Susan's Blog - October '08 entries
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Favor or fever?
October 2, 2008 : 12:21 PM
Contacted by two new people wanting to adopt kittens. Ebony, one of
An's, went out last week, so we're moving right along! Went to meet
with the accountant about filing our NPO papers yesterday, which seemed
to go well, though to be honest, I didn't understand most of what was
being said. My Japanese is maybe just a little bit above the dog
level--blah, blah, blah, sit, blah, blah, blah, food--so when the words
get outside my usual frame of reference, I'm lost. When I first came to
Japan, I wanted to learn Japanese so that I could learn more about the
culture. Then I wanted to learn Japanese so that I could make money. A
few years later, I wanted to learn Japanese so that I could complain.
And now I want to learn Japanese so that I can change the world. But
wanting to learn is a bit like buying vegetable juice, which as it
turns out, doesn't make you healthy unless you actually drink it. I
never really study. I pick up more English from my 4 and 5 year old
students, than anywhere else--I seem to understand them perfectly.
Anyway, somehow I manage to communicate, using half English, some
Japanese, and a lot of arm waving.
David and I seem to be tossing a cold back and forth. It's my turn, and
what I wouldn't give for a day in bed. We just don't have the luxury of
being sick, with emails coming in, kittens going out, the park project
looming overhead, and the NPO officially starting up. Still, the plan
is coming together, and I know if I can just hang in there a little bit
longer, help is on the way. Then again, that might be the cold medicine
talking...
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New homes, old traditions
October 6, 2008 : 11:58 AM
We heard from the couple that adopted Michelle, now Onna, and she's
doing well. She can be spayed anytime, now, and they've already made
the appointment. Saturday Pepper went to a new home. She's a fantastic
little kitten, thanks to An's great work. Another couple had planned to
come and look at Gucci and Chanel, but their friend found a kitten on
the same day, and they decided to take that one. But, we received a
request to adopt Gucci today, so he may be headed to his own new home,
anyway.
David got up early yesterday morning to do neighborhood cleanup--twice
a year, one person from every house meets out near the stream that runs
through our neighborhood rice fields, to pulls weeds along the edge and
clean up the stream. It seems like there would be a more efficient way
to get it done, especially as we pay a considerable monthly
neighborhood maintenance fee. But it's not about the actual task. In
the past, It's been a way for communities to get people out, working
together on a project, and improving social harmony within the
neighborhood. These days nobody really has the time or inclination to
be there, so it doesn't seem to accomplish the same purpose. Still, it
continues, and we want to do our best to be good neighbors, so we go.
In the evening, we met with volunteers to talk about our upcoming
magazine interview and the display we'll have at a local festival. We
need to have pictures taken on site at a TNR project, so we talked
about whether we should return to do maintenance trapping of a couple
remaining males at an old site or take pictures on one of the projects
that's just starting. It will probably come down to best available time
for all of the parties involved. As usual, the hardest thing is finding
a vet who will do lowcost operations of multiple cats right after
trapping. Anyway, we have a few possiblilites, so one of them should
work out. The festival is on the 13th, and as we're not bringing
kittens, it should be a lot easier to prepare for. Mostly we'll be
passing out flyers, providing information about what we do, and
requesting volunteer involvement.
Comments
October 14, 2008 at 8:21 PM
posted by: japancatnet
I think the November magazine (the one we'll be featured in) comes out
at the end of October. It probably won't be a long article, but the
significant point is being featured by the city government, as a group
working to make our city beautiful. It tells everyone that TNR is a
plan the city recognizes as one that works. Am hoping to get copies of
all of the photos that they took, as I think there may only be one big
photo for the article--we'd planned to take photos of our own, but
there was so much going on! Anyway, I think those that they took will
be much nicer than anything we could take.
October 6, 2008 at 4:02 PM
posted by: missydog
That photo is adorable! When the magazine article is published, I hope
you will be able to provide a link and a translation, or at least
photos and the gist of the article.
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Perfect weather for trapping
October 10, 2008 : 7:31 AM
Up early and out trapping cats. The woman who called us for help has
already spayed and neutered the strays living in her neighborhood
(YAY!), but a female was abandoned and gave birth before she knew about
it. The mother was done a while ago, but the 4 kittens have now grown
to nearly 6 months (vets here don't like to spay/neuter before that),
and have proven too difficult for her to catch. We caught all four--two
in one trap, which was a first for us! The reporters for our city
magazine came along to interview us "on the job" and take pictures. I
think they were surprised how quickly and easily we caught the cats. We
found a vet who would do all at a lower cost, which came to around $450
for 3 girls and 1 boy. They'll have to wait in the clinic for a few
days, but we're lucky we could get the discount and get them in right
away.
Afterward, we spent a while looking over cel phone plans. We want to
start a cat helpline, so we'll get a couple of phones that can be
answered by volunteers on call. It's pretty difficult trying to weed
through all of the possible plans and come up with the cheapest. We
decided to go with the company with Brad Pitt on their poster, but only
because they seem to be the cheapest and have bilingual phones!
