Here comes the sun!

After such good news – that all the remaining kitties could be released or placed – we quickly jumped into action.  All remaining cats were spayed or neutered, vaccinated and held for additional quarantine to ensure that they did not break with any new symptoms or diseases.

Through a fantastic network driven by our volunteer coordinator, Jeannie, we were able to find 6 farms that agreed to take groups of the feral cats that we knew we would not be able to socialized to people.  With tremendous help from volunteers, each of the cats were transferred to their new locations and all were socialized to their environment prior to release.  Since that time we have checked in with each of the locations regularly and are happy to report that all of the cats are accounted for and seen on a regular basis.

We still struggled with the decision of release and what was best for each individual cat but nothing has made us happier than great reports from our rescuers.  I love stories such as Martini’s, who was by far our most ferocious of the kitties, he is now regularly seen stretching out in the sun and grooming in his favorite location — the picnic table.  He is so happy and content and these stories help us know that we did exactly the right thing.

Ultimately, we ended up with five cats (other than the bottle feeding kittens) that we felt were able to be socialized for adoption.  We are happy to report that Lukey, a big fat siamese kitty, has found his forever home already.  We are currently looking for homes for Duffy, Ringo, One Eye, Snarf and Petie.   One Eye, Snarf and Petie are still kittens.  Unfortunately because of injury (likely fights with other cats in the home) One Eye and Snarf did have to have an eye removed but, honestly, they don’t know the difference as they have been living with limited vision anyway.  If you know anyone who might be interested in these sweet kitties please let us know.  Duffy is by far the most social, in fact, we made the decision to move him into an adoption center at one of our Petsmart locations.  He has kept us all entertained.  As soon as you open his cage he seeks your affection but his favorite place is on your shoulder.  You can literally walk around with him like a parrot.  Again, if you know anyone who is interested in this little guy – he is quite the charmer.

Ringo is still needing a little socialization and confidence.  Up until today, he would shake like a leaf if you held him; today, however, there was great joy when he was at the front of the cage meowing like crazy to come out and when we picked him up he actually started purring….success!!

So, exactly 28 days later, though we are not finished with this project the end is in sight  and what a fabulous end it is turning out to be.  We know that we did the right thing in helping these babies and their misguided owner, and we know that these animals are healthy and happy in their new surroundings.

We cannot begin to thank all of those who have been involved, those that have given their time, energy, donations of goods and money and everyone’s prayers and good will.  Thank you all for your support and we look forward to keeping you posted on all the babies as they are adopted.

 

The Tide Turns

Slowly, one by one, that cats began to eat.  They wouldn’t do it in front of their human caretakers but we were so happy each morning to pull back the sheets from their cages and see empty food bowls with most of them.  We kept logs of everyone’s daily activities whether they ate or drank, used their litter boxes and how they reacted to being touched by our “magic wand”.  We soon discovered that we had 5 babies that would allow us to physically touch them and we worked up to holding the few that would let us.  We had 9 kittens that needed bottlefeeding and had a wonderful volunteer who stepped up to care for them and we were able to get the 5 that would let us hold them into foster care for further socialization.

It’s difficult to know in this situation what is the best thing to do with feral cats for the sake of them and the environment that they could potentially be released into.  It would be irresponsible of us to arbitrarily release them without carefully considering the impact that they would have on other animals and without knowing what their needs were.  As hard as it is to do, we chose to have necropsies (the equivalent of an autopsy in humans) conducted on several of the cats that we had to euthanize in order to understand the diseases that they were harboring and how that would affect the rest of the colony.

There was great concern that we would have to “depopulate” which is the polite term for having to euthanize everyone in order to prevent disease spread.  This is something that we have never done and never want to do.  We waited for two days on pins and needles for the results.  Upon receiving the results we consulted with the former Director of Shelter Medicine from Cornell University and her counterpart at the University of Florida.  These are the preeminent veterinarians in this field and we were so lucky to find the right connections to lead us to them.  A wave of relief came over us when they were both of the same opinion — since all of the cats in the population were negative for Felv and FIV,  the cats posed no greater risk to other animals that they will come into contact with than those animals are already exposed to and that if they are showing no clinical signs of disease they would be ok to release.

To this point we had  been in a holding pattern with these babies, now it was time for the next big step.

