Getting bonded cats from the same colony and kittens from the same litter adopted into indoor homes TOGETHER is always a dream for animal rescuers.

Joann and I were so excited to hear that these orange twin siblings, Hunky Dory and Stardust, went together into their new forever home, courtesy of PAWS Chicago.

They were trapped together in mid-January.

PAWS immediately admitted them into their no-kill shelter, but they needed some foster and medical care for their URI’s. On February 27th they hit PAWS’ adoption floor, and were adopted together the very next day.

Congratulations, Hunky Dory and Stardust!

We trapped these kittens finding cover from the snow in outdoor drain pipes two months ago. Joann and Robin fostered them ever since.

Pinky and the Brain are now admitted into PAWS Chicago! Their new names are Pacifica and Montara. Stay tuned for adoption updates about them.

We trapped 20 cats so far from this colony, and PAWS admitted nine of them. There are more to be TNR’d, and we will be out there again trapping in April.

Congratulations, kitties, we hope you’ll be adopted soon!

Jeeves is the 20th cat trapped at the Pallet Colony this year. And there are still more to be TNR’ed.

Joann trapped Jeeves last week.

You can see he’s drooling, most likely from stress, and not feeling well in general. Joann took him to PAWS Chicago for his TNR surgery, where they discovered he had a wound, most likely from a bite, that required stitches. As part of their TNR package, they cleaned and stitched the wound, and gave him a shot Convenia to offset infection. PAWS is the only clinic that will include these services for feral cats in Chicago for free. We are immensely grateful for this service.

Jeeves then required just the regular amount of recovery time since he was trapped before infection set in. He is back and happy with his colony.

We’ve been really lucky with this colony so far as they have all been healthy and without injury until Jeeves. Also, every cat we tested for FIV/FeLV for shelter admission has turned out negative.

When Joann returned him, she talked to Ron, the colony’s main feeder, and saw at least ten cats in his yard. Some were already ear tipped and TNR’d by us, and some were not. She also met Ron’s landlord, who brought out his pet cat to show Joann. This cat also needs to be neutered.

They knew all about Jeeves, and said he liked to fight. Typically tom cats like this have those big old cheeks, and are fighters since they are looking to mate. Jeeve’s fighting days are over as he is now neutered, and he will calm down once his testosterone levels go down after his surgery.

Joann and I will go back to the site this week with multiple traps to see if we can get more cats. Most likely we’ll be also accidentally trapping ear tipped cats, which is why it’s great to have extra traps on hand for these projects.

We trapped again at the Pallet Colony this week. As usual with TNR, there were a few surprises. But we think now we have a good relationship to make this an established, well cared for colony.

One of the places that feeds the cats there is an assisted living center. In preparation for trapping, Joann called to let them know to stop feeding.  They told us they brought in a cat from outside and wanted us to take him.

Joann went to collect the cat and had no idea what to expect. It turned out an employee brought this cat from her home in Indiana and had him waiting in her car all day, without a carrier. This employee has two mama cats at home with two litters of kittens, seven weeks old and two weeks old. Sanderson showed up from outside her house and wanted to nurse on one of the mama cats. She didn’t want this cat, so she thought we would take him.

Well, of course we did, because this woman did not have any other plans for this cat otherwise. It was a total coincidence that Joann called even that same day. Thank goodness Sanderson turned out to be a friendly, healthy love bug. Just look at him.

Had he been feral, we would have had nowhere to return him. He is a purring machine that begged for attention. He spent the night here and when PAWS Chicago met him, they agreed to admit him into their adoption program. Thank you, PAWS!

We have trapped 20 cats so far at this colony site. Nine of those cats and kittens were admitted to PAWS. Sanderson is the 10th cat admitted for adoption, although obviously he is not really from this colony.

We know he’ll be adopted in two seconds. We all fell in love with him. This cat was cooped up all day in a car, and was absolutely fine – just wanted us to hold him and not be left alone again.

