UP YOUR ALLEY - APRIL/MAY
Sharon Talbert
Sorry to be so late with this; this is a hectic time of year for me, both
as a rescuer and as a UW employee with students to tend.
NON-CAT RESCUES
Let's begin on a light note. Campus Cats does not discriminate based on
species. This policy has gotten us involved in snake rescues, duck
rescues, possom rescues, bird rescues (most of them injured due to human
activities), and now a chicken rescue. Actually, this is our second
involvement with a campus chicken. This guy and the one previous, a few
years ago, was a beautiful and perfectly tame rooster, hanging out at
Frosh Pond. I was rounding up a chicken posse to run him down during
coffee break when someone called reporting the chicken had been run down
and was lying alongside the walkway. An intrepid volunteer who works near
the fountain immediately went out to scoop him up and found a dazed but
uninjured chicken. My guess is he had a brush with a speeding mountain
bike. Our hero from Sarvey Wildlife Center agreed to pick him up and
promised to find him a good home in the country. Thanks, Siobhan and Bob.
Another, less successful rescue effort was an attempt to net a mallard
duck with a badly broken leg. Her wings worked fine, so I and two campus
police officers were unable to help her. Ducks often show up with broken
bones this time of year. Mating is a brutal event, when they get down to
business. Perhaps someone can explain to me how the duck mating cycle
works. There seems to be a tender honeymoon period, with two apparently
bonded ducks hanging out together, mooching at street corners and shop
fronts, billing and cooing alongside pathways, snuggling in mud puddles.
Then there is the gang bang, with the males attacking each other and
mating so aggressively with the female she sometimes is drowned by her
suitors. Or her leg broken. Which comes first then? The assault or the
honeymoon?
ODIE STORY (SAD)
I try to keep our newsletter easy on the emotions, for a number of
reasons. I also, though, try to be honest. For this latter reason, I
must relate a sad story to you. Bypass if you wish and go on to the
amusing stuff. But if you choose to read you may form a different opinion
of Friends of Campus Cats.
Our burly boy Odie, rescued from campus some months ago, is no more. Odie
was our first euthanasia of a tame, healthy animal. I can only pray he
will be the last. Odie had nowhere to go and nowhere to stay. No-one had
expressed interest in owning or fostering him, and his presence was
causing serious problems in the household. I even considered making him
an outdoor-only cat in our backyard enclosure, but yowling virtually
nonstop was one of his behavioral problems. Even so, I bought the
Cat-Fence-In system to the tune of $185 or so before I realized the plan
was not feasible. And releasing him back to campus was unthinkable,
re-abandonment of a tame cat that would be at the mercy of whoever found
him next. Plus he had allergies that produced a deep, chesty cough and
could lead to serious health problems if put outside. So I finally faced
the music. The decision to euthanize was mine and I stand by it, but I am
not proud. I never wanted Campus Cats to come to this, but we could not
keep him, we could not find a home for him, and he could not go back to
campus. I held him in my arms as it was done, and I can attest the end
was quick and that he did not suffer. Then I cried and the soft-hearted
vet receptionist cried. I am so sorry, Odie.
CAMPUS SIGHTINGS
Somewhere on campus is a tabby female with white boots and -- now -- a
litter of kittens. She may be accompanied by a second look-alike cat,
possibly her son. She was first seen at the Padelford lot and probably
was driven off by the resident ferals. Last seen right outside my
building (Miller Hall). I was not able to get her in the trap. She was
panicked, dashing from bush to bush, her belly large with young. I would
be willing to bet this is an abandoned pet and I don't know whether she
has survived to have those kittens. She could be anywhere in the eastern
sector of campus. Please in touch with me if you spot this cat and/or her
companion.
Also -- please -- contact me at once if you spot a cat, especially
kittens, on campus. We do our best to rescue kittens and find them homes
and are always interesting in identifying new faces on campus and
sterilizing the adult ferals.