 

Day 2

What we had seen the first day was enough to crack even the strongest constitution but there is a certain amount of adrenaline that courses through your veins and pushes you forward in crisis.  We worked through the night leaving at 3am only after everyone was triaged for initial emergency health issues and safely secured, fed and sheltered;  7:30am came early and the adrenaline had subsided. 

Walking into the facility, the enormity of the issue that lay before us hit me hard.  I didn’t know where to start.  Not a single baby had eaten and I knew that was due to the tremendous stress they had endured.  I questioned everything about what we had done and where we were going to go from here. 

I carefully inspected everyone in their cages and then moved in the room that had been designated for the sickest of the sick.  My heart just sank as I knew that some of these babies might be beyond the limits of veterinary help.  Day 2 was, by far, my worst day in animal rescue.  One of our veterinarians came back to help assess everyone again, and we had to make the difficult decision of letting go of those who were suffering beyond all humane standards.  Without going into too much detail, we saw everything from massive infected wounds compounded by searing upper respiratory infections to cats that were missing both eyes (most all of them were missing one) due to fighting or infection, or both.  Those, believe it or not, were not even the most sick.

I consider myself pretty strong, being able to make the most difficult decisions and facing the most difficult circumstances in order to save lives.  This day I came to my breaking point.  I had several meltdowns throughout the day as I held the sick who were too weak to fight.  I apologized to them for what they had endured at the hands of their well-meaning but misguided caretaker and bid them farewell.  I said goodbye promising them a healthy happy existance beyond the rainbow bridge. 

This day, I wanted to give up.  The enormity of pet overpopulation and the impact it has on the lives of the most innocent is hard to grasp and I really questioned if I could make a difference.  This is the first time I ever questioned my ability to create positive change.  For a fleeting moment I was ready to throw in the towel. 

Then…..I heard it…one of the cats was eating.  Was  it possible that it was all going to be ok?

 

Angels in our midst

I remain astounded at the overwhelming support of the people that have been involved in this situation.  When I was ready to collapse and fall on the floor from exhaustion and emotional toll, I looked around and knew that I had the support of so many that were working as tirelessly as I to help save these beautiful babies.

I don’t know where to begin to thank those that have been involved and the many words and shows of support that have gotten us through some of the most difficult times.  First, to the amazing staff at Project Pet – Dr. Peeler, Wendy, Jill, Austin, Melissa and Stefanie, there was not one person who wasn’t willing to jump in full force in coming to the aid of the cats.  After many long hours, bites, scratches, heat exhaustion, and emotional exhaustion you maintained such professionalism and compassion, and this could not have been done without you.

To Emma Fletcher and Lisa Kasper who didn’t hesitate to volunteer and jump in the chaos of the rescue and endure a day that will surely be forever imprinted on your hearts and minds.

I have to thank Laura Mitchell and her incredible staff at Wescott Acres Pet Resort and Rescue.  You have been there every step of the way, offering any and every kind of assistance possible and I would have crumbled without you!

To the “cat whisperers” who helped (and continue to help) us treat every animal with respect and dignity, who offered their time, blood, sweat and tears (literally) taking care of the cats day in and day out:  Jill Areheart, Janet McCaw, Tracie McGahee, Theresa Cook, Gill McCoy (thank you for the “magical golden rod”), Barbara Tobias, Sharon Wethersby and countless others, without you I would have been lost — truly.

Thank you to our wonderful veterinary and medical staff — Dr. Crystie Peeler and Dr. Timothy Smaha, Jennifer and Hava for treating every animal with respect and wanting to save each and every one…and for being the best “cat wranglers” I have ever seen!

To Sue Soloman and Keith for taking over the very hard work of bottle feeding the sickest of the tiny babies…your support and kindness will have a lasting impact!

To Ramona, Emma, Jenn and Janet for taking on some of these special babies in your homes to socialize and love them and prepare them for their forever families.

To Laura and Paula for giving so many babies a chance to live a beautiful life – the life that was intended for them - in your barns and fields where they will be so happy, healthy and well cared for.

Before this is through there will be many more of you to whom I will owe a great debt; my thanks seems to pale in comparison to what you have done.  Thank you all for your support and for giving so much of yourselves.

 

We couldn’t walk away.

