Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Rescue & Rehoming => Rescue & Rehoming General => Topic started by: madkittyrescue on December 03, 2009, 12:05:28 PM
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Just had a call from a lady about a cat and 2 kittens living under a portacabin being used by workmen so will be heading off shortly to investigate and see if we can find them and get them to safety!
where I'll put them I have no idea but we will find space for them somewhere if we can get them.
Will update when we get back with any news!
updated title on 27/12 to reflect actually topic content ;)
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oh bless them. its so cold to be out doors. i do hope you get them. xx
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Good luck with the kitten catching :hug: :hug:
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Good trapping just he weather raining!
If your stuck give us a shout I know we can squeeze them in!
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no Liz, I've only just memorised 46!
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Good luck xx
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Well what started out as a call about a mum and 2 kittens under a portacabin has turned out to be sommat else entirely! When we got there it was a building site with work being done to an old abandoned building to bring it back into use. Behind it is an old derelict building with the only way in and out through a tiny air vent hole at the back of the building.
We didn't see any cats hanging around but did set up the bait and trap near to the air vent to see if we could get anyone. Though that said we reckoned it would be doubtful as it was very wet and cold. That said we did get a local domestic tom who wasn't too impressed at being caught in the trap but did enjoy his Salmon!!! :tired:
There has beena known feral colony down there for quite some time (years) but am unsure if anyone has been managing it. They essentially serve a role by keeping rats and mice down at the harbour and train station but it would appear there is a breeding boom going on!
Our plan is to head back down later on today as the weather is a bit brighter and warmer and see what we can spot. Chances are though that we don't have the resources or funding to sort the entire lot ourselves so am going to look into contacting a local CAT bod to see what help they can offer once we establish a bit more later today.
According to site workers the site is heaving with cats every morning they open the site and the mum in question is limping and has had 2 litters since July already.
Hopefully we may have a bit more luck later today, time will tell.
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Good luck with this one Sarah :hug:
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Sound like you got your work cut out in there Sarah, hope you get lots of help to finally get this under control, good luck xx :hug:
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2 litters since July :'( :'( - when caught no more for her and hopefully a loving home will be found.
Good Luck xx
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Oh heck!! :'(
Best of luck at getting these sorted! :hug:
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thanks guys! Hopefully we will get some back up from other local feral rescue's.... though I won't hold my breath!! :tired:
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I hope you get them :hug:
Good luck x
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ooh poor loves it so cold out there.
glad you are trying to help them!
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Fingers crossed for this site.
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Any joy with these poor pussies?
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Not yet. Got a contact on site trying to locate where the bulk of the adults are coming from as its such a huge area and we are a half hour drive away. We have spent fair bit of time down there and not spotted a thing so far but there again the weather has been awful and they not daft to take shelter when its pouring!
So far we have contacted local contacts and not 1 interested in helping so we may end up dealing with this one on our own just now sure exactly how yet! :tired: :tired: However I do have another couple of folks to try hopefully!
Definitely not going to be a quick overnight fix but we are doing our best on top of an already high workload with the rescue and I need paul to give me a hand as little ol me wobbling around on my pins doesn't get me far and I can carry and walk at the same time! :doh: :shify:
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It's a never ending nightmare for you and these poor furries, isn't it? (and every rescue centre in the country!) Just heartbreaking! :( :hug:
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Just to give you guys an idea of the scale of site that Paul and I are dealign with on this one I've put in a link to the Flash Earth page that shows the harbour area.
We are currently (just the 2 of us) working to scope out the scale of the colony over the entire harbour area. a HUGE task for anyone and it is going to take us months to reach any kind of conclusion on the site not to mention the numbers involved could be enormous!
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=56.056808&lon=-3.2376&z=16.9&r=0&src=msl (http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=56.056808&lon=-3.2376&z=16.9&r=0&src=msl)
So far we have located mum and 2 youngsters of around 5/6 mths and tonight we spotted mum with 2 kittens of around 8-10 wks. So we are exceptionally pleased that we have managed to locate her at the right end of the harbour so that we can put out food for her and babies especially in this dire cold weather.
Wish us luck!
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Wow that's a huge area....I bet there are loads of hidey holes too! :tired:
Sending positive vibes for you both to get this sorted swiftly! :hug: :hug: :hug:
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wee update. Continuing with setting up the central feeding station at set time each night. last 2 nights we have had kitties sitting waiting on us getting there.
We did sight a further youngster of around 16 weeks and a tortie (stunning - :Luv2: ) adult last night. Did catch a glimpse of one of the 5/6 mth olds as well that we have now named PT! lol
At the current rate it will be another few weeks before we can start trapping but so far so good.
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That's excellent, by the time you are ready to trap they should be like putty in your hands! :Luv2: :Luv2: :Luv2:
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Sarah if you need some taming down done of some of the slightly older ones keep us in mind also for the real nasty's they can be relocated here if you like
Hope the feeding station is full tonight and good luck with the trapping!
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last 2 nights we have had kitties sitting waiting on us getting there.
They've got you trained quick :lol2:
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Sarah if you need some taming down done of some of the slightly older ones keep us in mind also for the real nasty's they can be relocated here if you like
Hope the feeding station is full tonight and good luck with the trapping!
thanks Liz. at the moment we just keeping record of all those we have sighted and where, although we fully expect mum to go back to join the main colony some time in the next few weeks and take the little uns with her to integrate them in.
