Susan's Blog - November '08 entries
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Kittens enclosed
November 4, 2008 : 10:58 AM
Halloween parties finished, and before we know it, it will be time for
Christmas parties. But, the big news this week is that the kitten
enclosure was finished! We were so excited, and the builder had worked
so hard on it, that we let them out to play as soon as he moved his
tools out. They put on quite a show, rolling around, jumping, and
racing from one side to the other. Their new space will really improve
their quality of life, and it will make cage cleaning time a lot easier
for us. The plan is for them to spend a lot of the daytime outside, and
go into cages in the evening. We want to surround the outside with some
edible plants for them to enjoy, and to add some color. We'll also want
to add something for them to climb, like a beam wrapped with rope. See
more pictures of the new enclosure on our website.
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Down, but not out
November 4, 2008 : 10:05 PM
New rescue...we found her outside our local bank, obviously abandoned
there, and in a very sad state. Went to the vet, who gave her the first
injection to start getting rid of the scabies. He said she has been
living with this extremely uncomfortable condition for a long time, and
guesses that she's about 5 years old. She's very emaciated, and dirty,
but the vet thinks there's no other serious health concern at this
time. He said that her slightly swollen belly is probably a result of
having eaten so much in a short time, after we brought her to the
shelter. We won't be able to wash her until she regains some strength,
but I imagine she'll improve quickly, with regular food. There's a cute
little cat under there somewhere, and quite a lover, too--despite her
obvious physical discomfort, she starts purring loudly, whenever we
approach her cage! We have to be careful about holding her now, since
we don't want to transfer anything to other cats in the shelter, but I
can tell she's going to be cuddly one.
Comments
November 7, 2008 at 7:26 PM
posted by: catmominme
Cool...the only thing about shaving is you have to keep kitty in a warm
place until the fur grows back. Hope she feels better soon!
November 7, 2008 at 10:08 AM
posted by: japancatnet
The vet didn't mention that possibility...but it sure would make things
easier. She has round worm, as well, so diarrhea has become an added
problem. We'll be at the vet tomorrow, for the other newbies, so I'll
ask him about shaving then!
November 6, 2008 at 4:18 AM
posted by: catmominme
Can't you shave her? I know vets in the states will shave cats when the furr is in a terrible state.
November 5, 2008 at 11:30 AM
posted by: japancatnet
She is such a sweet cat...purrs and rubs against the door of the cage.
How she could still trust people, after all she's been through, is a
wonder. David took her out today and held her for a bit, and she
snuggled right into his arm. We may have to burn his shirt now (the
poor dear is very smelly), but it was worth it!
November 4, 2008 at 11:15 PM
posted by: missydog
I'm so glad you found this poor little girl. I bet there's a beautiful
girl somewhere in there. Will be looking forward to updates on her.
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When it rains...
November 7, 2008 : 10:47 AM
Had a meeting last night to plan and work out dates for 3 TNR projects
we want to help start this week. Two are straight forward assistance
with trapping 3 or 4 cats and taking them to low-cost clinics. One
involves talking with city officials first, so we met with them today.
This kind of meeting generally starts out with a demand for us to
remove the cats (!), which has us biting our tongues. What we know is,
even if it were possible for us to do that, it would not solve the
problem. There is an older woman there feeding cats, and if we took
those cats out, she would feed the new cats that will inevitably take
their place. We started by showing them information about other areas
in Japan, where TNR has successfully reduced the stray cat population.
Then we talked a little about what problems the cats were causing for
the neighborhood, separating the real "They're pooping where they're
not supposed to" and fake "They've given fleas to all of the people
nearby." We always start out by pointing out what we can do, and what
they will need to do. We can trap, take for neutering, get the cats to
poop in better places, treat the cats for fleas, and re-home any
current kittens. They must promote a safe environment for the cats and
pay for the operations.
When we went to meet the woman, and the leader of the neighborhood, we
could see that each was furious with the other. The woman told us that
someone had killed one of the cats with a rock. The leader took us to
his driveway and showed us the cat poop in the gravel. I thought I'd
rather live with the poop than an animal killer! We said that we needed
the leader and the city to guarantee that these cats were going to be
safe. They agreed. We asked the woman how many operations she could pay
for--she said there were 10 cats, but that they had all been abandoned
there and she didn't think she should have to pay for their operations.
