AUGUST 12 FEEDING

Well, another week has gone by.  Some more bowls are being stolen on a daily basis. I would love to catch this person and let the whole world know what a petty thief he/she is and how this is endangering all the cats.  In this heat they would get very sick without water.  I've decided to stay at each feeding station until the cats are at least finished with the canned food and have had something to drink before I move on to the next station.  Of course that doesn't work if the cats don't come out of hiding while I'm there.  And there are some stations where the ferals just don't come out of their hiding place when somebody is near their food bowls.
I am so upset with this.  On top of all that we just can't afford to constantly buy new bowls, not and buy food, too.  Yesterday I spent a good 3 hours with the different cats that did come out while I was there.  With most of them I do have to keep my distance, but at least I can watch over them while they are eating.




The official greeting party.

 
It's always a joy coming to this colony.  These three always come out and say, "Hello, where have you been, we are hungry" LOL  There are more at this station but the others are too shy to come out.

This little Lady, unfortunately,
 is pregnant.  :-(

Not sure if this is a male or female.  But she is small like a female and is very friendly and talkative.
She came close enough to smell my camera, unfortunately the picture I took at the moment she sniffed my camera
just didn't come out right.  Bummer.

 

I find this little lady absolutely adorable.  And if I had the room at home I would take her home and socialize her.  Well, at least try.  :-)  She is truly a cute kitty.

ANOTHER FRIDAY TO FEED THE FERALS

I was able to get out of the house really early today to feed the kitties.  The cats at the first colony looked almost surprised to see me so early. LOL  Didn't get to take any pictures at the first colony, somebody started a lawnmower and they all scattered. Unfortunately, there is a pregnant cat at the first station.  Most of the cats there had been neutered, but this one must have been joined more recently. Bummer.

At the third colony, by the wall, I actually had to call the cats to let them know I'm there, and one by one they came out to say Hello to me.

Miss Piggy and Pretty Girl are listening to something they heard.

 Of course those two were the first to come out when I called all the kitties at the wall.
Next came Schwartze Katze and her partner, although those two don't really get along too well.

I really had to hurry and get another bowl of wet food out for the second black cat. I was afraid there was going to be one of those proverbial cat fights. There was a bit of hissing going on.

With a little patience I got to take a nice close-up of Schwartze Katze.  Looking at her ears, it doesn't look like she's been neutered either.  I guess we're going to have to set another day aside to do some more TNR.. trap, neuter, and return. This seems to be a never ending story. 

At the fifth colony, I saw Jerry with his two ladies.  He is such a sweetheart, he always lets them eat the canned food first.  I often wait  until they are done and then put out a second bowl for him.  I've tried putting out two bowls at the same time, but the girls hogged both of them.  So I wait with him and for him.  LOL

   

FEEDING TIME

Finally got some time to post a few pictures of last Friday's feeding at the  colonies.

Not a clear pic. But this is the first station (or last depending which direction I come from) Several of the cats are already waiting for their food.  I was about an hour late and they definitely let me know how they felt about it.  The other cats at this station seldom come out while I am there.



"Pretty Girl" July 29, 2011
What a change in demeanor.  LOL

 This is at the third station, which we identify as "by the wall".  I didn't see anybody at the second station.
But this vocal young lady was very upset with me for being late.
Her name is "Pretty Girl" and below you'll see a picture of her exactly one year ago.  I can think of all sorts of names to call this demanding kitty, but I guess "Pretty Girl" is fine for now.  LOL

"Pretty Girl" July 30, 2010
She's was a lot calmer then, I guess after a while she realized the more noise she makes the quicker she gets fed.



Schwartze Katze, don't have another name for this one. 
Schwartze is extremely shy, so I am thrilled
to have gotten a half way decent picture.
This is the fourth station near a dumpster by an
office complex.



Another kitty has joined the couple of young cats
that live in the bushes by the dumpster.  Don't know
if it's a male or female.  But this kitty has huge ears and unfortunately hasn't been spayed or neutered.  I just love those ears.  We will have to trap Miss Exotic and have her spayed.  I'm assuming it's a female.  But I could be wrong.  She sure was enjoying the food and seemed to be very hungry.  I gave her a second helping of the canned food.  I did put down a plate of wet food a few feet away so that Schwartze can eat, too.





Jerry and one of his ladies. She's pretty vocal, too, but she hides under cars while she is telling me all about it.
This is the 5th Station at another office complex.
Nobody came out at the 6th station.



THE CAT HOUSE ON THE KINGS

"THE CAT HOUSE ON THE KINGS",   cathouseonthekings.com
I've known about this place for a while now, saw a video years ago.  But I never knew the name or that there was a website.  But I finally saw it mentioned in the emails I get from "FreeKibbleKat.com", National Geographic is going to do a special tonight, July 30, 2011 at 10PM eastern time.  I will definitely watch it and so should you, if you're reading this that is.  LOL
I truly admire Lynea Lattanzio, she lives what she believes in. Here is the video I first saw quite a long time ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwM6f0liHpo&feature=player_embedded

Missing Bowls

Today, Friday July 8, 2011, finished my feeding a lot earlier than normal.  Didn't want to be out there in the heat.
Most of the kitties weren't out yet... sleepy heads. :-)
We've been having problems with people stealing the cat's feeding and water bowls.  Today two of the stations had all the bowls missing.  It is getting to be expensive constantly having to replace those bowls, the money we spent on buying new bowls could be better used on food.  This is so maddening.

Here are a few more pictures.  Didn't take any today, though.

Looking down at me from high up on a wall.  Lots of building supplies in the back.  Good place for them to hide. These guys are brothers and were very gracious and allowed me to take a few pictures of them.

 

I came around a bush and surprised this fellow before he high-tailed it out of there. :-)  He is one of the brothers.

Of course it is "Miss Piggy AKA Orangy" and "Pretty Girl"...EATING

"Sad Sam"  I gave him this name because he always looks so sad.

He went missing for a few months, but then suddenly showed up again.  I wonder what happens when they do that.  He is very shy.

Feral Kitties

I belong to a small group of volunteers that feed feral cats every single day.  I've been doing this for about 1 1/2 years (although, I feed only once a week now) and have enjoyed every feeding, even though it is sad how many cats are out there on their own.
We are able to take care of only a very, very small percentage of these cats.  And even that is getting to be too expensive.  We do depend on donations and more volunteers to help with the feedings and the vet bills. I just wish there was more money and more volunteers.

Here are a few pictures I've taken over the past year or so. It wasn't always easy taking those pictures, I would often stand there or sit on the ground waiting and waiting for just the right moment.  And I've taken 100s of pictures just so I could come up with a few good ones.  LOL

 Jerry,  Tom's Buddy

Tom was illegally trapped by some stranger and we've never seen him again.  He was a beautiful and healthy cat.  Jerry went missing for a couple of weeks but then showed up again.  He was always shy, but now he is even worse.  But he is surviving without his buddy and has actually gotten himself a couple of girl-friends.  Sure glad that Jerry has been neutered.

Graue Lady

Graue Lady was a very shy girl, but she was also very curious, always peaking around the corner to see if I was still close to the  food station.  She seemed to say, hurry up I'm hungry. :-) Unfortunately, I haven't seen her in a while.  Next to Tom she was always my favorite, I guess that's because she reminded me a bit of my own cat, KaiKai.
.

Orangy

  Orangy had her name before I joined the group, but personally I think her name should be "Miss Piggy".  she is the only one that will come running to us and rub against our leg and allow us to pet her, but we better not dare pick her up.  And she will eat and eat and eat.