I have already introduced Rascal in a previous blog post.
Now I would like to tell the tale of how Rosie and Rascal came into my life. It
was spring of 2011. One day sitting at the local Dairy Queen, as was
my habit I would ask almost anyone I ran into if they knew anybody
that needed help getting cats fixed. I was told that there was a lady
up on Old Kendalia Rd. that had a lot of cats. So, I made it a point
to drive out there and start looking for the house. The first place I
went to was a stable and training arena for racing horses. I didn't
see any cats around there, but I did see some beautiful horses. I was
told that there were no cats here, but at the house next door there
were a lot of cats. I proceeded to the next gate. It was a long
driveway that kinda wound about up a slight hill. As I neared the
house I saw cats scatter in all directions. I parked my car and said
a prayer that my intentions would be well received. As I walked along
the side of the house towards the door I saw further signs that
someone was caring for a lot of cats, food and water bowls and off in
the distance more cats heading for the hills. I knocked on the door
and when Ms. B. answered I introduced myself. Saying that I worked
with the Blanco County Cat Coalition and that I had heard that maybe
she needed some help getting some of her cats fixed. One of the
first things she asked was who had turned her in! I told her that I
had just heard that maybe she needed a bit of help. It is funny the
reaction some people have when they have a lot of cats. It is almost
like admitting you have a drinking problem or some sort of
perversion. The reality that I find is that most people that have a
lot of cats only do so because they didn't know how to get the
situation under control. This lady had such a situation. As she
showed me around her place I was amazed at how many cats she had. She
had porch cats, garage cats, hay barn cats, horse barn cat,
greenhouse cats and yes even a few house cats. She fed them all! They
were spread out all over the place. She showed me all the different
places she fed them. I was truly amazed I had never seen so many
cats. When we drove by one of the barns I saw kittens dashing away
and hiding. Ms. B. agreed to allow me to start with getting ten cats
fixed and that she would donate $350 to help cover the cost. I was
happy to have been able to get a foot in the door and confident that
after some trust was established that I would be able to continue
with the project.
Unfortunately kitten season
had already started. Now, in an ideal world, part of the definition
of T-N-R is that tame cats and kittens young enough to be socialized
are pulled out of the colony and are adopted. Also sick cats are
either treated or euthanized. In this case Ms. B. had some pretty
sick kitties. I don't like to euthanize unless the case is truly
hopeless, but having to take into consideration that these cats are
feral. So if and when the cat gets sick there will be no way to treat
and/or humanely put out of misery. Then there is the question of
releasing a sick cat that could spread disease to the other cats. I
don't worry about that as much as my rational is that the cats have
been living together anyways, so all the other cats have already been
exposed. Plus things like FIV (kitty aids) and Felv (kitty leukemia)
are spread by fighting and mating which cats don't do so much after
they are fixed. I contacted Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation (WRR)
in Kendalia, TX about the sick kitties. I had worked with them before
with a few cats that needed help. They have been pretty wonderful
regarding cats that need medical attention as long as the cats are
only there temporarily. Ms. B. agreed give donations to WRR if they
would be willing to help with the sick kitties. I seem to remember
three to five cats that went there. I also contacted the Austin
Humane Society (AHS) to see if they would be able to help adopt out
the kittens. Ms B. had given me permission to do that. It was also
discussed that maybe we should get a group together and try to do a
mass trapping. Ms. B being a private person wasn't too keen on that
idea. I can't say that I blame her, I wouldn't like a bunch of
strangers on my property. I estimated that she had about one hundred
cats and at least thirty kittens. AHS agreed to take the kittens. I
was excited that they were willing to help me out in this situation.
One problem we have fostering cats and kittens, here in Blanco County
is that we don't have a good way to find them forever homes. There is
no shelter in the county. Also we don't have any medical support and
it is inevitable that medical support is going to be needed. Next, I
had to go to the Cat Coalition to get approval to spend the money on
surrender fees it costs $ 25 to surrender a kitten and $75 for a cat.
I knew that I probably would be able to cut a deal with AHS
considering the situation but never-less I wanted permission to spend
at least one thousand dollars on this project. Unfortunately at this
time in the Coalition there was one woman that seemed to have a
negative knee jerk reaction to any idea that I had. I have unpleasant
memories of trying to convince the group to spend money on these
cats. It wasn't that we didn't have the money, we did. It seemed that
some of the ladies thought that I wanted the money for myself,
because when the spending was finally approved, the main opponent
said “well write Stacy the check”. No, I did not want a check to
me, all I wanted was permission to give money to AHS for surrender
fees! Also some did not want to spend the money, because “there
will just be more kittens next year.” Not if I could help it! It
seems that several people including Mr B. that did not think I could
catch all the cats! Ha, that only made me more determined to do so!
