URBAN 'STRAYS' - NEWS SAD & GLAD
Sharon Talbert
(I am sharing this with the rec.pets.cats newsgroup, for no particular
reason other than perhaps to inspire other rescue stories, whether sad or
happy. I am hopeful that anecdotes are welcome at rpc.)
Friends of Campus Cats became involved in two neighborhood rescues this
last weekend. One had a good result and other did not.
The good news is that an abandoned calico cat who has been living on her
own in a University District neighborhood for years is finally safe. She
has been tested and checked out by our vet (who discovered the cat had
been abandoned spayed, at least) and will be going to her new foster home
on Tuesday. The neighborhood donated funds to cover the test/spay.
The bad news is that the same kind person who is taking in this calico cat
recently reported a pair of kittens to us, spotted living under an older
commercial building complex in a Seattle suburb. We agreed she would feed
the kittens until they could be captured and made arrangements to lend her
a humane trap. Fortunately, I and Diana (the other half of Campus Cats)
impulsively checked the site this last Saturday and found two very ill
kittens about 12-1/2 weeks old. We immediately captured them and brought
them to our basement "iso unit." One, the male, was so wild and
aggressive with fear that we did not see a future for him and certainly
did not want our catfriend risk injury by fostering him. He also showed
signs of serious illness, a slight tremor and a dull eye. The wildness
was the deciding factor, though. I have seen only one other animal as
violent in the trap as this little guy, and that was a full-grown alpha
male (a male, who literally had the trap rolling).
The sibling, a gorgeous longhair blue-cream calico, suffered a violent
tremor that was possibly related to cerebellar hypoplasia (a kind of
feline cerebral palsy, which is what our Tispy suffers from). Though very
wild and obviously very ill, she was not as aggressive as her brother, and
we had hopes of saving her. But this afternoon the vet called with the
news that the kitten was also losing her eyesight, a condition possibly
related to FIP, the disease most dreaded by me. If she were younger or
tamer we would still have considered trying to save her, but it was all
too much. She has joined her brother. The kind woman who was their
would-be savior was part of the decision to euthanize; she met the kittens
and sadly concurred with our evaluation. Sorry, Sandy.
Those poor babes never had a chance. Their mother has never been seen and
judging from the poor condition of the kittens has probably already
expired. The urban homeless cats are the saddest of them all, with no
prospects and no-one to care or even notice.
We can't save them all and mustn't even try, or we won't have the strength
to save those we can. We can only look forward.
Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats
"A warm lap is a terrible thing to waste." - Shira the Wonder Cat
Phyllis Lee
When we found/rescued this last litter, a trap was lent to us to catch the mom,
and we hoped to be able to have her spayed and vaccinated, then released back in the area
as a neighborhood cat. While we were successful with the babies, raising them and
adopting them out to good homes, the momcat was so out of control and ill that the Society
couldn't help her, even with her being in the trap. They told us she was only about 6
months old, and apparently had been wild since birth. I didn't even know a kitten that
age could get preggers.
Having to sign to put her to sleep made my stomach hurt and I cried for hours for feeling
like I had taken her life. The local Foster group here helped us explore every avenue for
keeping momcat alive but in the end she was too far gone to make it. Finally, I had to
understand that fostering the babies and giving them a chance was the best I could do in
this situation. (They were dehydrated and terribly thin by the time we found them.)
Even so, it is difficult to believe you've done all you can when a cat has to die from no
fault of its own.
The rescue groups in our area are a God-send as they make it possible for otherwise doomed
felines to have a chance for a decent love-filled life. I hope someday I'll be able to
work with them again, as the 3 litters we have fostered in the past brought a lot of joy
and fun into our home, and to the people who adopted them.
Phyllis Lee, w/PrettyBoy & Sputnik
Eva Quesnell
On Mon, 16 Sep 1996, Sharon Talbert wrote:
<glad and sad news snipped>
> We can't save them all and mustn't even try, or we won't have the strength
> to save those we can. We can only look forward.
