It was now 1010 and 7,796 cats had been sterilized in 2009. What a way to end the year. Now it was time to charge ahead, to fix even more cats in 2010. With kitten season looming, it would be critical to fix as many cats as possible before kitten season begins.

One of our vets had said he could take a lot of ferals on 1/4. Due to the holiday they only had a few surgeries scheduled and were looking for business. What an opportunity! So on Friday, Suzie and I looked at some possibilities for filling up the clinic. I called a caregiver in the West valley who had been waiting for help since June. She was feeding about 13 cats and the neighbor across the street was feeding 40 cats - a total of 53 cats. The vet said he wanted cats so we looked at each other and said; "let's go for it".

I filled my vehicle with 28 traps and Suzie packed in 25 for a total of 53 traps. We figured we could double them up if there were a few extras. Our caravan headed West to Surprise driving to an address almost the White Tank Mountains. It was a perfect trapping night. We kept driving and driving thinking it must be at the end of the road...and it was!

Upon arrival Suzie started trapping at the first caregiver's place on the E. side of the street. I started at the caregiver across the street. These cats were really all part of the same colony as many went back and forth looking for the most tasty dinner. When I pulled in the driveway there were more cats than I'd ever seen in one place. The photo gives some idea of the numbers but one had to be there to really appreciate it. Clearly there were more than 40 cats. With the help of the caregiver I started trapping with lightning speed. At least five cats were in the front seat of my car trying to get the tuna. This was a trapper's nirvana. When Suzie arrived after catching about 6 cats across the street I had already had filled up all 28 of my traps. We started baiting her traps and within a half hour or so her traps were also full. We then started doubling up cats. That night we trapped 63 cats before running out of smaller cats to double up. I hated to double up a couple of big tomcats so the rest would have to wait until the next night.

I texted the vet tech from the clinic that wanted lots of cats the next day and she confirmed that "a lot of cats" only meant 25 cats maximum. Well, we had 38 cats too many and there were six other cats scheduled for that clinic already. the new plan was for me to take 31 cats to Tempe, Suzie to take 22 cats to N. Phoenix and the caregiver to drive in 12 cats to one of our West side clinics.

1/4

I drove to Tempe very early to deliver 31 cats. I picked up the second batch of 20 cats later in the day and Suzie picked up the other 12 cats. We drove to Tempe together pick up the 31 cats. After unloading all 63 of the cats in my garage we headed back out for a second night's trapping. This time we went together in my vehicle with only 24 traps underestimating once again just how many cats there were. After doubling up again we ended up with 32 cats! These would go to three vets in the morning. The logistics of this was getting interesting. The cats we trapped had to be left there overnight along with a couple of traps we manged to free up by doubling cats. Since we were coming back in the morning to release the 63 cats we'd be able to them up. I knew ALL the traps would be filled and and we still saw cats!

We headed back to Phoenix, stopping at Suzie's so she could get her car. Our plan was for both of us to feed the cats at my place. When we got to my place we decided to load the cats up in bother vehicles after feeding them as we knew we would be too tired to do this in the AM.

1/5

After a few hours sleep I met Suzie and we both drove out to Surprise with 63 cats. Between the ones trapped the night before and the ones trapped overnight we had a total of 33 cats. After releasing the 63 cats we loaded up 19 cats in Suzie's vehicle to go to one vet and 13 in my vehicle to go to two vets as one of the three already was at capacity. If this was not enough I had received a call at 6:00 AM and the resort in Phoenix had another trapped cat. This one would have to wait until I dropped off 7 cats needing to be at that vet by 8:00 AM. I picked up the one cat in Phoenix and headed to the second vet with the six plus one for a total of 7 cats.

All cats were picked up and brought back to my garage once again. After that I had a trapping job nearby for about eight cats which I caught pretty easily that night and overnight. Those were left in the car overnight.

1/6

I released the resort cat very early...then took the cats in the car to the vet before setting out again for Surprise to release the second wave of cats. This time we had enough room for the drop-trap to go after some of the cats still alluding us. Before releasing we drop-trapped for several hours and caught four more cats including the calico on the E. side of the street. These cats would have to wait until Thursday to go to the vet. We took as many dirty traps back as possible but left the drop-trap for the next morning.

1/7

I took the third wave of cats to the vet in the AM after releasing the previous day's cats from the other caregiver. I can hardly remember much of what happened that day. We were approaching over 100 cats not including the other ones I'd trapped at other places. I know I managed to set traps at the nearby place that night but caught no cats and I aftercared the third wave of cats.

1/8

We headed back in the AM to release cats fixed on 1/7. We had left the dropper there and planned on trying again for a few more. This time we caught only two cats making a total of 101 cats total. This was the largest single colony I'd ever trapped. I'd trapped 110 cats over a 4 day period in a trailer park in 2008 but cats were at several different locations. It took a total of seven days from start to finish as these two cats would need to go to the vet late on Friday and would not be ready until Saturday morning (thanks to one of our wonderful vets who took them late and held them overnight for aftercare).

