Let’s leap right into glad tidings of love. Our little friends from last month’s TNR work, the not-quite-feral Nigella (pictured below) and Sandrine (at right), have both been adopted. It’s light years from a soon-to-be-evicted feral colony to the lap of love in a home — and it’s thanks to you that Sandrine and Nigella could make this journey. Thank you!
The journey continues in this season of hearts and flowers. This month, our mission brought us to a handful of unneutered feral kitties with a slew of struggles. There was dental disease. There were infections.
And, in the case of one very fortunate female cat, there was a pyometra.
A pyometra, in itself, is anything but good fortune. This serious uterine infection is one of the risks of being an unspayed female cat, and, left untreated, it can become fatal. This precious girl, however, had the good fortune to find her way into one of our traps before that could happen. Our veterinarian found the infection during the cat’s spay, and promptly treated it. Now that her brush with death is behind her, this lucky feline lady is back in her colony, surely feeling better than she’s felt in a very long time.
Not far from this feline friend’s colony is a small railroad…and that’s where we met Ted. Although he was loved and looked after by his feral colony’s caretakers, poor Ted had encountered something ferocious. When we met him, Ted was aching from a terrible facial abscess, and he needed intensive care. Happily, our vet team was able to fix all that ailed Ted, and today he’s a healthy, happy boy again.
Although the primary goal of TNR is spaying and neutering, it is a special mercy when we are able to save one of our brave, beautiful feral friends from suffering in silence. After all, to paraphrase that feline favorite Frank Sinatra, when you love some feral, it’s no good unless you love them all the way. 🙂
And, of course, that’s part of why we’re so eager to carry on with our large-scale TNR initiative at Tabby’s Place. As you know, we’ll soon be expanding our teensy medical facility so as to be able to reach many more feral cats each week. If you’re wondering, What are y’all waiting for?!, the answer is as simple as it is frustrating: we are waiting for boring building stuff. Everything from getting required permits to hearing back from our architect takes time, and sometimes it feels like it takes entirely too long…but we’re getting there, and we will get there.
The cats are getting this life-changing love because of you, amazing sponsors. Thank you for your faithful generosity, and for having the eyes to see the miracles you’re making possible each month.