On and on and on it went, with us standing in the road, and gawkers
driving by in their cars. One person stopped their car and said "This
is very unusual, what's going on?!"
We found two very sick kittens huddled in the grass, and the woman
asked if we could take them. We said that we would take them to the vet
for treatment, but that we would have to bring them back if she wasn't
committed to spaying and neutering their mother, as there would only be
more in a few months time. In the end, she said that she would think
about whether or not she could pay for one operation, and the city said
that they would ask what money they could find in the budget to help
with the project. We've decided that's positive enough to give us the
green light.
We took the two kittens straight to the vet. They have scabies, lice,
upper respiratory infection, and are emaciated. The vet gave them
drips, medicine, and we're feeding them via syringe. We'll have to go
back tomorrow--hopefully they'll start eating on their own by morning.
While at the vet, we brought Daisy for testing before she goes to her
new home and were devastated to see her test positive for FELV. She's
continued to nurse from her mother, along with her siblings, as we
trapped them all together. There was nothing to indicate any kind of
disease. At over three months old, we can separate the mother now, but
it doesn't seem likely that this is a false positive. We'll need to
test the siblings as soon as possible, and poor Daisy will not be going
to a new home, as they already have another cat. One of the other
kittens will be the lucky one, though, so we can be happy about that.
Of course, we'll wait and test Daisy again. Regardless, they are here
for the long haul, so we'll need to think about how we might be able to
separate them, long term.
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Enclosures, out and about
November 9, 2008 : 11:16 PM
Adoption events last Monday, and Sunday. A possible new home for our
all white kitten, Miffy, and a new foster home for Larry and Moe. Both
events were outside, and colder than the cats would like, to be really
comfortable. Annie and Miffy enjoyed being cuddled while wrapped in
soft blankets, and Larry liked playing from the safety of his warm bed.
Not a lot of jumping or running around after toys, that the kids really
seem to enjoy watching, but everyone still had a good time petting the
cats. Some of the children had actually never touched a cat before.
These will be our last events of this kind, until the weather warms up
in the spring. More pictures...
Took Moe and Larry to their new foster home after Sunday's event. It is
a wonderful home, with very animal friendly kids. The cats felt at home
immediately, and even Moe, who can be quite timid, started to play with
the kids. Of course we'd love it if the family ends up able to keep
these boys permanently, but for the time being, they'll get lots of
love and training for life in a home.
David went out to Tokyo on Sunday, to deliver Guchi to his new home,
Chibata to her new home, and Osi to her new foster home. Everything
went well for the kitties, and they seem to be settling in nicely.
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Hind sight and a lucky find
November 14, 2008 : 10:34 PM
After only being at his new foster home for a little more than a day,
Larry got out. The family called us right away, but when we got there,
he was nowhere to be seen. We had to go out to the home (over 2 hours,
round trip) to look around for him everyday, for the last 4 days, and
were very relieved to finally find him early yesterday morning. He
seemed to be fine, though scared, and hiding out in a field near the
woods at the base of a nearby hill. We'd been over the location
multiple times, but I think the reason he called out to us this time is
that we were carrying his brother around (in a pet carrier), and Moe
was crying at the time. I put the carrier down on the grass, and Larry
came out of hiding and went up to the carrier. These two have been
inseparable, and even went to the vet to be neutered, at the same time.
In the end, we all decided that the location just wasn't reasonable for
us to be able to support a family providing foster care. The family
didn't have the time available to put posters up or walk around the
neighborhood, and we thought that if one of the boys got out again, we
would probably have to manage the situation ourselves, with the
possibility of not such a happy ending. Larry and Moe seem unfazed by
their short adventure, but it's left us shaking our heads and wondering
how what seemed like the perfect situation could go so wrong. I think
the kids will really miss the cats, and I feel terrible about that.
It's an easy mistake to let a cat out, but that has to be followed up
by making every effort to find him, particularly when the surrounding
area is so new to him. If we lived closer, and providing this support
ourselves was easier, maybe it wouldn't be such a concern. This
incident came shortly after a tragedy involving a small kitten from a
rescue site, and it's got me questioning every decision. I know that
bad things happen, even when we do our best to anticipate and prevent a
negative outcome, and I'm trying to shake it off, or I won't be able to
get anything done. Larry's safe (I can't stop peeking in at Moe and him
playing in the enclosure!), the three new fragile ones are becoming
sturdier every day, cats are still going out to new homes, and
hopefully we learn something from what goes wrong. There are more that
depend on me to make a difference, so I need to get up and get back out
there.
