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I wish I could take her (I wish I could take a dozen). Unfortunately my current cat does "not play well with others." She's the only cat I've had that was hostile to other cats in the house, so we're a single-cat household for now.
I live in Queens and I think that there are less options here. Also, I do own a house so I can keep this little girl for as long as is necessary. My rescue friend, who adopts out dozens of rescued cats (she is amazing, but also she has a large family network of cousins who help her, I have no one local), saw my CL ad yesterday. She said it is very good, very appropriate but now that Precious is almost 6 months and looks like it, I cannot call her a kitten. (When we rescued her, we all thought she was 3 to 4 months - she is on the small side. The vet surprised me and said she is 5 months!)
I lived in Queens also. I moved from there in 1979. Queens was a lot different back then.
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So, now, I have to expect it to be longer to find a home. Thank goodness, we can wait it out. Even keep her forever if needed, but hopefully not.
You learn by doing, don't you? It's amazing. No book or class can teach you this stuff. Although I also believe in rescue related classes. I have taken a couple and they were so helpful.
I learned at lot working at the Animal Hospitals. My first job was for an elderly vet in Rego Park when I was about 14. That was the start of my education. Animal medicine has come a long way since 1958.
OK, get ready for this: This is how desperate it is in NYC now: The city shelter (The Animal Care and Control) is euthanizing kittens. Many. They get so many that they cannot find homes quickly, the kittens get URI and the shelter as you know does not provide even antibiotics for that and they euthanize them. This is the reality here. It is horrific.
It is horrific and sounds like where I live also. Where are all these kittens in the city coming from? There were very few colonies of feral cats when I lived there. There wasn't enough food to sustain them and disease, starvation, winter weather and cars would take many of them, especially the kittens. It wasn't unusual to see dead cats in the streets, especially in Brooklyn. I never once saw a cat in Manhattan, dead or alive.
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I have to give you an update of how it is in Queens even with kittens. Our local rescue, which has a little shelter, is bulging with kittens, oodles and oodles of them. Too many. Get this: One rescuer in Brooklyn wrote a desperate message to us fellow certified tnr people: "I have 34 kittens! My trainees took too many! They don't understand what this means!" She drove all over metro NY delivering kittens to new homes but I got the impression that they were not screened as well as they might have been due to the crisis.
Oh geeze! I hope they were at least spayed/neutered. NYC, like most places, needs a spay-neuter law. They passed the Lic law for dogs back in the late 50s or early 60s and sent people door to door to make sure every dog was Lic. I remember when they came to our house. I was the one who answered the bell. This can also be done for spay-neutering. I don't know why it isn't.
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The North Shore Animal League America will let me put kittens on the wait list: but only to age 12 weeks (it used to be 8 to 10 weeks only because they too are overloaded) and they cannot take all black or black and white kittens because people don't adopt them enough and they grow up in the shelter.
Things sure have changed for animals in NYC. I can't recall it ever being that bad there. I'm sure the rescues there have considered relocating cats and dogs to areas where the shelters are half empty, areas where the people have money (Connecticut comes to mind) and spay-neuter their cats and dogs. Do you know of anyone there doing that?
We have a rescue woman here that goes up to KY and brings back cats from death-row. KY has a real problem. That's where our beloved Zebulon came from. A wonderful woman (I wish I knew who she was) rescued Zebulon and his brother from a KY death row and took them to a local TN Petco where I saw him, fell in love with him and adopted him a few years ago. For a mere $65 he was blood tested, had 1st kitten shots and was neutered. No fleas and no parasites. His brother had been adopted the day before.
Almost all the cats and kittens in the shelters I've been in here have URIs. It's all but impossible for them to wipe this disease out since sick cats are brought in daily.
I wish I could take her (I wish I could take a dozen). Unfortunately my current cat does "not play well with others." She's the only cat I've had that was hostile to other cats in the house, so we're a single-cat household for now.
I would love to have her also but with all the traveling/camping we do, and snow-birding for 3 months in an RV (8' by 28') every winter, another cat wouldn't be a good idea. I would love to get one or two more.
BTW, we have Verizon mi-fi which allows us to get online from anywhere there's a signal, that's why I post here almost every day no matter where I am at the time.
Actually, it is probably better that we DON'T take kittens from feral colonies and try to place the kittens already on death row. I had a discussion with a vet tech rescuer in NYC about this, someone with 20 years of experience doing TNR and taming of kittens.
You act out of emotion - let's not kid ourselves, we all do- and I took my kittens because I have been helping with this particular colony.
I wish I could take her (I wish I could take a dozen). Unfortunately my current cat does "not play well with others." She's the only cat I've had that was hostile to other cats in the house, so we're a single-cat household for now.
I understand. As a comment, suggestion, and I could be off on this one for your situation: My cats have been all taken as adults (well, one was 8 months old, the the others were over a year and two were 4 and 6 years old when we took them in), and 6 of the 7 adults are males and one is really nasty to newcomers. And he is FIV+, to boot.
