Community Cats | Savannah's Paw Tracks

Archive for the category “Community Cats”

15 Apr 2016

Thirty Nine Years with Cats—and Counting #BtC4A

HIYA! SAVANNAH HERE!!

Strange title, I know. The title was the toughest part of writing this blog post to be honest. I am participating in the Be The Change 4 Animals blog event.

I pawticipate

I want to use this special blog post to share with all my readers the degree of commitment my Mom L and Dad P have to being the change for animals.

When Mom L first learned that Dad P had two cats, Squeaky and Barney, as a single guy in his early 30’s—she thought he was someone she would like to know better. And when they married, Dad P made sure Mom L had her very own kitty. All three cats were rescues in one way or another. And their commitment to making the lives of companion animals better has bonded them for thirty nine years.

Squeaky the tuxie girl lived to 19

Mom L always wanted another gray kitty so Dad P heard about a kitten and brought her home. Dad P’s other cat, Barney, took the kitten under his paw and the kitten worshiped Barney. Mom L named her Ixtaccihuatl. I know, I know—hard to wrap your tongue around that name, right? Ixtaccihuatl, in Nahuatl, means “white woman” and it is the name of a dormant volcano above Mexico City. It is also called Mujer Dormida meaning sleeping woman. Mom L somehow thought that was the perfect name for her kitten. Thankfully for that kitten, they called her Ixy.

Boris and side kick Ixy

Now what does all this have to do with Be The Change 4 Animals you might be wondering. Well, I wanna let you all know that thirty nine years later, my human guardians are still helping cats have the best life possible. I have shared more than once the SNIP (spay,neuter impact program) clinic where they both now volunteer. SNIP is held only four times a year and the April clinic this month fell smack dab on their thirty ninth wedding anniversary—April 10th.

Getting hitched

And what did they do to celebrate their thirty nine years together? You got it, they Pawed It Forward, and worked the SNIP clinic to celebrate their special day. They and all the other volunteers who staff this special clinic were the change for 71 community cats that day. Many of those cats were pregnant and are returned to their trap location, without having to ever have kittens again. And those males with big jowls and fight scars will hopefully never feel they need to protect their territory again.

Here are some photos of Mom and Dad’s thirty ninth wedding anniversary celebration.

Relaxing before opening and admitting first patiet

Relaxing before opening and admitting first patient

And yes, the above photo of the man wearing a Savannah’s Paw Tracks t-shirt is my Dad P! *proud ears* Here is the lucky kitty who arrived first. He was really nervous, but because he is young, he will not have to face years of fighting other un-neutered male cats for turf. Dad P transported him in his trap to await his surgery. TNR WORKS!!

Oh noes!

What’s gonna happen?

Next is waiting for surgery—the hall before patients arrive and after they come flooding in.

Surgery waiting hall

From the waiting hall, they go to sedation, then weigh in and first quick medical check for obvious wounds, pregnancy, etc.

Sedation room. Large scale waiting for patient’s in traps

From here they are hand carried (Mom L got to help do weigh in and hand carry!!) to the surgery prep area for shaving and ear tipping.

Surgery prep is quiet and then it is NOT!!

Now they are in to surgery.

The surgery room is quiet and then filled with six DVMs

After surgery they receive vaccinations, flea and ear mite treatment.

The table and supplies are ready and then it begins!

The photo above of the kitties getting their vaccinations is blurred on purpose. They deserve some privacy, don’t you think? And then they are reunited with their own personal trap and whisked off to recovery where it is warm and quiet.

Have a look at some of the patients up close and personal. They are not always in the best of body condition, often matted fur and dirty, but they go back home as cleaned up as they can be.

Mom L just adored this cat. She glanced down as she was tagging his trap and saw two sweet paws gripping the trap for dear life!

Hanging on for dear life

Isn’t he just precious! So hard to believe that they can’t all be scooped up and taken home for a cuddle. But because of SNIP and all the volunteers, including the couple who used SNIP as their celebration event for their thirty ninth wedding anniversary, this cat will have a better chance at living a longer and more healthy life as a community cat.

Ummm…is this gonna hurt??