CAPTURES TO-DATE
May was a Personal Best for us. We bagged 21 cats and kittens, most of
them from a neighborhood (our neighborhood) colony we have chosen to
undertake. We busted the Campus Cats bank in the process, unfortunately,
and are now scratching by day by day until the jumble sale.
JUMBLE SALE
Don't forget us when you are cleaning out the attic or closet! We are
accepting salable items now and at any time and are perfectly willing to
come get your donation if you are in the Seattle area. The Campus Cats
Annual Jumble Sale is set for August 24-25, in the Maple Leaf District of
Seattle. We are getting some great stuff to sell but can always use more.
The proceeds from this sale is what keeps Campus Cats afloat. Among some
of the fancier stuff we are willing to sell in advance of the sale because
we need the money and because the stuff is so big and heavy is an old
country-style iron bed (double size) and velvet-covered oak fainting
couch. Let me know if you are interested.
HIGH WIRE TEASE TOY
The Campus Cats High Wire Tease Toy is available in abundance now, at the
amazing price of $2 per. They can be picked up at my Miller Hall office,
my home if you bring your donated items there, or at the sale. (Though I
am contemplating raising the price to $2.50 for the sale.) It is a simple
interactive toy, practically indestructible, made of lively wire and
sturdy leather tags in contrasting colors. When I open the cupboard at
home that has our personal toys inside, Tipsy flops right on over, ready
to pounce as only she can, and the other cats line up for the chase. Very
popular item. Thanks, Matt, for what you do.
FERAL CAT COALITION
Our budding coalition continues to bud, if not quite bloom. Some PAWS and
ex-PAWS folkd have joined the membership and have been very instrumental
in moving things forward at blinding speed. (PAWS is finally taking a
humane attitude toward feral cats.) The Feral Cat Coalition of King
County/Seattle is now a Nonprofit Corporation and is in the process of
filing for the 501 tax status. We are still quite disjointed on what
exactly we will target as an organization (as I keep pointing out to
them), but that is not stopping us from laying out preliminary plans to
conduct a free spay day for ferals, such as is done monthly by the Feral
Cat Coalition of Portland. We hope to pull together the first event by
August. We are also exploring possibilities of purchasing/acquiring
property for use as sanctuary for ferals, establishing TTVARM (that's
trap, test, vaccinate, alter, release, maintain in rescuer jargon) in King
County. Very ambitious are we. Contact me if you are interested in
joining the Coalition or if you have information or contacts for us.
ADOPTIONS
As you might expect, we have a number of youngsters ripening on the vine,
so to speak. One of the kittens taken from the off-campus colony, though
captured late in life for a kitten (12 weeks), has already found a
wonderful home. This little guy tamed himself at the vet's and boarded
with them until he was placed. His new parents cannot believe what a
great little guy he is. The vet staff had named him Turbo, he purred so
much and so loudly. Turbo's three brothers, hiss pots all, were all
processed and returned to their colony as "unadoptable."
Roo, for those fans who have been following her story, also found a great
home. She will be sharing digs with two adult cats, one of them a burly
boy who needed a rassling partner. Roo's best bud Fritz has been moved to
an adoption site in West Seattle, where we hope he finds a great home.
AVAILABLE NOW OR SOON TO BE
We have a number kittens ready for their new homes or soon to be ready.
There are Falstaff and Pippen, our spoiled-rottens, and their cousins
Elvis, Turnip, Pan, and little tabby No-Name who is still too shy to leave
but progressing nicely, and identical twin brothers (russets, very
handsome) who are just about ready now.
And still in finishing school but soon ready to receive visitors are a
leggy red tabby male (3-4 months) and a lovely calico shorthair. Still
working on names for these two as well.
Hope to hear from some of you sometime soon. Now I must go home to scoop
and sleep, perchance to dream, and tomorrow begin taking notes for the
June-July edition.
Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats
Sharon Talbert
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Up Your Alley is a bimonthly electronic newsletter for Friends of Campus
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