If we can get the little one's before that happens we will try but not convinced. Mum is a VERY sly little kitty and I can feel already that she is giong to be a nightmare to catch. (hoping secretly that by saying that the opposite happens.... well I can but hope) :shy:
Word does seem to be getting round the colony that there is a regular supply of food at our end of the site so hopefully more will start to head this way so that we can get a better idea of the actual numbers we are looking at. We estimate just now at least 30 - 40. :shocked:
TNR isnt' going to be a problem thankfully as thecompany that run the harbour are very happy for them to stay there as they help keep all the rats and mice down on the site. Obviously if we can get any younger kittens who may fall under the possibility of taming down then we will hold them back so may well call on your assistance Liz if that's OK to help with those as our space is VERY limited.
We'll obviously keep you updated on what we are referring to as our "Feral Project" as things progress.
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this sounds some job but sounds like you have a plan of action....loads of good luck :hug:
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thanks Gill.
In honesty its rather daunting as we just aren't set up for such large scale feral work but now that we know about the state of the colony down there and how numbers are escalating we can't turn a blind eye just because no one else will take responsibility for them. It is a HUGE undertaking on our part and unfortunately requests for assistance from other organisations have fallen on deaf ears so we are doing the only thing we can.... working to help the cats and hopefully get the colony managed properly.
:shocked: :scared:
We are fully prepared for this project to take several months, perhaps even most of the year but we do have to plan ahead. We'll keep everyone updated and thought I'd change the title of the thread to better reflect the 'actual' little saga we've become invovled in. ;)
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Sarah we love our ferals and love a challange bearing in mind some of my crew that you met or got hissed at by they will be no worse!
I can give you a number for help - Michelle at CP Perth has a lot of Contacts and homes for ferals with the nice lady at Glencarse at other places so may be able to help
Can also get neutering vouchers for what you need to again from Michelle at CP Perth she will help where she can - she often said I would call in the favours she owed me over the years - we also took on several nastys from her over the years to!
No probs with the nastys but kittens are better for us as we have 4 work in progress adults currently and 3 more to trap - Spider and 2 newbies who have appeared and soft touch - my OH wants to try and get them to! :shocked: ;D
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neutering vouchers would be fab Liz so if you could find out from Michelle that'd be great or even let me have her phone number.
As I said above not too worried about the adults as they can be returned to site and it is a massive area they are currently living in so not worried about relocation at the current time. Kittens then yes we would look to remove and tame for rehoming. Site is around a 20 minute drive away for us so from a monitoring point of view should be fine.
It is not a case of we don't have the experience to deal with ferals as we have dealt with them many many times before but more a case of our housing arrangement for the cats here is not set up for deal with large scale jobs like these and bearing in mind there is only paul and myself - of which I only really count as half a person as I can't carry and walk - we just don't have the resources.
Essentially dealing with feral colony's was not on our radar just now especially as there are so many other feral specific orgs in the area but as they are just not willing to help we have no choice on this occasion.
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Gosh! Wish I were closer, would love to be involved with this! Best of luck! :Luv2: :Luv2: :Luv2:
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Wow Sarah it definitely sounds like you have next years "Project" sorted for you! ;) ... just in case you thought you'd be sitting round twiddling your thumbs :rofl:!
I'm sure once you get the regular routine of feeding in place, word will get round and you'll have plenty of furry friends waiting for you. It's great that you are helping these special kitties and also wonderful that you have the resident "Feral Queen" aka Liz in your neck of the woods to offer support and contacts.
Good luck guys with TNR programme :hug:
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Sarah no probs on any front and you are not a half person very much a whole when we met you in the summer!
Sam I am about 150 miles from Sarah but have contacts from our time down there and favours are not an issue just the welfare of the fab ferals!
Sarah we have some space and also outside they would meld with what we have seen and not an issue there but they may have to eat cheaper food!
Sarah it is nice that you are willing to do this if the larger ones won't help perhaps a nice article in the paper - I'm sure other branches would help out with vouchers - there are several here and I'm sure the new branch I am helping start up will help to!
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Wow Sarah it definitely sounds like you have next years "Project" sorted for you! ;) ... just in case you thought you'd be sitting round twiddling your thumbs :rofl:!
thanks Sam - yup we don't have anything else to do ... do we!??! lol
Thanks Liz - I'm looking at contacting the CP HQ and see what they'll give us, if anything to help as funding for this is a huge issue due to the numbers involved.
I wouldn't go with the paper yet as I don't want loads of folks down there sticking their oar in (the public I mean) and the last thing we need just now is more people snooping around down there disrupting things.
you are not a half person very much a whole when we met you in the summer!
something we joke about here as Paul always says I do the planning and thinking but then he gets all the carrying and lifting lol Just the way it has to be.... though the ice and snow have meant li'l ol me has had to give orders from the car! lol no getting out for me 1 fall and that'll be me totally knackered when my leg smashes to smitherines!. :doh: :doh:
Was nice to get there last night and see a few new faces sitting in wait. Little white and brown tabby girl was actually under the portacabin when paul went under for the food tray so was quite surprised when he came out and said there's someone there! lol She is carrying a large low slung tummy and may be a possible pregnant female. We also met with another little brown tabby last night too and miss Mia the tortie lady came out for dins as did a few of the other smaller cats.
