lackadaisy
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Basketful of Chaos
🕑 Added 2016-09-01 20:52:53 +0000 UTC *******Harrowed Screaming********Ahem, now that I have that part out of the way, this is what's happening now - kittens under a neighbor's porch, courtesy of this gray feral cat I've long been trying to nab for TNR. If you attend my livestreams, you might have heard me talking about her.
My neighbors discovered them and we set about catching the kittens in a humane trap, one by one with the aid of some tuna late Tuesday night. They've since been camping out in a second bathroom that I don't make much use of (please disregard the hideous purple decor. I've been meaning to renovate).
I took them to the vet yesterday (with some very patient help from my friend Patrick), and it seems they're all in pretty good shape, roughly 5-6 weeks old, Feline Leukemia Virus negative, and completely indistinguishable from one another just to make things extra difficult.
In the dark early hours of this morning, their mother came to serenade them at the window and they responded in a interminably, heartbreaking, peeping chorus. On a lark, I set the trap out on my porch - a trap she had long evaded, mind you - with a hand towel in it that I had rubbed on some of the kittens. She took the bait and now I have her too. The bottom picture doesn't quite do their happy reunion purr-pile justice.
This will be the short term situation, though. I will have to have her spayed so that she can't make any more xerox copies, and then released. She's unlikely to ever trust people enough to be a happy housecat, but I will continue to feed her and provide her outdoor shelter.
The kittens needn't be feral, though, and for a whole host of reasons, it would be best if they weren't. I can't turn them over to a municipal shelter because they won't invest any effort in them - they'll simply kill them. I've been calling around to no-kill shelters and rescues (all of which are already overburdened), but the simple fact is that they need to be socialized to people in order to be considered adoptable first - lots of petting, playing, holding and handling. I desperately need help with this part. One or two kittens I could do, but there simply aren't enough of me to give five kittens enough attention to really win them over.
So, I'm putting out a bit of a distress call here. If you're in the market for a kitten, know someone else who is seriously interested in adopting, know someone willing to foster, or know of any rescue groups or foster associations that have operations in Missouri or even Illinois, I would very much like to hear about it. I'm willing to foot the bills for their first vaccinations and even spay/neuter if anyone out there has an open spot in their home.
Thanks guys.
*******Resume Screaming********
Comments
Awww
Emily
I posted this in a big Facebook fan community I'm a part of but no one has been able. Mrow! Good luck!!
Tracy Butler
There are now six of them. It turned out there was a straggler under the porch. I trapped her last night and reunited her with the rest of the gang. Two of the kittens are spoken for (my brother and his family have agreed to take them), but that leaves 4 still in need of homes.
Ama
What's the situation now? All 5 of them still need homes?
Chelsea Mann
(It won't let me reply! Haha.) But just moving from Topeka to Topeka. I don't know an exact timeframe for when the new place would be ready for a new cat, though (what with closing and such). Could unfortunately be a few months, assuming the distance isn't even too far.
Tracy Butler
Thank you, Shannon!
Tracy Butler
Where are you moving to (if it's not too impertinent to ask)?
Tracy Butler
Thanks, Ava!
Ava
Oh my gosh, these kittens! My heart burst into a Rocky-set-the-barn-on-fire flame, what sweeties! I will spread the word! (I live outside the U.S., but will pass the message on to my family who does!)
Chelsea Mann
I'm in Kansas and would love to snap one up in a heartbeat if I wasn't about to move. My adult cat Rocky is about to lose his apartment sister and is absolutely not a single cat cat.
SmGFL
This is the cutest thing ever oh my god.
If I didn't live in NC and if my mother wouldn't kill me I'd take them all, they're so adorable <3
Shannon Leigh Legler
I'll shout this over to my mom who is pretty active in the animal-rescue scene in Illinois, and see if she can help in any way!
Kari @ CelestialBlueMusic
Thank you for doing all of this! Makes my heart sing that you're out there doing the right thing! You're a hero!!
OMG so cuuuuuute
Minzoku Bokumetsu
Tracy, why are you such a mew magnet D=