Came back in the afternoon to teach my kids' classes. I have a new
class of 3 - 5 year olds that are hard to keep up with. They are
thrilled to be in class, which is nice for a change, but they really do
give me a run for my money. Everyone is looking forward to the
Halloween party, though one child asked me if this was the one with the
eggs (Easter). Halloween is becoming a little more well known these
days, and the stores are now carrying a small assortment of pumpkin
decorated candies. But when I first started having holiday parties with
the kids, the only holiday they'd heard of was Christmas. I'm going to
Costco next week to buy supplies for the shelter and will load up on
Halloween candy, while I'm there.
The weather is turning a little cool for the kitties, though still
comfortable for us, so we're starting to prepare the shelter areas for
winter. This means adding blankets, and covering some of the beds. The
condos (plastic baskets attached together with cable ties) are used
year round, but when the weather gets colder, they become very popular.
Comments
October 14, 2008 at 8:27 PM
posted by: japancatnet
We had been trying to find some kind of beds that could be easily
cleaned/disinfected, and took up little floor space. These work really
well in that regard, and they're surprisingly stable, even with all of
the jumping and climbing around!
October 11, 2008 at 3:54 AM
posted by: Midori_K
I love the kitty condos! That's a great (and thrifty!) idea.
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Hide and seek
October 12, 2008 : 11:52 AM
David spent the day working in the shelter, and he noticed that the 5
free range kittens were strangely not around. They like their cage, as
long as the door is open, and tend to sleep there after playing, and
eating. The one kitten that likes us, was hanging out on the bed with
us, but the others were nowhere to be seen. No sign of the mother
either, but that's typical. So, the hunt was on, and it took David
quite a while to figure out that they had found their way under the
stairs. The area is completely closed, but a piece of the wood on one
of the stairs had a bit of a gap and they worked it open. They seem
disappointed that their new game is now impossible (we can only
hope...).
I went back out to sign up for the phones, only to find out that they
require extra steps for foreigners, a couple of which were
unreasonable. Takako and I made the rounds checking other companies,
but in the end, decided that she'd put the phones in her name. We went
back to the school afterward, with one of her coworkers, and worked
until late making the bags and other things we'll sell at the festival
tomorrow.
One of the volunteers picked up the cats that we trapped on Friday,
after spay/neuter, and released them back to their area on Saturday.
I'm very happy that they were able to be returned so quickly, as it's
so much less stressful for them.
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Feeling Genki
October 13, 2008 : 7:11 PM
Went out early yesterday to set up our booth at the Genki Festa, which
is a local health and welfare festival. The weather was perfect, which
was lucky as it's raining this morning. The turnout wasn't as good as
we'd hoped, and Hikonyan never ended up anywhere near us, but we had a
nice time hanging out. One volunteer had cut some shapes of cat faces
out of wood, for painting and selling, so we sat around painting most
of the day! We also had prepared a bag handcraft for people to make,
for a small fee, and we had some people stop by to do that. A couple of
people reported that they'd seen a group of stray cats living outside
the city library, so we stopped by on the way back to check it out. Saw
4 young looking cats, being fed by an elderly woman, who said there
were actually 6 living in the area. Those we saw had probably been born
last spring, so we probably caught it just in time. Talked with the
woman a little about spaying them--she can't afford it, so we offered
to do it. We'll plan to go out and trap them in the next week or so.
Came back after the Festa to teach classes, and the traffic made me a
little late, though my assistant started without me. I was scolded
severely by my 5 year old students for being late! Off to Costco this
morning, to buy cleaning supplies for the shelter, school supplies, and
food. I may possibly make me late for classes today as well, given the
rainy highway, but I can't put off the shopping trip any longer. An
escape from the garden had us up very early rounding up cats, so I'm
hoping I can sleep on the way out (a friend is driving). After classes,
we'll meet with someone who needs to figure out what to do about his
feral cat colony, when he moves back to take care of his father. We
suggested that he talk with Daihatsu--the cats are living near the
company dormitory--but they refused to allow anyone to continue feeding
the cats, even after it was recommended by an animal control official.
No idea what to do next, but maybe between now and tonight, will think
of something...