>
> Sharon Talbert
> Friends of Campus Cats
>
> "A warm lap is a terrible thing to waste." - Shira the Wonder Cat
>
>
Sharon,
Thank you for being there to help these kitties. It does my heart good
just to know you and others like you are out there helping our furry
friends. :3
Eva
Sharon Talbert
I am sorry you were unable to save the poor little momkitten. Still,
giving her a merciful death was more than was in store for her without
your help. And now the kittens have a chance.
The urban homeless cats are the saddest of them all. There will be other
rescues with happier endings, though. In fact, most rescues are joyful
and fulfilling -- at least they have been for me. I've learned to look
ahead, to focus on the lives saved rather than those lost.
And yes, 6 months is when young cats come into their first heat -- if they
haven't come into heat sooner than that. One of our rescues came into
heat at 3 months and then the silly vet wouldn't spay her. (This happened
when the kitten had already been adopted; I believe we convinced our
client to change vets. We now spay in advance of adoption.) This is
highly unusual, however; that particular kitten was another urban homeless
and had a very harsh beginning, literally starved in the womb. She was
also born with only one kidney. Her life was a short but happy one. Our
friend and client gave her a loving home. Thanks, Dorothy.
Ginger Sackett Glaser
Sharon Talbert <stal...@u.washington.edu> wrote:
>(I am sharing this with the rec.pets.cats newsgroup, for no particular
>reason other than perhaps to inspire other rescue stories, whether sad or
>happy. I am hopeful that anecdotes are welcome at rpc.)
>Friends of Campus Cats became involved in two neighborhood rescues this
>last weekend. One had a good result and other did not.
Well I can speak only for myself, but I would love to see more of your
stories. While I feel terribly for those poor kittens, I AM happy that
at least one cat has a chance at a happy life that it would not have
had if it weren't for you. Multiply that by the number of other
rescuers, and it DOES have an effect.
Ginger
Phyllis Lee
Thanks, Sharon, for the kind words. The kittens we fostered were a joy,
and I'm glad for being able to help them survive and find homes with good families.
If I should ever have the space and the means, my wish would be to take in older cats who
are not as 'adoptable' as kittens, and give them a home, temporary or permanent, to live
out their lives in.
Phyllis Lee, w/PrettyBoy & Sputnik
Sharon Talbert
>
> If I should ever have the space and the means, my wish would be to take in older cats who
> are not as 'adoptable' as kittens, and give them a home, temporary or permanent, to live
> out their lives in.
>
> Phyllis Lee, w/PrettyBoy & Sputnik
I hear you, Phyllis Lee, and that is a beautiful thought. Right now we
have a middle-aged cat in our basement who hates all other cats but
deserves a warm lap to call her own nevertheless and an elderly Persian at
the vet's who is ill from neglect and probable abandonment. Where can
they go? I also dream of a kitty retirement home, possibly networking
with human retirement homes and getting these old duffers together. What
do you think?
Take care.
Phyllis Lee
reply to Sharon follows:
Phyllis Lee
Hi again, Sharon and others....
I posted a letter on rpc that was written earlier today, but when I uploaded it,
it posted as a binary. Anyway, for people who are interested, the letter concerns setting
up a home for older cats and also taking them for petting sessions in nursing homes.
Will try to upload it properly later!
Phyllis Lee
begin 644 cats.wri
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end
Cheshire Cat
Phyllis,
I like your aim to someday take in adult ferals. I have done so myself and
have found her a joy (and sometimes a pain). Hobby is approximately four
years old and lost one of her back legs as a kitten. She first gave me two
of her kittens then came into my household hereself.
I caught her the first time two years ago, after winning her half-trust. She
let me pick her up and place her in a carrier, but quickly rethought her
actgions. I bvegan to carry her to my car but she became so violent that I
just had to release her thinking she was going to hurt herself. She flew
from the carrier dripping blood and hissing up a storm. It wasn't until last
fall that I finally saw her again - in my trap.
I thought that I would just get her taken care of then release her again,
but after one night in the cat room with the kittens I had at the time, she
became my friend again! We've had our difficulties this past year and I
still think she is developing everyday, but she is a great friend.
--
Andrea
aka Cheshire Cat