Thor trapped

Going for sterilization in the morning

Noisy Tabby to be released

The diarrhoea has finally stopped….

Cute but Very Noisy!!! She has already a sore throat from all that crying… and me sleepless nights.

Noisy Tabby is from the same block where Thor was removed last October… and 3 others went missing around the same time.

New female sterilised

She has been around for some time but I just couldn’t cope. Lucky it was not too late… she was on heat!

Hope going for his snip tomorrow

No Hope but got Happy

Tried to trap Hope but he would not go near the trap. In the end I found Happy, who is very tame, probably abandoned by *26 resident.

Will have to wait for Hope to loose his shyness. Poor thing, he is always under one of the cars at Peony’s place. Have been feeding him every day…. always so hungry.

Ziggy Area 1

Tipped and tattooed

Mei

Mei will be a proper tipped-ear community cat tomorrow!

Sparky to be sterilized

Sparky in the nice new carrier

Small colony

Today only the two females where there. I am unable to tell which one is the mother of the kittens… but the darker one could be pregnant!

http://meowies.multiply.com/journal/item/1469/A_small_colony_of_stray_cats

A small colony of stray cats

I saw 3 young adults and 3 kittens about one month old. They were at a busy non-residential area in town. At least here is quite a bit of greenery and bushes for them to hide. There are also feeders but sadly no one to sterilize them…

A young boy caught one of the kittens wanting to bring home. He said his parents allowed… but I have doubts. Another passerby stepped in and managed to persuade the boy to release the kitten. This man told me he is a caregiver himself and has 7 kittens at home right now…

Finally found the Area 2 female

This is the young female that appeared a month ago at *17 together with her brother. Found her today at *09.

Going for snip tomorrow!

2 free-roaming unsterilized home cats?

Can’t let them cause trouble in Sylvia’s area…

Blk *89 female

Blk *89 male

Lesson learnt?

Don’t just anyhow jump into someones carriers next time!

Area two Blk *27 tabby-white male with long tail.

He trapped himself!

Was waiting at the void deck for feeder G to show me the new female at Blk *27. Saw this untipped male under the table. He was very interested in my carrier which I had placed next to my bicycle, door facing up … in preparation for catching the female. I was on the phone discussing whether to take the male or wait for the Auntie to show me the female… suddenly heard him crying pitifully. He had jumped into the carrier and the door had closed.

I locked the carrier properly and took him back… since he was so eager 🙂

Will come back for the female on Tuesday.

Area -2 female

Syringe-fed her today because she is not eating much…. but otherwise she is doing well. Will keep her a while longer.

Area-2 male to be sterilized

A black-and-white male with a bobtail

Female doing well

Will keep her for a few more days. The male has been released.

Two done and three more to go…

By the time Auntie G turned up to show me the pregnant cat I already had her in the carrier. She is very tame and hopefully early stage…

Had planned to take either the pregnant cat or the siblings…so had brought only one large carrier. Ended up doing something quite stupid… put the male cat into a cardboard box and tied it onto to the front basket. Had to press on the box lid while cycling back to prevent escape. All went well but on hindsight it was too risky…

Also saw another new young male cat (tabby/white) at the same area…sigh!

Young female abandoned

According to a resident of blk *28 she was dumped yesterday at *27 by a Chinese woman who had carried her in a plastic bag.

No choice had to take her back and hope the vet can squeeze her in tomorrow…

She is pretty… white with some ginger patches on her head and a short ginger tail. I think not more than 6 month old…. but could be pregnant.

Blk *41 Area 3 Ginger male sterilised

Ah Eng caught him and brought him to the vet this morning. He was still very drowsy when I picked him up.

Pinky sterilised, Rex missing

The skinny ginger kitten named Rex from the same block has been missing for several days.

New male cat at area 3 Blk *75

He was sterilised today

The six kittens are safe now

These are 3 of the 5 young cats abandoned by the same family

The mother and her 6 kittens were placed in foster care and a police report was lodged.

First we spoke to the owner of the unit who told us that the cats belong to his sister and that he would not allow them into his flat. It was clear that he was not concerned at all about the sick kittens.

We were so worried when we saw only 4 kittens this time… but then one more came out. We thought the last one must have fallen to his death (through the gap in the wall ) … then he appeared suddenly – must have been hiding inside one of the shoes.

The caregivers later placed the 6 kittens and mother in carriers and waited for the sister and her husband… .

