Blog 06/15/15 to 06/21/15  

Relocations and In Take

Our Cats after Release

Bad Calls/Emails:  If You Feed Them, You Own Them!

BMG (Bitch/Moan/Groan):  Now I Have 20

OMG (Oh My God):  Bat Rescue

Tribute to Jimmy, Barn Cat from Katrina

Relocations and In Take:   Placed 5 this week with intake at 2.    

1                 Indoor/Outdoor House in (Binx)

1                 Barn in Ponder (Tiger)

3          Bonham Rescue

Our Cats after Release:  

1.     Van Alstyne – Flower and Princess were placed in the garage.  Princess was seen that morning on a pile of bricks – critters hide there for sure!   Flower has also been spotted so all is good in Van Alstyne.                                           

           

Bad Calls/EMAILS:  If You Feed Them, You Own Them!

By Texas law, if you feed them, you are considered the OWNER!   When you neighbors complain, don’t say “they are not my cats” because by Texas law they are your cats.  Sorry! 

BMG:  Now I Have 20

I get these calls all the time:  “I started feeding a cat last year.  Now I have 20.  What shall I do?”

Well it is a little late.  You cannot starting feeding one cat without getting that cat sterilized.  That cat will attract others, they have kittens, then kittens have kittens – YES, they will breed with mom to kid, etc.  I have to refer them to folks that do trapping and spay/neuter.  We are on the back end of the problem and they need help on the front end.  ALSO – 9 out of 10 time the person is elderly and/or disabled.  Just feeding is not really helping the cats!   Soon your neighbors are angry with the howling when mating, the digging up of flower beds, paw prints on cars, and on and on and on.   Just get them sterilized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      

OMG:  Bat Rescue

YES – there are people that rescue bats!   The Barn Cat volunteers found a mama bat in my backyard with 3 babies attached to her.  Donna moved her into the monkey grass where she would be protected.  Sometime in the last 13 years of Barn Cats, I received a call from someone that did bat rescue…so I know these folks existed but did not know where.  I found Bat World Sanctuary Inc. at https://batworld.org/local-rescue/.  From there you enter your zip code and a BUNCH of names/phone numbers popped up in the DFW area.  One was just down the road from me in Flower Mound.  I called her and took over our mama.  She said the babies get too heavy and mom cannot fly.  She was going to remove the two bigger babies and release mom with the smallest of the three.  The other two will remain in rescue until they are old enough to be on their own.  This was very interesting.  You never know what you can find on the internet.   

 

Tribute to Jimmy, Barn Cat from Katrina

Jimmy was a tabby and white cat from New Orleans.  He survived hurricane Katrina in the 9^th Ward – the worst hit area.  He was rescued by volunteers and taken to the Alley Cat Allies base came across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans.  Trapping of the feral cats could not start until two months following the hurricane due to the curfew so Jimmy lived in that toxic mess for at least two months.  I went to New Orleans to volunteer for one week and brought back 10 or 12 cats with me to the Dallas area.  Jimmy was brought to the Dallas area in December by another transporter.  Barn Cats, Inc. took a total of 54 from the New Orleans area over a 6-month period.    On Christmas day 2005, Jimmy was in a cage in my dining room.  He was reaching out to “play” with my guys…so…I let him out.  He got along very well with the other cats and I just decided it did not matter.  Once a year, Nancy and I wrangled him into a cat carrier for his shots and exam.  I decided would be a good idea to keep a Katrina cat to see if his health would be effected by sitting in that muck for 2 months.  As the years progressed, Jimmy still remained FERAL – FERAL – FERAL but was well behaved and never tried to escape.  Everything was good until June this year.  His weight was dropping and I could see his hip bones.  On Tuesday, June 16^th, Nancy and I wrangled him into a carrier and I dropped him off at All Care with a note to “Do whatever is necessary to see what is bothering him…blood work, x-rays, etc.”  Several hours later, Dr. Patty called with the bad news…Jimmy had a massive tumor in his intestines.  Surgery was ruled out and euthanasia was the recommendation.  Jimmy passed over the Rainbow Bridge about 12:30 pm last Tuesday.  This one was hard.  He had been through so much in his younger years but his last 10 years were protected here at Barn Cats.  I finally got to pet him as he laid on the vet table under sedation.  What a nice boy!   RIP, Jimmy!  You were loved here at Barn Cats, Inc. and we will miss you. 

  

Several years ago, I had an oil painting done of Jimmy with a New Orleans background of broken windows.  Gaye Kelley from Highland Village, TX did the painting.  

“Thanks” for following the Barn Cats Blog.  See you all next week.      Peg