Operation Cat Rescue #1: Landing on the Beaches of Reality

So, when the word initially went out via the NextDoor app (you can read the backstory on that here), I thought, "I'm up for that!" Granted, now, that seems somewhat crazy given the situation that we are facing with a lot of very sick cats who are going to need surgeries on their eyes, etc. 

But, hubris is a beautiful thing! :-) 

And while I've done some cat rescue in my past, with some ferals that took up residence under my mother in law's deck, and then started having kittens, I don't think I was completely prepared for just how very sick these cats truly were going to be. 

What made me even consider making this attempt was 1) I have a weekender cabin in The Woods that could be a place to put a few of these guys for awhile while they got assessed and 2) my job is completely remote right now so I could work out of the cabin while simultaneously doing some cat rescuing. 

See, easy! :-) 

Considerations I had not thought of:

1) How ill these cats are. I guess I was fortunate that the ferals that we did a TNR (trap, neuter, release) with were not ill whatsoever. And the kittens were in great shape, we tamed them and found them all homes. That was not going to be the experience with these guys.

2) How overwhelmed the shelters and rescues in West Virginia are. They are just beyond overwhelmed and couldn't really help us out in any way. The idea that they would be a resource quickly evaporated. 

3) How hard it is to get vet appointments right now. With the pandemic, vets are overwhelmed as well. Every vet's office that I called within a 30-40 minute radius of The Woods wasn't going to be able to get me in for at least 6-8 weeks. With cats with bad upper respiratory infections (I later understood that they have FHV), waiting almost two months to be seen by a vet just wasn't an option. 

So, my lovely positivity crashed hard against the rocks of reality. 

But not before I had been texting with the wonderful person (we shall call her "L") who'd been feeding, looking in on, and taking care of the 10 cats, and letting her know about my plan to come up, catch a few of the friendliest kitties, bring them back to my cabin to get them out of the elements and then to what I imagined would be quickly set up vet appointments, spay and neuters and off to their forever homes. 

Um, see the 3 considerations above if you want to know how that all worked out. :-) 

Nevertheless, I did indeed head up to my cabin this week with my three cat carriers, a bunch of food, litter boxes and litter, and plans to do some cat herding at the abandoned cabin. 

That was actually the easy part!

I rolled into the driveway and was greeted by a small black kitty with a creaky meow who was wondering why no one had been there yet to feed her. 

After giving her some tuna, two other little lovelies came sauntering out as a duo also looking for food. 

While all three nibbled away at the tuna, I went back to my car and grabbed my carriers. A quick pick up with a gentle scruff and they were all easily in the carriers. They weren't happy about it but it was a short trip over to my cabin. 

Of the three, the black kitty (whom I subsequently foster-named Miss Sass, based on her big personality) was in pretty good shape. She quickly made herself at home and settled right in. 

The two tabbies were definitely sicker and definitely bonded. 

And as another sign that I didn't know what I was doing, I improperly thought the  tabbies were boys (nope, girls!). It also took quite some time to tell them apart so I would sometimes just refer to them as The Twins. 

Three captured, seven more to go!