1/9

Suzie picked up the last two cats from the vet and released them in the morning. We'd have to swing into action that night to try to fill up the 1/10 Tempe clinic as once again there were last minute cancellations. At least we had a day to wash traps. There were several more out there including a dilute tortie we could not catch. The caregiver also had 21 tame cats in the house we'd be going back for in a month or so - with the drop-trap to catch that tortie! One breeding tortie can cause a LOT of damage and she needed to be caught.

The sad part of this story was that nine cats out of this colony had to be euthanized. When colonies are allowed to get this big, even as many (or few) as 30-40 cats, there is a lot of inbreeding and disease. The cats were well fed and the caregivers truly cared about the cats. However, things quickly got out of control until the point where they did not have the resources to fix them. Being well fed allowed them to breed prolifically while all the while the colony was "trying" to stabilize. The result was a lot of suffering. This is why I cannot emphasis enough how important it is to fix the cats before this happens. It is also important to fix ALL the cats and to continue to monitor the colony for any new unsterilized cats. Also, do not look for cats to feed. Unfed, truly wild cats, produce fewer litters and have fewer kittens per litter. One is not doing cats a favor by feeding them and not fixing them - in my opinion this is animal cruelty and I saw it first hand. This is the way nature works.

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to our TNR program to help caregivers in need. Our vet costs are higher this time of year due to in-heat and pregnant cats. We need your help. Visit our website at:

http://www.spayneuterhotline.org/

Next week - More trailer park tails!

Please Support Spay Neuter Hotline Veterinarians

2010-01-08T16:41:00.012-07:00

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

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

Please support:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 12/27/09

2010-01-04T10:26:00.054-07:00

12/27

There was no Tempe clinic on Sunday due to the Christmas holiday. I had set up a job for Sunday night but it fell through. At the last minute I called a couple in a mobile home park not far from me who I'd trapped for before. There were about 10 new cats. I'd already trapped over 40 cats thee years but there were more. I'd put this off for a while as the woman never stops talking - never. This may sound like an exaggeration, but it is not, believe me. I like to be stealth in my operation and constant chattering disrupts the process - not to mention I have already heard "who beget whom" numerous times. When this happens I tell the caregiver to go inside and only come out only infrequently to shake the dry food and call the cats. I then ask them to go back inside as the cats tend to wait to be fed rather than make an effort to go in the traps. I call this "conservation of energy". Funny how cats spend the least amount of energy possible to get by whereas humans seem to spend the more than they need to to accomplish everything. Still I did catch 10 cats there that evening and overnight despite these obstacles.

12/28

I checked traps in the AM and headed for the vet. Monday was a light day due to the holiday - well, at least the vet where I was. Wayne Begun was off work this week and was trapping every night for the Tempe clinic. He had 15 cats in on Monday - go Wayne!

12/29

I was back at the MHP that evening to set traps. I had picked up a cat that another caregiver had drop-trapped during the day. Suzie was on a drop-trapping extravaganza this week and had caught a last cat for a caregiver. We'd have a total of four cats in and I'd be picking them up for aftercare. Wayne was out on a couple more trapping jobs and had a bunch of cats in. Wayne was beginning to see what it is like to be a full-time trapper. Just keeping track of all the cats and caregivers is often challenging.

We had decided earlier in the week to ring out 2009 with a HUGE trapping job. This would mean releasing cats on New Year's day as one vet was open on New Year's Eve and was looking for business. We jumped at the chance to fill a clinic.

After picking up the four cats at the vet and loading up traps I met Barbara and Suzie at the trapping location, an older neighborhood in central Phoenix. There were a lot of foreclosed vacant homes in the neighborhood and the caregiver was feeding over 30 cats. When I arrived, there were cats everywhere! It was dinner time and tuna was on the menu tonight. They were already trapping cats as fast as they could and still there were cats, cats and more cats - cats everywhere. We caught a total of 30 including some trapped overnight. We also has a nice dinner at Pei Wei, one of our favorite restaurants.

12/30

I checked traps left out overnight before heading to the vet. It is strange that many caregivers (like this one) cannot even wake up in the early AM to check traps to see if there are cats in them. I am so anxious to check them I can hardly sleep waiting to check them in the AM. I headed off to one vet with 10 cats and then met Suzie at the 2nd vet to help check in 20 cats.

All the cats came back to my place for aftercare. Suzie was off to drop-trap that night on the far West side so I set traps at the previous night's location for stranglers. We had seen a few more cats lurking around. After setting about seven traps I headed to S. Phoenix where I had two trapping jobs. Fortunately they were neighbors. This was a pretty unsafe neighborhood. I'd been there a couple of times before and would never be alone there at night. These caregivers had lived there a long time and were just the kind I love to help - grateful and appreciative of getting first class service! They both really cared about the cats. I caught three (all) at the one neighbors and four at the other's.

12/31

I got up early to check the traps I'd set the second night at the big job and I'd caught 5 more! We were now at 35 cats - this job was finished. I headed off to S. Phoenix and she'd caught one cat overnight. Then, she caught the last one after I was half way to the vet and I had to turn back to pick him up. The good news was we had caught them ALL! I then headed off to the vet with the last five cats from second night trapping, and the seven cats from S. Phoenix. Suzie drop-trapped the last cat she was after on the W. side and was also at the vet. This make a total of 13 cats in on 12/31 at one vet. What a way to end 2009. Wayne, of course, was ringing out the year in the E. Valley bringing a load of cats to the Tempe clinic.

