FERAL FANCIERS Cat Tails Stories, Articles And Information About Cats |
Cat Tail Submissions
Articles are welcome for submission to Feral Fanciers web site’s Cat Tails page. It can be stories or
informational articles or simply a few photos with captions, No fancy article formatting is necessary.
A simple email text with photo attachments is fine. Email your submission to Feral Fanciers.
Articles are welcome for submission to Feral Fanciers web site’s Cat Tails page. It can be stories or
informational articles or simply a few photos with captions, No fancy article formatting is necessary.
A simple email text with photo attachments is fine. Email your submission to Feral Fanciers.
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A TRIP TO PLANNED PETHOOD
by Nancy P.
I’ve been asked to tell you the process of my trips to Planned Pethood. It really starts a week or two ahead when
Yolie makes the appointments for all the boys and girls to go. I try to figure as close as possible how many can
be caught and how many somewhat tame ferals I can get for that day. This last week there were appointments for
22 cats. During the week of the trip I contact all the people where the cats live telling them what time I will be there
and what I need them to do. Then I contact the dealership called “Kelly Buck GMC of Bartow”. They so kindly
help Feral Fanciers by providing us with a large enough and safe vehicle. This last time they even filled it with fuel
so everyone can be as safe and comfortable as possible. Thank you Russell of Kelly Buick GMC of Bartow!!
I get the van on Friday night and start loading it with all of the things I might need like tie downs for the traps,
carriers and extra carriers, and skid resistant sheets so the carriers don’t slide. Then on Saturday morning I get
up around 4:30 and get my own animals ready for me to be gone all day. Then I am out the door by 5:30 headed
for the first stop where I will hopefully have cats to trap. This past week at the first stop I ended up trapping 7
cats. Sadly two got away, but I’ll try next time for them. Then off to the next stop. Here I got 4 more. One was a
little wild, so it was safer for him to stay in the trap until he is done. Then off to my third and last stop where Yolie
had 5 more cats waiting for me. Then we were off for Zephyrhills.
After arriving at Planned Pethood all the babies are taken inside for their day. Each cat is named, weighed, and
markings noted. Then the instructions are given as to what we want done. They are either spayed or neutered,
given a rabies shot and sometimes another shot. I also like to give them a deflea at that time.
Then I go off to find something to do for the day as I will not be getting them back until about 4:30 PM. That’s
when everything starts in reverse. We load them all back in the van, and we make our way first to Lakeland. There
is where we will be met by the people for which Yolie set up appointments. Then we go to Winter Haven where I
drop off the 4 babies and explain the care they will need for the next few days as this particular family has not
done this before. Then off to the last two places where they have the cages ready for the transfer for the recovery
time they will need. Then I return to my own home. It is now about 8:30 PM. It isn’t easy, but it’s so worth it!!!
by Nancy P.
I’ve been asked to tell you the process of my trips to Planned Pethood. It really starts a week or two ahead when
Yolie makes the appointments for all the boys and girls to go. I try to figure as close as possible how many can
be caught and how many somewhat tame ferals I can get for that day. This last week there were appointments for
22 cats. During the week of the trip I contact all the people where the cats live telling them what time I will be there
and what I need them to do. Then I contact the dealership called “Kelly Buck GMC of Bartow”. They so kindly
help Feral Fanciers by providing us with a large enough and safe vehicle. This last time they even filled it with fuel
so everyone can be as safe and comfortable as possible. Thank you Russell of Kelly Buick GMC of Bartow!!
I get the van on Friday night and start loading it with all of the things I might need like tie downs for the traps,
carriers and extra carriers, and skid resistant sheets so the carriers don’t slide. Then on Saturday morning I get
up around 4:30 and get my own animals ready for me to be gone all day. Then I am out the door by 5:30 headed
for the first stop where I will hopefully have cats to trap. This past week at the first stop I ended up trapping 7
cats. Sadly two got away, but I’ll try next time for them. Then off to the next stop. Here I got 4 more. One was a
little wild, so it was safer for him to stay in the trap until he is done. Then off to my third and last stop where Yolie
had 5 more cats waiting for me. Then we were off for Zephyrhills.