So, what I did was simply do a very slow introduction and keep the new cats separate from him, but with exposure that was protected - and this lasted for months for some cats, let me tell you. Then, with me standing right there, when I was letting him have access, it was only after he was really used to smelling and seeing that newcomer and I could also grab him if he wanted to attack. It was meticulously done and very, very gradual. I managed to get inside several male cats that way.
I do believe that it is almost always possible to integrate cats, but it has to be done for as long as it takes, which means very slow, lots of barriers for protection, etc.
I lived in Queens also. I moved from there in 1979. Queens was a lot different back then.
I learned at lot working at the Animal Hospitals. My first job was for an elderly vet in Rego Park when I was about 14. That was the start of my education. Animal medicine has come a long way since 1958.
I think that the homeless/feral/stray cat explosion has come about just after you left in 1979. Throughout the United States. I am in my 60's and when I was a kid there were very few free roaming, homeless cats where I lived. People did not have multiple cats at home, usually, either. As far as I know, anyway, I could be wrong, but others who are my age will probably confirm that I am correct.
It is horrific and sounds like where I live also. Where are all these kittens in the city coming from? There were very few colonies of feral cats when I lived there. There wasn't enough food to sustain them and disease, starvation, winter weather and cars would take many of them, especially the kittens. It wasn't unusual to see dead cats in the streets, especially in Brooklyn. I never once saw a cat in Manhattan, dead or alive.
Oh geeze! I hope they were at least spayed/neutered. NYC, like most places, needs a spay-neuter law. They passed the Lic law for dogs back in the late 50s or early 60s and sent people door to door to make sure every dog was Lic. I remember when they came to our house. I was the one who answered the bell. This can also be done for spay-neutering. I don't know why it isn't.
Things sure have changed for animals in NYC. I can't recall it ever being that bad there. I'm sure the rescues there have considered relocating cats and dogs to areas where the shelters are half empty, areas where the people have money (Connecticut comes to mind) and spay-neuter their cats and dogs. Do you know of anyone there doing that?
We have a rescue woman here that goes up to KY and brings back cats from death-row. KY has a real problem. That's where our beloved Zebulon came from. A wonderful woman (I wish I knew who she was) rescued Zebulon and his brother from a KY death row and took them to a local TN Petco where I saw him, fell in love with him and adopted him a few years ago. For a mere $65 he was blood tested, had 1st kitten shots and was neutered. No fleas and no parasites. His brother had been adopted the day before.
Almost all the cats and kittens in the shelters I've been in here have URIs. It's all but impossible for them to wipe this disease out since sick cats are brought in daily.
I am from suburban Nassau County on LI, where I grew up, and I didn't see what you saw as a child. I never went to anyplace in NYC - well, hardly ever. I came to Queens late in life, so I cannot speak for the history of ferals in NYC.
The feral cat situation here, no matter where you are in NYC, is RAMPANT. No matter how outer, suburban like you are, in places with multi million dollar homes on fancy lots, there are thousands of feral cats and kittens. As you know, they keep themselves hidden from view most of the time and the non-rescue world has no appreciation of how bad it is. In the poorer areas, like Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, etc., it is a tragedy out of all proportions. In ignored areas where people of lower income live, very little TNR is done and the suffering of these animals is just unspeakable.
Don't forget that doing TNR is extremely draining and stressful - and also expensive - here in NYC. First of all, you have to be willing to spend your free, non-working time doing the trapping. There is no one to do the post operative (spay and neuter) holding, for the recovery phase, of a minimum of 3 days for spays and 2 days for neuters,so you do it in your own home and the garage can be too hot or cold to do it safely. So, you have to find a space in your home to do recovery, tolerate having some of your resident neutered males spray all over the place to mark their territory, you have to change the trap at least 2x a day (I do 3x because I feed them well and they need it the soiled bedding changed that often), you have to have a vehicle to carry these heavy traps, you need to drive a distance from home to bring a cat by 7 AM for the altering at the stationery clinic run by the ASPCA, pay out of pocket for the extras such as the FVRCP shot, Revolution (you need it since you are recovering them in your home and you can't have fleas and ticks), if it is a kitten you will tame you need pay for the FIV/leuk test - and you do this all on your own out of your own pocket. They do have one day per month for a van to pick up trapped cats, but it is not often enough or convenient in many instances. I go to the North Shore ANimal league so I can bring my trapped cats there the night before for these services I have cited but this costs more money. However, I cannot make a 7 AM delivery which means, in my case, getting up at 5:30 AM and I cannot handle that, so I pay more closer by. Then you have the sick cat who needs vet care: We had to go to the Humane Society which has no parking in Manhattan and it is a day's work and you end up paying the (greatly reduced) bill for vet care for that cat, sick or injured.
You pay for your own food for feeding your colony and wet food is imperative, not just dry. So you spend on that, too. You buy wee wee pads for traps, you buy your own traps, etc. You spend your time doing all of this instead of your own laundry, house cleaning, food shopping and you have no free time left. You must call here, call there to schedule appointments and get put on hold.
So, how many people do you think do TNR in NYC on their own? Few. So feral colonies continue to grow, kittens are born and die young and adults live 1 to 2 years.