We are also working with PAWS to help counsel this employee and find help for the rest of the animals in her house. Right now she does not want them spayed and neutered – she believes every animal should have two litters first. This is where community outreach is crucial while you are doing TNR. Obviously people cannot just bring us animals and expect us to take them. We totally lucked out with getting Sanderson admitted.

Joann also called Ron, another feeder on that block, to tell him to stop feeding so that we could trap cats. Ron feeds the cats and they hang out in his yard and the other yards because there are tons of places for them to hide and find shelter. They climb in and around all of those porches.

Ron also has some sort of substance abuse problem. Anyone who does TNR regularly has dealt with stuff like this. I’ve dealt with it before, and in this case, I’m just happy he doesn’t have cats in his house. Those situations turn into hoarder houses a lot of times.

There are usually a lot of cats in low income neighborhoods and lots of people feed them. We do the best to help, but personal safety is paramount. Ron asks for money each time we come, and we’ve complied and given him donations of cat food as well.

He also has a lot of other men show up randomly at his house. Yesterday was no exception.

We set up traps all over the assisted living center, and in Ron’s yard.

Immediately the cats started poking their head out from underneath his porch.

We have TNR’d a lot of the cats there already, but we wanted to see if we can get any more that we may have missed. In the meantime, one of Ron’s visitors had a lot to say about how we were trapping. He wanted us to bring him food and drinks. He had his own plan to get the cats in the traps, but then he disappeared for awhile and did nothing.

It was very obvious the cats were fed. They circled and played all around the traps for a few hours. We caught one ear tipped cat and released her.  Some more people showed up periodically and randomly walked through the yard and in the alley where we were parked. We talked to each of them about what we were doing. I wish I had a high zoom video camera to tape the cats, they were pretty entertaining, but we didn’t get any new cats.

When we started rounding up the traps to go home, three of Ron’s visitors came out. This time I felt nervous because I was alone in the gangway with them. The man who said we were doing it wrong showed me some cat food cans in his pocket, said he was going to get the cats, and asked when we were going to take them. He said he was going to keep them in crates. I had no idea what he was talking about as he was leaving in an entirely opposite direction, but I told him firmly that we were not coming back. I was scared he was going to do something with the cats otherwise, not hurt them on purpose or anything, but I have no intention of working out a plan with him. It was apparent that I had no say in these plans. But really, it’s doubtful he was going to do anything anyways.

Instead, Joann and I are again working more with the assisted living center to set up a permanent feeding station and schedule for the cats in their secure and safe courtyard next door. We already provided them with outdoor cat shelters. Hopefully then these cats, and any new ones, can be cared for there. We want them to call us for help with new cats, or medical needs for existing cats. We are happy to donate cat food as well. The residents and staff there really care for the cats and with a proper plan in place for colony management we are confident this can be accomplished.

Pacifica and Montara spent about three weeks on PAWS’ adoption floor and are now adopted as of April 2nd.

We’re not sure if they were adopted together, but we are ecstatic they are now safe indoors.

We trapped them in January from outdoor drain pipes at the Pallet Colony.

Joann refused to put them back outside, and worked hard socializing these cats. Robin also rose to the challenge and fostered them for awhile. It is not easy socializing six month old cats, but these women showed it can be done. I am honored to be working with women like these in rescue.

Joann and I are going back to the Pallet Colony site to trap any remaining cats next week. One of the residents there said there may be a twelve week old kitten. Otherwise, to date, we’ve trapped 20 cats there so far, nine of which were admitted into PAWS.

Is that really a thing for socializing feral cats?

Well, no, but it should be. This past year I’ve met some really remarkable people who are willing to try to do everything possible to help us help bring more cats off the streets.

Pinky and The Brain are perfect examples. We trapped them popping in and out of outdoor drain pipes at the Pallet Colony in January.

Pinky’s nose was so pink at the time. The temps were brutal when we were trapping her.

She was incredibly vocal, so we thought immediately she may be friendly.

The Brain’s trapping was accidental. We placed a trap around the corner and found her in it at the last minute.

It was pretty funny. We were rounding up the traps, thinking we were going to pack it up for the night, and Joann found her. Isn’t her marble coat gorgeous?