So, word is definitely starting to get round which is the whole point of this process and to allow us to see who we are dealing with.
Time will tell but at least this is a positive start. ;D
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What a brilliant thing you're doing Sarah-i wish i was close enough to help, but the West Midlands is a bit too far, i think! I wish you all the luck in the world-i love ferals, from looking after the ones at work and then visiting the feral compound at Cramar cat rescue! :hug: :hug:
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Well we are pleased to announce that we got one of the little ones tonight albeit by pure chance!
We have noticed this week that there are a group of youngsters who have taken some of the tiny's under their wing while mum is away. They are cheeky wee tikes and we noticed that a couple of them play down the side while the others go and feed at the other side. Anyhoo - we chanced our luck and were hoping to get both of the tiny's but only managed to get 1 of the little uns.
A gorgeous little tabby and white - sex unknown for now. She is back here with us in isolation just now and has eaten, gone to the loo and is currently trying very hard NOT to fall asleep lol Very surprised that she (well we are calling her she just now, sex currently unknown for sure) actually ate in front of us when we first brought her in. Bless her. :Luv2:
Age at the moment we guesstimate in the region of 8-10 weeks taking into consideration feral roots.
We also tried getting some piccies tonight so off to see if any came out!
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Oh Sarah we need photo's and if not for turning can come and live at the Clan - all my grey and whites are ferals :Luv2:
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Paul has just nipped through and grabbed a quick piccie of the little un we got tonight. She is a gorgeous wee thing.
Her eyes in the piccie look a big gunky but they are in fant spotlessly clean though she is fighting tiredness something awful! bless her wee heart :Luv2:
The plan for this little one I'm afraid Liz will be to tame down and bring round for homing! but you never do know what else we'll find! ;)
(http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd187/saznpaul/feralkitt2060110.jpg)
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OK see what else we can have she is :Luv:
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Ahhhh bless "her" ... she really is struggling to stay awake isn't she. Gorgeous little thing :Luv2: :Luv2:
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What a sweet little thing! Well done! :hug:
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a little update on this wee love to say that she is doing really well all things considered (really need to check if its a he or a she)
She is eating really well, been dewormed :sick: using her litter box well and has thoroughly enjoyed some chin rubbing and ear rubbing action even closing her wee eyes and relaxing a little more. All in all doing very well. :Luv2:
Very pretty little thing to which I have an urge to call her Lily (don't know why) - though saving an offical name for once we sex her / him! lol
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:) glad to hear that things are going well
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What a little sweetheart :Luv:
Im sure she will soon be demanding chin rubs on a regular basis :evillaugh:
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Aw just look at that little babe.....Well Done! :wow:
That's one down and ? to go, best of luck! :hug:
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thanks guys we can now confirm that we are 90% sure it is a little girl and so we have now called her Lily.
We took a couple of little vids of her on Saturday night (her day 3 with us) and have put the links below if you would like to watch them.
I love the 2nd vid - look out for the bunny kicks! :)
First vid - - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfhBUBpLREA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfhBUBpLREA)
second vid - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAGvHF3NPcs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAGvHF3NPcs)
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Just amazing after such a short time! :hug: :hug: Lily is just beautiful :Luv2: :Luv2:
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Did'nt watch it fully but I have counted me doing 7 "awwws" already! Simply amazing, putty in yer hands! :Luv2: :hug:
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I know she is SO sweet.
Again not quite planned tonight but Sammy Sr was just asking to be caught tonight - so we obliged and have him booked in for the am for neuter and re release once he's ready.
As a special treat - here's a pic! ;)
(http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd187/saznpaul/samsr1.jpg)
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Sarah he is stunning - something about those feral boys :Luv2:
Good luck with the op tomorrow for all of you - welding gaunlets at the ready! :evillaugh:
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I'm sure he'll be fine Liz its for his own good at the end of the day! We shouldn't really have any need to physically handle him and he is already in crush cage ready to go.
All of the cats down at the harbour are gorgeous - but then that (to me) tends to be the way with ferals. We are trying to name them after certain cats we've had to make it easier to remember who is who hence this one is Sammy Sr after Sam Jr we have with us just now.
All in all for ferals, they actually lead a very good life where they are so so long as we can take care of the neutering aspect and their care then they can continue to lead happy little lives :)
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If you run out of names you can create a Clan at the harbour with our mob! ;)
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I'm sure between us we'll come up with enough! ;)
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Aw he is lovely, well done on another capture! ;D
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well we have some great news! - we have managed to get Lily's siblings - 2 little black and whites.
Both absolutely filthy - not sexed so far - and are currently settling into the harbour though most unimpressed.
Here are a couple of piccies for you of them both. The little black with white chest has a very raggy left ear though doesn't show up on the piccie very well.
(http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd187/saznpaul/feralkitt2_140110.jpg)
(http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd187/saznpaul/feralkitt3_140110.jpg)
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They are gorgeous - Little black and white looks like our Sparkle - she was clalled Spike as we all thought she was a boy till speying :shocked: :rofl: the other poppet looks like one of our former fosters Domino - the spot under the chin :Luv2:
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I reckon the mostly black is a girl and the other a boy :rofl: :rofl:
They look quite defiant ;D
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Fantastic news!!!!! :wow: Gorgeous pusscats! :Luv2: Well done! :hug:
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well the little ones had an OK night - though one of them decided it would be fun to try to escape!!! Bless their wee heart!