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Comments
November 17, 2008 at 9:43 AM
posted by: japancatnet
We've named her fantasia...I'll write an update on today's blog!
November 14, 2008 at 11:08 PM
posted by: missydog
That was very smart to take Moe with you while searching for Larry. I'm
glad Larry was found, and I hope Moe and Larry can be adopted together.
How is the little girl with scabies and does she have a name?.
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Slow but steady progress for the newbies
November 17, 2008 : 10:22 AM
Updates on the three new rescues, starting with our little 5 year old.
We've named her fantasia...she was to be spayed today, but we
discovered an earlier wound that had abscessed, so that had to be
cleaned, and we put the operation off. The vet was still concerned
about her slightly swollen belly--is it the bulge of the newly rescued
food binger, an early pregnancy, or something more serious? He did an
ultrasound but is still unsure. Probably a problem with her liver, and
definitely a slight heart murmur, he says. We'll bring her back this
week, when her abscess has cleared up, and he has a little more time.
David is cleaning the wound several times a day and applying iodine,
which doesn't seem to bother her. She has an incredible appetite, which
has caused some intestinal problems, so we're trying to give her
lighter food. She also has the unfortunate habit of peeing on her bed
and continuing to lie in it--this makes us think she may have gotten
used to being kept in a small cage without room to move away from her
toileting area. Perhaps for breeding? I'd like to get her shaved, but
when we went in to have the wound cleaned, the vet was just too busy to
ask about it. All of that being said, she seems very happy in her cage.
We've switched to pet sheets for her bed, which keeps the damp away
from her when she pees, and allows us to change them frequently
throughout the day. A hot water bottle covered in a pet sheet provides
added comfort. We continue to give her as much food as she likes, but
of a lighter variety. I'm hoping that she can get a clean bill of
health soon, so that we can allow her to at least join the kittens in
their outdoor enclosure during the day. She's had her second scabies
treatment, so those should now be finished, and she already smells much
better.
Choco and Cookie, the two new kittens rescued with multiple problems,
including scabies, have now recovered enough to be able to open their
eyes. They're still a little weak, but very friendly and purr like
motors when held. Not so bony along their spine and hind legs, now that
they've each gained a little over 100 grams, and they are eating better
now that the gunk has started to clear from their faces. We continue to
give them medicine for their congestion, as they're still wheezy
breathers. They too, need to be tested for disease before moving into a
larger cage in the kitten room, but for the time being they're only
minimally active, and seem satisfied to play with the little dangling
white dog on a strap, in their loft bed. It has a small speaker inside
that activates when the hind legs are squeezed, and it was a gift I
received when we got our new Softbank phones for the helplines. Every
so often a stern Japanese voice erupts from their cage, "Boys be
ambitious!", startling me, and sending the kittens into a flurry of
rabbit kicks!
Comments
November 19, 2008 at 7:18 PM
posted by: missydog
Glad to hear everyone is doing better. Fantasia looks much better and
her beauty is now apparent. . With all her medical issues she sounds
like a cat from a kitten mill. Hopefully these issues can be resolved,
so she can enjoy life and love.
November 18, 2008 at 7:49 PM
posted by: japancatnet
So many of them have been just scraping by, living on garbage, insects,
etc., that they're skin and bones. Once rescued, they can't seem to get
used to knowing where the next meal is coming from, so they gorge
themselves everytime we put food in front of them. Of course we want
them to put on weight, and to feel confident about the food supply, but
we're learning not to let them go too crazy at the beginning, as this
just creates even more nutritional problems. It's always tempting just
to keep opening cans until they stop eating! High quality kitten food
seems to be one way to provide calories, while addressing digestive
issues...
November 18, 2008 at 7:44 AM
posted by: catmominme
Thanks for posting that your new little ones are feeling better! I hope they continue to recover!
I have also noticed with any cats that I have rescued, especially
starving ones, is that the rich food definitely gives them diarrhea for
awhile...or maybe any food for that matter...until their bodies are
used to eating again.