According to the caregivers, the sister said that they had actually planned to get the 5 cats sterilised… but when we spoke to her husband it was clear that they had no such plans ” Who are we to play god?” As expected he was neither willing to reimburse the caregivers for the sterilisation nor pay for the fostering of the mother & kittens…

Bruised

I accidentally deleted my earlier post…

Rushed the Block *45 cat to the vet this morning because of the bleeding and bruises… but she seems okay…. bright, active and eating well.

Muddy has a room-mate

This young female is from Area 3 Blk *45. Sylvia caught her this morning and I collected her from the Feeding Aunty in the afternoon. Aunty said that she was very noisy… but so far she seems to be quiet. She will be sterilised tomorrow.

I think Muddy is still constipated…

Pregnant female abandoned

Shiny

Blk *26 Area 1

Young female, all black, long straight tail

Saw this cat for the first time today… tame, shiny fur, hungry and pregnant!

Placed her in the carrier right away, as I didn’t want to take the risk of losing her… hope to get her sterilised tomorrow.

Shiny is clearly a new abandonee! Such irresponsible people… sigh!

Another male to be neutered

This young male is from blk *29 Area 3. The Aunty says that he is the brother of the newly spayed *48 female. Could be true… similar in look and behaviour and age.

An Escape Artist

Area 2 Blk. *02 male now called Blaine

Had his carrier tied with cable ties and with string all around like a parcel… and locked him in the bathroom.

Next thing I hear some growling at my front gate… luckily no fighting and I managed to grab him quickly and place him in one of the the blue-and-white carriers. I am not going to use those other flimsy carriers again… they are really not safe!

Hmmm….. any good name for this escape artist?

Young Female Tabby to be sterilised

This young female was abandoned a few months ago at Billy Boy’s area Blk. *48. She should be 6 or 7 months old now.

The new Blk *48 tipped-ear

Sylvia told me about a pregnant cat near her place belonging to a Malay family… we will talk to the family tomorrow and get her done… if the family agrees.

New Ginger Male at Area 2

Intended to take the new female but she was not around today… so this male cat from Blk *17 Area 2 will be sterilised tomorrow instead.

After…

tipped and tattooed

Time to revive Stray Cats Rehabilitation Scheme

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_315622.html

Time to revive Stray Cats Rehabilitation Scheme

I AM writing to urge the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority’s (AVA) Centre for Animal Welfare and Control and the town councils to revive the Stray Cats Rehabilitation Scheme and step up awareness among the public that offenders caught abandoning pets are liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $10,000 and/or 12 months’ imprisonment.

The presence of stray cats and dogs is the result of irresponsible pet owners abandoning their pets. These strays end up scavenging at food centres and rubbish bins for survival. Like humans, they mate and multiply. As their numbers increase, we complain of their defecation, noise from cat fights, caterwauling and scratches on cars.

If we can set up old folks’ homes to house elderly folk abandoned by their children, if we can run campaigns to raise awareness for Aids and yet continue to permit the oldest trade in the world, why can’t we make a humane effort to control strays rather than just cull them and teach the public responsible pet ownership.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the AVA put down 10,000 to 15,000 stray cats a year. Since 2002, the AVA has, on average each year, impounded some 3,500 dogs and 5,700 cats and received 4,000 and 5,000 calls complaining about stray dogs and cats respectively. SPCA receives some 700 abandoned pets every month but fewer than 20 per cent are successfully found new homes.

Controlling the population of stray cats and dogs requires a multi-pronged approach. As stated in the AVA’s media release dated June 13, 2003, culling of strays is one necessary method to control the population. But when will such a cruel exercise be stopped?

The Stray Cats Rehabilitation Scheme sterilised some 3,000 stray cats before it was stopped in 2003. These sterilised cats would have remained at 3,000 to this day, if they survived road accidents or illness. A pair of cats can mate and produce up to 324 progeny in about two years. Assuming an equal number in sexes and using only simple mathematical calculations, the scheme has effectively saved at least 486,000 homeless cats from being born in 2005. This naturally translates into fewer public complaints for the AVA and the town councils, and savings in costs incurred rounding up and culling these cats.

Phyllis Tan (Ms)

Heino and Blk *33 Female to be sterilised

Heino has still loose stool despite taking the diarrhoea medication. De-wormed him yesterday… maybe that will help. Yesterday Rocky even groomed him and they played and wrestled… Heino is still a hyper kitten. Sadly they will have to part soon, as Heino is from area 2.