Both have eaten, drank and are currently cuddled up behind their teddies. We'll see how they get on with their first hands on session a bit later once feeding and cleaning is taken care of.
wish us luck! ;)
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Good luck with the first session - remember to supervise Paul after the Wilfred Incident! ;D
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More gorgeous babes....You and OH are doing fab with this! :wow: :Luv2: :Luv2:
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thanks guys.
Well we now have them both purring like little tractors and they have now cleaned themselves up now too so are black and white instead of black and mud grey!
They are doing really well and the little black with white chested one is still that bit more unsettled though we may know why.
As I think I mentioned earlier he has a raggy ear which we figured was from being chewed by something. We did believe there to be a scab on the back of the ear and have, where he/she will let us have a quick passing look. Both have started to let us pett them more over the last 24hrs and this morning when petting the little black one the scab (or so I thought) fell off in my hand. :-:
On closer inspection it is in fact the end of the little ones ear! :'( dead infected tissue. So the little one now has half a left ear and we not sure if he/ she will lose a little more. Am so thankful they've been on A/b's since they came in!
Really feel for the wee soul! :Luv2:
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Well done you ;D
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Awww poor baby ! Hope the little mite will be ok! :Luv2: :Luv2: :Luv2:
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:Luv2: :Luv2: :Luv2: well done on catching all these gorgeus furry purries.
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Aw! Hope that the ear will heal nicely now! Your doing a fab job there Sarah and OH! :Luv2: :hug:
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Just a wee update to say that Lily's siblings are coming on well. The little black kitten is a little further behind but we reckon that is to do with the ear issue which is now healing up well and she is hopefully on her last couple of days of a/b's. He/she is certainly looking better :)
We think the black and white kitten is a female, jury still out on the little black kitten but we will find out soon hopefully and then we can come up with names for them form the auction list! :)
We have had a big of a set back with the main group however. :tired: When we first started the project there were signs of someone feeding. We left notices but no one has ever contacted us and for the last 7 weeks no-one has been down to put out any food. That is until the weekend when someone basically dumped a barrel full (huge amount) of dry food and wet down there.
End result is that the cats have been free feeding and it has knocked our entire routine right out the window. We are really annoyed and wouldn't mind if they would just contact us so we can work together but alas not. We have currently switched to 2nd nightly feeding in a bid to whittle down the dry food that has been put out and then we will have to re-start the routine once again.
Our plans of TNR in a couple of weeks time however looks unlikely and we have to admit we're mightily hacked off after all the work and effort and time we have put into the colony for someone to come along, ignore our signs and feed regardless and especially in such a HUGE amount! :tired: :censored:
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How frustrating for you, after all you've been doing for these cats!!!! I was livid when i was just trying to catch ONE, my mommy cat at work, and i'd get there some days to find left over sandwiches etc despite putting notices up :grrrrrr: Really hope people will leave you to do the job in hand! Good luck! :hug:
Glad to hear the one with the poorly ear is looking better :Luv2:
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Aw... :hug: :hug: :hug:
I know how you feel. I had to give up trying to catch a tom for the snip as this :censored: stupid :censored: idiot woman WOULD NOT understand that if fed him a whole tin of Whiskas every single day he would not go for my trap. Even though she SAID she understood and promised me she wouldn't do it, every time I got to the site she'd put out a saucepan full of fresh food and he was laying there all pot bellied and sleeping it off. When confronted she said she couldn't bare to think of him going hungry.... hungry my :censored: !! He was fatter than Billy Bunter! >:( She wasted a month of my time and we never did catch him. :tired:
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Fortunately i DID manage to catch my mommy cat, 19 days after i'd been made redundant (we'd caught her years before to have her spayed, thank God, even tho she had quite a few litters before that!) I'd got a fantastic sanctuary with a feral compound for her and her son lined up-he was already there-but she was found to have leukemia and a stomach tumour so was pts. I was devastated. He kept escaping but would've been ok if she was there, they were always very close. After many months of worry, ( a very long story!) he now lives with me and loves it lol!
Why don't people listen to the experts!!!!!!!!
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Gawd only knows Shirley - I did follow your story with mum and the grey boy and think you did a brilliant job with them! :hug:
All I can say today is that we are totally and utterly really peed :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: off
Whoever this person is they are still ignoring our notice and have put down another huge amount of food last night. We are going to put up a different notice explaining to them exactly what we are trying to acheive rather than just asking them to contact us. But if they continue they are going to leave us no option but to have to abandon the project as after all the hard work and many many many hours we have put into this colony they have blown our routine and relationship with them straight out of the water.
We really don't want to have to abandon this as if it isn't taken under control lord only knows how many will be there this time next year but if they keep this up and ignore out pleas for them to stop and or contact us to work together what choice do we have.