Last Friday started a little different than most.  We received a call requesting our assistance in vaccinating cats through our mobile vaccine program for an individual that needed to prove  to animal control that their animals were vaccinated.  I’d be lying if I told you that didn’t raise a little concern for me.  Apparently animal control had received complaints about a neighbor feeding cats and creating a nuisance and that neighbor had to prove that all their pets were vaccinated.  The first conversation I had with the pet owner revealed that there were twenty cats in question.  Again…a little concern flickered; but given the right circumstances with the right owner in the right location and the proper care it is not out of the realm of possibility that this situation was just what we were lead to believe- someone with a lot of cats that just needed a little help.  We agreed to vaccinate the cats at her house. 

A second conversation caused the red flag to wave.  As I asked the owner for a definite number of animals that we would be vaccinating so that we could ensure that we had enough supplies the number escalated to twenty-five then thirty-five and finally the owner declared, “I don’t really know how many cats I have”.  Maybe at this point we should have walked away.  We didn’t.

Three of us, a veterinarian included, arrived at the home at about 10:15 am.  I should mention that this is a condominium complex and the owner lives on the second floor.  As we walked up the stairs we could smell the cat urine and feces – no need to wonder why the neighbors were complaining.

We entered the home, invited by the owner, and nothing could have prepared any of us for what we were about to face.  I’ve seen plenty of episodes of Animal Cops on Animal Planet, I’ve heard many tales of animal hoarding but until you are there you do not understand the magnitude of the situation.

Maybe we should have turned around and walked out the door.  We didn’t.

The three of us didn’t say a word, just exchanged shocked glances and a shared sense of disbelief.  The same look of shock, disbelief and worry was on the face of the owner.  She apologized for the state of things, said she was only trying to help, that she loved each and every one of the cats and didn’t know how she got to this point.  I believe her; in her mind she was helping these homeless beings.

To say that there were cats everywhere is a gross understatement.  To say that there was excrement everywhere is equally understated.  Every piece of furniture was soaked in urine (even the TVs were soaked with spray).  There were feces dripping down the walls.  There were four – maybe five – litter boxes that were overflowing and food bowls scattered everywhere.  Frankly I was worried about the owner’s health and well-being just as much as the cats.  

We attempted to capture cats in order to vaccinate them – that is what we were there to do.  We were able to catch a couple and then a couple more after a trip to the hardware store for a net.  After unsuccessful attempts at catching still others it was time for a conference.

The three of us walked to the parking lot for a break.  At that point we knew we could not possibly vaccinate these cats in this environment.  We pulled the plug.

We could not, however, leave the situation as it was.  Maybe we should have, but we didn’t.

We sat on the curb in the 100 degree heat talking about what to do next.  I started making calls to find a place to hold these cats if we could get our hands on them.  I was able to find a vacant veterinary facility and received permission to use it.  We quickly gathered two teams of people – both employees and volunteers.  One team would trap the cats and transport them to the facility and the second team would attempt to triage the cats and get them safely housed.

What happened over the next seven hours defies explanation.  The team trapping cats endured unspeakable trauma.  In every corner, in every cabinet and crevice there were cats to catch who didn’t want to be caught.  At the onset the owner warned us that these cats were not socialized, that she had never touched many of them, and that they all just lived together.  The team decided the best thing to do was to eliminate the places they could hide and to move furntiture and block access.  The horrible situation got worse.  Under every piece of furniture, behind every appliance were the remains of dead cats.   We are a group of rescuers, accustomed to seeing difficult things and handling tough situations but no one was prepared for that.

After many hours of literal blood, sweat and tears, we removed 79 cats from a two bedroom condo that was maybe 850 square feet.  27 of the cats that we removed were dead, 15 were severely diseased and the rest horribly traumatized.

Together with a team of highly skilled individuals we worked through the night, finishing at 3am with our initial assessment of these babies.  Every animal, with the exception of three, had to be sedated to assess them. 

I wish I could tell you that all of these animals are now ok or that they will all recover.  The truth is they won’t.  We are working around the clock to get the sick well, and to try to discern between those cats that are truly feral as opposed to those that are in shock because of this experience.

I struggle to know whether we made the right decision in intervening or whether we should have walked away and let animal control handle this.  (As an aside, animal control was apprised of the situation along the way but we knew their fate if it came to animal control seizing all of these cats.)  The one thing I do know, that whatever the fate of these animals ultimately, they are safe and secure, healing, and none of them will die suffering unspeakable pain under a couch and forgotten.