The young female is from Cat-Aunty’s area… next to my Area 1. A few days earlier 3 males were done by Cat-Aunty…and 2 of her tipped-ears were caught by Sita Pest Control. Luckily someone saw it and they released the 2 cats. Town Council say they made a mistake…

Mother and 3 tiny Kittens rescued

Dumped at a multi-storey carpark…

The Auntie who wanted to take in the now lost Floppy offered to foster them. I went down to help trap the mother. Sylvia already had the 3 kittens in her carrier when I arrived. The mother was easily trapped. Then we went back to my place to get the big rabbit cage…which is more spacious than a small cat cage.

The kittens are only a few days old, with eyes still closed.

Later at night Ivy managed to grab the difficult ginger-white male while I was not much help because The Wise One (Yeshe) bit my finger yesterday and it has become a bit infected and painful. This male cat had moved from my area towards Ivy’s… probably because there were still some unsterilised females around. He will be a tipped-ear tomorrow 🙂

Ivy asked me to name him, so his name will be Ivan.

Another one sterilised

A big friendly male named Tofu

Blk *38 under the care of Cat Aunty

from cat-aunty:

The tom was picked up at 7pm and released at 9pm, with a small meal. Once we reached his block, he calmed down and stopped jumping.

He seems alert and well, pleading to be let out from the carrier.

He is a very sweet boy.

cat-aunty

Novena cat was on heat and now on hunger-strike

Successful trapping…

…of the Novena Calico.

It took some patience… the kittens went in and out and all over the trap… then finally after several refills of food the parents come to have a look. I was ready to trap either one of them.

The Calico (mother cat) will be sterilised tomorrow and I plan to come back for the “Limping Tom” on Thursday. The sterilisation was sponsored by the guardian of M & P.

New female in Area 2

She is less scared now and has put on some weight. This will be the next one to be tipped.

New abandonees

Another young Siamese-x (female) from Blk *17 Area 1 has been sterilised and released back. Will name her Pretty. She is whitish with seal-point markings, long straight tail, blue eyes… no photo.

This cat (tipped-ear male, about 8 years old) was trapped and went to the police station and later to the vet to be scanned for microchip. See this posting:

http://meowies.multiply.com/journal/item/803/Stretched_to_the_limits….

Some of our police are ignorant and will reject reports of abandonment.

Please refer them to this act

http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/

check out section 42 (1) (f) of the Animal and Birds act.

Cruelty to animals

42 – (1) Any person who –

(f) being the owner of any animal, abandons the animal without reasonable cause or excuse, whether permanently or not, in circumstances likely to cause the animal any unnecessary suffering or distress, or causes or permits the animal to be so abandoned;

In this case the owner accepted the cat back and hopefully will keep him indoors now… and we will drop the matter.

I was very surprised that 3 caregivers (and a Chiwawa) turned up to accompany me to the police station after I told one of them that I am reporting abandonment. They too, feel very strongly that people should be fined or even jailed for abandoning their pets.

Two more cats sterilised

 

One is a black pregnant female from blk *12 near area 1 and the other a new white young female with a cute bob-tail. She is from Area 2… I call her Snowy.

3 more Novena cats napped for sterilisation

The mother cat walked straight into the trap and then even finished her food not knowing that she was trapped.

The 2 new kittens were put together in one carrier and then I called a taxi to take them to my place… all three will be done tomorrow at the nearby clinic.

The kittens are very tame…they are just about 6 months old – I think.

All done now… except for the older ginger male.

Tammy & Bubu sterilised

I had not seen the new female tabby for the past few days, then just before leaving the area I saw her running across the car park chased by the new Siamese male.

Brought her home and returned to continue feeding the community cats at area 1. There was another new cat…. but she looked familiar. Felt her tummy…she was in late pregnancy. No choice… had to get her right away. I am quite sure that she is the kitten that was put downstairs by a Malay man some month back. He took her back after I told him what happens to such little kittens in the streets. Apparently he kept her in but not all the time and didn’t’ bother to sterilise her… I did offer to bring her when she is old enough.

Luckily the vet accepted the additional female… I had booked only one slot.

Tammy is a ticked tabby with a hint of rust colour, long straight tail.

Photos of Novena cats

These two cats, a young male and a young female, were sterilised on Friday.

Part two of Novena trapping

Today I saw only the unsterilised female, the sterilised mother cat and one of her kittens.