At the moment we are both furious about this as well as very disheartened. We have worked our butts off for these cats and have spent so much time and effort getting everything in place for a TNR that they have just blown clean out of the water! arrrrgggghhhhhh
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Ahhh how frustrating for you. I'm sure these "feeders" are wellintentioned but of course it doesn't help you. :hug:
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does it look as if someone is actually buying this food, Sarah? do you think it is a genuine cat lover or someone with food to dump?
hopefully, if the former, they have only ignored you up to now because they are suspicious
bear in mind, though, that it might be being dumped by children on an errand, who will not, perhaps can't, read your notices - or even someone whose first language isn't English
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This is just unbelieveable!!!!! Surely anyone with half a brain cell must realise these cats must be caught and neutered, unless, as Trigger says, they can't read the notices or don't agree with neutering/ Most Greeks for example, believe animals should 'go to their maker intact' Doesn't seem to matter if they go to their maker full of disease having suffered a long, painful death! >:( Really hope you don't have to abandon this, keeping everything crossed for a successful outcome to all your hard work. x :hug:
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:hug: :hug: :hug:
Sometimes certain ignorant people actually take pleasure in seeing little feral kittens dart around the place. >:( They spare no thought about suffering or consequences to the queens or inbreed kittens. :tired:
Sending you a big hug, hun. You must feel like pulling your hair out! :doh: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Id go to the nearest houses and do some door knocking.... Maybe see if a few leaflets could be left in a local shop etc.....They have to know that you are doing them good....They maybe think you are trying to pts? :hug: :hug:
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Good point Bazsmum, never thought of that! :hug:
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Hi Guys,
All valid points however whoever is putting the food out is organised enough to take a plastic dish with them each time and the qty of food has to be someone buying it as it is waaaayy too much to be left overs. Must've been at least 8kg of dry food last week!!
Also, where the feeding station is you would never in a million years find it unless you knew where it was. Even if you went down looking for it you would have to look really really hard to even find it. We only found it after hours and hours of watching the cats, so this person is aware of the feeding station as that is where they fed before but they chose not to go down in all the snow and very cold temperatures - the time they need the food most!! :tired:
Saturday we were totally disheartened and really peed off - but we will give it one last attempt to contact this person and see what happens.
We don't want to put notices up in the town as the more people we draw to the area the more chance there is of them disrupting the cats and potentially moving them away - especially the kids in the area who aren't the greatest shall we say!
We put up a new notice last night - A4 size and put down 2 of them and you cannot miss them if you got in to feed or use the hut. Even if this person can't read english (bearing in mind there are a lot of Polish in the area) then they can read numbers and would recognise that the series of numbers on the notices were phone numbers. We have explained very clearly in this notice what our intentions are and that if they do not contact us to work together or choose to disrupt feeding that they will leave us no option but to consider withdrawing from the site. Something we REALLy don't want to have to do!
That said we went down around 11pm last night and did spot PT and Sammy and Tortie around Midnight and a new face we have referred to as Lily Snr (her complete double in fact - which a lot of the cats there are) which sat and watched us for ages and then came up to the car round the back and sat watching us in the wing mirror watching her - very funny and SOOOOO like the character of litttle Lily we have here. :Luv2:
We have worked So hard to build a relationship with these cats we just hope that whoever this is see's sense and makes the call! :scared:
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REALLY hope the new notice does the trick! The furries sound just lovely! :Luv2: :hug: It would be awaful if you had to give up now :(
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Good luck with this, did you place a note at the food station they use? ;) :hug: Hope they can understand your intentions! :tired:
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Good luck with this, did you place a note at the food station they use? ;) :hug: Hope they can understand your intentions! :tired:
We both use the same one hun! ;-)
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Can you not set a human trap? :sneaky: I know "if only"! :tired: :hug: :hug:
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oh definitely - if only! lol
We are feeling a bit more positive now than we were at the weekend. The way they have fed so far they only come down to feed at a weekend. I am of the mindset that if they do go down and dump a load - I'm lifting it! ;-) :naughty:
We're damned if we're going to let all our hard work go to waste - but a lot depends on this 'person' - we may yet be left with no other options if they start to feed more regularly than they are - but we'll plodding away for now. ;)
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"" I am of the mindset that if they do go down and dump a load - I'm lifting it! " :rofl: (Still haven't got the hang of the 'purple quote'lol)
Fingers crossed you have lots of success with this and whoever's feeding them finally gets the message!!!! :hug:
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Thats good! Hopefully you can get the message through..... Best of luck with this and your continued work for these babes! ;) :hug:
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Have whoever's been ruining your efforts stopped feeding the cats now? :hug:
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well.... no food out this weekend but the temperatures were -1 - so we not taking it as a done deal as they do seem to be fair weather feeders and not around if the weather is too cold - time will tell!
In general we are more positive about things now which is good and we also identified their other nest site is within the walls of one of the other buildings on site - so we will be popping down when we get a chance to speak to the guys on site.
We are concerned however that we do believe mum cat has had another litter of kittens so are watching her very carefully just now to identify which building she is in. Regardless of the choice they are totally inaccessible and we just have to wait til she brings them out! :tired:
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Fingers crossed they keep away with food!
Sad to hear mum cat has possibly had another litter :( Do you know how many cats are in the colony?
