Another brilliant invention, continued

Here we go!

See Part 1 here.

Okay, so, I bought a giant, clear storage tote and took it back to the office so MacGyver could cut a hole in one end.  I figured I'd give that to the woman as Step 1, to find out if the cat would enter an enclosed space.  And I Youtubed the subject, to try and get a better idea of the actual mechanics of cat trapping. There were a wealth of videos on "how to build a live animal trap", most of which involved construction similar to a Havahart.  No good.  Then I found a video of this dude from Serbia, who had build a very simple trap to catch weasels, of all things.  His trap was built out of wire mesh, which would not work for the wary cat in question, but the actual set-up was very do-able, with just plywood scraps and some wire comprising the basis of the "trap" part.

I took another look at the plastic storage bin I had purchased.  "I wonder," I asked MacGyver, "If we could just build the trap out of THIS?"

We were on our way.

 MacGyver cut a hole in one end of the tote, and built a sliding drop-down door.  A piece of plywood was zip-tied on one side onto the bottom of the tote.  A piece of rebar wire was connected to the plywood and angled up the side of the tote, where it was placed through a hole in the door frame.  The plywood door was placed vertically in the frame and set against the wire, which was pulled up to make the plywood on the floor angle up.  The weight from the door kept the wire in place, but when a cat entered the tub and stepped on the angled plywood on the floor, it would pop the wire out of the door frame and enable the door to drop down.  The top of the tote was zip-tied on, and airholes were drilled along the sides.

*whew*

The finished product:

I covered the plywood on the floor with a piece of blanket to disguise it.  I placed bowls of food at the back of the tote, past the angled plywood that would trigger the door.  Now the big test - Would it actually WORK?

Oh, Sodapop, come here a minute ...

Hmmm, Sodapop said, what's THIS thing? (you can see the wire to the right of Soda, angled up from the plywood on the floor to the hole in the door frame.)

Oh look, there's FOOD back here!

Sorry, Sodapop, you've been TRAPPED!

Yippee!

Okay, so, the trap worked on *my* cats.  Would it work on stray cats?

The woman decided to try the trap first on not the wily Walmart cat, but on a mama cat with kittens she'd also been trying unsuccessfully to trap. It was very important that the kittens be brought into care as soon as possible, before they became too old to be socialized.

Sunday morning, the trap was set.  On Sunday afternoon, I got a call ...

She'd trapped the mama and kittens!  They were now safely in rescue care!

Next stop:  Wily Walmart mama.  I'll keep you posted.

The "this-is-not-a-cat-trap-this-is-just-a-feeding-station-come-and-get-your-dinner-little-kitty" feral cat trap is a success!

Next stop:  Shark Tank.  hahaha.

Another brilliant invention

Remember that feral cat I was feeding?  The woman who regularly feeds her asked for my help.  She wanted to trap the cat, but the cat was so wary of regular Havahart traps that the woman was trying to figure out a different kind of trap.  A trap without steel or wire mesh.  A large trap that would just look like a feeding station, except that when the cat got to the food, a trap door would close, enclosing the cat in the space.

Hmmmm.

She had given me a sketch of what she was looking for.  It looked do-able, but it also looked like a trap.  With wire mesh on the sides. It was basically a homemade Havahart.

Humpf.

I took the sketch in to the office, and asked my co-worker, who is pretty much a MacGyver,  what he thought, filling him in on the situation.  He agreed that the sides should probably be clear, so as not to look like a trap.  We discussed using a wooden frame with Plexiglass sides, but something like that would be both bulky and (relatively) expensive to build.  I thought that maybe before this woman went to the expense of having something like that built, we should find out if the cat would even walk INTO an enclosed space.  So I went to the Dollar General and picked up a gigantic, clear storage tote.  The plan was that MacGyver would cut a hole on one end of the tote, and the woman could start leaving the cat's food in the upside-down tote, so that we could see if the cat would be willing to enter it.  THEN, if the cat would go in the tote, we could discuss the logistics of building the wood-and-Plexiglass model.

Hoo boy this is getting long, ain't it?  To be continued ...

