One More About To Be Spayed!

Knowing that I’m leaving Oklahoma City at the end of next week, I was beginning to feel that I wasn’t going to manage to fix any more cats. I was especially worried about the thought of Baby Girl having litter after litter. When I arrived back in OKC from Phoenix Sunday night I began to think of how to approach the problem. I knew that the cats just weren’t falling for the bait in the trap. The only one who had shown any interest was Splotchy Junior and she has already been spayed. Even the Orange Cat showed some interest in the bait, but once again, he has already been fixed. So I wondered what would happen if I set up the trap vertically just inside my front door. In theory I could grab a cat outside, and quickly shove it in the trap letting the door close before the cat could find its way up and out. Easier said than done of course. I tried trapping Baby Boy like that on Monday and the trap closed before I could get him inside. He bolted.

Today I came out with some sliced turkey (still left over from Thanksgiving) and Mama Cat, Splotchy Junior, Baby Boy and Baby Girl came to eat. I thought I had a better shot at trapping Baby Girl than Baby Boy since she is smaller and potentially easier to handle. I began to pet her while she ate and gradually positioned her where I needed her. Lena was in one of the bedrooms with the door closed so I had the front door of the apartment open. I quickly picked up Baby Girl, repositioned her in my arms and put her in the trap. Luckily it all worked out this time and the door only closed after Baby Girl was safely inside. She began desperately trying to get out and in the meantime I called the vet and told them that I’d trapped another one for them. They asked if I could wait till 1 pm to bring her in so I had a panicked cat and nowhere to take her for about an hour. I ran upstairs to get what I needed and to open the door to the bedroom so Lena wouldn’t be stuck. I came back down and got the trap with Baby Girl onto my backseat. The only thing I could think of to do was go for a drive, so Baby Girl and I headed up the Northwest Expressway. I didn’t go anywhere in particular, just drove and talked to her. Gradually she calmed down and only let out the occasional meow. Every cat has its own individual meow and I love the sound of Baby Girl’s. Eventually I turned around and got to the vet shortly after 1 pm. I got her checked in and she will be spayed tomorrow morning.

As I type this, some of the cats are visible from my window. I’ve noticed that over the past couple of days they have been spending time in the balcony of the apartment behind ours. There is a conveniently placed tree that makes getting up the wall very easy, and from the wall they have a short distance to jump to the balcony. Right now Baby Boy, Mama Cat and a new cat that I’ve been calling Little Cat for lack of a better name, are sitting on my neighbor’s wood pile and taking a nap. Splotchy Junior might be there too but I can’t see her. Perhaps there they are more protected from the cold. Today is a rather cold day and it has even been snowing a little. At least the snow isn’t sticking because if the snow stuck the people here in OKC wouldn’t know what to do!