Often there is a thought or project I think of and really don’t have a way to resolve it. But over and over again, thoughts are simply premonitions that will be solved for me. This is what happened when I started wondering about the cats off Adams and 48th Street.
We had trapped about 25 cats in this small trailer park two years ago. It was an amazing experience. Of the 25 cats, 18 would have had at least one litter during the coming year. That would be about 18 times 5, then those five, half of them being female, would have another litter while their mama had her second litter! So we felt pretty good about that.
But with trap-neuter-return you have to manage colonies and you cannot sit on your laurels.
GCCCP stays in touch with the caregivers of the colonies by helping with food. This way we know if we have succeeded and if there are more cats or kittens in the area that need to be spayed and neutered. I was hearing from the caregivers that there were kittens that had been born in the last two years but were not being fed by the caregivers I had worked with previously.
I contacted surrounding neighbors, leaving information on doorsteps and knocking on doors, but couldn't find caregivers that had taken the kittens in.
Our perpetual contact with the caregivers in the area finally put us at the right place at the right time. I was directed to a man who said he was interested and getting cats fixed.
It turns out this man had saved two generations of cats during the two years since we had trapped all the others. He was thrilled to meet us.
We arrived just when the youngest kittens were a perfect age to be spayed and neutered and the older kittens were just going into heat!
From that one connection we not only spayed and neutered four kittens and four adults, but we were also able to rehome them all because the caregivers had taken such good care of them!
GCCCP is moving into a very productive time. All the hard work of the organization, caregivers and our community, and the successful communication between all of us are creating a productive result. We, as a community, should be proud.