# Altering day & progress(?)



## rosalie (Oct 9, 2003)

Ioanna; I was wondering how your taking the kitties to the clinic went? I hope fine.
Do you have them back now? I wish Catnip was here but..maybe someday. Meanwhile our colony is doing OK; hadn't been able to get the kittens yet. I've put the trap covered and closed by their food dish so they get used to see it (I used it once but it was far away from where they congregate, don't think they ever saw it) and they absolutely love to sit by, on top, one was reaching in, don't know why b/c there's nothing in it.. curiosity maybe. I hope to trap tomorrow but not sure..I'll keep you posted.
I'm also trying to spend a longer time whith them so the hard ferals get more used to me. Nerina (the one in the pic under the car) is getting closer but doesn't meow yet just hiss_which is an improvement, getting closer I mean


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Hello dear Rosalie, 
Thank you so much for taking interest - I love to share experiences with you and the other feral caretakers present here : Patsy and Abhay. It will be our keeping track of each other's progress... and finding better solutions hopefully in helping these wonderful animals!
I wish there were an organization like Catnip near your area as well. They help tremendously. I can never thank them enough for being able to get so many people concentrate on this matter every month (almost) without getting any profit out of it but- which is very important - the great progress of keeping cat populatin under control.

I hope you will have better luck with trapping your kittens - I wonder how Cameocat is doing or oleblang who were also trying and had no luck with the trapping as of yet. Hopefully the good news is to come!

As for my next trapping it will only take place on Sunday, Oct the 3rd 2004. I am calmer than usual right now. But during the process I am such a nervous wreck : I keep thinking of different things : not to rain (makes it so much harder - and we need desperately to be able to catch the limited no of 5 cats ..there are so many left to alter), stopping feeding starting on Friday afternoon - I don't like - but the hungrier, the better chances of catching. Last time I started around 11 am (Sat) and caught the first kitty at 2pm- the last around 7 pm. I give them food in the trap because they are probably starving but quit after 9 pm. I put the food under the cage just as during trapping - I wouldn't risk putting my hand in because they are extremely upset right then!They don't eat much and at each sign of light the will try to get out hurting their head, breaking nails )I keep them covered through the night and leave fans on in the garage if it is too hot/extra blankets if too cold(Goodwill is great!).
While we drive there it would be ideal for it not to rain since we only have an open truck to use. We have a tarp available for such emergencies however. We leave at 7 am and we are usually the first - they start checking us in at 8 am (and try to alter 100 cats - the reason they overbook)

Tomorrow I will call the lady that loans us the traps and we will go by tomorrow afternoon to pick them up.
I hope everything will turn out well. During the spay we come home and sleep because the whole process is exhausting - after having spoked to other caretakers it seems to be the rule for most...since a lot of time we have to keep on till 1 or 2 am towards Sundays (when it usually takes place). We go and pick them up at 3 pm. I can feed them in give them tiny bowls of water (although they had gotten plenty of fluids) after dark. While doing that I have to be very careful and read their mind - some of them are so feisty and extremely dangerous! I release them the next day (am or pm - males usually can go first) according to the directions I receive. They have the tendency of dissapearing for a few days and keep away from the spot where they were trapped...but they get better and forget the whole trauma in time - Thank Goodness - because I feel terrible knowing they have to stay in that tiny uncomfortable cage. It was only with two kitties that I could take them out and bring them in the laundry room in a larger crate. I felt better about that - they didn't run away either - actually Tippy has been staying in ever since.
Another stressing detail is making sure I am not traping any cats that are nursing kittens too young to eat on their own/usually hidden somwhere...That is very difficult to tell because there are 4 identical white cats (My own cat Frosty's littermates) and a lot of oranges...
So here we go - a lot more details than you originally asked for...I guess I am outlining what I need to do and burdening you with the info a tthe same time


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Here are pictures of some of my feral kitties - my adorable, beloved ones!

