Last Thursday I went to visit family. I was gone all day and when I arrived at my apartment complex, something special had happened that would change my life over the weekend. Danny had also just arrived home and was standing next to his truck with two bowls of food. He told me there were kittens. One black kitten and two grey kittens.
They were playing in the parking lot and occasionally running and hiding under parked vehicles. This to me was a problem, why on earth are there kittens outside? Who would do this? Well, the answer is they were born wild and there mother is a feral cat. But at this point I had no idea there was a mother, just three kittens running and playing in a parking lot at 10:30 PM.
Danny had gone inside and I had brought out more food and drink supplies for the kittens. I did not want these animals to starve, but at the same time, I thought, if I get close to one maybe I can catch it. Not a chance they were way too fast and use to their surroundings. There main hangout is behind a garbage bin in our parking lot. Behind the garbage bin there is a small forest that separates our apartment buildings from a nursing home, called Avalon. So like wild animals, they live in the forest.
Great Book!
With no success of catching any of these beautiful kittens I decided to go inside at about midnight and develop a plan. I thought maybe I could catch one with some dry cat food and my duffel bag cat carrier. Just like Mercer Mayer’s There’s An Alligator Under My Bed, I would lure the kittens with trails of food: cat food and tuna. Of course I’d be catching a kitten and not an alligator!
Well Friday came along and it started to rain all day. I became overly concerned so I started to do my part and call the first thing that came to mind: The Humane Society of Madison, WI. They gave me the runaround and said I needed to call Dispatch.
I called Dispatch/Non-Emergency Police and told them about the kittens and they said, “I don’t know why the Humane Society had us call you. Our traps are too big to catch kittens. What you should try to do is catch them yourself with a cat carrier, or a box or something.” Blah, blah, blah! Just another runaround.
Already frustrated, as it began to really down pour rain, I called my friend and cat expert Wendy. She was very optimistic and suggested I try to catch them myself or contact Angel’s Wish, a nice organization who helps homeless cats.
Meanwhile kittens drown while you eat your donuts!
I emailed Angel’s Wish and left them a phone message. Here are the emails:
My email:
My name is Joey Broyles.
There are three kittens roaming around behind a large trash bin. I’ve been trying to catch them, but with no success! As soon as I get within 2 feet they scare away! One thing about where they hang out is there is a miniature forest where they hide out! And I haven’t ventured into it, yet! Any advice or could you perhaps assist once this rain subsides!
LOCATION:
PHONE NUMBER:
I fed them last night. Dry food and water. And I left some food out for them this morning before it started to rain. I’d say they are about 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. Two are grey, one black with white paws. I really want to get these kittens some good homes.
My friend Wendy suggested you guys!
I get off work at 6pm and would love to be able to help you.
Angel’s Wish Response Email:
The rescue organization that may be best able to help with your situation would be Friends of Ferals http://www.daneferals.org/
Sue
Utterly annoyed! I of course was starting to get really pissed off because all I wanted to do was to catch the kittens and find them good homes, but no one wanted to help! They’d rather give me the runaround or their organization is too specific to one cause. So I called the Friends of Ferals, but was interrupted by a customer at work, so I decided to work and continue this mission on my own free time.
Work ended and not a moment soon enough. I got home and copy and pasted my same email that I had sent Angel’s Wish, but with one minor change:
My email to Friends of Ferals, same as Angel’s Wish, with this line attached below:
Upon further discovery I’ve learned there is also a mother. Black with brown spots. Please help, everyone has been giving me the runaround and all I want is to see these cats find good homes!
I can’t completely remember the order of events but I went outside and tried to catch a kitten with my duffel bag cat carrier and some dry cat food. Like magic the little black kitten with pretty emerald green eyes started to crawl into the bag and then I quickly picked up the bag and tried to zip it up, but he/she got free! I was so discouraged, but at the same time I knew I needed a real cat carrier, with a door.
Next thing I knew I got a call from Dan from Friends of Ferals and he has been helping me ever since. On Saturday he had someone bring in this genius rig. It’s a cat carrier with the door that locks, but it has a string attached to the door and then is fed through the back of the carrier and then there’s about 6 ft of string. What you do is keep the door open with food in the carrier and then once the kitten is in the carrier all the way, you pull the string from a distance and then the door closes. BAM you catch a kitten. Repeat as necessary.