I remember when my mommy cat (RIP) had her litters sometimes. There was another derilict factory on site, full of massive, deep holes where machinary had once been. Some of these holes were half full with bricks and/or water cos there was no roof on the place! :scared: It was a real scary place to go searching, but we had to! One litter climbed up the bricks (they were only a few weeks old!!) and we managed to trap them at the top! :wow: I know what you mean about inacessible places-it was a nightmare! Mommy cat used to bring them to her 'safe' place in our factory-this was a very deep hole full of old bits of machinary, so she knew we couldn't get at her babies there! :Luv2:
I wish you all the luck in the world in your efforts! :hug:
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Hows things Sarah, hope they have stayed away? :hug:
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Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates over the last week but we are utterly swamped here at the harbour - no room to squeeze in a sausage let along a cat / kitten!!!
Our feeder hasn't been back last weekend but the temperatures were below freezing and they do tend to only appear when the weather is warmer. Time will tell if they appear tonight!
We have made some progress however on an information front which is great news!! Paul was down yesterday afternoon and managed to get access to the actual yard where the cats are living and into one of the storage sheds that they have been accessing through a hole in the wall. This however looks to be purely their play area as there are lots of units and stuff for them to climb all over and footprints everywhere. We did wonder if mum had had her kittens in there but after extensive search by Paul it turned up a blank.
After speaking to some of the boys and office staff on the site and also to a fisherman he managed to collar at the harbour yesterday it would appear that there are mixed views on the cats but thankfully after explaining what we are trying to achieve and why the cats need to stay at the site all were in agreement with our plan - great news! ;)
Fisherman was probably the most helpful and has told us that the colony took residence at this particular site around 5 years ago. He says they have done a great service at keeping the mink, rats and mice away and he has one of them himself at home that he found as a kitten.
He has confirmed (as we suspected) that the main nest site is under one of the large wooden huts on the harbour not far from our feeding station and often he will see the kittens running about underneath it - this being where we caught Kali & Baby.
He has now agreed to work with us and give us information if he spots any kittens in the area of the shed whilst coming and going - especially as he found out that we'd chased off yobs from trying to untie one of his boats a few weeks back! :)
One VERY good and useful piece of news was that he was able to tell us who the fair weather feeders are - and believe it or not we have been there at the same time. Apparently an old couple stop by the harbour on a Sat / Sun and have their dinner watching out over the harbour and put out food for the cats. Frustratingly enough they watched us check the feeding station and pull our hair out one night - so needless to say if we see them there again we know whos window to tap ;)
What was interesting was that we asked him how many cats he though were there and he said 4 or 5 :rofl: :rofl: was rather shocked when he found out that we had sighted at least 12 different cats and lifted 3 kittens.
he did say that Sammy Sr that we caught couple of weeks back is uber friendly and quite popular around the harbour bless him - and we also told him how to spot the ones we had done and returned.
Our current plan is to trap next weekend providing vets can accommodate the monday morning and get as many as we can in and done and returned to the harbour to live out the rest of their lives. We reckon mum is going to be a difficult catch as she's a sly ol girl - but we will do our best. :)
Think that just above sums everything up lol so much has happened over the last week I'm losing track of myself let alone anything else. :Crazy:
Liz - if you're reading this - any word on those vouchers??
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Great update! So glad you've got the fisherman on side! :hug: and other people have agreed to work with you! Hope you catch the 'feeders' in the act, too! :sneaky:
Best of luck for next weekend, especially for mommy cat-i know how clever they can be!!! :Luv2:
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Thats a fantastic update! :wow: So now you are a fishermans friend? :evillaugh: :hug:
Glad you have the majority on side with this, more power to you and OH with this! ;D ;D ;D
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Just topping up the good luck vibes for this weekend-i have everything crossed for you!! :hug: :hug:
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hey guys! been SOOOO busy this week not had a chance to pop on and update - we had to have a slight change of plan so instead of this weekend it will be next weekend we will be trapping aiming to get at least 6 - 8 so we can make a dent in the regular cats. The others we will have to get as and when as they seem to frequent the ships and boats that come in and out of the harbour.
The cats are doing well though and enjoying a regular meal and most definitely start to trust us. Mum cat ran under the feeding station last night while we were both stood there! lol
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As a small consolation however I do have a video we got of 2 of the girls playing the other night whilst cleaning them out - Lily trying to break into the toy cupboard! lol ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ADgY9ymbM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ADgY9ymbM)
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Such a cute video! :Luv2: :Luv2:
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Sarah good luck with the trapping = hope you got hold of Michelle
The video is :Luv2:
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Wow I think you have a boxer in the making there! :evillaugh: :Luv2: :Luv2:
Good luck from all here too! ;) :hug:
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Just a quick note to let you all know that plans are still in place for begin trapping this group this weekend - will keep you posted! :-)
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Sarah good luck - I have a couple of spare bathrooms if they are the right age and the time to spend being mauled
Good Luck to you and Paul ;)
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Everything crossed for a great outcome this weekend! :hug:
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thanks guys been getting everything prep'd today for tomorrow - fingers crossed all goes to plan! :wish:
We even bumped into our elusive 'feeder' tonight too - kinda caught them by surprise whilst at the feeding station! lol Thankfully they have now taken on board what we have said and are in future going to phone us and let us know if they intend to come through and feed.
Strangely enough they aren't even local but come through all the way from Glasgow!! mind boggles! Hopefully though this means an end to the frustrations we've experienced!
