Phase 2 of the Kitty Round Up is officially done!!
07 July 2018 | Marina Puerto Escondido
Oscar's Kittens
On my last update on the Kitty Round Up, we had just gotten the last of Oscar's kittens out of the hole in the ground and they were being happily fostered aboard Dreamcatcher until they were old enough to go to forever homes. Well, that day has come! All 4 have found wonderful homes -- the first went to a lady in Loreto, and George and Barbara are keeping the adventurous black & white named Flaco, so that left the 2 small ones we called the Siamese twins. The other day Mike & Jean (our other partners in crime on the kitty round up) decided they would take those sweethearts in -- to add to the mix of 21 cats they already care for!!
Then we were facing the daunting task of trying to catch Mama and Oscar to have them spayed now that they were no longer nursing their kitties. This task was made more difficult because the old abandoned condo buildings where we had been feeding the cats were finally torn down, so our prime catching grounds were gone. So we continued to feed in a new area to get everyone used to that so we could attempt to trap them in that area.
Suddenly Mama wasn't showing up for feedings any more..... not knowing where she'd gone we started focusing on Oscar and tried luring her over to the area the kittens had last been and we spent some time there with the trap -- but no Oscar!! Were they on to us? Had they gone into hiding?
Then we heard a sad story from the harbor master. A cat had been found dead. It appeared it fell into the water and climbing out got into an electrical box. The description fit our dear Oscar and we were so sad to lose that strange and special cat that we had spent so much time with first trying to trap "him" and then searching for "her" kittens. RIP Oscar.
He related another story which may answer what became of Mama. One day someone left a trunk open on their car for a bit and then when they took off and closed the trunk they had inadvertently trapped a cat inside! Not knowing this they drove away and at some point in their travels opened up the trunk and out jumped a cat and ran away. So, we can't be sure it was Mama, but she's the only one we know that is missing........
So now we are in the final, but ongoing, phase of the cat business here: keeping them fed and watered and hopefully finding homes for some of them. Being feral they wouldn't make good house cats, but would be great outdoor cats on a ranch, in a barn, or even a big yard. They are all used to humans and some will even approach for a pet or two and all would be good at keeping the rodent and cockroach population down as they do here in the marina area.
And so it goes...........