What I Take With Me to the Feeding Stations

 

 



My car loaded up for the feeding station rounds



I thought you might like to see what I take with me when I go to the feeding stations.  I take a lot more with me than I used to. 


I bring several bottles filled with water.  I fill them from my home drinking tap (there are two taps in Cyprus).  The cats drink so much water I cannot believe it.  The kittens drink a lot, too.  When the water bowls are empty, and I fill them, that is the first thing the kittens run to get.  It's especially important in the summer in Cyprus to supply water because there is no rain.  I do provide it all year round.



Lots of large water filled plastic bottles go with me

I used to take the kibble in separate, doubled plastic bags - doubled because one tiny cat claw and it is over for the kibble in the bag.  It was convenient because I knew how many scoops to put in each bag for each station.  But now it would ridiculous.  I would be scooping all day.  Now I put the whole 15 kilo bag of kibble in the back seat and a scooper, and fill and refill a plastic bag as I go from one station to the next.

The whole 15 kilo bag of kibble goes with me in the back seat

I take another tote bag for canned food, plates, tissues to wipe the bowls, and extra plastic bags for trash and dishes.  This tote bag came with me from America, it's from LLBean.  It's sturdy and great with all the pockets for organizing smaller stuff.

Plastic plates, tissues, canned food, plastic bags, a scooper for the kibble

I occasionally switch out the bowls at the feeding stations and bring them home for a good cleaning, so I carry some extra bowls with me, too, in case some look very dirty.

Large clean bowls for swapping out dirty ones

Also, when they are not both occupied, I keep a small carrier in the car for emergencies.  I only have two small carriers.  I could really use a couple more.  My other carriers are enormous and are for dogs, too big for the car or to actually carry.

A small carrier and a soft blanky

I often take my camera. 

My Camera

And at night I take a flashlight.  This one uses no batteries and is a wind up.  It fits perfectly between my inside upper arm and ribcage for hands free.  I have used lots of different flashlights and lanterns and this is the best.  Batteries fail at the worst times, and so do bulbs. 

A wind up flashlight for hands free at night

And I usually keep a trap in the boot of my car, a couple of beach towels large enough to cover the trap, and a peepee pad.  I keep a can of trapping bait in my camera case.

A trap

Canned fish for trapping bait

Sometimes for an occasional treat I will bring a big bottle of milk.  They like that.  I have also taken them yogurt before.  Most like it, some don't. 

A big plastic tote is best to actually carry from the car, because they are easy to clean, waterproof, and strong.  The one I use now is from IKEA and it is giant. 

So there you have it. That's what I take with me to the feeding stations. 

Oh, and this doesn't go:

Lulu

I try to make sure all the cats are out of the car before I leave the house!  Sometimes I have been surprised halfway down my home road, and have had to turn back to drop off a cat or two. 

Sometime I forget stuff, or run out of kibble, that's a bummer, but I am never very far from home. 

Trapping, Altering, and Releasing Clinton

Clinton

Clinton is a cat who came from the Sandra's feeding station.  I now mostly see him at the park.  He is a mild Tomcat who has had a bad respiratory infection since I have known him.  I suspect he may be sicker than that.  On Thursday when I went to try and trap Wanda and failed again, I decided it was a good time to get Clinton.  If he is sick I do not want him fighting with the other males at the park, and I also wanted to get him some relief if I could.

He was so easy to trap.  In fact, he kept setting the trap off by rubbing on it lovingly before he even got in it. I basically had to give him a push in there.  He continued eating his treat/bait and then realized what had happened.  He wasn't happy. 

He was so heavy when I picked up the trap, I couldn't believe it.  It was a long, staggered walk to the car for me.

Clinton in the trap in the back of my car, he's not happy

I took him in on Thursday and picked him up on Friday.  The vet gave him a very expensive long lasting antibiotic that appears to have helped him a lot.  His breathing is not nearly so rough and wet.  Also, he had been drooling a lot, and the vet found something lodged in his teeth which she removed.  He is not drooling anymore.  It was probably a fish bone, because a fisherman puts out fresh fish for the cats at Sandra's, and I still see him there on occasion. 