From there we headed to my house to load up the 30 cats in my garage for release. Seeing those beautiful eartips and knowing there would be no kittens this Spring was delightful.

Later in the day I was out and about running errands got in my car and the key would not turnin the ignition. I solicited several able bodied folks to help be to no avail. I then called Honda Roadside and they sent help. First they mistakenly sent a guy with a battery charger and it was the ignition. Then they sent a tow truck. The car was towed to the Honda dealer and the driver took me home to get my spare key as they suspected it was a bad key. No go. I needed a new ignition. By this time it was after 4:00 PM on New Year's Eve and I had 13 cats to be picked up from the vet by 5:00 PM. Bill was out of town so Suzie came to my rescue. She picked me up at the dealer, we picked up the cats, and she dropped me and the cats off at my place for aftercare. The photo shows the jacked up car being pushed to maintenance. They'd be installing the new ignition on Saturday - thank goodness. We had the biggest job ever set for next week starting Sunday night and I needed my car.

1/1

In the late AM we returned all the cats on New Year's morning - the five to central Phoenix, the seven to S. Phoenix and the one to the far W. Valley. Suzie drove as my car was in the shop. It was indeed a Happy New Year for all! I do think the cats were the happiest of all of us...

I never would have thought 2009 would end this way. Last March I almost gave up and even cried at the vet thinking everything had fallen apart. But it didn't. This year has been a challenge in many ways but many fewer kittens will be born this Spring thanks to all of you who have supported the Spay Neuter Hotline in spirit and financially. For this I will be forever grateful.

Next week - Ringing in the New Year...trapping the biggest colony ever!

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

2009-12-22T17:36:00.005-07:00

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

2009-12-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-12-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-12-21T16:21:00.001-07:00

"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

2009-12-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-12-05T17:14:00.021-07:00

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

2009-11-29T16:24:00.022-07:00

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

2009-11-23T15:57:00.006-07:00

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

2009-11-23T09:23:00.022-07:00

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

2009-11-18T08:32:00.025-07:00

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!

2009-11-10T10:40:00.008-07:00

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

2009-11-04T17:56:00.025-07:00

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

2009-11-04T11:50:00.002-07:00

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

2009-10-26T06:35:00.021-07:00

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!"

2009-10-23T10:18:00.003-07:00

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

2009-10-20T10:03:00.020-07:00

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

2009-10-10T06:04:00.025-07:00

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"

2009-10-07T13:00:00.003-07:00

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

How about some ammonia with that burger?

2009-10-06T14:38:00.005-07:00

I just read the NY Times article "The Burger that Shattered her Life" by Michael Moss, about Stephanie Smith, a young dance teacher left paralyzed after contracting E. coli from a hamburger. For anyone that assumes ground beef is safer since meat companies were forbidden to sell E. coli contaminated products, consider this: According to health officials, "tens of thousands of people are still sickened annually by this pathogen, federal health officials estimate, with hamburger being the biggest culprit."

According to the article, the hamburger was produced by Cargill which uses a variety of meat sources in order to lower their costs. The deadly hamburger that Smith consumed was "made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria."

I thought back to October 1999, when Barb Goethe of AZSPCA and I were investigating farm animal cruelty at livestock auctions. One of the most disturbing incidents we witnessed was at a slaughterhouse in the Southwest Valley, where around 40 newborn calves had been left in a holding pen over the weekend with no food or water. By Monday morning, the calves were too weak to stand and were lying in urine and feces. We contacted law enforcement to intervene. As police arrived, slaughterhouse workers began throwing the feeble animals into large garbage bins.

The USDA supposedly investigated the facility, but it was permitted to continue operations. Following the incident, the slaughterhouse added high metal walls surrounding the plant, which is still in business.

It is appalling that large agribusiness continues to utilize inhumane and unsafe practices while resisting improved transparency and oversight. Apparently this industry's standard response to food safety and animal welfare concerns is to keep building high walls.

Karen Michael

Pam's TNR Blog Week of 9/20/09

2009-10-03T11:32:00.009-07:00

The photo above was taken by Wayne Begun. I guess he did not like being neutered. Thank you Wayne for sharing this with us!

9/20

I did not trap on Saturday night for Sunday's clinic in Tempe. I volunteered at the clinic and was prepared, as always, to take any "overflow" to another clinic the next day. And we did indeed have too many cats thanks to master trapper Wayne Begun. Nine cats had to be held in my garage until the next day. I released one cat Suzie had trapped for the clinic the next morning after dropping off the nine cats at the vet. Suzie retrieved them in the afternoon and Wayne picked them up in the evening to go back to the caregiver. This was just another example of how labor intensive TNR can be.

On Tuesday I headed up North for another volunteer archaeological survey and documentation project for the BLM. No trapping until next week...Stay tuned.