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Hidden treasure
November 18, 2008 : 11:45 PM
Another newbie...this lucky girl escaped as her siblings were being
transferred to go to the main animal control center--the one almost all
animals never exit alive. She hid in the building for 3 days, until
someone was able to trap her using one of our traps, and bring her to
our shelter. She arrived very dirty and smelly, with a slight cold, but
is friendly and longs for as much attention as possible. I can hear her
crying from her cage as I write this! As beautiful, and young as she
is, it shouldn't be too hard to find a home for her. I'm thinking to
name her Sylvie, because of her lovely silver color. Crossing our
fingers that she passes her tests, and has no other serious health
problems...
Comments
November 20, 2008 at 5:41 AM
posted by: japancatnet
See her new info on our site...I included your thought!
http://www.japancatnet.com/
November 20, 2008 at 5:00 AM
posted by: japancatnet
One really sad thing about our regional animal control center is that
they refuse to work with rescue groups. The last time I visited, they
wouldn't let me take any of the kittens back to our shelter, even
though all were very re-homeable. It's such a terrifying and cold place
for kittens to stay any length of time in. Whenever I look at Sylvie, I
can't help but think about her poor brothers and sisters, but it's just
lucky someone was able to get this one out to us.
November 19, 2008 at 7:35 PM
posted by: missydog
Sylvie is beautiful. With her escape, it makes me wonder if she has a
special purpose. Hopefully she will pass all her tests and she can find
a loving home.
Your animal control sounds just like the one here, in the county I live
in. You would think people would protest, but they don't seem to care,
especially about cats.
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Homework
November 22, 2008 : 10:52 PM
Takako and I took Miffy to her new home Friday night--an older couple
with a granddaughter, that had been eagerly awaiting the new cat's
arrival. Miffy has been a kitten that loves attention, and these people
seemed thrilled to have a new member of the family. They had prepared a
soft cat bed for her, toys, carrier, and a nice litter box, as well as
a new name. From now on she'll be called Ran chan. She seemed a little
fearful about the new surroundings, which is only natural, but we're
hoping that all the love will help her to quickly feel at home.
After that, we went to visit Mimi, and to refund her spay deposit, as
her operation was completed last week. As often happens on return
visits to cats that have been adopted, Mimi wanted nothing to do with
us! We smell like lots of strange cats, so she clung to her new family,
with only a few sniffs in our direction. She looked very different--so
sleek, now that she's grown out of that furry little kitten we once
knew. They had bought her a tall cat tower, but they said she still
prefers playing on the stairs with one of her many toys! They also told
us that, contrary to her response to us, she's very friendly, and they
love spending time with her. The family donated some nice kitten food
for kittens now at the shelter, and 5,000 yen ($50), all of which will
gladly be put to use right away.
Gucci has had a bumpy weekend. His new owner, who lives alone and works
full time, wasn't able to provide the kind of ongoing attention that
Gucci needed, which caused some crying and disturbance to neighbors. We
arranged for transfer to a new foster home, but this resulted in a
severe allergic reaction from his new potential owner, so we're back to
looking for new arrangements. Poor Gucci--he's the most adorable
kitten, which everyone who has cared for him (and carted him around,
thank you Margaret!), will attest to. Just a little bad luck. He is a
very attention centered cat, one that just loves to sit on your lap and
suck on your fingers! Hoping we can find a new placement in the next
day or so, or we'll have to pick him up and get him back here.
Comments
November 23, 2008 at 5:48 AM
posted by: japancatnet
This is the third time someone keeping one of our group's cats has had
complaints from neighbors about noise--maybe the walls are thinner?
There is certainly less space between houses.
For those who don't know, Miffy is a kitten that I posted about
earlier. She came to our shelter after being abandoned in front of the
animal control center with her mother (Bunny) in a small cage. They
were both very thin and dirty, at the time, and would normally have
gone directly to be destroyed. With Miffy now adopted and her mother
currently in great foster care, it really shows that when animal
control works with rescue groups, lives can be saved.
November 22, 2008 at 11:16 PM
posted by: missydog
Miffy looks beautiful and it sounds like she will have a great life at
her new home. Poor Gucci! I never heard of neighbors complaining about
a cat making noise; only dogs. Hopefully, Gucci will soon find a home
that appreciates his unique qualities.
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Looking
November 23, 2008 : 6:35 AM
David and our volunteers helped with four different TNR projects this
week, and a total of 10 cats spayed, so far. Will put a cage in the
mail Tuesday morning to assist another project, which hopefully will
result in 4 more. Here's a link to a scan of our article in the city magazine. No translation as of yet, but working on it...