Loaded up to go to the vets with two cats, Clinton is in back

Starlight had to go in, too

 At the vets

The vet also said he was huge.  She said he weighed over 9 kilos.  Well, no wonder I could barely pick him up.  The traps are quite heavy just by themselves. 

When I released him the first thing he did was get his bearings.  Then he headed straight to the hill to take a very, very long peepee.  I felt so sorry for him that he had been holding it.  He never sprayed once in the trap or in my car.  He was the most respectful male cat I have ever trapped. 

Clinton on the hill just before I released him. That's Strike coming to take a look at the food I brought.

 

 

Clinton gets his bearings

 

Clinton had to peepee really bad.  So he did that for a long time :(  Poor guy.

Then he sauntered back over...

and had a snack

 

then he went and made biscuits like he always does after he eats :)

 

He stayed nearby and ate a meal of soft food I brought with me while the others around joined in for a bite, too: Strike,  Greyboy, Blabby, Topper, and Sose were there.

It was starting to get dark

It was time to say goodbye for the night.  

Greyboy walked me to my car.

Greyboy

When I saw Clinton the next day, he was looking and sounding much better than before I trapped him.

I hope this will take some stress off him, and he will be able to live a long life there at the park.  Godspeed, Clinton.  Thank you. 

Thanks, Clinton.  I love you. 

More Pictures from Sandra's

 

 

Sandra's

I mentioned in the last post we started a new feeding station this past summer behind our friend Sandra's apartment building.

I thought you might like to see some of the cats from the feeding station we call "Sandra's":

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures were taken in the summer with a phone, so they are not so great.  The cats are looking a bit healthier now with regular meals, they have grown, and many more have found their way to the feeding station to eat.

The Feeding Stations Updated

It's time to update our map. I mentioned in the last post that we added a new feeding station this past summer.  It is located behind an apartment building on the seafront road not far down from the Park. We call it "Sandra's" after our friend Sandra who has a seasonal apartment there and who led us to the struggling cats who live back there.

We have also moved homes since our last map so the new map reflects better our new distance from the feeding stations.

So the new feeding stations are as follows:

1.  The Maisonettes
2.  Sammy's
3.  The Fields
4.  The Apartments
5.  The Park
6.  Sandra's
7.  Our House

 



 

Who's Your Daddy?

"Who's ur daddy?"

One morning, about two or three weeks ago, I was up at the park feeding cats, when from the direction of the houses across the street came confidently sauntering the most majestic Tomcat. It was one of those moments like when you see a great bird of prey in the sky and you just go, "Ah!"

A majestic Tomcat I'd never seen before approached me at the park and took my breath away

My next thought was, "What happened to Mustafa?! When did he start coming up to the top of the park and crossing the street and when did he start taking steroids?"

But it clearly wasn't Mustafa.

Mustafa is smaller and was neutered young

I named the new Tomcat King. 

King (with Topper in the background)

Since Nik and I, more than ever with our busy schedules, are like two ships passing in the night, I thought of mentioning it to him, but there is only so much time when I see him to catch up on only so much, so I didn't.  But it wasn't long afterward that he was catching me up on the goings-on at our newest feeding station (behind the apartments where we found Fortune - across the street and down from the park), that he blurted out with a laugh, "Well, at least I know who Mustafa's Dad is now," and I knew right away what and whom he was talking about.

King was eating at the top of the park with Strike and the others,

Top of the park feeding - from left, Blabby, Punky, Lulu, Topper, Strike, and King

but he has just started following me down to the lower park where Mustafa eats and  I was able to get a picture of them together this morning.

Mustafa left, King right, in near perfect profile.  Bookends?

King is a very nice Tomcat as far as Tomcats go, and so far has not posed too much of a problem with the other cats.   He's actually been quite nice to Blabby and Greyboy, and Topper, too, a new young male who has been coming over to the park to eat in the mornings. But I don't know how long this will last.

3/4 profile!