Saturday at the shelter

Saturday, I spent the day at the shelter.  So last week, I made a cardboard cat condo to take with me.  Of course, my boys had to check it out first.  "Okay, laydee, looks good; we think the shelter cats will like it!":

Soda decided that further quality control testing was warranted:

Saturday morning, it was time to head for the shelter.  I made a stop along the way, because this kind woman was donating lots of stuff! She didn't have time to run it up to the shelter, so I took it along with me.

Now for the big moment - Would the shelter cats like their new condo?

Yep, it was a hit!

Plain cardboard is also fine, as far as the cats are concerned:

No, the floor isn't dirty.  It's just an old concrete floor that's all scuffed and stained.  The shelter is going to cover it with easily-cleanable tile, just as soon as somebody hits the lottery.

This pretty girl is looking for a home:

And here's my favorite part of spending time at the shelter - Time for a kitty pile!  Come on, guys, I'll sit on the floor, now pile on!:

At one time point I had a lap full of cats, plus not one but TWO cats up on my shoulders.  Covered in cats!  No good for my allergies, but always lots of fun.

Uh-oh

Curious George is sick.

And I am angry.

I told the people at the shelter, repeatedly, that I had a cat with chronic health conditions and needed to adopt a healthy cat.

And they assured me that George was healthy.

And then I got to the shelter last night, and they said that there was a virus going around, and that George had sneezed, "once". "But we really don't think he's got it, and we'll give you some pills to take home, just in case he might come down with it."

Well. I should have known right then, but foolishly, I thought, "ah, what's one little sneeze?"

Within five minutes of getting George home, it was obvious that he had an upper respiratory infection. The wheezing is a pretty sure sign. And then, I noticed that his ears were badly gunked up. And oh yeah, his one eye is all cloudy.

Jeezus Christ.

The shelter was closed last night, but I called this morning and left a message on their answering machine. A message stating that George was sick and would need to come back to the shelter.

Because what part of "my other cat has a chronic medical condition and cannot be around sick cats" did these people choose not to understand?

I have George sequestered in the spare bedroom, so hopefully Little Girl will not catch whatever he's got before I can get him back to the shelter, but man, I am not a happy camper this morning.

I am angry. And that shelter's got some goddamn explaining to do.

Breaking News!

The shelter just called - after FIVE DAYS of waiting, the board has approved my application. Tomorrow afternoon, Curious George will be coming home with me.

Dude.

And because I am a glutton for punishment, I have been googling "cats getting along", to read heartwarming stories of cat BFFs.

And what I am finding instead is story after story about cats who hate each other, about cats who have been fighting for YEARS, about how Princess has the living room and kitchen but Buster has the bedrooms and the basement, and

yikes.

LOOK. I KNOW that cats can peacefully co-exist. Little Girl LOVED her brother, and she is fond of all the cats in the neighborhood. My sister Ditzy at one point had FIVE cats, all of whom got along. It's just that, well, reading all these internet horror stories about cat wars is starting to freak me out.

SO! I need your help. Please tell me your stories about cats who get along. About cats who enjoy each other's company. About successful shelter adoptions.

Because I could use a little reassurance right now.

You guys ...

... I picked Curious George.

I don't know how to explain it ... he was just so CALM and so FRIENDLY and so ...

... crammed into a cage in which he could just about turn around.

I COULD NOT HELP IT.

It was, in the end, a process of elimination. Scooter was in the shelter where he could walk around and play and snooze where he chose, so I felt like he was less in need of a jailbreak. Linus was adorable and small and he's going to get adopted real soon anyway. That left Curious George and Turtle.

Turtle was in a big cage, so he had room while he waited for his new home. He was also a little bit ... hesitant with me. I don't know, I just really got the feeling he was waiting for someone else, not me. And he was a BIG cat. I was scared he would intimidate Little Girl.

So George it is.

This is by no means a done deal. My application has to go before the board of the shelter for approval(!). And I do let my current cat outside, and I understand that one of the members of the board is vehement about keeping cats inside, so that could stiff the deal.

So we will see, George and me.

I'll keep you posted.