What do you do to Paw It Forward and Be The Change 4 Animals?

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH

Posted in Community Cats and tagged BtC4A, paw it forward

07 Mar 2016

31 Comments

Official Feline Express™ Driver!

Hello All, Mom Linda Here!

I am now an official Feline Express™ Driver. I passed my trial “do it yourself” training ride with flying colors! At least that is what I was told. Given the enthusiasm from Savannah’s readers when I posted about my training as a Feline Express™ driver, I am certain you are going to enjoy coming along on my last training ride. Please follow along all year to learn more about Savannah’s new Paw It Forward Project.

The final certification ride means I had to do everything and Julie, the founder of Outcast Cat Help who began this lifesaving program with our local public shelter, was the ride along.

But first I want to clarify how this Return to Field (RTF) program differs from the classic Trap, Neuter, Return program (TNR). Several of you asked “what’s different?” And the difference is LARGE. The difference is all about who trapped the cats. RTF is a public shelter dependent program.

Feral Ward

TNR is not. Any rescue can launch its own TNR program whether the local public shelter assists them or not. No transfer partner (rescue) can do RTF UNLESS the cats they are returning were first trapped by the PUBLIC and brought to the shelter as a feral, stray surrender. RTF does not involve any of us who participate to do any trapping. We are the “freedom ride” back to their neighborhood for the community cats brought to the public shelter. We set them free rather than the shelter having to euthanize them.

Allow me to share the four cats who joined me on my certification Feline Express™ ride. Enjoy the joyful very short (2-5 seconds) videos

I had four cats to return—one male and three females. I have a 2000 Toyota 4 Runner of which I have been a kind and caring caretaker. I love my car, but for this ride, I draped the cargo section in black plastic garbage bags, and then placed old towels over the plastic should any kitty decide to leave me a urine sample!! Towels absorb, plastic protects from absorption into my cargo mat.

My first cat was the male. Orange tabby. BIG guy!! Once I released him, it was clear that not only did he know he was home, so did his neighbors. They never ever barked even once.

Clearly Mr. Marmie knew where he was and heard the dinner bell chiming. His neighbors also recognized him and never barked once.

And Mr. Marmie was clearly headed for his dinner chow!

The joy of being a Feline Express™ Driver is enough to make one both heady at the thought of a life saved and yet, also filled with concern as to what will happen after I drive away. I always leave with positive thoughts and feelings just to send the cats on their way.

My second release of my certification ride—Ms. Cow Cat dashed for cover, then stopped to look back at us. Let me tell you, that is one very special moment—I can hear her saying “thank for the ride guys! I am home now!” And then she dashes up the front walk to look for her expected dinner. You may ask, “how do you know what happens once they are released?” And I answer you “I don’t.” But I have faith in my heart that these cats always seem to know they are home.

My third release that day was pretty fast, once she decided to end her nap in her feral den!

And my fourth release of the day, Ms Midnight, just did what black panther cats always do—she slipped off into midnight.

In our county, we serve a lot of different cultures of animal ownership. Feline Express™ drivers never know the neighborhoods in which we release cats. But thus far, almost two years later in program operation for OCH, we have had no extremely negative experiences.

I personally want to thank ALL who chose to donate to Outcast Cat Help (OCH)after my first post about my training to become a Feline Express™ driver. OCH continues to be challenged with the realities of being a small, all volunteer, RTF transfer partner with a very very large heart. Once again, I invite anyone who is so inclined to give them a boost by shopping on their Amazon wish list or—even better—give them the gift of freedom by donating funds to allow them to purchase all the needs required to keep the Feline Express™ alive.

My thanks to all Savannah’s readers for supporting her current Paw It Forward Project.

Mom Linda

Posted in Community Cats, Uncategorized and tagged feline express, paw it forward, RTF

19 Feb 2016

49 Comments

Feline Investigation: The Making of a Feline Express™ Driver #Returntofield

Hello All! Mom Linda Here!

If I give you 5 seconds to cite 2 things you know about the Return To Field (RTF) program, what would you say? Could you answer me?

