I seem to be aquiring a new barn cat. He showed up last year with a faded collar on, but acted very feral. I asked a neighbor about him this spring and was told he’s basically a neighborhood cat (note I live in a very rural area with several large acreage farms, abandoned farmland and state forests). So over last winter and into this summer he gets less scared and now he is friendly and actually demands attention when he’s around. He lost the collar a few months ago and, while he still wanders, he spends a lot of time here. All black with a small patch of white on his chest.
11 Likes
Poor boy! He is lucky he did not get hurt because of that collar. Thank you for caring for him.
3 Likes
Lovely kitty! What’s his name?
Bravecto worked well on mine when Advantage didn’t last as long as it should. It was a topical though.
1 Like
How sweet! I love little black cats, they’re so loving. He’s a cutie too.
1 Like
I started calling him Onyx, but I don’t know if it will stick.
2 Likes
Still only have 3 kittens adopted. Celia gets spayed tomorrow so she will finally be available to go to adoption events and be advertised.
Adoption events are tough. They happen every Saturday at a local Petco and it is 3 hours of ‘pedaling puss’. Although we have the option of dropping of the kittens and leaving, several of us foster moms feel that we have a better chance of getting the kittens adopted if we are there for adopters to ask questions, and highlight the different personalities of each kitty.
Its hard enough to get people interested, but then they see the 2 page adoption application, required video of home and $175 fee, most people walk on by. I’m really bummed since there was a family with two little girls who absolutely loved Bo Peep (and she loved them, she is great with kids) but were turned down for adoption since they let their current cat in the backyard sometimes.
I get that we live in an area with a bunch of coyotes, and busy streets, but surely going to a home where she might be outside sometimes is better than living in my garage in a cage. I got a 40 minute lecture from the head of the rescue about how they never adopt kittens out to people who let their kitties outside under any circumstance. sigh.
FTR, my cats are strictly indoor only, and I do agree that an indoor only home is best/safest. But considering these kittens were only days away from being born in a gutter, I think any loving home is a major step up. I’m trying to be patient and respect the 15+ years of rescue experience she has, but with these super strict requirements, I fear it will take months to get these kittens adopted. They are around 16 weeks now and will obviously keep growing and need more space to run and play than I can give them all.
RE: fleas - I think the only surefire way to make Chessie flea free is to treat him w/ frontline or advantage, flea comb him religiously and yep - keep him inside. Around here, fleas hop on the minute a cat walks outside and it is so hard to get rid of them. Capstar is a nice product, but it only works for like 24 hours on adult fleas that are on the cat’s body when they ingest it. It does nothing for eggs or larvae. It is a challenge to turn an outdoor kitty to an inside boy, but it can happen. You just have to turn yourself into a cat trainer and be firm, try to distract with a laser pointer or toy when he begs for outside.
Good luck - fleas are THE WORST
2 Likes
@BatCoach. That’s so frustrating that the rescue is letting best practices be the enemy of good practices. I’ve said it a million times. You’re a gem. Thank you for your insight.
4 Likes
Been following this thread. You guys are saints.
Should I admit this on the internet? Many, many years ago, when my parents adopted a couple kittens from the local humane society, one of the HS’s requirements was that the cats be kept indoors. My parents, who lived in quiet suburbia, with a large yard, had no intentions of having indoor-only cats and lied through their teeth. “Oh, yeah, we’ll totally keep them inside.” They didn’t. Yeah, there was risk. We had eagles, raccoons, coyotes, all living nearby. The cats, however, had long happy lives.
Sure beats being feral, scrapping for whatever food and shelter you can get, doesn’t it?
9 Likes
You and your family did good by those cats. Bless you.
1 Like
A friend worked with a local cat rescue. It was a running joke amongst the volunteers that the rescue would have rejected pretty much every single one of them for one reason or another.
3 Likes
That’s really sad. But true. Crazy cat rescue sabotaging themselves.
3 Likes
right? They always say how desperate they are for fosters, and will take just about anyone as a foster, but you have to jump through 100s of hoops to adopt. makes no sense. @ThreeWishes hit the nail on the head - they are letting best practices be the enemy of good practices.
Needless to say, I won’t foster for them again. I think fostering is a wonderful thing to do, and fully plan on doing it in a different chapter of my life, but I will research which non-profit I will work with very thoroughly.
This was a huge learning experience brought on by the urgency of the super pregnant mama kitties in the colony, and while I remain grateful for their help with TnRing, I will part ways with them as soon as the last kitty is adopted. Lets just hope that it isn’t 2022!
9 Likes
@BatCoach, hat’s the way it was with the last group I fostered for. I had a couple of fosters for three years! They thought my home was their home and I still feel guilty about not keeping them. I had five of my own at the time and just couldn’t.
Never again. When my cats pass I will foster but probably for the Humane Society or one of the groups that does TNR but adopts out the friendly strays and kittens that can be tamed. No more long term fostering and adoption days.
.
3 Likes
three years! gulp - that does not give me much hope. Mr. Batcoach will personally drop these cats off at the main rescue lady’s house if it really takes that long. I’m just hoping we get most adopted out by October.
2 Likes
Hang in there @BatCoach. You are a saint. You’ve done your very best. You should be supremely proud of that. Let the peripheral A holes be damned. It’s easy to nitpick when you haven’t been the one in the trenches. Damn. I’m so sorry.
2 Likes
Sorry, i sincerely hope yours go quickly. Kittens do go faster so that is definitely in your favor.
Jingles that their good homes find them soon!
2 Likes
I’m sure every area is different but here when the kitties start piling up the shelter reduces their
price to 5-$10. ea. then later it’s buy one get one free. We couldn’t dream of charging $175. for adoption, nothing would get adopted.
2 Likes
That is not an uncommon adoption fee for a pet that is fully vetted and already neutered.
Most people are willing to pay that when they see what it actually costs to neuter a pet.
Our saving grace here is that the county sheriff dept. took over the shelter and even hired their own vet for all procedures, shots,etc. It was like they did a 180 compared to how it was historically run where it was a holding pen and a ‘kill shelter’.
BatCoach, you’re doing great work and giving these kitties a great chance for a good life.
1 Like
