Happy September. I hope this month’s TNR tales find you blessed and blissful from head to tail.
“Blessed” is an understatement for how our TNR cats are faring this month — thanks to you. It’s been a summer of success at a certain colossal feral colony. Just as Labor Day arrived with its BBQs and warnings of “no more white shoes ’til May,” Tabby’s Place and our friends at Lambertville Animal Welfare (LAW) wrapped up one of the wildest, wooliest TNR projects to date.
In total, our brave team trapped and provided medical care for 42 cats. Let’s zoom in and see just how those two score and two lives were blessed.
First, the wee ones: eighteen kittens were trapped, spayed/neutered, tested, vaccinated and microchipped. Of these sweet smidgens, two have already been adopted; eleven await their forever homes at Tabby’s Place; three are in the loving care of LAW; and the two oldest, most feral teenagers were re-released to their safe colony.
Then there’s the grown-ups, two dozen strong. One ultra-friendly girl, aptly named Sweetie, is in a fabulous LAW foster home. A second sweet adult was happily found to belong to a neighbor (he’s not had updated vaccines, a microchip, and a return trip home).
Of all 42 cats, one dear old creamsicle-colored tom (pictured at right) needed us most of all. Upon his arrival at Tabby’s Place, two things were immediately apparent about this boy:
1) He was the very image of our lobby cat Mario, only (very) feral, and;
2) He was suffering a horrific infection in his back paw.
Due to #1, we named this brave cat Wario. Due to #2, he was in for an extended stay (nearly six weeks) at Tabby’s Place. As best we can tell, poor Wario has soldiered through life with his injury for years, and we wanted to ensure that he’d made a complete recovery before returning to his outdoor colony. To put it gently, Wario did not exactly radiate gratitude for our care. But, it’s enough for us to know that this precious old soldier is healthy at last and finished fathering kittens. Wario’s battle with pain is over, and we know he’s loving life out there as a healthy boy. Of course, our colony caretakers will be keeping a close eye on Wario and all his comrades.
In addition to Wario, 21 more adult cats were spayed/neutered, vaccinated, treated for parasites, microchipped, ear-tipped, and released to the care of stellar colony caregivers. You can see the lineup on release day, below left.
Dear feral friends, this breathless summer of stray cat-saving is thanks to amazing people like you who believe in the value of their lives. I’d like to quote Lori, fearless founder of LAW:
“It truly does ‘take a village’ to successfully complete a TNR project of this magnitude, and we thank each of you for being so supportive … (N)one of this would have been possible without (Tabby’s Place’s provision of) medical treatment for (the) 42 cats and kittens! At a regular vet office, these expenses would cost over $15,000; (Tabby’s Place was) able to cover the costs by using TNR grant money, using our local low cost Spay/Neuter clinic, providing a lot of their own vaccines, etc., and using their in-house veterinarian.”
Thank you, dear feral friends, for making this labor of love and all this stellar medical care possible. These forty-two cats — and many more besides — are blessed by your compassion. Here’s to a happy, healthy fall for all the cats and humans we cherish.