Search Results for: blog diary of a cat care b ampb feral cat efforts

Killer Cats on the Loose

One of the most popular news stories to break last week was a new estimation of the deaths attributed to domesticated house cats.  We’re not talking people deaths, but the deaths of small birds and mammals; that might seem insignificant, but the number is in the billions.  Researchers from the Smithsonian and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that although the worst offenders are feral and stray cats, one in three domesticated cats also kills animals in its neighborhood.  Those cats average two kills a week. When it’s well-fed, domesticated cats doing the killing, they’re not usually keeping these … Continue reading →

What To Do about Neighbor Cats

I keep going back and forth on whether or not to let my cats outside.  Cole doesn’t have much interest, but Chrestomanci certainly does.  I know he’d be happiest as an indoor-outdoor cat, but I don’t know that I’d be happiest with him as one, and I don’t know that it’s worth the stress.  One day in the summer when we let him out with us, he wandered off.  He came back a few hours later, just as my husband said he would, but by then it was dark and I was very upset until he showed up again. Another … Continue reading →

Not So Wild Cats in the Neighborhood

At the cats-only boarding facility, we keep an eye out for abandoned or feral cats. Leftover food from the guests is set out twice a day for our “regulars”. We even do our best to catch, spay or neuter, and find homes for the feral cats who hang out behind the building. But those aren’t the only abandoned kitties I deal with. There’s a sizable abandoned cat population at the apartment complex where I live. There are two in particular who live and hang out right by my door: a pair of mostly black kitties. One is extremely friendly; the … Continue reading →

TNR Programs Gaining Popularity

What is TNR, you ask? TNR stands for Trap-Neuter-Return… and is a policy for dealing with feral cat populations that is gaining popularity. There are currently more than two hundred TNR organizations operating across the United States, including the ASPCA and the Humane Society of the United States. One big question raised with Trap-Neuter-Return programs is: why not try to find homes for the cats, if you’ve gone to all that trouble? The answer is not so easy. Some feral cats are adoptable, and most TNR programs do try to find homes for friendly strays. However, a lot of feral … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: Abandoned!

I was just thinking the other day how I hadn’t had any blog-worthy adventures at work lately. Today I had one! When we showed up for work this morning, I saw a sight I’d been dreading for the past year and more: a cardboard box and a bag of food with a note attached. Inside the box? A pair of cats who had been abandoned at the vet’s office. The box was blocking the door, so I nudged it out of the way in order to get the door open. But when I went to pick the box up, it … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: Adventures in Cat Trapping

We have a new stray hanging around the cats only boarding facility. I haven’t seen him yet, but my coworkers have. He’s a grey tabby with a white belly, and he doesn’t seem healthy at all. If we can catch him, the vets can take a look at him and help him if possible. Thus, the great Cat Trapping Project began. A few weeks ago, we hauled out the big wire trap and set it with a tempting meal of mush inside. Morning one: the bowl is empty. The trap has been sprung. Nobody’s inside. Morning two: the bowl is … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: Two Happy Endings for the Price of One

At the beginning of the summer, someone called the cats-only boarding facility hoping to find her lost cat. She was staying at a nearby hotel and the cat had slipped out when someone had come to the door. (It’s all too easy for this to happen, as I learned when I was on my cross-country trip with Moose and Lally!) We promised to keep an eye out for her cat — a grey kitty with big blue eyes. Since we leave food out for the local feral cats, we often get other wanderers stopping by for a nibble. But months … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: Hi-Ho Silver!

We have a very special guest right now at the cats-only boarding facility: a friendly little cat we call Silver. I’ve mentioned our feral cat efforts before — we leave leftover food out for strays and feral cats. When a new stray comes by to nibble, we try to catch him or her for a check-up. The folks on the vet side will do a full exam, give the cat a round of vaccinations, and spay/neuter as needed. Last weekend, I met Silver. He was out by the food dish as I pulled into the parking lot. I crouched at … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: Why Am I Working Here, Anyway?

I was chatting with a client at the cats-only boarding facility, and mentioned (as I often do) my two dogs, Moose and Lally. The client asked if I had any cats, and I said that I didn’t. She then asked me why I was working at a cat place if I didn’t have any cats. My usual answer is this: “So I won’t be tempted to bring any of them home!” And that is part of the reason. We’ve had abandoned kitties staying at the boarding facility before. While I did become somewhat attached to them, I knew I couldn’t … Continue reading →

Too Many Dead Baby Birds

Posted on by

I was out walking my two dogs this afternoon… and saw a weird lump on the sidewalk. As we got closer, my eyes and brain puzzled the lump into a shape. It was a dead baby bird. A few feet away, there was another sad little lump that turned out to be a baby bird. I looked in the landscaping nearby to see if I could find a nest, but I couldn’t. But we do have a LOT of cats roaming around the complex, both indoor/outdoor cats and feral cats. I fear that the baby birds (and the entire nest) … Continue reading →