Cheeto, a downtown kitten rescued

This is Cheeto, at his new home. He is adjusting well to being off the street, and is slowly being socialized.

One more foster home needed for Downtown Kittens

Our efforts to relocate the colony of feral cats at the downtown location that is slated for demolition are going incredibly well. We have moved 11 adults, sterilizing them, and taking them to screened rural homes. Many thanks again to Dianne and Mauri, who have funded all of the vet costs so far! And we now have 11 kittens in foster care, being socialized and well loved by their foster parents. Many thanks to Ken, Laurel and Sandy for their willingness to help. Once these kittens are socialized, they will be listed for adoption.

There are about five more kittens and five more adults that we hope to move to safety. But, we can't move them until we have a great place to move them to. Can you help? We have a few leads on farm homes, but we are out of options for kitten fostering. We need one or two more loving spaces for these very special babies.

Please email Sarah at badbunnygirl at hotmail.com for more details.

A few of the downtown kittens in foster care

Skippy the challenging cat

Skippy is an incredibly sweet young male cat who was heartlessly dumped out at some cottages over the summer. A caring family found him, scraping by, and brought him into the city with them this fall. As much as they loved Skippy, the couldn't keep him, as the entire family was allergic. We were able to place Skippy in foster care, his rescuers generously covered the cost of his neuter, and the Lumsden vet clinic donated the cost of his vaccinations. We thought Skippy had it made, and expected that we would be able to find him a loving home in short order.

However, Skippy had other ideas. He "forgot" how to use a litter box! His foster mom took him to the vet, and eliminated any physical reasons for this smelly issue. The vet suggested that Skippy was reacting to the other animals in his foster home, or missed going outside, or needed to be re-litter-trained. We didn't quite know what to do with this well-loved boy... until I remembered Sandy. Sandy is a wonderful friend to PFA who adopted one of our rescued cats several months ago to be a housecat. However, I knew that Sandy also had an outdoor cat on her rural property, and that she was a very caring animal lover. I contacted her, and she immediately agreed to adopt Skippy and offer him an outdoor home with warm shelter and lots of good food and water.

Sandy picked Skippy up on Sunday, and I have already had an update from her: "Just thought I'd let you know Skippy is settling in just fine. He followed me around the yard all day yesterday and he comes when you call his name. He is a very affectionate cat. He was having big adventures with all my animals as he's not quite sure what to make of it all. The horses made him a bit nervous. Skippy got cornered with my ducks and guinea hens. They were checking him out. He had to make a run for it. It was funny to watch. Skippy and the new stray black and white cat ( we call him number 5 as he is my 5th cat) seems to have become buddies. That is good."

We agree :)

-Sarah

Ps The photos above are of Skippy at his new home.

Downtown cats are marching on

This weekend was the third trapping expedition at the downtown site. Our intrepid team was able to catch six adult female cats, and five of them were tortoiseshells! We have found an inordinate number of torties at this colony.
We are pleased to catch any cats, but there is always a special feeling of satisfaction to be able to sterilize a producing female, never mind six of them, all of whom are capable of bearing 3-4 litters of kittens every year.
So, we have now trapped and relocated 19 cats and kittens, the adults going to two farm locations, and the kittens being tamed and socialized in multiple foster homes. We are so grateful for the help and financial support of Dianne and Mauri, the two wonderful ladies, now our friends, who have worked so hard to save the lives of these great cats.
But, the work is not yet done. Our team estimates that there are still between 12-15 more cats and kittens left to trap and move. And, I am still in the process of trying to uncover the owner of the buildings in which the cats currently reside, to find out the expected demolition date.
We are still in very great need of kitten foster homes, and financial contributions to cover sterilization costs. Please consider pitching in!

Angel in Heaven

Angel was found on the streets in North Central Regina by our feral cat team. She was literally just skin and bones, and so weak and emaciated she was barely able to walk. Angel was very timid, but something about her made the team think that she had once had a home and was tame.

They began making a special effort to seek her out, bringing her food, and trying to win her trust. After a month or so, the team trapped Angel and took her to the vet clinic to be examined and spayed. One feral team member, Sandra, was able to find Angel a loving foster home in her own building with a lovely woman. This foster mom quickly won our Angel's trust, and Angel has thrived under her care.

We received the joyous news today that Angel's foster mom has decided to adopt her permanently. Angel will never know starvation and cold again, thanks to the very hard work of the feral cat team, and to the devotion of her foster (now adoptive) mother, Sylvia.

A very little baby

Two weeks ago, we received a call from a nice young lady who had found an orphaned litter of very little kittens on her visit home to the family farm for Thanksgiving. Two of the kittens had already died in the barn, but one little fighter was still alive and in need of help.

The family cared for the baby for one night, and tried to convince one cat loving aunt to adopt the little kitten, but she had just recently lost her beloved old cat, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to adopt again. The next day, Natalie brought the kitten to me.

We guessed that she was barely four weeks old, and she still needed to be bottle fed. I got kitten formula and a bottle, and settled in for the routine of feeding every two hours, helping her poop, and sleeping. I named her Scout.

The next day, I took Scout to the office with me, as she couldn't be left alone. She was a very good girl. But, part way through the morning, I had a visitor. It was Natalie's aunt - the one who hadn't been sure about adopting a kitten so soon. As soon as the kitten had left to come to my house she had missed her desperately, and she came to my office to take her home. What a happy ending! Scout has been renamed Patootie, and she is now the reigning queen of Denise's house, already making friends with Denise's two older cats.

Here is Patootie, visiting with Carol's daughter Zoe yesterday. She is all claws and teeth and diva attitude, and she is much loved.

-Sarah