Finally I got approval to spend some money.
Yeah for AHS! I was going to
have fun pulling out the kittens cleaning them up, socializing them
and then turning them over to AHS to find homes! I seem to remember
pulling out eight or maybe it was eleven kittens the first batch. I
think I took five in Austin to be surrendered. What a heart break it
was when I got the phone call telling me that one of the kittens
tested positive for feline leukemia and that they would not be able
to take any of the kittens from that colony. What was I going to do
now? I already had a bunch of kittens in my house. What was I going
to do with them? Some of them I was able to return to Ms. B. she was
willing to keep them close to the house, so if and when they got sick
she would be able to take them to the vet. Then they started getting
sick. I think I buried eight kittens that year, several of which died
in my hands. Such a sad, sad situation. Meanwhile most of the adult
sick kitties that had gone to WRR had to be euthanized. I learned a
lot from that experience: 1. Sometimes it is more merciful to
euthanize rather than try to cure. 2. That in the real world: Trap
the cats and get them fixed before kitten season starts, I have
learned that once kittens hit the ground, at least in my world, it is
better to wait twelve weeks and then trap the kittens that have
survived. It is a harsh world out there!
Now how I found Rosie and
Rascal. The first time I saw them they were in a nest tucked between
bales of hay in Ms. B's. hay barn. There were four tiny little
kittens. Two were solid white and two were orange and white, one of
which had a white face. Knowing that baby kittens like that do best
when Mama cat takes care of them I determined to leave them nestled
in the hay. I would check on them periodically. The next time I
checked on them fire ants had moved in and I decided to pull the
babies out. They were so tiny and helpless, but spunky, one of them
even hissed at me (probably the one that grew up to be Rascal). So
small they needed to be bottle fed. The two orange and white ones
died but the two white ones were full of life. When they got big
enough to eat solid food I put them in my bathroom with a window in
the door way so they could see out but not get out. I wish I had a
video of how they would launch themselves onto the glass then kinda
flatten themselves out as as they slid down the glass with their
bellies against it. They were hard to tell apart, Rosie's eyes were a
bit rounder. Rascal's eyes always looked a little more pink around
the edges.
Rosie and Rascal are my reward
for the two years previous of heartbreak that I experienced dealing
with kitties. The year before I had fostered Squeaker and Toby my two
leukemia babies that I had to have put down before they were even a
year old. And the year before that I had kept BG and Jerry the two
kitties that are infected with the herpes virus. Now it was 2011 I
had just buried a bunch of heartbreaking kittens and was left with
the two survivors who happened to be two healthy beautiful white
kittens with striking blue eyes. That year they became my traveling
kitties. Every year come June, I travel up to NY state to work at a
Renaissance Festival. In past years I have left my foster kittens
home with friends, but this time I did not want to leave these babies
behind. So they were the first of my cats to go traveling with me.
They were still quite small so they were easy to travel with. They
both fit into a small carrier where they would curl up and sleep
together all day. I bought them each a harness, red for Rosie and
blue for Rascal. Even though they are litter mates they each have had
their own distinct personalities. Rascal is a rascal, he is high
strung and likes to start trouble, he is more active and adventurous.
Rosie is mellow, she doesn't really like Rascal much, as he likes to
pick on her, so any time he comes to close she growls at him. He
doesn't really mean any harm he just like to play rough. Rosie likes
people, she likes to be admired, not really a princess more like a
queen. She is not as athletic as Rascal perfering lounging around
rather than jumping though hoops which Rascal is willing to do. Rosie
would rather step though the hoop than jump though it. We had many
adventures in NY.
The next year I decided to
only take one cat because while I am in NY I reside in a very small
booth and taking to full grown cats seemed like it would be to much.
I took them both for a test drive, Rascal got very upset and Rosie
took it in stride. So Rascal stayed home with the rest of the cats
under the care of a neighbor and Rosie made the second trip to NY
were she charmed everyone she met. They are both beautiful cats and I
am very happy that they are in my life.
A post script to the story; I
did succeed in trapping every cat in Ms. B's colony. It took a lot of
doing, hiding behind hay bales and sitting patiently for hours upon
hours. I am pleased and proud to say that there hasn't been any new
kittens born there going on four seasons. The cats that have been
TNR'd are all fat and happy. No more mating and struggling to stay
alive. TNR works, but you have to be determined to make it work.
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| Rosie in the far left and Rascal center |
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| Cabin at Grandpa's House |
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| Ready to roll |
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| Walk in the Woods |
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