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

2009-09-22T14:19:00.016-07:00

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

2009-09-21T11:05:00.009-07:00

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

2009-09-19T10:00:00.023-07:00

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

2009-09-10T12:42:00.026-07:00

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

2009-09-04T09:16:00.035-07:00

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).

Pam's TNR Blog - week of 8/16/09

2009-08-26T11:10:00.046-07:00

8/16

The monthy clinic in N. Phoenix was on 8/16 this month. We usually do about 50 cats at these clinics, giving caregivers a weekend option in the N. Valley. I was contacted by a caregiver who wanted "me" to trap for her. She had seen the article in the paper and called around to various places and everyone said get "Pam" to trap for you. She was also willing to make a nice donation so this "sweetened the pie". There are so many caregivers wanting help it is difficult to get to them all, but this one sounded sincere and, of course, the nice compliment helped. Of course there were the usual suspects in the neighbood wanting the cats removed and who were threatening to do bad things to them...she definitely needed help.

This was another older central Phoenix neighborhood with a LOT of free-roaming cats. The neighbors had already TNR'd about 10 cats down the street. She estimated there were about 20 cats to TNR. Well, we ended up trapping 22 cats on 8/23 and three the next night for a total of 25.

As often happens 82 cats (not 50) showed up for the clinic on 8/16 so we had to call in a second vet. Fortunately we were able to find one to step in on a moment's notice. There always seems to be not enough or too many cats - well, one thing for sure - I'll never complain about too many cats at a clinic!

8/17 , 8/18 and 8/19

I was set to trap five cats on 8/18 for a lady I'd helped in the past. There was a mother and four kittens. The mother, now an adult, was the one kitten I did not catch last year. This shows that one has to catch ALL the cats in the colony. This does require perservence but it pays off in the end. I caught all five. I had also dropped off 10 traps that same night to someone else who could trap on their own. Well, the 10 cat job turned in to 27 cats over a two day period. Turned out the neighbor had lots of cats and kittens in the back yard.

On 8/19 I ran out of vet slots and ended on back on the Healing Hearts mobile with seven cats. This was truly a "drive by spay and neuter". I backed up to the van, unloaded, and was out of there in two hours. I was able to help out on the mobile. Thanks to Jan and Dr. Kit for helping out in a pinch!

I picked up everyone for aftercare on both 8/18 and 8/19 - It's a blur now just what happened since it is a week later. All I know is I'd helped TNR a total of 57 cats so far that week and had lots of cats in the garage to feed and water each night. The cooler lowers the temperature anywhere between 15 and 20 degrees F.

That evening I was set to trap again at yet another place I'd previously trapped. The caregiver was now in assisted living back east and the neighbor wanted me to help with about 6-7 cats. Another example of where there was one kitten left and the caregiver would not cooperate to allow me back to get it. Now the kitten was an adult and had 5 kittens of her own. This was a bad situation as the home was for sale and the cats were living under the house. I caught all 6 cats including several of the ones I'd previously TNR'd. The eartips were nearly impossible to see. I had to use binoculars to make sure there were only eartipped cats left - even a flashlight does not reveal those small eartips. This is why we now do 3/8" eartips - making subsequent trappings much easier. Wayne Begun (I hope) is also happy about this new protocol...

I tried again the next night but caught nothing but eartipped cats. I thought the week was over except for pickup, aftercare and release of the six cats in on 8/19, but no, there was more...

8/20

I had organized a trapping in a large trailer park for the clinic on Sunday, 8/23 (part of next week's blog). The manager was on board and had contacted the feeders about not feeding. Well, somehow there was a communication problem, probably due to the Spanish/English translation. I got a call mid-morning from the manager of the park and one of the feeders had nine cats in two cat carriers and had brought them up to her office! Now what?

I called in the troops - well that being Suzie of course. We headed to 40th St. and McDowell to transfer the cats into traps. Thankfully I took extra traps as it turned out there were 10 cats - five in each small cat carrier. We transferred them into traps in a sweltering hot bathroom using a squirt bottle, a stick, and lots of patience. The last cat nearly escaped as we did not even know it was in the carrier. One carrier was upside down so the holes were not available for a 'stick' (sedative injections). Turning it upside down was not an option as a cat had deficated in the trap. What a smelly mess. Anyway, I kept the cats all day and night in the traps with the cooler running in the garage. The vet was kind enough to take 10 extra cats the next day, 8/21. That cat hidden in the back of the carrier turned out to be 8 sweeks pregnant. This made all the hassle worthwhile! Seems every day there is a new, never happened before, TNR adventure...

8/22

I released the 10 cats at the trailer park in the early AM. We'd be back down there that night to trap for the Sunday clinic on 8/23. But that trapping episode will be part of next week's blog...stay tuned.

The Spay Neuter Hotline TNR program is now nearly six months old and we have helped about 5,000 cats. We need your help. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help us help more cats. Or, consider becoming a member of ADLA. Click here to join or donate.

Thank you for your support.