I forgot to mention that if you manage a colony you also must build and buy your own shelters for the colony, and often they are destroyed by vandals. And yet, it is crucial that you have shelters because exposure to cold and the elements is the #1 killer.
I think that the homeless/feral/stray cat explosion has come about just after you left in 1979. Throughout the United States. I am in my 60's and when I was a kid there were very few free roaming, homeless cats where I lived. People did not have multiple cats at home, usually, either. As far as I know, anyway, I could be wrong, but others who are my age will probably confirm that I am correct.
In all the sections of Queens I was familiar with. I only knew of one colony of ferals and that was the one by my mother's house. People complained in time so the ASPCA came and trapped every last one of them. The priests who were caring for them were very upset by this act.
With the heavy traffic and number of cruel people who poison cats in NYC, the cold winters and starvation along with disease,... it's hard for me to understand how there can be so many strays turned in to Animal Control and the Rescues. Where are they all coming from?
I am from suburban Nassau County on LI, where I grew up, and I didn't see what you saw as a child. I never went to anyplace in NYC - well, hardly ever. I came to Queens late in life, so I cannot speak for the history of ferals in NYC.
The feral cat situation here, no matter where you are in NYC, is RAMPANT. No matter how outer, suburban like you are, in places with multi million dollar homes on fancy lots, there are thousands of feral cats and kittens. As you know, they keep themselves hidden from view most of the time and the non-rescue world has no appreciation of how bad it is. In the poorer areas, like Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, etc., it is a tragedy out of all proportions. In ignored areas where people of lower income live, very little TNR is done and the suffering of these animals is just unspeakable.
This is all news to me. Sad news. There were always strays here and there but even after dark when teens are hanging out and cats are most active, few were seen. Later when I worked at the animal hosp I would get calls from Pet Stores to remember to bring them abandoned kittens from the Hosp or that someone found and turned over to the Hosp or myself at home. But then Queens didn't have the number of immigrants and low-income people either.
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Don't forget that doing TNR is extremely draining and stressful - and also expensive - here in NYC. First of all, you have to be willing to spend your free, non-working time doing the trapping. There is no one to do the post operative (spay and neuter) holding, for the recovery phase, of a minimum of 3 days for spays and 2 days for neuters,so you do it in your own home and the garage can be too hot or cold to do it safely. So, you have to find a space in your home to do recovery, tolerate having some of your resident neutered males spray all over the place to mark their territory, you have to change the trap at least 2x a day (I do 3x because I feed them well and they need it the soiled bedding changed that often), you have to have a vehicle to carry these heavy traps, you need to drive a distance from home to bring a cat by 7 AM for the altering at the stationery clinic run by the ASPCA, pay out of pocket for the extras such as the FVRCP shot, Revolution (you need it since you are recovering them in your home and you can't have fleas and ticks), if it is a kitten you will tame you need pay for the FIV/leuk test - and you do this all on your own out of your own pocket.
I didn't realize what TNR involved. Good grief! I don't know what to say.
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They do have one day per month for a van to pick up trapped cats, but it is not often enough or convenient in many instances. I go to the North Shore ANimal league so I can bring my trapped cats there the night before for these services I have cited but this costs more money. However, I cannot make a 7 AM delivery which means, in my case, getting up at 5:30 AM and I cannot handle that, so I pay more closer by. Then you have the sick cat who needs vet care: We had to go to the Humane Society which has no parking in Manhattan and it is a day's work and you end up paying the (greatly reduced) bill for vet care for that cat, sick or injured.
You pay for your own food for feeding your colony and wet food is imperative, not just dry. So you spend on that, too. You buy wee wee pads for traps, you buy your own traps, etc. You spend your time doing all of this instead of your own laundry, house cleaning, food shopping and you have no free time left. You must call here, call there to schedule appointments and get put on hold.
So, how many people do you think do TNR in NYC on their own? Few. So feral colonies continue to grow, kittens are born and die young and adults live 1 to 2 years.
This is truly heart breaking news to me and quite an education. Here in TN we have a lot of people who feed the colonies of ferals but much fewer that TNR them. Now I can understand why.
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I forgot to mention that if you manage a colony you also must build and buy your own shelters for the colony, and often they are destroyed by vandals. And yet, it is crucial that you have shelters because exposure to cold and the elements is the #1 killer.
Yes, I remember the dead cats I would sometimes see in winter among the trash cans when I lived in Brooklyn in the 40s and 50s. Skeletal, diseased, dirty.... it was so sad but then the problem seemed to all but vanish by the mid 1950s - about the time we moved to Queens. It may be the problem comes and goes for some reason. Like the lemmings or rabbit overpopulation sometimes seen in nature.....
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I moved from there in 1979. Queens was a lot different back then. 
I hope they were at least spayed/neutered. NYC, like most places, needs a spay-neuter law. They passed the Lic law for dogs back in the late 50s or early 60s and sent people door to door to make sure every dog was Lic. I remember when they came to our house. I was the one who answered the bell. This can also be done for spay-neutering. I don't know why it isn't.
Good grief! I don't know what to say. 
