Blog 02/24/14 to 03/02/14
Relocations and In Take
February Closeout
Our Cats after Release
Tributes to Sweetie and Sam
Calls/EMAILS You Don’t Want to Get – Grotto Name
Change
BMG (Bitch – Moan - Groan) – Disadvantages of
Technology
OMG (Oh My God) – Our Equipment
Relocations and In Take: Placed 13 this week with intake at 16.
3 Barn in Gunter (Sister, Sara, Alice)
2 Plant Nursery in Flower Mound (Nali,
Dea)
2 Workshop in Terrell (Sophie, Cici)
2 Return to Owner (Blackie, Carl)
4 Bonham Rescue
February Closeout
We placed 73 in 10 North
Texas counties. This was the best
February ever for us.
Bosque Dallas Fannin Johnson Tarrant
Collin Denton Grayson Kaufman Wise
Cats after Release: Picked
up equipment in 6 locations this week in 4 counties.
1.
Fort Worth
(Pinky, Sister, Taylor): These 3 girls
went to live in a bathroom attached to a workshop/garage off a swimming pool
area. They have seen two of the three
which is good. Below is a picture of
either Pinky or Sister (both are black) peeking out of the garage. Notice her tipped left ear!
2.
South Lake
(Sherlock, Jasper, Flash): Flash, the
most feral, has only been seen once. The
two black boys, Sherlock and Jasper, were both running around and very visible. Got one picture of Jasper – tough to photograph
black cats! The barn owner sent a
picture of Flash. Life is good in
Southlake!
Jasper
3.
Terrell (Geri,
Gandalf, Marty, Willie): Did not get to
see any of our cats at this location. I
was putting cats out at her daughter’s next door so she brought over the caging
before I arrived. She has been 3 out of
the four: again – we seem to lose one of
each group.
4.
Burleson (Annie,
Miss Kitty): These 2 girls are hiding
out in the rafters of the barn. The
property owners have seen them, but I did not.
Both are still there and doing well.
5.
Burleson (Tuffy,
Mirabella, Smokey, Oscar): All are
hanging out in the workshop area. The
owners built them a special elevated area and all are doing well. Oscar (The Grouch who came from Highland
Village Animal Services) is KING OF THE HILL and lets everyone pet him –
especially if they have treats! TYPICAL
GUY!
6.
Denton (Heckel,
Jeckel): Put these brothers in a garage
in Denton. I did not get to see them but
was assured they are both still there.
Tributes to Sweetie and Sam
1.
Sweetie was an
elderly tabby cat that had come from Denton.
I felt that he was too old to place so he was living WARM and DRY in the
cat room with other permanents – Tinker, Bunny, Valentina, Tess, and
Rambo. I went into the cat room about
11:30 on Thursday morning and found that he had passed away. He was eating and pooping well so this was
probably a heart attack. It appeared he
died peacefully…we should all be that lucky.
RIP, Sweetie!
2.
Sam was an orange
tabby that (although a senior cat) appeared at first to be in good health. BUT – he ate like a horse but started losing
weight. His blood work was okay which is
not a good thing when you are losing weight.
It was x-ray time and the results were not good: cancer in several parts of his body. I put Sam to sleep on Thursday afternoon at
All Care. Dr. Gregg gave him a
compliment: “Wish I had known him in
better health. Bet he was a great
cat!” I agree. Sam and Sweetie will both be missed.
Calls/EMAILS You Don’t Want to Get: Grotto Name Change
We
have two fundraisers each year. In June
(this year Sunday June 1st) we gather at Grotto in Highland Village
for dinner and an auction to benefit Barn Cats, Inc. The restaurant is taking part in a new restaurant-related
reality show that is schedule to air in April or May. With that, they got a total make-over (paint,
drapes, layout, etc.) plus a new stove or other cooking appliance that is a
HUGE expense. But also there was a name
change…
FROM: The Grotto – A Salerno Steakhouse
TO:
Bistecca -- An Italian Steakhouse
After
a little research, Bistecca is Itialian for beefsteak. BUT – there is nothing on the menu that is
Italian...except the owner. Because of
where we are, Bistecca sounds like the name of a MEXICAN RESTAURANT – not a
fine-dining steakhouse. The menu has not
changed: steaks, seafood, great soups
and salads, plus my favorite: Shrimp
Grotto. My black cat, Randy, starts dancing
and meowing when I come in with shrimp tails from Grotto. He is my gourmet cat, I guess!
BMG: Disadvantages of Technology
I received a call on
Tuesday from a Lisa who had found a feral with a broken leg. The vet said it needed to be repaired by the
end of the week because of gang green setting in. She was looking for a person or group to
treat the cat because her husband had not worked for several months. WELL – her phone is set up to NOT LEAVE A NUMBER
– I have seen this before. BUT this was
different: In her message the phone
actually REMOVED the number as she said it.
Where was a blank space where she left her phone number with voice both
before and after that blank space. I
have never seen/heard this before – but if you need help, make sure these types
of “features” are not activated. I had
NO WAY to contact her. I am sure that
other groups she contacted had the same problem. POOR KITTY!
I would have had her take it to All Care and we get that leg either
fixed or removed – whatever was appropriate.
I just felt so helpless!
OMG: Our
Equipment
I hand-deliver each and
every cat to the barn site that has been selected for them. Plus, each barn owner signs paperwork that
they will take care of the cats and our equipment. Numerous times the water containers that we
use have broken (failed to hold water any longer). We had seen a lot of this during this winter
with the extreme cold. I had this in two
locations this week. ONLY ONE OTHER TIME
in our 12 years have I picked up equipment with PAINT ON IT. This week there was white paint on several
pieces of the caging. PEOPLE: Please treat our stuff like your stuff…that
is all we ask. We cannot replace this
caging – it is no longer made. All the
pieces are separate for easy moving and storage. The “newer” caging is the suitcase type where
all the pieces fold in on each other.
Those are sooooo heavy that it always takes two people to move
them. Sometimes I am carrying our stuff
over-land to the barn…so the individual pieces are much more practical for
us. That other location was in Grapevine
where the workers used our equipment to hold their horse jumping poles while
they put a fresh coat of paint on them.
I still see those paint drops on the bottoms of some of our caging and
remember that situation. Another cat
that lived there had GREEN PAINT on her back.
Thanks for following the
Barn Cats blog. See you next week! Peg
Bandit