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Trojan English classes and rural legends
October 14, 2008 : 9:10 PM
Costco, classes (wasn't late!), and then meeting about the feral colony
problem. There were really only two main choices--relocate the cats, or
find a new feeder in the current area. Relocation would mean finding a
feeder that could release the cats near their home, as the cats would
need to be caged for a week or two, to first get used to the
environment. This is a steep request, as there is so little space
between people's houses here, and ferals being cared for outside always
cause problems for neighbors. The selling point for TNR, with unhappy
neighbors, is the eventual reduction in the community's stray cat
population, so neighbors don't take kindly to sudden increases. We
couldn't think of anyone who could reasonably add four cats, the number
he has whittled the colony down to, by moving the friendliest cats to a
friend's house. He had an idea about releasing them in a colony of 30,
living at the foot of a mountain, but he knew that was really not
workable, even before we pointed out the obvious problems. Turning to
his reluctant job of finding a feeder in the area, willing to regularly
feed in the face of their company forbidding it. Anyone breaking the
rule risks being kicked out of the dormitory, and even losing their
job. The factory compound has a high wall surrounding it, with several
gates, and the cats live inside the compound. The current attitude of
many companies here, is to ignore stray cat problems, carting off any
kittens (that they can find) to animal control. It's not really
surprising that Daihatsu was unwilling to adjust their opinion about
the cats. Our guy there has a friend who he's asked to feed the cats,
but he guesses given the difficulty of the job, the friend will abandon
the task within a week or so. We first came up with a strategy of
moving the feeding station to outside one of the gates. The gates are
all on busy streets, but we think the cats will only come out for food,
and then go back to the relative safety of the compound. This gets the
new feeder off the hook, as to breaking company policy. Secondarily we
came up with the idea of his friend starting an English club. This
gives us a reason to legitimately be in the compound, and come there
once a month to check on the cat's condition, which gives the new
feeder some accountability. We won't be able to give up the necessary
time for more than 6 months, but that's probably long enough for either
the feeder to get into the real swing of things, or us to come up with
another plan. Whew! It all just might work...
We finished late, and Takako brought me home in her car, as one of our
bikes recently had the tire slashed. When we got to the house, there
was our supposedly mythical raccoon, feasting on the bowl of dry cat
food outside our door. So far David and I are the only ones who have
seen it, and there are no raccoons indigenous to Japan. Our vet told us
that people sometimes get them as pets and then abandon them, when they
get older and too difficult to care for. Takako was thrilled to sit
with me in the car, watching a raccoon eat, for the first time in her
life. She even managed get a picture of him!
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Taming the wildflowers
October 24, 2008 : 8:47 AM
Not a free minute these days. Shelter work, meetings, emails, website,
school Halloween parties prep, and construction. Workers came out and
put the concrete base in for the new kitten enclosure, so the rest
should go up by the end of the month. The kittens keep getting bigger,
and I'm looking forward to the time when they will be able to stretch
their legs. Hoping that 4 will really be going out to new homes at the
beginning of November, but still waiting to finalize the details.
Saw a copy of the short article for our city magazine--think it looks
good, but it's hard to know how people will respond. It comes out on
November 1, so we'll keep our fingers crossed.
Sumi went out for her steroid treatment yesterday, as our volunteer is
going to be gone for several weeks, and it's hard for us to get her
there ourselves. Need to order more Peterna, which seems to improve her
condition, so is probably worth the expense ($50 for 150 grams!). The
mouth ulcers respond differently, depending on the cat. Sumi loves the
taste of Peterna, and I notice that if I give a small spoon of it in
her food everyday, she can go longer between treatments.
Have finally named all of our "wildflowers" --the friendliest calico is
Daisy, her twin (except for short stubby tail, rather than curly) is
Poppy, the prettiest calico is Rose, and finally their brother Clover.
Well, not finally, as there is also Ewok, whom they have adopted
completely. I think the mother actually favors her over her own, and
oddly, Ewok is the only one that looks like the mother. Anyway, hoping
names will make them more civilized! They've been spending more time in
their tri-level cage these days, as we're just too busy to let them run
around the house, and they seem to enjoy having us pet them through the
bars. When they do come out, Ewok has recently joined Daisy in hopping
up on the bed, a great sign. Daisy is the only one of the five that we
feel confident about rehoming right now, and she was just reserved by a
family last night. Have started updating our "available kitties" page
http://japancatnet.com/blog/meet-the-available-kitties/, but need new
photos. We're not very good at figuring out the camera, and tend to get
behind on that kind of thing.
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Save the cheerleader, save the world
October 28, 2008 : 2:25 AM
First Halloween party over, and kids happy with the Halloween ABC game
that I made up, but even happier with their loot of Costco candies.
Last year I wore a witch costume that someone gave me, but it made a
few of the kids cry (!) so I decided to go for the friendlier homemade
black cat this year. We still walked the dark hallway with the curtains
hiding cardboard monsters and the glowing pumpkin at the end, but all
were triumphant and the littlest said that she wasn't scared at all
this year. Round two today.
Went out to a meeting Sunday, of adults interested in participating in
English discussions. They invited us to talk about the issue of stray
cats in Japan. People were interested and asked good questions, so
hoping that if even one goes home with new ideas, it will make a
difference.
Two kittens had to be taken off the reserved list, as their adoption
fell through, and our Halloween fund raiser was suddenly canceled.
Minor setbacks but somehow hard hitting this past Sunday. Then I got a
nice mail on Monday and that turned my night around. I got a good
night's sleep and I woke up thinking I could go back to work. The world
needs more cheerleaders. There are plenty of people quick to find
fault, and even quicker to point it out, but few faithfully standing on
the sidelines cheering us on. What would those of us who trudge out
onto the field, day after day, do without someone telling us not to
give up? Reminding us of how far we've come, and assuring us that we
have the ability to keep seeing it through.
Comments
October 29, 2008 at 6:48 AM
posted by: Midori_K
I had some babies cry when I was dressed as Pikachu yesterday... Kinda hurt my feelings!
Sorry to hear about the party cancellation. I had been thinking about going.