UP YOUR ALLEY - JUNE/JULY
Sharon Talbert
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Up Your Alley is the e-mail newsletter for Friends of Campus Cats. Free
and worth it.
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So here we are, well into August and I'm plugging away at the June/July
newsletter. Have pity; it's been a rough summer.
JUMBLE SALE
Don't forget the sale!!! August 23-24, starting promptly at 10:00. Great
stuff, fantastic bargains. But frankly, WE NEED MORE STUFF! We have lots
and lots of mouths to feed and cats to test, vaccinate, and sterilize.
Help us out by bringing lots of choice stuff to sell by August 16-17, so
we have time to price it for the sale on the next weekend.
Also needed are VOLUNTEERS FOR THE SALE. Help!
Sale will be in Northgate/Maple Leaf area. Will be part of a block sale;
enter at 98th from 5th NE or Roosevelt Wy NE, starting at 10:00 a.m. (no
early birds, no whining). Follow the signs. Tons of fun! Even dog lovers
welcome!
FERAL CAT COALITION OF KING COUNTY/SEATTLE
Our little Feral Cat Coalition is still alive, though regrouping. The
spay/neuter committee is now filing for Nonprofit status as an independent
agent. (Their name will be the Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project.) I will
attempt to keep you posted of their first spay/neuter day, which should
take place in late August. As I understand it, their service is
restricted to free sterilization/vaccination of ferals that are in the
care of a steward or rescue organization. For more information, call
(206) 528-8125.
Meanwhile the Feral Cat Coalition of King County/Seattle is undertaking a
demanding project of its own, and we need your help! Anyone in the
Seattle/King County area with professional-level skills in presentation
(brochures, videotaping, still photography, web-mastering) who are willing
to work at a Nonprofit rate or can donate time/materials/funds, please
contact Carol Nett at (206) 722-7773 or Eunice Grubb at (425) 883-7629 or
myself at this e-mail address (stal...@u.washington.edu).
Our Feral Cat Coalition also needs members. Those interested in becoming
members (board members or general members) please contact Eunice Grubb or
myself. The next general meeting of the Coalition will be a Sunday in
early September, for those who are interested in attending. I'll post a
date when I have one.
CAMPUS CATS CRISIS
If I seem disorganized and no fun anymore, it's because I'm not having
much fun these days. We are not hearing from good homes seeking cats and
kittens, and yet we have taken on more than ever before. As most of you
know, we euthanized our first healthy, tame cat (Odie) not too long ago
because we couldn't find him a home, we couldn't keep him, no-one would
take him into safe custody, and we would not re-abandon him. We won't be
making a habit of that, but we simply cannot keep any more that do not
find a home. Right now, we have a number of juvenile kittens who are
unplaced, with a new litter being hand-raised and at least two more
litters recently born in the field that we may not be able to help. That's
right; we cannot take in any more until more adoptions are made. And if
the pressure continues to build, Campus Cats may have to disband. I can't
imagine doing that, but I don't see a recourse unless we reduce the number
of animals in foster care.
How can you do your part? Network; send good homes our way. I get so
tired of hearing, "Yeah, some friends just got some kittens from the
neighbor, whose cat got pregnant..." C'mon, folks -- promote Campus Cats,
don't enable those who not sterilize their pets. Those of you who have
adopted from us know our kittens are primo -- wormed, tested, started on
shots, often sterilized in advance of the adoption or done by our vet
shortly thereafter. Do we screen homes? You bet we do, unabashedly.
We're not unpleasant about it, mind you, but we care about our "foster
children" and feel we have the right to know where the cat/kitten is going
and to feel assured the home will be for life. After all, we've put in
scads of time and love and hard cash (each animal costs us on the order of
$50, right up front; never mind the care that follows). Caring about
where they go is part of our mission. We are a rescue organization, after
all. And if we don't follow through with a good adoption, there's not
much point.
CAMPUS CATS WEBSITE
Watch the website for improvements. Under construction or at least in
conception is a Wish List, some "FAQs" on this and that (seeking lost cat,
orphan care, socializing a feral, etc.), a Campus Cats "virtual shelter,"
ala PAWS, with photos and all. I've bought an idiot-proof camera so more
photos should be available soon. Thanks to Jon our webmaster (who
recently landed a new job -- congrats, Jon, but please come back to Campus
Cats; we need you!) and Aki with her scanner. (And Aki recently adopted
little Olive, now renamed Devi -- double thanks!)
CAPTURES
June saw only 7 captures (8, if you count the repeater) and 0 adoptions.
July brought us 7 captures (if you call scooping up a litter of
teenweenies a capture) and 1 adoption, with 34 captures and 9 adoptions
for the year as of July 31 (releases of processed feral adults not
reported here). Wildlife for June-July included a kitten-sized possom and
a juvenile seagull (seagull was DOA, unfortunately).
The month of May was our personal best, with 21 captures. Unfortunately,
a number of those caputures, kittens, remain with us today. They are now
full-blown juveniles, getting sweeter (and bigger) by the day. And they
need homes.
Panda the Prolific (a campus cat Main Offender) has done it again,
bringing us a litter of six early in the spring (we found safe haven for
the survivors elsewhere) and then the seven found recently, with the
possibility of a third litter before the year is done. The most recent
litter of seven are doing well and will soon be ready to show. They are
adorable (naturally) and I am quite smitten with them (as always). Check
with us in mid-August or so if interested in adoption.
Just incidentally, the cost of hand-rearing kittens is rather amazing,
especially if you use commerical milk replacer (which I must confess I do,
though I publish a homemade version for those who are interested). Each
box of milk replacer is about $4 (or more), with a growing litter soon
consuming a box a day. These kittens need extra support and are old
enough to begin on solid food, so they are getting a slurry of A/D,
chicken babyfood (hold the onions!), Just Born formula, and Pedialyte (for
hydration). We are probably spending $5/day on these kittens just for
food, not to mention litter. (And you wouldn't believe how much litter
they go through, or rather you wouldn't believe what goes through them.)
