Happy August, Team TNR!

I hope this month’s missive finds you doing fabulously — yes, fabulously, yes, even in these unusual times. I hope, with all my heart, that you and your dear ones are finding ways to make the best of 2020 in all its strangeness, and that blessings are finding you around every corner. I can never thank you enough for being such a steadfast blessing to our community cats at Tabby’s Place.

Blessings — in feline form — have certainly continued to find us here. Even with a far more modest rate of kitty intake than usual, we have been up to our earlobes in cats and kittens, and our free-roaming friends are keeping us on our toes.

This month, our TNR energies were focused on one feisty little family. As is often the case, we learned of this little band of wanderers through a friend of a friend of a contact of an acquaintance (or something to that effect). It seems a scrappy mama cat had taken up residence at an elderly couple’s home, skulking beneath their porch and furtively accepting their offerings of food.

It wasn’t long before mama…well, became a mama. She gave birth to apparently just one kitten, who grew and flourished alongside her mom. All was (kind of) well, until neighbors began to balk.

That’s when we caught wind of the situation — and not a moment too soon, as mama was about to once again experience the perils of feral motherhood. This time, she gave birth to a whole cast of characters: three healthy, adorable, squirming babies.

As providence would have it, we heard about the little family at the height of a heatwave (one of many in this muggy Jersey summer). The mama had shuttled her brood to a stuffy location under a porch, and we feared the little ones would wilt — or worse — in the extreme heat. Happily, our stalwart trapper extraordinaire, Jess, made it to the scene in plenty of time, bringing mama and kittens back to Tabby’s Place.

This story is shaping up to have a veritable fairy-tale ending: mama, now named Disney, is still rather nervous, but nowhere near as “feral” as she seemed outdoors. As of this writing, it’s still up in the air whether or not she’ll let us coax her in the direction of “adoptable,” or return to a safe, loved life outdoors. If the latter, her wonderful elderly friends are happy to continue feeding and looking after her. In fact, they are so wonderful, they’ve adopted Disney’s eldest daughter, now known as Molly. Tabby’s Place will, of course, spay both Disney and Molly.

In the meantime, we’re gleefully socializing wee little Daisy, Mickey and Minnie, three smidgens of infinite sweetness. They have the best possible start to life, with their birth mama close at hand to nurse and nurture them, and tender humans to introduce them to people-love.

This is all only possible thanks to you, our favorite people of all.

Dear sponsors, as this unpredictable, inexplicable year stretches on, you continue to be a constant, an anchor, a beacon of the love that outlasts any trial. Thank you, from the depths of my heart, for your amazing kindness. Have a beautiful August!

Your correspondent,
Angela