You can really see it in this photo.

They are older kittens, bonded, most likely from the same litter, and needed some socialization in order to be admitted into a no-kill shelter.

Joann insisted on giving them a chance immediately after their TNR surgery at PAWS Chicago. She took them home to foster and socialize, and later for further vetting.

They were shy, but still did well around her. They purred and wanted to be pet. Problems only came about when Joann would try to get them into pet carriers for transport and vetting. At one point, The Brain got out and went straight for the rafters in her basement. Robin F. agreed to further socialize them. We met Robin last fall when she took the KFC Colony kittens to be fostered. She and her family are amazing at showing cats and kittens the good life indoors. So, thus explains the title of this post, the Fischer School of Feral Feline Socialization took on the case of Pinky and The Brain.

Considering at this point they came from outdoor drain pipes, to the clinic, to Joann’s basement, to vet appointments, and then now to Robin’s house, all within long car rides in traps and carriers, Pinky and The Brain were doing remarkably well. They were first crated together in Robin’s foster room, where they slowly learned to play. And then relax.

And then strike a pose.

Eventually she moved them into their own small room, her bathroom, where they could roam more and get comfortable.

The Brain was a bit shy at first again.

And then she got used to it.

Pinky was the same way, shy at first.

And then playful.

She also wanted to get to know Robin’s other cats.

And then they were totally comfortable and acted like typical indoor cats. You all know about cats in sinks, right?

Joann has them back at her place now, and said they are rolling over for tummy rubs. Next week they have an appointment for possible admission into PAWS Chicago. Fingers crossed they will be admitted!

We tried trapping at the Pallet Colony on Friday night, but the alley was very busy and we only re-trapped ear-tipped cats. They all looked great.

At one point a man with a sheriff’s badge around his neck came up to my car and knocked on the window. Obviously he was not a sheriff – it was pretty funny. He jumped Ron’s fence and got him for us. Ron feeds and cares for the cats. We gave him two outdoor shelters, and wet and dry cat food. We called it a night.

Joann returned Saturday night and trapped the 18th cat from this colony so far.

She named the cat Vern, in honor of the maintenance man at the retirement center who has helped us immensely with information and access to the building.

The next day when she went to pick Vern up from PAWS Chicago’s spay/neuter clinic, she learned the cat is female.

Vern is actually Verna. And not only that, she was in heat.

The resilience of these colonies is amazing to me, and their capacity to breed even under the harshest conditions is astounding.

Verna is currently recovering nicely at my place. She freezes still when she sees me. The only thing she moves are her eyes, looking at what she can. She poses just the same, but I prefer this photo showing off her ear tip.

We’ve seen at least a half dozen more cats that need to be TNR’d, so we’re going back again to trap there tonight.

Six kittens finding shelter in drain pipes and heating vents at the retirement home were trapped and rescued.

The original call Erica from PAWS Chicago received about this colony was asking for help with a mama cat and four kittens. We are calling this the Pallet Colony now, and so far we’ve trapped 16 cats and kittens. ALL of the kittens we know about are now off the street.

Last week Joann trapped four kittens, about 10 weeks old, and all are now admitted into PAWS’ no-kill shelter.

They developed some URI issues, and were placed into foster homes. PAWS posted the cutest photos of them in their iso cages, and with their new names, Hunky Dory, Stardust, and Kaira. Thank you, PAWS and Erica! 

Fitzgerald was the fourth kitten trapped. Joann was able to socialize him fairly fast at her home first, within a week, because of his age and his love for wet food. He was just admitted into PAWS and renamed Bowie.

We trapped two other older kittens, about six months old, Pinky and The Brain. Pinky was the one that kept popping her head out of the drain pipes to check out the traps.

They are currently too shy to be admitted into PAWS, but they are enjoying their indoor life. They are crated together and are pretty bonded. They are now in a foster home with Robin, who is making sure they are being socialized properly. Thank you, Robin! Robin did a fantastic job fostering the KFC Colony kittens for us a few months ago.

Please let me know if you are interested in meeting these girls to adopt or to foster. Thanks!