Swine flu, CAFOs, and Antibiotics

2009-08-25T09:49:00.013-07:00

There's been a lot of media attention on factory farming, which no doubt has significantly raised public awareness regarding the plight of farm animals. I just ordered "A River of Waste", a DVD on factory farms that includes Paul Shapiro and others. I've also been reading "The Real Cost of Cheap Food", an excellent article in Time Magazine. The article starts out with:

"Somewhere in Iowa, a pig is being raised in a confined pen, packed in so tightly with other swine that their curly tails have been chopped off so they won't bite one another. To prevent him from getting sick in such close quarters, he is dosed with antibiotics."

At the same time I ran across an article "Coalition Defends Animal Antibiotic Use" in Pork Magazine. An industry-based coalition, including the National Pork Producers Council, is defending its use of antibiotics in factory farms, stating:

"The coalition... holds that arguments against the use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry, including that such use contributes to human resistance, are not supported by any conclusive scientific evidence."

Really? No scientific evidence? Guess those factory farmers haven't read the gazillions of peer-reviewed scientific reports including the latest one in Johns Hopkins Magazine:

"Kellogg Schwab, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Water and Health, refers to a typical pig farm manure lagoon that he sampled. "There were 10 million E. coli per liter [of sampled waste]. Ten million. And you have a hundred million liters in some of those pits. So you can have trillions of bacteria present, of which 89 percent are resistant to drugs. That's a massive amount that in a rain event can contaminate the environment...This development of drug resistance scares the hell out of me."

Photo courtesy of Farm Sanctuary

Coincidentally newspapers across the country today are reporting that a White House panel has issued a report warning that Swine flu could hospitalize 1.8 million Americans and kill up to 90,000 this fall, mostly children. Since the start of the Swine flu pandemic, it seems that owners of industrial hog operations have spent most of their time denying any association and trying to get media to refer to the virus as H1N1. Unfortunately for CAFOs, the CDC has confirmed that the Swine flu was first discovered in US industrial hog operations, according to Michael McGregor, MD of HSUS.

So we have a perfect storm - a Swine flu pandemic, antibiotic resistance, and factory farmers with their heads in the sand denying all responsibility, despite the fact that 70% of all antibiotics in the US. are used in factory farms. Worse yet, the CAFO industry is campaigning to kill a federal bill to phase out the routine non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in farm animals. Although antibiotics are not effective against viruses, they are a crucial weapon against virus-related secondary infections. This is alarming to me as a registered nurse and parent. My spouse, Cecil Michael, who has practiced pediatrics for over 30 years, has frequently expressed concern over the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant infections in patients, as he stated in the 2006 AZ publicity pamphlet argument supporting Prop 204 which banned confinement of farm animals (ADLA was a sponsoring organization of Prop 204):

"To sustain animals in the crowded and unnatural conditions of industrial farming, antibiotics and related drugs are used in massive quantities. This produces antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can render drugs ineffective in protecting and saving human lives. Children especially are at high risk of infections with drug-resistant organisms linked directly to the agricultural use of antimicrobials...Hundreds of organizations, including the American Medical Association, oppose the routine use of antibiotics as feed additives."

While factory farm lobbyists continue to deny the validity of the vast mountain of peer-reviewed scientific studies, we don't have to let them have the last word. Please contact your Congressional representatives and ask them to cosponsor the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PATMA), which has been introduced in both House and Senate. So far Rep. Raul Grijalva is the only Arizona lawmaker who has signed on to this measure. You can take action at this Pew Charitable Trusts website .

Karen Michael

Pam's TNR blog - Week of 8/9/09

2009-08-17T21:44:00.036-07:00

08/09/09

After working at the Tempe clinic on Sunday, Suzie and I met Jan Wilson at my house about 5:00 PM to load up 79 traps into three vehicles. Thank you Bill for washing all the traps from last week! We were headed for Queen Creek to trap 70 cats. The Healing Heart's mobile was to be at a caregiver's property Monday morning to fix them. We caravaned down to what seemed like the back of beyond. When I travel for TNR I usually go to points North and West like Aguila, Prescott Valley or Gila Bend . This was new territory for all of us. Healing Hearts recently purchased a mobile to help spay and neuter for rescue groups. It had been a mobile clinic but they refurbished it and it is now first class. Dr. Slocum is the veterinarian and we all know and love her from the AZ Animal Welfare League. To find out more about Healing Hearts visit their website.

The property we trapped at was sort of a sanctuary for exotic sheep, deer, birds, dogs and of course, feral cats. Yes, 60-70 cats roamed this six acre property. I felt like "a kid in a candy store" and felt this would surely be like "shooting fish in a barrel"! Oh those sayings from my Mom come in handy...I can never remember if it was Shakespeare or Ben Franklin who said them. I just hoped we'd get them ALL in "one fell swoop".!

We trapped until late in the evening and captured about 40 cats. Jan brought plenty of diet Coke and snacks to keep us awake and going through the evening. The cats were stored in the caregiver's garage overnight. We had at least 20 traps out overnight. The drive back on the 202 was scary and at times it felt like driving into the abyss. But we caught lots of cats. One always fears that one's efforts will turn to naught. In fact 40 cats was not 70!