Like I said, it's not about the names, per se ...

I have a confession to make. I have been cheating on my shelter.



Trying to find a match for Little Girl, I've been back to the shelter several times. Things are getting ... odd there. I'm NOT going to go into details: Let's just say I've visited another shelter.
And right now, between the two shelters, there are four possible matches for Little Girl. They are:



1. Linus






Linus is a medium-sized cat who is two years old. He was found hit by a car. The shelter's vet says he will be fine. He is friendly and relaxed, although he looks like he's about to have a panic attack in that photo. (Photos are not mine.) He looks a little bit like The Runt.


2. Scooter. I do not have a picture of Scooter. He is a very friendly, medium-sized tabby cat who gets along with other cats and is two years old. Actually, Scooter looks a lot like:



3. Curious George.




Curious George is six years old and is friendly and, well, curious. He has been at the shelter since July.

4. Turtle.


Turtle is a big, two year old cat who is described as "the most laid-back cat at the shelter". He has been at the shelter since April. The only downside to Turtle is that his size might intimidate Little Girl. Then again, virtually any cat except for a kitten is going to be bigger than Little Girl.



Complicating things, because with me things ALWAYS get complicated, is the fact that three of these cats are in a shelter that keeps their cats in individual cages, meaning the poor things have no room at all to run or play. The fourth cat is in a shelter where the cats are kept in "runs", meaning he has room to walk about or play as he chooses. The rescuer in me is saying to jailbreak a cat from the individual-cage shelter, but I also feel that with the cat from the "run" shelter, at least I already know that he can get along with other cats, although then again, some of the cats at the "run" shelter seem to have developed aggressive traits as a survivor mechanism.

Frankly, I feel that ANY ONE of these cats would be a good match for Little Girl.

Gah. Making decisions is HARD. Feel free to advise me in the comments!

Good News

So! I stopped by the shelter on Saturday morning to see if they needed any help, and ... no. They had all the volunteers they needed for the day, which ... I have to admit, getting turned down to volunteer stung a little bit, but oh well.

And! Guess what! New Kitty has a new home! She was adopted by a family with children, which means that she'll get to grow up with kids, which, how cool is THAT? She's such a playful little thing.

Unfortunately, Momma did not go with her, but she's hardly more than a kitten herself, and the shelter is hopeful that she'll find a home soon.

Since the shelter didn't want me on Saturday (rats), I decided to head up to Ithaca. Where I found this:

Get out of the way, Little Girl! Sheesh.

Here ya go:

Because evidently I am six, this just tickles me. And by yesterday afternoon a couple of slugs had moved in, which is kind of gross, but everybody's gotta live someplace, right?

A few bad parents

Oh that's right my frayyynds, I'm just like the Energizer Bunny today. I keep going and going and going ...

While I was at the shelter last night, I asked if they were in need of volunteers, figuring that at this time of year, with the kids out of school, they probably had more volunteers than they could use.

"Actually", Shelter Lady said, "We don't let kids under the age of eighteen volunteer anymore unless their parents are with them."

And do you know why? Do you know why? As it turns out, Shelter Lady explained, parents were using the shelter as a BABYSITTING SERVICE. That's right, they were dropping their beloveds, some of whom DID NOT WANT TO BE THERE, off in the morning, telling them basically to "go play with the cute kitties", and picking them up in the afternoon, expecting the SHELTER to provide supervision and entertainment to a bunch of bored kids.

Which ... WHO DOES THAT? What kind of an asshole would just DROP THEIR KID OFF at an animal shelter and expect the shelter to take care of the kid for the day?

As it turns out, enough parents DID THAT that the shelter had to change their policies to keep it from happening.

Sheesh.

But! It's good news for me, because the shelter DOES need volunteers. So I am going to stop by tomorrow morning and see if I can help. I predict that scooping lots of litterboxes is in my future.

And oh! I have ALL KINDS of ideas for how to make the shelter more effective, beginning with giving those poor cats some HALFWAY DECENT NAMES, for Christsakes, and ... I am going to keep my mouth SHUT. I am going to keep my mouth SHUT and possibly LEARN something for a damn change. Interesting concept, no?