How about if I give you that same 5 seconds to cite the difference between Trap, Neuter Return (TNR) and RTF, could you do that? What is the difference?

Now if you have been following Savannah’s Paw Tracks for 2016, then you might know at least one response to each. Savannah wrote about RTF for her January 2016 Be The Change 4 Animals post.

For the time being, let me provide 2 things in response to my first request—”cite 2 things you know about the Return To Field (RTF) program.” #ReturntoField

It reduces shelter overcrowding by getting the community cats out of the shelter within 3 days.
It immediately reduces euthanasia rates in shelters.

And here are a couple of responses to my second request—”cite the difference between Trap, Neuter Return (TNR) and RTF.”

RTF is strictly dependent on a partnership between a public kill shelter and a local 501 c3 transfer partner rescue.
RTF does not require the shelter or the transfer partner to trap the cats, they are community cats trapped and brought to the shelter by the public.

I started this article with both of those requests because before I started to work with Outcast Cat Help (OCH) , my county shelter’s 501 c3 transfer partner for RTF, I know I could not have responded to either of my own requests in 5 seconds.

My story is about the making of an Outcast Cat Help Feline Express ™ Driver—me. I know that Savannah has been investigating my whereabouts lately. She has been concerned as I come home smelling of not only other cats, but smelling like the public shelter where she was left in the night drop box. She was alone and terrified with no information about her other than she was a stray. So she has a reason for her concern about what I have been doing and where it takes me.

uh oh—this car is parked in front of my old residence

I have been holding off telling her about what I have chosen for our next Paw It Forward Project.

This is worrisome—we need a chat

My training is almost over and soon I will be picking up community cats from the shelter—spayed, neutered, rabies and FVRCP vaccinated and treated for fleas, ear mites, etc. with Revolution and ready to go home to their old ‘hood. I provide them with the last stage of their round trip ticket.

The RTF program in the USA, growing as part of the Million Cat Challenge, is a positive approach for a community to manage the care and treatment of its community cats.

Outcast Cat Help cites six possible paths to dealing with community cats—

Do nothing
Humanely trap the cat and bring it to a shelter
TNR
Humanely deter the cat from personal property
If the cat is slightly friendly, rehome it
Trap the cat, spay/neuter and find a safe place to relocate it such as a barn, warehouse area etc. where it will be fed and watched over

Which of those six possible paths has your own community chosen to follow—whether by intention or through simple lack of planning and action?

For those cats who are humanely trapped and brought to a public shelter, RTF is their ticket back home. Savannah and I are proud to be a part of this humane treatment of community cats being surrendered to our local shelter. You may view captions on the photos in the galleries by hovering over the photo. The captions may assist you in understanding how the series of photos in the gallery fit together.

Mr. Hissy was hiding behind the den box you see this kitty using nicely

Waiting for his Feline Express™ ticket

OCH’s founder, Julie, has five points about RTF that answer questions and concerns some may have about this life saving program.

A free roaming cat is trapped by a member of the public and brought to a shelter. Although the cat is perfectly healthy, she is ‘feral’ and unadoptable. Even if somewhat friendly, the shelter may have neither space nor a foster home to hold her. Traditionally, she would be euthanized, but RTF gives her another chance for life. She is spayed, ear tipped to prove she is altered, vaccinated and held only for a day or two for recovery from surgery. She then is picked up by her Feline Express™ driver to get her round trip ticket punched as she is transported back to the location from which she was trapped, and released by the driver.

FREEDOM!

Hope I don’t see ya again!

When can I leave?

The biggest concern is getting the cat back to its original location. The shelter has the address where it was trapped, but the Feline Express™ driver must determine whether the release site is safe (traffic, opportunity for caretakers versus an empty lot, etc.).

Head’in for the fence line! (see same cat above, caged, head down in box at shelter)

The shelter veterinarian determines before surgery if the cat has a good Body Condition Score (BCS). If yes, then we know the cat is being fed somewhere, but we don’t know where for sure. More often than not, the cat lets us know if we have her in the right neighborhood. She has been quiet the whole trip, until she can smell her home neighborhood, then she begins to meow, not frightened, but eager to get home.