08/10

The mobile fixed 58 cats on Monday having caught 18 more cats overnight. Suzie went back the next night to help with aftercare in the garage and to set more traps. She can give you a rundown on that experience - just ask her next time you see her. I was on to my next trapping job that night. After this, trapping jobs this week seemed pretty tame. That night I had mall job for four cats that ended up being five cats after two nights of trapping. The caregiver had a "bad back". Seems like everyone does these days...must be contagious!

08/11

Took cats to the vet in the early AM. Two more cats were trapped overnight in Queen Creek and were fixed the next day for a total of 60 cats TNR'd. Four kittens were rescued and went to Healing Hearts for foster and adoption. There are 3-4 cats left there to fix and hopefully the caregiver will follow through. Suzie and I headed to Queen Creek late morning to release the cats and pick up our traps as we needed them. The caregiver was not much help which is the case in many situations. Often the feeders offer to help but it is easier to do the job yourself. We loaded up all but 9 traps in our vehicles after the release and headed back to town. It was very hot! Now we had LOTs of traps and covers to wash. Jan brought the remainder of the traps back later in the week.

Picked up cats at the vet for aftercare and set off for the next trapping in Sunnyslope for eight cats. I only caught six , one with the drop-trap. This was a difficult situation. It is a non-profit organization and the feeder was not supposed to feed the cats on the property. Fortunately, one of the volunteers at this non-profit convinced them to let us trap there and she helped me. She had used the Spay Neuter Hotline previously for cats at her home. The second night's trapping was a bust as the feeder put food out as they often do. In between I transported and after-cared 5 cats for another caregiver who lived in a small apartment.

8/12

Took cats to and from the vet again - total of seven; six from the business in Sunnyslope and one from the "bad back" lady. Picked them up for aftercare and set off for a drop-trap job. A note on Sunnyslope...I've been trapping there for years and based on my experience I truly believe there has to be more than 350,000 feral cats in Maricopa County if one looks at number of ferals per square mile. Sunnyslope is an area in North Phoenix originally "colonized" by those with Tuberculosis looking for a cure. The cats were being fed behind an historic house built in the 1920's. Before then patients lived in tents. Makes one thankful for AC!

8/13

Released cats in the AM. Tonight's trapping was interesting. It was at a hospital in central Phoenix. ALL the cats there but two had been trapped by a caring doctor who took on this project, which was an amazing accomplishment. I was helping her catch the last two cats. It was a cool evening and I sat for several hours waiting and waiting for those two cats to go under the dropper. Watching cats can be interesting. Probably not as neat as cable TV but still neat. I caught one right away but the other was a stinker! I'll be back there next Thursday night to try again. I'll update you on my success. I love challenges like this!

8/14

Took the one cat from the hospital plus six cats Roni had trapped to the vet in the AM and picked them up for aftercare in the afternoon. The caregiver picked up the hospital cat. I released the six cats Roni had trapped on Saturday. She caught them all as she usually does. Go Roni! Having a portable drop-trap makes for great trapping when one has a small car.

Trapping can be challenging and exciting. Please consider helping with trapping and transport. We especially need volunteers to help during the week.

8/15

The mobile fixed 58 cats feral cats there the first day and two more the second day for a total of 60 cats TNR'd. Four small kittens were taken in for adoption by Healing Hearts. There 3-4 more to fix and we plan to work with the caregiver to get them fixed. It is often difficult to finish jobs like this. Although we try, the caregivers often are do not cooperate. We encourage people to fix ALL the cats and to watch for additional cats that are not eartipped.

Next week - Two big weekend clinics and more BIG trapping extravaganzas!

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 8/2 (Part 2)

2009-08-12T17:49:00.024-07:00

8/1 and 8/2 ...So now that you know the history of this location, I'll continue. I trapped seven cats for the clinic on 8/2 and one more overnight for a total of eight cats. There is still one young male orange tabby out there but for now this job is finished. These older Phoenix neighborhoods, interspersed with lower-income apartments always have a LOT of free-roaming cats.

Of course there was the usual aftercare on Sunday night and setting more traps for the second night trapping.

8/3

I took in the last cat on Monday and met Suzie at the vet. She had trapped five the night before at two locations. I picked up these six cats for aftercare along with mine before setting out on Monday night's adventure...

When I arrived to trap, the caregiver's relative was there and explained that this would be difficult. Boy was she right! The elderly caregiver had cats in the house and several outside. It is always difficult when one does not know how many cats there are to trap. I set traps in the carport and a while later the caregiver's nephew comes over and a fight ensues between him and his aunt. So now I am caught in the middle of a family feud over the fate of these cats. So the nephew goes in the house and tries to put the cats in traps. Guess what? He gets bitten and has to go to the emergency room! With him gone I begin to gain the caregiver's trust. She now understands that the cats are coming back after being spayed and neutered. Problem was that the nephew wanted the cats gone. A lot of what we do as trappers is working with caregivers who love the cats often so much they do not trust our motives. I've actually had to have them talk to other caregivers I'd helped previously to assure them I was not there to take the cats away.

