Remember when I blogged about two lovely friendly but abandoned cats which I was determined to help? Well, it took a bit of work but I got everything lined up: a fosterer arranged, a vet's appointment booked, a time to turn up sorted. All I needed to do was collect the cats, take them to the vets for a checkup and drop them off with the fosterer (thanks Adele).
Monday afternoon and I turned up with two cat carriers and as soon as the tabby (Charlie) saw them she immediately became skittish. I managed to pick up Chocolate and put her in the carrier without problem. Charlie was a different matter. As soon as I got hold of her she went ballistic, all squirming teeth and claws as she struggled frantically to get away from me. When one claw dug deep into my cheek, I had to let her go. I didn't have much choice as she caught a blood vessel and the red stuff trickled heavily (if you can have a heavy trickle that is) down the side of my face and onto my clothes. It took several minutes before I managed to stop it. By this time Charlie was on the other side of the low fence and showed no sign of coming back. (A couple of days later, a friend commented that it was a shame I hadn't been able to take a selfie of my face as it must have looked spectacularly gory but I have to leave it to your imagination.)
I gave up and settled for Chocolate.
When we got in to see Louise the vet I put my hand under Chocolate's tummy to get her out of the carrier and said, "Uh oh, she's pregnant." Louise checked her out and confirmed what I thought about her pregnancy (and her age -about 2-3). Luckily she wasn't far gone so she could be safely spayed, terminating the pregnancy without any risk to her and she'd be kept in overnight with the operation performed the next day. There are far too many unwanted kittens around as it is to add to the numbers.
There was another implication to all this: if Chocolate was pregnant then it was virtually certain that Charlie (whom I assumed to be her sister) also happened to be in the kitten way which made it more imperative that I catch her.
Meanwhile I had to re-arrange my plans. After checking with Adele that it was okay, I decided to go back the next afternoon for a second try at Charlie, then I'd collect Chocolate and keep her at my house until Charlie had been sorted before passing them on to Adele to foster.
Tuesday afternoon and my second attempt to catch Charlie. As soon as she saw me she jumped the fence and sat watching me from about ten yards away. I opened a sachet of cat food and tossed a few pieces near the cat. She tentatively came forward and took a nibble so I did it again. I went and sat in a garden chair a few few from the fence and Charlie sat on the top of it. Again I tossed a few morsels near her and then, gradually, more and closer until they were right next to the chair. Charlie came and let me stroke her, purring away and now relaxed. So I grabbed and quickly put her in the flip top carrier almost before she realised what was happening. Success!
Off to the vets where it was confirmed that she was the same age as Chocolate and just as pregnant. I left her and brought Chocolate home with me to recuperate in the cat cage in the bedroom. She didn't want to socialise with the other cats though she wasn't aggressive to them other than a perfunctory hiss and was very happy to be stroked and cuddled.
Wednesday and I collected Charlie from the vets along with another cat which had just had its second flu jab and which I dropped off at the re-homing centre on the way back to my home where I re-united the sisters in the cage.
A few hours later I took them to Adele's where they met their new kitten friends. Both cats appeared relaxed from the start, sniffing the kittens and exploring the flat. Chocolate was interested in Adele and (I've since heard) was later observed washing one of the kittens.
She'll keep the pair (having given them their names) for three weeks until it's time for their second flu jab when I'll take them off her hands to move them to the centre. Actually I'm back at Adele's this evening as I've had a phone call this afternoon from a lady who would like a kitten or two and I suggested hers. Fingers crossed.
Things went a bit wobbly but, with Adele's help, I've managed to rescue two adorable cats who should have no problems finding a nice home together -they aren't being separated.
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