This 5 second video clip shows a grateful kitty—“Thanks for the lift, my house is just around this corner, paw waves!”

RTF immediately reduces the euthanasia rate at the shelter by saving the lives of those community cats who end up there. However, the estimate is that on average, there are 3 more community cats in need of spay/neuter (TNR) for every cat who ends up in the shelter. When we release a cat, we may make a quick sweep of the neighborhood and find out if there are caretakers in need of help with TNR assistance from one of our partner rescues.

I hurt my nose

Missing my neighborhood

HOME AT LAST! YEA!

After releasing this cat, a neighbor told us about a home where about 25 community cats were being fed. One of our TNR partners will visit that neighborhood now and go door to door asking if anyone needs help with spay/neuter.

Our goal is the safe transport and release of a cat back to its home environment. Secondarily, we leave information provided by a brochure from Alley Cat Allies, and our business card, should anyone in the neighborhood have questions or want help with humane management of the community cat population in their area.

You stole my bits & parts!

whooooosh!

Lastly, OCH has established a set of Golden Rules for all of us who drive for the Feline Express™—

Do not trespass when finding a sheltered place to release the cat. Stay off personal property
If asked, do not disclose who is trapping. Simply state the truth—the cat comes from the shelter and has been spayed/neutered, vaccinated, etc.
Release the cat next to bushes or somewhere they can hide.
Release the cat away from the street or parked cars (especially your own car so they do not run and hide under your car, in your engine, etc.).
Do not force the cat out of the feral den. Wait for them to leave it on their own.

Unfortunately, some of the cats have fallen asleep and they do need a bit of a gentle reminder that they are back in their ‘hood.

Now I am curious, how many of you reading this know what a feral den is? Personally, I had no idea. And, this den is a critical component to enable the community cats to stay comfortably in shelter confinement and then Feline Express™ transport to their ‘hood.

Feral Den

OCH must purchase more feral dens as the RTF program with our shelter is beginning to take flight! OCH has a truly viable partner at Contra Costa County Animal Services under the new director. OCH released approximately 601 cats last year and predictions from shelter management are that this can increase almost threefold this year.

If you are able, I am including a link to OCH’s website where donations are greatly needed. This is an ALL volunteer cat rescue, predominately focused on RTF. I have included a short list of supplies we are in great need of as the shelter cannot fund them for us. Some of these are available on OCH’s Amazon Wish List and that link is also on their website.

Feral dens (these cost about $85 USD)
Painter’s tape to seal the dens during transport
Revolution flea, mite treatment
Snap combo test for FeLV and FIV for cats we need to relocate (the person surrendering them asked they not be returned due to safety issues)
Pee pads for the Feline Express™ drivers’ cars as the feral dens do have two holes in the bottom for cleaning

If you are able and willing to help OCH, please leave a note if you can and tell them Savannah sent you. I would like to report back to our readers if we are able to help OCH raise funds for desperately needed supplies. They are working on grants, but those take time and the need is not going to wait.

Please, will you assist Outcast Cat Help continue to provide FREE ROUND TRIP TICKETS on the FELINE EXPRESS™

The work never stops. Check out a couple more of the cats released just this week.

Tabby in Feral Den & then released—zooom!

And Samantha, who was on my last training ride. “Great ride! I’m home now!”

RTF is Savannah’s Paw Tracks next Paw It Forward Project for 2016. It is both a joyful, and heart wrenching, brief moment when I lift the door on the feral den and the cat dashes to freedom—sometimes stopping for a brief second and looking back as though to say “thanks.” Joyful because a life was saved—heart wrenching because I have no guarantee that the cat will be safe, cared for and never suffer—but it IS alive with great hope for a long life.

We simply must all work harder to take action, as suggested on Outcast Cat Helps’ mission—”Humanely Controlling the Cat Population™.”

Links for further information—

Million Cat Challenge sponsored by Maddie’s Fund

Alley Cat Allies

Maddie’s Fund

Best Friend’s Society research

Thank you for sticking around to read my closing appreciation for all that each and every one of you do to help humanely control our community cat population. Keep your commitment, one day at a time.