I ended up with five cats, several from in the house and some outside. One was caught overnight. On the way home I picked up a kitten from a caregiver where I'd trapped a total of 42 cats over a several month period. This was, I hope, the last cat.

8/4

I took six cats to the vet in the AM. On Tuesdays I always take cats to a clinic that helps those in need who cannot afford a donation. Unfortunately we have way too many caregivers in this situation and not enough vets who will donate their time. The result is a waiting list of caregivers needing financial assistance. Most often these are the same caregivers needing trapping and transport assistance due to large numbers of cats, no vehicle, elderly, disabled etc. This waiting list is growing especially due to hard economic times. Please consider making a contribution to help these folks. To donate visit ADLA's donation site.

I picked up cats for aftercare in the afternoon before setting out for Tuesday night's trapping. Then I picked up cats at another vet to aftercare as the caregiver lived in an apartment with no place to keep them overnight (total 12 cats to aftercare). Tonight's trapping was for a caregiver in a wheelchair who clearly needed assistance. Caught two then two more overnight along with the straggler and the location from the previous night's trapping. Unfortunately I caught only the kittens - mom was still out there!

8/5

Released the cats from previous night's trapping. Suzie took back the ones she'd trapped and picked up one more straggler trapped the second night. Our paths crossed at my house when she picked up the cats and then again at the vet. A word about our vets - we love them! Our vets are our most important resource. Without them this operation would come to a screeching halt. Fortunately we have wonderful, caring vets that always smile when they see LOTs of cats. Often we end up with more than we had planned and usually they will fix them. Sometimes we have to shuffle them around town but we always get them done. Once in a while they need to be held overnight and have to go to a vet the next day.

...picked up cats at the vet and more aftercare that night. This night's trapping was for three cats at a trailer park in north Phoenix. I'd trapped in this park several times before and now the word is getting out and management is TNR friendly. After setting the traps at this location I took my drop-trap to get the mother cat left over from the previous night. I had her within 20 minutes! This was especially nice because the caregiver gave us a substantial donation in appreciation for the help. I went back to the park to discover all three cats had been trapped - a nice surprise. I had four more cats that would not be breeding any longer.

8/6

I took four cats to the vet in the AM and picked them up for aftercare in the PM. My trapping job for that night was cancelled as the caregiver fed the cats. It has been reset for next Thursday night...

Mind you there is a lot more going on than trapping in this business. There are calls to return, appointments to set, traps and covers to wash, transport of cats for caregivers, dealing with cats in traps without a plan, spay pack preparation, etc. It is often challenging but I like problem solving and I always say; "if anything can happen to foil best laid plans while trapping feral cats it will". At least once a week someone has a feral cat confined in a carrier and needs it transferred to a trap. Or, the vet calls and someone has not signed their paperwork for surgery. My favorite is when there are 50 cats scheduled for a high-volume clinic and the vet is ill and cannot make it. Or how about dealing with 45 too many cats showing up at a clinic and needing a place to hold them overnight and fix them the next day?

On another important note... there are the three things the Spay Neuter Hotline TNR program needs most to help more cats and caregivers:

1 . Help getting the word out about TNR and our program.

2. Monetary donations to low-income caregivers with TNR.

3. Help with trapping and transporting cats to clinics especially in Phoenix and the west Valley. We're looking for "a few good men (and women)" who like to lift heavy traps with cats, smell cat urine, spend evenings in alleys, and drive a lot...Oh, and do not mind a stinky, dirty car. You can see why there are plenty of job openings!

Next week - Queen Creek

Pam's TNR Blog - Week of 8/2 (Part 1)

2009-08-09T15:41:00.015-07:00

8/1 - Trapping

I trapped Saturday night for our Sunday clinic on 8/2. I'd trapped at this location but like many places we go - there is "more to the story". I'll digress with some history...

After having trapped at this location several years ago, I later found the source of the cats... an older apartment complex across the street. Setting out to trap 25+ cats at the apartment where they were being fed I encountered the husband of the caregiver. He refused to let me TNR the cats because he wanted them removed. What a disappointment after I had seen at least four mothers nursing newborn kittens on the small patio. I sat in the parking lot and cried that night.

Forward one year...The complex was being torn down for development into "high-end" condos and residents were being evicted. This was the height of the real estate boom and the owners were hoping to make a killing on the property. Feral cats just did not "fit in" with lofts. A trapping friend who lived nearby alerted me to this situation and she and I decided to try again. The caregiver was still coming to the apartment to feed despite being banned from the property. The apartment windows were shattered and the place was abandoned. Of course now all the newborn kittens I'd seen earlier were breeding adults. We trapped quite a few in the oleanders behind the complex. Then about 9:00 PM we decided to go on the small enclosed patio and discovered numerous covered cat beds. These were cat condos! At least fifteen cats scattered as we approached. Looking under one covered bed we found a dilute tortie nursing 23 kittens! Ages ranged from 1 week to 2 weeks. What a nightmare. Well, to make a long story short, we rounded up a set of industrial two foot-long tongs from the property owner and carefully one by one plucked the kittens from the mother and into a box. Just as the last one was taken out, the mother bolted (Suzie and I trapped her eventually with the drop-trap). All the kittens went to bottle feeders that night and most survived and found homes through a local rescue group. Susie and I later trapped most of the remaining cats. However, those we did not catch ended up at the place I trapped on 8/1. This was the person I had trapped for earlier and we now provide her food to feed the additional cats from the apartments.