Hoping for a relatively early night tonight - big and long day ahead tomorrow!
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Positive vibes for tomorrow, hope all goes to plan! ;) :hug: :hug:
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Hope you had some trappings yesterday! :hug:
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Well guys what can I say - we got a great result last night. ;)
We came home with 7 inmates by 10pm having started around 4pm. We were on site from the back of 3 getting everything ready and prepped and our first inmate we had without even knowing it! lol
It would appear that a lovely little black and white managed to get very nosy and got him/herself caught in the big trap while we were off setting up the others. Was quite funny and quite a nice surprise lol ;D
The important - in fact very important - catch that we really wanted was Mummy cat - and guess what - We got her!!! ;D ;D ;D
By the looks of things her limping is coming from a swollen foot so hopefully we can get that taken care of and she will be able to go back none the worse for wear ;D
All of these little ones are headed into the vet this morning for neuter, deworming and health check before coming back here and once we feel they are ready they will be re-released. Most likely tomorrow.
We were hoping to fill our last 2 traps but the little blighters weren't having none of it so we decided to call it a night at 7 and we were very pleased with the result.
Will let you all know how things go with the vet later. ;D :hug:
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Good result Sarah and hope all goes well at the vet - a good number in a short time - amazing what the cold will bring! ;D
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To be honest Liz as it got colder less and less appeared - they all started to take cover. :tired:
Thankfully over the last few weeks we have built up a routine and when we finish feeding we bang the empty tins. Few bangs and making sure they could see the car (we hiding in van) did the trick ;)
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quick update for now - Just got word back from vets that most of the crew caught last night appear to be in fact male :-) so over and done with much quicker.
Looks like we were right in that mum has had kittens though at least 4weeks+ ago - so as we need to play safe for the kittens sake we will have to move release up to late tonight.
Then the fun begins to try and find the kittens - no easy task!
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Brilliant news! What a result! :wooooo: Shame about having to release them all early tho-assume it's ok? :Luv2: Hope you manage to find the kittens! :shy: Well done!!! :hug:
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Just back from collecting the crew from the vets....
We had 3 females and 4 males. 1 female had just recently been caught by a tom and was pregnant unfortunately but she is better off without any more litters and she has to be the priority for us. Vets reckon she would have had at least 5 babies - the thoughts of numbers that could have followed are quite breathtaking!
Mum cat is not a happy bunny at all bless her but it does appear that the injury to her foot is in fact a deformity most likely caused by an old injury or old break which we have been advised that apart from affecting her gait isn't something we need to worry about but will monitor. Once I clarified the actual findings - rather than 3rd party - mum showed signs of having had kittens recently but was producing no milk - though by recently they referred to the last month or so and don't believe that there are any very young kittens - most likely Lily, Kali and Baby are the litter referred to.
Vast majority of those collected last night we believe are under 2 years of age with the exception of a big black tomcat (nicknamed Bruce) and a silver tabby & White the double of 'oor lily' tom cat - now to be known as Larry rather than Lily Sr!! ;)
All are currently resting after their ordeal and we will make a decision later tonight as to whether to hold them for release tomorrow or to release them very late tonight.
Still have paperwork and pics to gather for them all - will try and post some later - though in the meantime here's a couple o pics of we got last night of us hard at work! ;) ;D
Paul & Caroline having a giggle during setup!
(http://www.sunnyharbour.org.uk/images/ferals/setup1.jpg)
Resetting traps
(http://www.sunnyharbour.org.uk/images/ferals/reset.jpg)
Our Bounty!!
(http://www.sunnyharbour.org.uk/images/ferals/bounty.jpg)
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Congrats on the haul Sarah - Paul does look fetching in his dayglo! :evillaugh: Thats how I used to go trapping stand out in the crowd and let the ferals see you!!!!
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well the little ones are all wrapped up for the night and will be released tomorrow. They safe n sound and been given a chicken dinner - though not convinced they will eat it - though you never know they may just be hungry enough after their long day.
Not worried about the ferals seeing us Liz - we needed them to see the car so they knew the food was there - but certainly more bothered about being hit by cars, trucks or forklifts on the harbour! ;)
These guys aren't like your typical farm ferals who barely see anyone - these guys see people all the time so don't have the same fear of people as you usually get with farm ferals. Truth be told PT really didn't care and took a good swipe at paul through the large trap - lol needless to say he was soon moved to a crush cage! lol
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Hope they're all well this morning after their night in 'captivity' ;D Do you know how many more are still left to 'do'? ;) Enjoy the release! A job well done! :Luv2: :Luv2: :hug:
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All the little one's were released last night happy and well albeit rather grumpy. All took off at a great rate of knots and stopped by the fenceline to watch us lol Have uploaded a short vid we took of the release last night and also have some piccies I'll post in separate thread to introduce the individuals in this particular group. PT was very funny and didn't even give Paul time to step away and he was off - strangely enough it was also PT who got Paul through the large trap the other night too. :naughty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFkQGL5P5G4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFkQGL5P5G4)
Shirley - our estimated numbers are 20+ They are in different groupings and the group we have just done are the majority of those that come to feed between 6 and 10pm. A later group appears from around midnight - 3am.