After arriving at Planned Pethood all the babies are taken inside for their day. Each cat is named, weighed, and
markings noted. Then the instructions are given as to what we want done. They are either spayed or neutered,
given a rabies shot and sometimes another shot. I also like to give them a deflea at that time.
Then I go off to find something to do for the day as I will not be getting them back until about 4:30 PM. That’s
when everything starts in reverse. We load them all back in the van, and we make our way first to Lakeland. There
is where we will be met by the people for which Yolie set up appointments. Then we go to Winter Haven where I
drop off the 4 babies and explain the care they will need for the next few days as this particular family has not
done this before. Then off to the last two places where they have the cages ready for the transfer for the recovery
time they will need. Then I return to my own home. It is now about 8:30 PM. It isn’t easy, but it’s so worth it!!!
| A DAY IN THE LIFE OF FERAL FANCIERS BOARD MEMBER & FORMER PRESIDENT BONNIE L. |
BONNIE’S DAY
When asked to write something about myself, I said “What do people want to know about me?” Dina said to
just write a paragraph about what I do in one day.
Let’s see……I get up at 4:00 am every day. I have a lot of mouths to feed before I go to work: 6 housecats (didn’
t get adopted); 4 foster cats (waiting for adoption); 2 – 5 cats in sick bay that need medicine; 7+ feral cats in my
driveway; 2 feral cats in my backyard and usually 1 to 5 cats on my lanai waiting to go in for spay/neuter
surgery. Then, there’s my 2 min pins. They get fed last and they hate that.
Next, I get ready for work, have breakfast and wash all the dishes, lots of dishes! Now, check the traps, change
the paper if its wet and then load up the surgeries for the day.
Off I go-------first stop is the donut shop, donuts for the SPCA staff. Second stop, the SPCA. I unload the traps
into the clinic and see that Rose or Jim gets the paperwork. Off again, third stop is Mosaic – South Pierce – my
workplace – 20 miles south of the SPCA. Looking forward to a long day of boring paperwork, long, drawn out
meetings and personnel issues to handle.
3:30 pm and I’m off again, back to the SPCA to pick up the cats and pay the bill. Load the car and I’m off again,
back to north Lakeland. I feed 3 colonies of cats on my way home: 1 in downtown Lakeland, 1 near the hospital
and 1 at the mall. During pre-Xmas shopping, that was very time consuming…..just getting through the traffic.
Finally, I head home; unload the ferals, feed them and then feed everyone at home again. Some of them are
being picked up by their caretakers or, some I have to deliver to the caretakers. Many of them recover at my
house for 2 or 3 days------add to the food list.
All day, my phone rings with people who have ferals that need to be trapped and sterilized. If they live fairly
close to me, I try to get to them within the week but rarely make it. Some phone calls are people I’ve been
working with, left them traps and they’ve caught cats that need to be picked up. Sometimes its people who just
need help with food but other times, its not so nice: one of my cats just got hit by a car, can you help? Or one
of my cats is sick and won’t eat. That’s hard because these are feral cats that know what a trap is. I just do the
best I can for any situation that comes up.
Now, I’ve got more cats for tomorrow and I sit down and do the paperwork, put tags on each trap and hopefully,
go to bed by 9:00 pm, if I’m lucky. Somewhere in that busy day, I give meds to sick bay, clean all the litters and
try to find time to play with my foster kittens and groom the adults. Adoption takes some time but it is well worth
it.
The weekends are when I have time to trap, clean out the holding crates, wash the traps and clean my house.
There are not enough hours in the day. I can’t help everyone who calls me. All of us trappers have long waiting
lists. Volunteers are few to go out trapping. We all get burnt out at times and need to stop and recoup for
awhile. However, none of us can give it up. We have a mission: stop the suffering and euthanasia.