By the way the condos never materialized due to the economic downturn. The apartments now have new tenants and there are cats still hanging out in the oleanders...but most of the ones I saw were ear tipped.

Feeding feral cats and not fixing them is, in my opinion, animal cruelty. Unless fixed, fed cats will breed more often and have larger litters. Truly "feral cats" have fewer litters and fewer kittens per litter resulting in smaller colonies. Not fixing ALL the cats , especially the females, causes the remaining females to go into heat sooner so as to maintain the colony size. "Culling" kittens from a colony has the same affect on the mothers. This phenomena is supported by scientific evidence.

So if you are feeding feral cats, please spay and neuter them. Do not feed them if you are not going to fix them. Contact the Spay Neuter Hotline TNR program at 602-265-7729 (SPAY) for assistance.

Pam's TNR Blog - week of 7/26/09

2009-07-31T15:13:00.028-07:00

TNR Blog No. 2

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

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.

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.

Pam's TNR Blog

2009-07-26T07:17:00.001-07:00

Pam's TNR Blog N0. 1 - Week of 7/19/09

7/19/09
It's been a busy week. Suzie and I trapped last Saturday night at a trailer park in S. Phoenix in a dust storm. We trapped 22 cats plus 7 cats overnight for a total of 29 cats. An Arizona Republic reporter and photographer were with us gathering information for a future article on the S/N Hotline and our TNR program. Cats were fixed the next day at the N. Phoenix S/N Clinic where the SNH spayed and neutered at total of 51 cats. That night we aftercared these and a couple other colonies in my garage. My garage is cooled in the summer and this time of year it gets a lot of use as many caregivers have no place to aftercare cats. All cats must be fed and watered later in the evening once they recover.
7/20/09
We released cats the next morning for several caregivers including the 29 cats in S. Phoenix. The caregivers caught 2 more cats overnight for a total of 31 cats (plus 1 cat done the week before making it 32 cats total). Suzie picked up a couple more in W. Phoenix finishing up a colony that had tbeen trapped the previous night. It is so important to finish colonies and multiple night trapping makes a big difference in making sure ALL the cats get fixed.
7/21
I had an emergency trapping job Monday night. The caregiver was to trap on her own but threatened to take the cats to the AHS. I agreed to trap and transport the 8 cats for her if they could come back. She lived in W. Glendale. Suzie agreed to come with me and help bait traps the gail force wind required heavy taping of papers in the traps. Cats were scarse but we caught 2 cats over night. The morning of the 21st we had to pick up these cats to go to the vet and make three stops delivering cats including the last 2 cats in S. Phoenix. One delivery was in S. Scottsdale at Babe's Cabaret. Suzie's daughter Beth and her son-in-law John trapped at Babe's on Saturday night and trapped another cat Sunday night that still needed releasing... Thank you Beth and John for all your hard work!
7/22
My trapping job for Tuesday night was for 15 cats in N.W. Phoenix. Suzie and Beth were trapping at Grand Canyon University, Beth's alma mater. My job turned in to 24 cats over two days requiring multiple trips to and from my house to the caregiver and to the vet. The first night I had to run home for more traps and I asked Suzie to go bait the traps at the Glendale location (second night trapping) as I ran out of time. I took 18 cats to the vet on 7/22 and Suzie took 11 cats from the college plus 4 more from the Glendale location for a total of 33 cats! Of course all of those had to be aftercared in my garage that night and released the next AM. All the cats at the college are now fixed - Go Suzie!
7/23
I trapped six more cats overnight for a total of 24 cats! That colony is now all fixed, however, there are more cats in the area and the caregiver and her daughter are going to flyer the neighborhood and talk to people about TNR. There was more aftercare on Thursday night...and I picked up 10 tame cats to go to the vet on Friday for a caregiver in a trailer park at 127th Ave. and Glendale. The cat owners had no vehicle and no $$ for S/N. These were "free-roaming" pets but free-roaming tame cats are the #1 source of the feral cats so it is important to fix the tame cats too. I discovered many feral cats in this park also and the kids will pass out TNR and S/N information - LOTs of dogs to be fixed too.
7/24
I released the last 6 cats on Friday morning and took the 10 tame cats to the vet and took them back to 127th Ave. and Glendale in the afternoon. The vet is at 40th St. and Cactus near my house so it was about a 2-hour round trip which I had to make twice.

In between all this trap covers and traps need to be washed as wello. We TNR'd a total of 80 cats this week not to mention the transport and aftercare of many other cats.

Stay tuned for the Aguila and Wickenburg adventures next week...

If you are feeding feral cats please call the S/N Hotline for assistance: 602-265-7729 (SPAY). If you are interested in volunteering to do trapping and transport, please call or email us at:feralcats@adlaz.org