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Fantastic!!!! You must be so pleased with yourselves! :Luv2: :hug:
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When's the next planned trapping, Sarah?
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hi guys sorry for lack of updates we are utterly swamped at the moment.
We haven't set a firm date for the next trapping at the moment as we are SOOO stretched at the moment and with only 2 of us its hard going sometimes.
But the group already done are looking great :)
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Assume you're still swamped and no date for more trapping?
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Hi Shirley - at the moment yes. We are feeding the colony every 2nd day as the weather is improving and we hope to get another trap done in the next few weeks. We are full to bursting then some and also had some pretty huge vet bills to contend with too with so many sick and injured of late.
will update as soon as firm date is planned :)
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So sorry to hear that-what about when kitten season starts (if it hasn't already!) Why don't people neuter and look after their cats-GRRRRRR!!!!! Best of luck to you :hug:
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Thought it was about time we updated on this thread to let you all know whats been happening.
All of those caught, neutered and released are looking brilliant. Really healthy and happy which we are very pleased about. The 3 kittens already tamed and rehomed are all doing brilliantly well and we couldn't be more proud of them.
After much searching and a few chance conversations we have finally discovered the location where some of the workmen have been putting out food for a group of the feral cats on the other side of the harbour. (it is a vast area)
Due to the location of the feeding point and the fact it is located by the main docking area we are unable to get full access ourselves for safety reasons however we are delighted that the workmen are more than happy to help us with the trapping of them and to give us a phone when they have them so that we can collect and have them seen to. With their being workmen there 24hrs we have had calls at all times of day and night so have already had a couple of trips back and forth - Poor paul away out just after midnight last night!
But at least we are able to say that we have finally got phase 2 underway.
The first to be trapped was a small black female :Luv2: who we believe may be a sibling to Kali, Lily and Baby. A tiny tiny wee thing who has had 3 kittens around 8 weeks ago. Both kittens are eating on their own and although not ideal to get mum first if we let her go I doubt we'd get her again so made the decision to get her and the workmen are going to work on getting the kittens over the next day or so. 1 of the kittens has already been caught by the workies and he has taken him/her home.
Mum does seem to be very calm so we made a decision last night to give her a few days to see if we feel she may be an option for taming and rehoming. Would be great if she is but time will tell. Also she may be pregnant again as well so until we can get a clear look at her to tell we are dubious about putting her straight in for neutering if she is in later stages.
The 2nd to be caught later last night was a wee smoke and white coloured boy. Very handsome lad and he is currently in the vets for neuter, etc. again very calm. :Luv2:
so phase 2 is well underway even if Paul and I are pulling our hair out we are so busy and over full to bursting point. :Crazy: :scared:
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Great to hear the workmen are on side and that you have made so much progress; hope little black isnt pregnant and hope she is calmable, am sure you will soon have them all sorted.
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Great update Sarah! Didn't think you'd have time to do any feral trapping with all these moms and babies around :( You must be exhausted! :hug: :hug: Hope the feral mommy isn't pregnant again and well done those workmen!!! ;D
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Glad to hear a positive update, bet you are relieved the workmen are on your side
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yes we are especially as the company on the other side are anything but helpful!
The little black mum who we believe is sister to those already rehomed is doing really well. She will happily sit outside her carrier and even took some treats out of our hand last night through the wire of her pen..... so we have decided to give her some time and see how she does.
The smoke and white boy will be released later tonight all being well. :) He is such a handsome dude - will get piccies today
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Fingers crossed she can be rehomed as a pet then.
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we are hopeful desley.
We released the boy last night and he was off like a shot bless him. we also sat for a good hour and a half and have found the main route the cats are taking to the feeding point which cover a fenced in overgrown area and the other side of the harbour (1 mile away). the area we are covering is so vast we just can't cover everywhere at once.
Though whilst watching last night while paul went on site to release the boy I did spot another 4 new kitties 1 of which 'may' be larry but we don't think so who is walking with quite a severe limp so we will try our best to get him so he can be checked over.
The kittens are currently residing in the main power inlet for the whole plant so are completely inaccessible and with 5000 volts surging through it is too dangerous to get in and poke around. Just have to hope they pop in the trap soon but if not we will have to come up with a plan of action somehow!
We now however believe the workmen were mistaken and the black female that we have just now may not in fact be mum - but the babysitter but we are still scoping things out and will be back down there tonight.
It is difficult as we cannot get on site permanently to do the main trapping ourselves and are having to rely on the workmen and just hope they follow our advice. Though on another hand it is also a blessing as we are utterly swamped here and totally exhausted so just fitting in the to-ing and fro-ing to the harbour is draining what little energy reserves we have left!! :tired:
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just back to the ranch with the 2 kittens. age 6-8 weeks and 2 stunning little tabby and whites - they have a much better life ahead of them now :Luv2:
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Excellent news! :hug: :hug: You are doing an amazing job! :hug: :hug:
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Fantastic hun :Luv: :Luv:
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Sarah, you are doing a great job! Just think what a difference you are making to so many little lives. Well done you. :hug:
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Sending lots of love over to Sarah and the gang at Sunny Harbour. I know they are going through alot at the mo with lots of little ones in.
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
If you would like to help- they have sponsor going on at the mo - http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,34121.0.html
:Luv:
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:hug: :hug: