Kitten pile picture

Mama had another kitten in the middle of the night Tuesday night - a little tortie. And one of the buff kittens now appears to be orange not buff. Here's our "kitten pile", the two mamas and all of the kittens are together. The first mama is more scared and the second mama is very protective of the first mama. They are probably siblings or close as pretty much all the cats in that colony that we're helping TNR are all about the same age. 

We've got babies and they're multiplying...

So I should not make a comment like "this kitten season doesn't seem as bad last kitten season".  In March 2009, we have over 17 kittens that were 6 weeks old or younger.  But so far we've really only had the N kittens and the Alphabet Soup kittens. 

• Then came Bessie and Bandit last week (the little white kitten with gray tabby mark on head and her brother the brown tabby). 
• Monday came a little orphan kitten - has been bottle fed since day 1 and is now about 5-6 days old
• And then later Monday, came a single kitten from the trailer park - about 5 days old, buff)
• Then came the mama trapped yesterday that gave birth in the back of Marie's car in the trap (3 orange kittens born around 7PM last night)
• Then last night around 9P, another single kitten from the trailer park.  Most likely sibling of the first buff kitten.  He stayed at my house last night and I syringe fed him throughout the night (easier to see exactly how much he was eating) and then I took him to the two mamas at Marie's house this morning. 

The pictures aren't great, they are all iPhone pictures.

Don't forget the "Faces of Rescue" project

Don't forget the Faces of Rescue Project
Starting April 1, Olga, a talented local artist, will paint portrait of 1 CAT per DAY for 100 DAYS. Each painting will be done in oils on 8x8 canvas or panel and will be available for purchase for $75.00 with 50% of the proceeds donated to Safe Haven for Cats and Alley Cats and Angels. The project is open to any rescued cat.

You can read more about the project and see a portfolio of Olga's paintings (including a painting of Alley Cats and Angels' handsome mancat, Jasper), visit http://owagner.fineartstudioonline.com/other2. 

You can track the progress of the Faces of Rescue project on Olga's blog at http://catclawsstudio.blogspot.com/2010/03/faces-of-rescue-project-april-1st.html

These paintings will make a great gift to a fellow animal lover (or for yourself) and they are real paintings -- not sketches, not prints, paintings -- they are oil painting on canvas.  And they are gorgeous.  And the price can't be beat, only $75 for an original oil painting. 

And a great big thank you to Olga Wagner for doing such a wonderful project.

Thank you Stop Sign Graphics

For designing, creating, and donating several beautiful double-sided reusable yard sale signs.  And for the gorgeous 9 foot wide by 3 foot high banner -- which we'll put to a lot of use very soon - yard sale, Apex Peak Fest, and the CFA Cat Show.

Stop Sign Graphics:  www.stopsigngraphics.com

Week update

Adoptions and Intake
Well adoptions are still slow and weekly intake outweighed adoptions for the fourth week in a row.  Now we're faced with the hard decision of not being able to take in any more cats until we have some adoptions (with the exception of the kittens we have already agreed to take in that are coming to us this week).   Of course there are always exceptions (when incoming is closed) due to extenuating circumstances and we address those on a case by case basis.

Only Bedford was adopted this weekend and that was a planned adoption.  His "Auntie Kate" took him on the airplane and got him settled in at her brother's house and surprisingly enough, Bedford was calm on the airplane.  Picasso does have a meet and greet set up for this week, and there is someone interested in Jasper.

In addition to the kittens we took in at the beginning of the week, we took in two cats Saturday.  We took in Lord Byron, a handsome black and white young adult, found wandering around a local college campus and also very timid 5-month old gray tabby girl who needs alot of one-on-one attention from a feral colony. 

Trailer Park Cats
Trapping at the trailer park is going well.  We have lots of spay/neuter appointments this week.  Marie trapped 6 cats there yesterday in a short time in addition to the several others she already trapped. Unfortunately one had to be euthanized because cancer had eaten away a good portion of her face - poor kitty, but she's no longer in pain and has some peace at last.  We have a barn home for four of the trailer park cats, but the others will be TNR'd and we will continue to TNR the trailer park cats.  As we get barn homes, the cats will be retrapped and relocated to barn homes.  The colony size is too big and has to be cut down to a manageale size and all cats spayed/neuter.

Barn/Garden Cat Program
We relocated four cats last weekend.  Two to a local business and two to a barn near Mebane.  We relocated one cat yesterday (friendly but not suited to living indoors only) to a garage/garden home yesterday.  He did well last night and seemed to like the children petting him.  This boy was living behind a pet store and was be let into the loading dock at night to sleep.  I think he'll be very happy there, it's a really nice garage and the land is beautiful and he'll get love and attention.

We have several relocations lined up for this weekend.  Three relos with a total of seven cats being relocated.  Four are from the trailer park.  Three are from another situation where the cats need to be moved.  We also have a barn home for three of our other cats lined up (ones that never quite tamed up for adoption) but the barn isn't quite completed yet so it will be a few more weeks before they are relocated.  But New York, Nova, and Tanner will be going to a barn together and I think they will be very happy.  The barn owners are hoping the cats will want some attention in time and I think these guys will.  Of course they understand it's possible the cats may never want attention.  Typically the highest risk cats are relocated first but when the barn owners want cats that have potential to be friendly, the hard core ferals on the waitlist are not a good fit. 

So busy, busy, busy as always.  Too bad we all have to work these pesky full-time paying jobs to be able to afford to rescue.