This is my first experience with Catnip - the first 5 kitties I ever took in. This picture was taken on the Monday when I was about to release the boys - I was so relieved at this point to be able to let them go after having stayed in since Saturday!
From left to right : 
Grayson - solid gray SH(whose broken tail from a year ago - because it kept on breaking got shaved off and not sutured and bled .. he is now fully recovered - he is such a sweet grey kitty; I wish I could pet him!
Arthur - red Long haired - he is the one that looks like kitkat - Kim's Twinkie. He also had to recover after a bad wound at his left eye. It still looks "funny" as if the cornea suffered abbrasion - he chirps very sweetly when he is hungry and comes closer to me now..after having run off after the surgery scaring me !
Haraldine - is, I believe, Arthur's and Fuzzy's mom ..from a previous litter to Cheerio's - therefore mother to my own little wild baby. She is very squittish just like my Chee Chee - like mother like daughter 8) 
Fuzzy Francesca - Arthur's sister ..she is one tough lady! The dogs won't dare chase her - I mean my in-laws little dogs that fool around while on leash. Some cats play with them ..not this one!
Blackie  - who also had a nasty wound on his hind left foot - he also took a long time to recover. All the three boys got injured a about a year ago during their first mating season - they are all approx 1 year old. This picture was taken on July the 12th - the day after the surgery










They are all now better about approaching me - except for Haraldine(middle). Blackie used to let me pet him and then he got all wild hanging around at the barns during mating last year - after the s/n he stays near the house and allows me to love him again - sometimes even pick him up!


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## spittles (Oct 24, 2003)

Wonderful Ioana!!!

I am so busy with ferals lately...I have a new colony that lives next to a seniors place near my house. They feed them, but nobody has bothered to fix anyone. I am going to be busy with that one, plus a friends feral cat, plus some more at my other colony at the apartments. 

I called a restaurant and they are giving me their styrofoam boxes that fish comes in for free. I plan on making shelters with them. I am going to put mylar & straw in them, with a plastic flap. I hope they work out...and I am going to post pictures as soon as I am done making the first one!

Abhay


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Wow that is great, Abhay!
You are so busy - more strength to you so you can keep up!
Waiting for your pictures and up-dates


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Picture taken from the back door - with it closed of course. Haraldine and Elisabeth waiting for an early supper. Elisabeth also a daughter of Haraldine's - sister of Arthur's and Fuzzy Fr.
She is a long haired tortoise shell with a very sweet nature. She went in to be spayed during the second round - in August - a few weeks before this picture was taken. We had caught her the first time but she had young kittens - her first and only litter.












Zoe with her baby Midnight. Zoe is one of the sweetest kitties I have ever met. She is Grayson's mom. Pregnant in this picture - spayed at the present however.
I have managed to trap Cosmo - Midnight's identical brotehr - and found him a forever home. I couldn't trap Midnight - he has dissapeared..I believe a hawk has got him. One of my many failures - it feels terrible. I love them so dearly












The babies in Zoe's tummy a few days old - born on July 21/22. The only litter I know the day of birth of!
Jade, Chester, Chloe (to match with mommy - Zoe)and Magic!











Here they are now - alsmost ready to make somebody happy -


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

And the last pictures I have to share are the ones of Shoshonelle - I thought he was a girl - that sweet! He was afraid of me ..him and blakie appeared one day out of the blue. Blackie warmed up quiecker - Shoshonelle took his time and bonded with me playing with my legs while stepping away from him, not wanting to let me go. I had a very warm feeling about him doing that - as I used the name that stands in Romanian for an old person's shoe - a very comfortable one. "shoshonelle"(sosonel in Rom.) is a sweet version of that word!
Here he is in the flower pot in the front yard!

Isn't he a beauty?









It is his turn to be neutered - he manages to escape each time. Although I can even pick him up sometimes - I think he senses there is something different going on when I must catch him










I know I should have started a whole thread about our feral cats pictures --I will in the future :roll: 

I hope to see everybody else's babies soon 

edit : The reason I have posted so much is because I am not sure how much I will be on in the following days - we are getting ready to move out and there are so many things to be done. We will drive back here each night to feed the kitties, give them water - I am sad I won't be able to be present during the day but I start figuring out ways to make it better for these kitties ; the thought of my in-laws selling the property one day is frightening..I must have solutions handy!
I will stop by to check how everybody is doing!


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## spittles (Oct 24, 2003)

My my my, don't you have a lot of Black cats. What are you going to do around Halloween?

Abhay


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

It is a pretty safe neighbourhood, Abhay. But I will still keep an eye on the property. I will pray so no black kitties will get hurt for that matter ..nobody

Abhay - I have a question for you - if you don't mind :!: 
I always thought you were a boy/man. I remember having read in one of your posts you having said that accidentally had enterred the men's restroom - which would make you a girl. But the way your name sounds - it makes me think you are a male - will you clear that one for me please - and what is the origin of your name?
I had the same problem with the name Jude. I was calling about loaning the traps. When I mentioned the name of one of the boarding directors at Catnip the lady I was talking to - Patti - told me that Jude is actually a lady.
Well, when i first came in contact with the name Jude was in Thomas Hardy's well-known novel - "Jude The Obscure"; the character bearing the name was a male 8O 
I never have problems with names in Romanian - 99%of the feminine names end in A : Ioana, Alina, Ramona, Roxana, Amalia, Madalina, Iuliana..etc - see, piece of cake


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## rosalie (Oct 9, 2003)

LOL..I understand so well b/c my native language is Spanish, I'm Italian-French Argentine born, my husband is American..anyways you're right Jude's a male name but I think that lady must be Judith, nickname Judy or Jude (Same as Sam for Samantha, Mike and Mickey for Michelle( know 2 MM's, a Michelle and a Micaela..etc) Romanian names are Romance lang so I've quite a few of these in my family too..and just curious what is Elena in Romanian, and Marta? Is Elizabeth there too?


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

It makes a lot more sense now that you have explained to me how the name Jude when belonging to the feminine gender may derrive from Judith, etc - :lol: - Thank you for clearing that up for me, Rosalie ! You must have lived in the USA longer than me. I have arrived here in 2000. And lived the other 25 years at home in Romania.
As for the Romanian names Elena and Marta are the same; however the English version of the names is different as you know - MartHa and Helena or Helen.
The Romanian Elisabeth - big surprize..ta-daaaa - Elisabeta - ends in an A


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## spittles (Oct 24, 2003)

:lol: Yes, I am a woman :lol: My friend's brother who lives in Aussie is also named Abhay...but he is a boy. Abhay means "no fear" in Hindi. Except in Aussie, they say Abhay different. They say it "Ab-hay" and we say it "Ob-hay"

Take Care  
Abhay


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Well - that is good to know  - I thought you were a very talkative male. Don't get me wrong but I just feel like it is an attribute of our feminine side to interract more. And you were certainly doing that 8) .

Back to the thread - 
Andrew went tonight and got the cages.
I cannot feed the kitties tonight - I feel so terrible about it. I went outside to feed the little foster kitten in the pin and saw some of the wildest cats come very close to me! They were looking up to me meowing - they were asking me to feed them. 
I am always worried they might take the chance and cross the street because they are hungry. They haven't done it last time...so I hope they won't this time either. Also the bullies are bullier when hungry and I dislike knowing they get into *arguments*. I can't wait for tomorrow morning to come. All I know is that I need to get a good night sleep...which I didn't last time.

I will try to let you know how it goes. Wish us luck. There are at least 30 KITTIES left to S/N. I hope we'll catch our 5 and get on the list for next time!


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## rosalie (Oct 9, 2003)

GO Ioana GO, GO, GO


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Thank you, Rosalie  
It is now 5:44 and I have got 4 kitties. Two large red ones - Tina and another red kitty just like her. I will name her/him when I will know the gender :wink: . And 2 torties - Megan and Cinnamon. I took a break for about 2 hours because I was tired - I have been working on this since 10:30.
I am about to get ready and get my last one. The adults are usually coming at this time of the day so here I go :arrow: 
I have trapped a lot of kittens a little over 10 weeks and under 4 months. Although Catnip s/n 3 or 4 months of age I let them go. 5 months is my limit ..maybe a little over. I have to estimate a lot of times since it is difficult to keep up with so many kitties.
Well I want to let you all know how much I appreciate your support and interraction with this. It is very challenging and it feels better when you talk about it to people that deal with the same situation or not necessarily 
Thanks to Rosalie we now have a place just for that kind of talk - you are a gem!

I better go so I can feed all of them - I know they are starving!!!


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Vincent is the fifth cat that went in. At first the cage didn't set..he stayed in for a few minutes - his entire body inside!!! I approached the cage and he came out. I double checked with a stick and it worked :roll: . He went right in again and the cage closed. i let him eat some more in the garage because I know they were all starving and I don't want them to go in the surgery weak. 
I was so happy to feed the "free" cats afterwards --and they were thrilled too!!
Keep your fingers crossed for us tomorrow so all kitties will do good in surgery!


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