On Saturday, after work, my sister Jackie and I, went outside to catch some kittens. The original plan was for Jackie to sleep over and then we would keep the kittens in the bathroom and play with them all night. Well wild kittens are a tad different, even if they are only 7 weeks old. Within 10 minutes of setting up the trap with tuna, we had caught our first kitten. He/she is pretty with yellow eyes and a beautiful grey coat, very in this season! We pulled him out by his scruff, so that he’d immediately know who was boss and to calm him down.
We put the kitten in a box, the box on it’s side in the bath tub and the kitten lied down inside with a small clean dish towel. And we pet him a little, but he loves hissing, because he is scared. But within a matter of minutes he had stopped hissing when you pet him. So we decided to catch another kitten.
We went back outside and now there were two kittens. They were buddies and just a little bigger than the other kitten. One black and another one grey like their other sibling. The kittens would take turns going inside the crate and ideally I wanted to catch both of them at the same time, but unfortunately I ended up separating them. I caught the grey one, which was much more aggressive than the one residing in my bathroom. We put a towel over the crate to calm him down.
I brought the kitten upstairs and put him in my bathroom, not opening the crate, because he was scared and so was I. Well we brought Danny into the mix. Danny just opened the crate and the kitten went running out and jumping and pushing Shampoo bottles off the ledges of the tub, hiding behind the toilet, climbing walls, and basically just freaking out. He was so scared. I was afraid if I tried to catch the kitten he would hurt himself or me.
Danny had us leave and then there were terrible sounds coming from the bathroom, straight out horror. The kitten had scratched Danny’s arm and he was bleeding. But he did manage to get him back into the crate. And this was when it was decided that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. So we took both kittens. One in his little box, as calm as could be, and the other in the crate and took them to my Dad’s.
We put the little kitten in a larger cage with his box and the other stayed in his crate for 24 hours with food, water, and a very small litter box. My sister and father are now taking care of those two little kitties.
After work on Sunday, Danny and I went back to my father’s house to check on the kittens and let the jumpy kitten in the crate with its sibling. But we were careful not to touch him/her because it was still scared, but had calmed down a lot. Jackie has already got the smaller one eating off her finger and it has made many improvements. The jumpy kitten is starting to turn around also, it’s Monday and it’s also eating food off the spoon (ie close human interaction, baby steps, but positive interaction).
These are the two grey kittens. Now cuddling! So sweet!
When I left my dad’s house I went home to meet my friend Jamie to catch and foster more kittens. As of now I believe there are two more kittens and the mother, but I have discovered that there is a cat infestation in the forest and a lot of that is spilling into the nursing home Avalon.
Now it’s beyond me that the city of Madison/Fitchburg and the Man-In-Charge at Avalon do not care. The head nurse and I had some conversations and she simply said, “It’s a health hazard.” And it is a health hazard for humans and cats. Now because she is the head nurse, she does not have time: to trap or catch kittens and cats; and take care of the elderly all at the same time. If I were the boss of this establishment I would get in contact with as many organizations as possible. Get the feral spayed or neutered and get these kittens homes!
Not everyone has a heart because some people poison these kittens and cats and think it’s hilarious or a service to man kind. I do not want to hear that shit! I’ll poison the stupid human who does it! Oh no, someone may use this against me at a later date, I don’t care because it’s wrong to kill these innocent animals. All it took was two people who once upon a time dumped a male and a female cat, not spayed, not neutered and bang! POPULATION EXPLOSION! Breeding like rabbits! Eh voila hundreds of cats later, you now have a problem caused by two irresponsible people.
Suffice to say that this weekend I’ve learned that I’m always going to be an animal lover. I’ve found a cause that I deeply believe in and care about. I now know more about feral cats and kittens than I can actually blog about. Anytime it rains or snows, until the day I die, I will be thinking about the two kittens I’ve saved from these horrible conditions. I will also think and say a little animal prayer for all the homeless animals anytime the weather becomes intolerable for me. It may sound hokey and it may make me sound like a little pussy, but I love animals more than I care about how that makes me look!
Don’t forget to spay or neuter your animal. If you know you are going to be irresponsible, eventually, don’t declaw your cat because they won’t have any way to defend themselves in the wild. If you can no longer afford to house your pet, phone a friend,use Craigslist, or contact a shelter. You wouldn’t put your 5 year old child in the forest would you? So don’t do it to your pet. And of course disregard all of this if you are actually a responsible human being!