This could be the start of something really cool.

Possible matches

Okay, first off, scroll down, because there are multiple posts going up today!


Okay! Now, before I talk (and talk and talk and TALK, heh) about volunteering, I'd like to talk about Little Girl's possible matches.

After the New Kitty adoption went so poorly, Shelter Lady and I spent a lot of time on the phone discussing who might be right for Little Girl. And when I went in last night, Shelter Lady had some possible matches picked out.

One was Oreo (gak!), a black-and-white who evidently was an indoor/outdoor cat in his past life, because he wants OUT of that shelter. The shelter prefers that their cats stay inside at their new homes, but Oreo is so clearly longing to be outside that they feel he may be best suited to be an indoor/outdoor cat. Which, how perfect would that be? At my house, he can go outside, any time he wants. And he is laid-back and friendly and good with other cats.

Another possible match was Benjy, a brown striped cat who was laid back to the point of being catatonic (Ha! CATatonic. Sorry.).

There was Little Boy Blue (WHO IS NAMING THESE CATS?), who is not blue (SURPRISE), and Tigger, and some others.

There was another cat there, Water Baby, who I really took a shine to, mainly because the poor thing has been at that shelter for YEARS, but Shelter Lady was not sure if he would be a good match for Little Girl. And you know what? For ONCE, I shut up and LISTENED. Imagine that!

So! Possible matches. A lot of them were girls, and I don't know why, but I'm pretty sure at this point that Little Girl would prefer a boy companion. For one thing, boy cats (well, NEUTERED boy cats, anyway) tend to be more laid-back when it comes to getting along with other cats. And there are lots of boys there.

And you know what? Maybe, in the end, none of them will match. Maybe Little Girl will be an only cat, and if that's the way she wants it, that's okay too. For once, it's not all about ME, and I feel like I'm learning ALL KINDS of things from this experience. Holy cow! Who'd a thunk it?


So time will tell, and I am going to start volunteering there (more on that later), and I will get to know all of these cats better.

So many cats!

New Kitty, aka Mona, aka Sideshow Betty

Okay, I'm doing several posts today as time allows, so scroll down for previous stuff.

Now! More shelter stories!

I had been calling the kitten of whom Little Girl was afraid "New Kitty". I know, original, right? It's just, the shelter had named her Mona, which, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE, and I was calling her "New Kitty" until I could come up with a name. I eventually decided on Sideshow Betty, but by then it was clear that she had to go back to the shelter *sob*.

So! I go to the shelter last night, and there is Mona (UGH). And there's another, older cat in her run, and Shelter Lady explained that that was Mona's MOMMA.

Could you just die? I had no idea that Mona's MOMMA was at the shelter too.

Oh! And you should have seen those guys! They were romping and playing and Mona would POUNCE on her momma and her momma would be all paws in the air, all, "Help! Help! I'm being attacked by a ferocious kitty!"

It was HYSTERICAL.

And the shelter has decided that it would probably best if Mona and her momma are adopted together, which, how cool is THAT? And when I left last night, there was a woman there who was looking for a new kitty and was very interested in the story of Mona and her momma.

Coming soon: Volunteer time.

Oh my God you guys I am SO GLAD I went

So! I went to the shelter last night. I KNOW. You guys, it went SO WELL.

Okay, first of all, I am really crunched for time today, with actual, like, DEADLINES and stuff, so I am going to have to squeeze this in a chunk at a time. Please be patient. Here's some highlights:

The bad news? New Kitty has not yet been adopted. The good news? She has been REUNITED WITH HER MOMMA. I didn't even know her mother was there, but she is, and the two of them are now sharing a run and are so happy it is incredible.

There are several cats there who would be a possible match for Little Girl. I am going to take my time for damn once and THINK about this.

I will have an opportunity to get to know the possible matches, as starting tomorrow, I'm going to be volunteering at the shelter.

And despite kids being out of school, they still need volunteers, because a few lousy parents ruined the whole kid-volunteer gig.

Okay! I have to go do some work for which I will earn actual money! Back soon.