What a difference a month makes.
This time in March, we were bracing ourselves for kitten season. I was so bold — nay, foolish — as to tell you, “we’ve not yet had our first litter at Tabby’s Place.”
Apparently, a feral mother cat heard me and thought that was a lament.
And then another. And then another. And then another.
Yes, mes amis, we have four feral mothers at Tabby’s Place right now, nursing their collective eighteen newborns.
Kitten Season: the season that isn’t…until it is.
All four of these families came to Tabby’s Place directly through our TNR program, which means that you personally helped to save each one. We’ve been conducting a TNR project at a local recycling facility, and it seems we arrived just as the mamas were ready to pop. (In fact, little Gamora, pictured at right — and her siblings Starlord, Nebula and Groot — were born in our care.)
Since these kittens are so tiny — “just little tiddly-widdlies,” in the words of fellow staffer Karina — it’s almost certain that many of them would have perished if left outside. In the wild, newborns are vulnerable to so many predators that their survival rate is only around 50%. This is one of the major reasons TNR is so important: these tiddly-widdlies will be safe and loved their whole lives long, and future wee ones won’t be born into the struggle.
Rounding out our mom-and-kittens community are Mootz (mom to Gamora and company); Mrs. Potts (madre to Gaston, Chip, Mulan, Lumiere and Rapunzel); Fanta (mum to Sasparilla, Birch, Fresca and Cola); and Snap (with her bubbas Velcro, Button, Buckle and Zipper).
Best of all, each of these fledgling families is in the care of a (human) foster parent. That means they’ll spend their tender days in warmth and safety — just the beginning of happy, healthy and loved lives.
Of course, kitten season doesn’t end the year-’round TNR season, so we’ve continued to care for grown up community cats this spring. Most recently, your sponsorship helped to save the day for a big guy named Baloo.
Over a year ago, a kindhearted woman spotted Baloo struggling with a string wrapped around his neck and right front leg. She feared for his survival and attempted to catch him, but the timid tabby sprinted away as best he could. He proceeded to vanish. The compassionate woman grieved Baloo’s disappearance, sure he’d succumbed to the winter and the string wrapped tightly around him.
But this spring, Baloo bounced back.
Baloo had survived winter’s ravages, all while entangled in that cord. When we received a call about him, our stalwart trapping team sprang into action with a drop trap. Unlike a classic trap — which a wily guy like Baloo will elude — a drop trap can work with even the savviest outdoor cats. Picture the old “box held up with a stick” in Looney Toons: the cat simply walks under the trap, a watching trapper pulls the string, and the trap drops shut over the cat, containing him.
The Tabby’s Place team had Baloo in under 48 hours.
Then came the matter of tending to Baloo’s injuries. The cord had cut deeply into Baloo’s skin, resulting in a horrific pressure wound under his arm. He’d require frequent bandage changes, flushes and ointment applications — all of which had to be done under sedation, since Baloo is not exactly a snuggle-bug.
But our vet team is almost as tough as Baloo, so they’ve given Baloo all the care he needs. Today, Baloo (pictured at left) is making an extraordinarily fast recovery. Once he’s fully healed, he’ll have a safe and loving outdoor home waiting for him — with the very woman whose heart he touched last year.
Old or young, friendly or fierce, community cats are wildly blessed to have you in their lives. Thank you, amazing feral friends — may your spring be as sweet as eighteen kittens!