I managed to get the female into the carrier and then waited a while but no sight of any of the other cats. One of the guards said that he saw them yesterday, and that they will come out in the evening. I also asked about the older injured male… he seems to be better.

After some time, the young ginger-white male finally appeared and I trapped him and called Damy. Both cats will be sterilised under SPCA vouchers, boarded and returned on Tuesday.

Novena cats

The two sterilised female cats were returned today.

Photos courtesy of Damy

The older male who was already limping now has another injured leg…abused? I didn’t see him.today…according to the feeder he only comes out in the evening.

The other bad news is that one of the residents, a Swedish lady, complained about the cats and the guard is supposed to call AVA in 2 week times to remove the cats.. She says that she will try to get the 3 kittens adopted by her friends… she will also ask the complainant to call me. Hope I can explain to her what we are doing…and that she will retract her complaint.

Novena Cats

The security officer who covers for Lily during her leave, said that he hadn’t seen any of the cats…but he saw the 3 kittens. He grumbled that he had to cycle very far to buy the can food. I am afraid he is not feeding them.

I gave all the dry food I had to the 3 kittens and the mother and another Torty, and also water. Always carry these items wherever I go… later I got some can food and went back one more time.

I was very relieved to see that the kittens are alright, and I like the mother cat very much… she let me stroke her today.

Novena Cats

Two of the cats at the condo

The mother of the 3 kittens

Update on Novena cats

Yesterday the security guard tried to catch one of the cats for sterilisation by luring them into the carrier with some food… but it was unsuccessful.

I passed her the trap today and tomorrow will show her how it works so she can trap one of them tomorrow night. A Japanese caregiver who had earlier borrowed the trap brought it down to Novena MRT station, as she was going there anyway to put up photos of two abandoned puppies for adoption at the Cold Storage noticeboard.

We have also received some sponsorship towards the sterilisation of these cats and they are getting better food now. The caregiver readily agreed to order a better brand of dry food when she noticed that the cats liked the dry food I gave them. In the end she will still save money because buying the food in bulk is so much cheaper than getting it from the supermarket.

Sadly, the lives of 4 older kittens under her care have been lost recently. They were trapped by the next-door church management and sent to AVA to be killed. The caregiver pleaded with the Executive to release the kittens to her but there was no mercy…

Another reminder here to please sign the petition, for those who have not yet done so and also forward to others : http://www.petitiononline.com/catraps/petition.html

Cats at Novena area condo

Yesterday I noticed one skinny cat following the guard. It turns out that there are several unsterilised cats there, all females except for one male. There were three kittens hiding in the bushes, they look about 3 months old. The skinny torty is their mother.

The security guard, told me that she is feeding them and that there are no complaints because the residents also like the cats. We discussed sterilisation because surely there will be complaints if numbers increase. Her idea was to get the one male sterilised then the females wouldn’t get pregnant. Told her that wouldn’t work and better to start sterilising the females.

Will talk to her more and hopefully a plan can be worked out. She said she could keep the cats in the store room to recuperate after the surgery. I could lend her a cage and hopefully have some spare SPCA vouchers next month.

Helping to catch a sick cat

A caregiver told me about a lady who wants to bring a sick stray cat to the vet but has no experience with cats.

From her description he seemed to have flu and also seemed to be quite friendly. I told her there was probably no need to bring him to the vet but it would be good to bring him in for a few days…especially since it was raining. I was happy to hear that he was actually a tipped-ear community cat. Could this ginger boy be one of Anna’s lost cats? Could there be someone doing TNRM in this area?

When I went there it was raining quite heavily and he was hiding under a car. He really didn’t look sick, perhaps a bit of a sore throat. While we were feeding him and trying to coax him out from under the car a Chinese lady approached us.

She is a feeder and we talked for a long time, the younger lady acting as interpreter. She said one of the other feeders had sterilized this cat and also another few cats in the area and she seemed eager to help but didn’t know how to go about it. I offered her one or two of my SPCA vouchers for this month…

She also told us about cats being rounded up and an abuser who killed a cat and broke another’s leg, a mother cat with kittens on the 2nd floor of one of the blocks and about people scolding her for feeding cats…

I urged her to get in touch with the TC. She thought her cats would be safe because they wear collars…

The young lady actually intends to adopt this ginger boy and I gave her some tips on care and food and especially the importance of installing wire mesh to prevent falls. The feeder will help her catch the cat later…he trusts her and will let her carry him.

There was also another tipped-ear wearing a collar, a very friendly female tabby.