Wednesday, February 4, 2015

feral buddy system

Over this past weekend I did some trapping. It had been a long time since I've gone out and trapped, I think since June when I scored Bert. I've been too busy to take on any projects, but in this case, it was a friendly boy who had showed up at a managed colony. My goal was to drop trap him and his less-friendly brother.

I got the friendly one about 30-minutes after setting the trap. Then I waited for another few hours and the brother never showed! Trapping is very much like fishing, a lot of waiting quietly with great anticipation. I did get to enjoy watching the two resident tabby ferals, a mom and her daughter, who feasted on the bait-food. While waiting, I managed to snap this cute picture of the daughter watching me through the sliding glass door, while her mom ate.


Meanwhile, Pierre survived his experience being trapped and worked over at the vet. He's now microchipped, which I'm very happy about, and fully vaccinated. I decided to have him sedated so all this could be done with less stress. The vet said he looks quite healthy.

Since I had him vaccinated for FeLV and he was sedated, my plan is to keep him captive on the back porch for a day or two until I know he is feeling 100%. The vet said he was fully awake and suggested I give him an extra hour in the trap just to be sure. I gave him an extra couple of hours and then released him to the back porch. I was horrified to see that he was very unsteady on his feet and had difficult time keeping his balance while also franticly trying to escape. Seeing him try to jump and climb while so wobbly really freaked me out as he could easily misjudge a jump and seriously injure himself. There was no way I could recapture him, all I could do is watch, worry, and pray. Thankfully, after some time, he eventually settled in with Oliver and they slept away the afternoon together in their heated bed.

8 comments:

  1. I'm glad it all went well for Pierre! When I had Toby-the-former-stray neutered, he still was very wobbling when I released him and I remember him eating, then staggering drunkenly down the street. I followed him for a bit, but off he went and obviously he survived. :-)

    I hope you get the brother of the cat you were able to trap!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pierre is so lucky to have you care for him. Glad you got one cat trapped, hope you get the brother.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How scary for you. But you are doing great work, and those kitties are lucky to have you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. mom often says that TNR required patience and timing...and then you can do the happy dance when you get the one you want. :) Poor Pierre - one of those times you wish you could explain everything to him.

    ReplyDelete
  5. OH that is beyond scary and heart pulling. SO glad it ended well. xox

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like your drop trap! Mine looks just about the same, only we have a different webbing. Glad you snagged Pierre and did what must be done. You'll get the brother next time...what's his name? I too set up the drop trap so I can watch out the door, and pull the string when I need to. Almost tripped over an orange cat at my front porch yesterday...if he hangs around some more, I'll TNR him in the spring.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love that photo!

    I can only imagine how a drunk Pierre made you feel. I hate it when it is my own cats and I can comfort them.. but to not be able to do that..

    ReplyDelete
  8. How scary that must have been, to see Pierre wobble! I'm glad he was able to sleep it off with Oliver.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for sending in your comments!