Since April we have been busy. SO busy I haven't been posting anything. We have had 10 fosters since April and I almost don't know where to begin!
I guess I can go back to May and Marco.
Well, May and Marco, as hard as I tried, just didn't like us. Or our home. Or our cats. They never lost their wild fear and panic of anything human as much as I tried.
They were just too old when I caught them it seems or possibly, as my vet suggested, they have a genetic disposition for being wild.
We had them both fixed (trapping them was terrifying in order to get them to the vet) and thought the best option for them was to re-release them where we picked them up. Any shelter would have put them down within 10 days for lack of adoptability and being too feral. I hate that I was unable to successfully socialize them but then once I came to my final decision, I was glad that they hadn't lost their wild instincts.
So after having them fixed we caught them both back into our cat carrier (which was difficult and terrifying, if I hadn't mentioned that yet) and took them outside. We went to the bushes where they had lived as kittens and where we caught them. We put down the carrier and waited a few minutes for them to smell their surroundings and get their bearings.
May was right at the door and shot out like a rocket once it was unzipped. I watched her run along the bushes and then across the small parking lot towards the other bushes in front of our apartment. I tried to keep her in my sights but to no avail.
Jaywon was watching as Marco slowly walked out went under the building and then back into the bushes where we fed them when they were kittens.
I saw them two nights later and every night for the week or so after that, May following her mom around the parking lot, hopping from rock to rock she seemed very happy. I have been feeding them and I continue to put food out for them, seeing them now every few days. I know they found each other and since they are both fixed, they should stay together, hopefully for the remainder of their lives. Not a success, but the best possible outcome given the circumstances.
Just before letting May and Marco out, their mom (who I know had given birth a few weeks earlier) came to me for food one afternoon and while she was eating I peeked in the same bushes where Marco and May used to spend time with her. I spotted a white kitten, then two. Probably about 3-4 weeks old. I instantly called Jay to see what his reaction would be. He was encouraging me to get them if I could, so, it began again.
I went up to get the cat carrier and a towel and when I came back I found not two but four kittens. I was able to grab them all quickly and easily, putting them in the carrier and rushing them upstairs to a box with a towel. Luckily they were at that perfect age where they, if necessary, could begin eating wet kitten food. They sucked it for the first few days, getting covered in their food from face to chest to stomach. For a week at least, they all smelled like tuna until they learned to eat without being so messy.
Did I mention Mr. Peaches? There was also a week of a very wonderful man (young cat, 8 months?) who came up to my husband outside and laid at his feet. Mr. Peaches went to a wonderful family who was so excited to adopt him after just one week in our home.
Then there was June. At the beginning of June my husband was again on his way to work and heard a horrible crying. He found this kitten in the drizzling rain, alone and heaving with sobs. As other commuters walked by my husband leaned down and picked this baby up. He used a half day of work that day to stay with the kitten until I came home from work and met at the vet when they opened. Jun was so sick and weak, he lived just a few days and died at the vet two days later. At least he had some comfort and love before he passed on.
And I guess that brings us up to present. A house of 6 cats/kittens. Some pending adoptions and a new kitten in the back room.
I get to that next time. Photos to come.
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