Still no idea on where to put Gucci. Since it's a holiday weekend here,
maybe things will look better tomorrow. Speaking of which, tomorrow we
go to look at a possible new building for our office/rehoming center.
Trying not to get my hopes up--it seems like such a perfect
location--but am very excited. We currently are bursting out of our
space here, and there is more and more to do. The place we have now
pretty much fell out of the sky into our laps, so perhaps we can depend
on another delivery of that sort, as there is no question what kind of
use we can put it to.
Cookie and Choco are looking better everyday! They are both able to
open their eyes and have become very playful. Fewer and fewer loud
wheezes coming out of the cage, so I think the URI is starting to
finally clear up--it seems to be a stubborn one.
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Ups and downs
November 30, 2008 : 2:47 AM
A busy week...Gucci went into foster care for a few days and then to a
permanent home yesterday. As all of the transfers happened in Tokyo, we
had to rely on Margaret, one of our board members, to do the running
around. His new owner has bought lots of toys, so that Gucci won't be
bored (hopefully!), and we're considering sending Gucci's buddy Max to
stay with him temporarily. Max is being fostered in the same home that
Gucci had been fostered in, so they became playmates there, and Max's
foster caregiver is leaving on a trip soon. The thought is that, since
we have to move Max anyway, and it might help with Gucci's adjustment,
we could send him to Tokyo to stay with Gucci while we look for a new
home for Max. We did this with Sasuke, who had his own problems finding
a permanent home. We're all going to wait and see how Gucci adjusts
over the weekend--does he cry at night, etc.--and then make a decision
from there. His new owner, Kevin, seems willing to work through any
difficulties.
We looked at the new building that we're interested in buying. It's in
a great location, and though it's quite old, it didn't seem to be in
that bad of shape. The total property includes an old two story
pharmacy building on the street front, an apartment attached to the
back, and a house on the end of the lot. The family who owns it were
very kind, and I think that they'll be reasonable to deal with. They're
hoping that we can rent part of the buildings for the time being, while
they think about the selling cost, and clean out stuff that remains in
some of the rooms. We're now waiting to hear back on the rental fee,
and what date we could potentially move in. Both of these factors will
determine whether or not we proceed with the property. One issue it
that they want us to start by renting the first floor of the pharmacy
building and the apartment behind, while we have our hearts set on the
second floor. There are some long tall balconies that wrap around the
top of the building, and they would be perfect for fencing in to make
outdoor play areas for adoptable cats and kittens that we would like to
keep there. We were hoping to be able to move cats in right away. We
had planned to use the first floor for a meeting area, as well as my
English classes, and the apartment and house behind as a kind of
dormitory area for volunteers. It's not a good location for a
sanctuary, but it is easily accessible by train and car, so good for
re-homing and meeting. It's also only a five minute walk from the
current shelter. If we go with this property, we'd still be on the
lookout for a sanctuary property for the future, as we'll probably
always need a place for unadoptables. I guess we'll just have to wait
and see...
The Thanksgiving fundraiser was disappointing. We had some difficulty
with the venue's owner, who told organizers he'd need a rental fee of
$300 just a few days before the party. It was impossible to move the
venue at that point. The ticket cost had been unfortunately set too low
to bring in much money after food costs, in the first place. So, after
the new rental fee, we actually lost money on the event. There were
also organizational problems which ended up in Takako and I having to
spend several days getting food together, while a different group of
people did the same. The resulting time crunch meant that shelter work
became more frantic, and it's possible that we lost a couple of
potential new adopters in the chaos that ensued. By the party date,
Takako, David, and I were exhausted from the crazy schedule required to
get things together. I guess I'm just thankful (!) it's over--hopefully
we learned some good lessons as to our role in planning future events.
Got some great new contacts this weekend...new families wanting
kittens, and new people willing to provide foster care, which are
always the brightest parts of our week! The end of a hard week, but the
start of new possibilities.
Comments
December 2, 2008 at 1:41 AM
posted by: Spax
I hope that Gucci's new owner/guardian would like to keep Max so Gucci
won't get too bored. I always think cats do better in pairs!
I keep fingers crossed that you will get the new building, it sounds fantastic.
Sorry for the lousy fundraiser...our groups here have a tough time too in this economy.
Thanks again for all your amazing work!
Andrea
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