WILDLIFE FOLLIES
Campus Cats hasn't had a whole lot to do with wild critters lately, except
for a kitten-sized possom who fell into a garbage can at Padelford Hall
and then was afraid to come out again. Not much for me to do, but show up
with net and carrier and pluck him out. (He was hiding, possom-style,
with only his head tucked out of sight -- hey, he couldn't see us, so how
could we see him?) Hero Bob, of the Sarvey Wildlife Center, came and took
him from me. Bob held the little possom-ling in the palm of his hand
while the little guy hissed and attempted to back slowly away. Right hind
paw ran out of hand, groped blindly behind (the little guy all the while
looking Bob in the eyes and hissing furiously), then right hind paw came
down and left hind paw lifted and groped. More possom logic. When you
see them this small, you almost feel an affection for possoms.
Bob also came right out when Frosh Pond (Drumheller Fountain) was drained,
stranding a mother duck and ten (count 'em) half-grown youngsters with
duck-sized bodies and stubs for wings. The family refused to leave the
pond, though the duck ramp (built and maintained by kindly Physical Plant
workmen) was in place and touching bottom, and the flightless youngsters
were very much at risk. Bob climbed down into the deep fountain, slipping
and sliding in literally inches of duck goo, to rescue every single
ungrateful fowl and relocate them in a safe place. Yers trooly could not
lend a hand (honest!), but Bob was assisted by the intrepid Siobhan, who
fortunately had a change of clothes at work or she probably would not have
been accepted onto Metro's public transit for that long ride home. Then,
almost immediately after this incident, three more ducks, two drakes and
another juvenile, were spotted sitting in the bottom of the dry pond, and
by this time the duck ramp had been removed. Fortunately, the pond had
been hosed down by Physical Plant (done gently and with regard for the
stubborn ducks), so it was less hazardous and certainly more pleasant, as
unpleasant experiences go.
SARVEY NEEDS VOLUNTEERS
Speaking of Hero Bob, if anyone out there is interested in helping Bob and
the Sarvey Wildlife Center out by ferrying displaced/injured wildlife to
the Center, please call Bob at 425-778-7214. The man is running himself
ragged, making an average of 20 roundtrips between Seattle and Everett
EVERY DAY. Even just offering to be his helpmate on campus would be
welcome, surely, helping him round up uncooperative ducks, disgruntled
Canadian honkers or shy possoms or (as he did at the crack of dawn today)
a furious potbellied pig(!) Today, Bob hailed me in the parking lot to
show me a litter of newborn kittens (less than a week old) that the
Seattle Police had slipped him because they hate sending them to their
death at Animal Control. (I couldn't take the poor little mites, but at
least I made them more comfortable by emptying their bursting bladders
before Bob hit the road again, rushing them to safe haven at Hooterville
Safe Haus in Woodinville.) Never a dull moment, in animal social work.
If you are *serious* about wildlife rescue, *really* serious, call Bob.
Don't expect glory or money or even insurance (please come with your own).
Be prepared to work hard and long and with no cooperation from whatever
critter you are called to save. Needed is dependable transportation, a
maniacal sense of dedication, the ability to think on your feet and keep
your head, enough physical ability to run down an dodging duck or 150
pounds of angry pig and then wrestle it (safely for all parties) into a
carrier and get it to the Sarvey Wildlife Center in Everett. Also needed
is the ability to heal quickly and without resentment when footed by a
falcon, slashed by a seal, or pinched and pummeled by a Canadian honker.
Perhaps required most is the ability to separate compassion from emotion,
so that you care and continue to care but are not destroyed by what you
witness -- the ability to keep on keeping on. All this one-two nights a
week, interning with a man possessed and then on your own. If you make
that call to Bob (again, 425-778-7214), let him know how late he can call
you.
ON VACATION
I'm off for my "vacation," which is to say the last-minute preparations
for the Jumble Sale and then a wee rest before starting all over again.
Those wishing to make donation of goods for the sale or who can volunteer
their time, please call me at home (you have the number) or e-mail me
here. I will check my e-mail at least once before the sale.
Take care,
Sharon Talbert & Diana Dyer
Friends of Campus Cats
T. Stokes
Hi my name is Tanya and I hope that I am doing this newsgroup response
correctly. I am missing an adult four year old female calico. She was last
seen around August 30th or 31st and unfortuanately I was out of town and
did not find that she was missing until a few days ago. She was last seen
in the area of 45th and 9th (near Fin and Feather). Mollie is her name
and she has a very distinct sagging white under-belly and is extremely
friendly. She may have been wearing a red or pink collar but my roommates
told me that the last time they saw her she was not wearing it, it had a
safety clasp on it so it may have broken. If anyone has any leads could
you please reach me at: tstokes @ u.wash.edu
Thanks,
Tanya
David Stevenson
Posted + emailed
"T. Stokes" <tst...@u.washington.edu> wrote
Hi Tanya. I do hope that you will find Mollie.
I have an article on my Catpage at
/cat_menu.htm
on finding a lost cat, which may be of some help: I hope it helps.
--
David Stevenson Tel +44 (0)151 677 7412 ca...@blakjak.demon.co.uk
Liverpool, England, UK http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk Emails welcome
Quango: SI Lp B 9 Y L+ W+ C+ I+ T+ A- E+ H+ V++ F++ Q+ B+ PA+ PL++ SC-
Nanki Poo: SI Bp+W B 4 Y L+ W+ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q B+ PA+ PL+ SC