Little Gifts Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Apologies for starting a new thread on this but I couldn't find the old one. I've posted before about a stray cat we've called Irish that just keeps having litter after litter of kittens that she leaves at my elderly parents house. Some have gone to rescue, some have been fully vet worked by me and remain living the life of luxury at mum and dad's and others have gotten too old and feral and have sadly had to go to the pound. As she is ageing she is only have one or two live kittens each litter. We've constantly had a cat trap set up for years but have never come close to catching Irish - until last night! Despite there being no food in the trap last night (mum is due to go shopping today) There was Irish in it this morning!!! We are all so excited! She has either just had a litter in the last week or is due to give birth any day/moment so I will have to rely on what the vet says at our appointment this morning about our desexing options. We know where the kittens will be if she's already had them (just have to crawl under a neighbours old house to find them). I've also contacted a local cat rescue group to see if they can assist if she needs to be confined for a period of time as we don't have the right kind of cat gear for that and I don't want to risk her getting away again. So please cross your fingers and toes for us that Irish finally gets rid of her breeding bits so she can just enjoy her old age. I'm sure she will let us handle her more once she realises we can offer her all the food and comfort she needs and don't want anything in return. She has never attacked or clawed anyone but is an escape artist like I have neve experienced before. She's a tiny cat that can squeeze herself out of any predicament - hence why it has taken everyone so long to ever catch her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntrox Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Great news, good luck with Irish, she deserves to be spoilt for the rest of her life :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheyd Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 That's great news that you have caught the elusive Irish, have fingers and toes crossed that everything goes smoothly for her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Things went belly up. So very dissappointing. She has definately had the kittens and quite recently (she's still spotting). Mum and dad decided to carry the trap to the verandah door while I got the wheelbarrow instead of waiting for me like I strongly 'suggested'. They knocked the cage and the door got opened a smidge and Irish got out. I saw it happening but couldn't get past dad to try and close her escape off. I'd clamped the top of the blinking door and wired up the bottom before even contemplating moving it to my car so obviously it just wasn't meant to be. She'll be back given she is always in need of food while feeding her own babies but I doubt we'll get her anywhere near the trap again. I reckon she only went in there out of desperation when she found no other food out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheyd Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) oh no...... perhaps now you should only put food in the trap even if its not set for a while to get her used to eating in there, then set it and hopefully you will catch her again Edited March 27, 2012 by Hollys mummy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trifecta Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Obviously you have to set all this up properly & safely..... but have you tried putting the kittens in the trap to lure Mum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe001 Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 If Irish was without kittens for more than a few hours she will probably not go back to them. Maybe do a search around the place for them. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Pepe I'm pretty sure she went back to them - she ran straight across the road to the house where she has had the last couple of litters. She is always very committed to her kittens in the early weeks even if seperated from them (it's happened before in our efforts to catch her). At about 5 weeks though she doesn't care and dumps them. And Trifecta that's not a bad idea about using the kittems as bait in the actual trap! Either way we have arranged for one of the neighbour boys to crawl under the house with a torch and see if he can at least spot them and all is ok. We don't want to frighten her away from them or move them so soon after giving birth. She doesn't need that kind of stress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntrox Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 You are doing a wonderful job Puppy Sniffer, thank you so much for caring about her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadbury Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Poor little Irish........I think her name should be changed to something with a more Magical twist as she certainly works her magic to escape. Hopefully you will finally catch her one day. You are all to keep trying for soooooo long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Kadbury we named her Irish because we figured she must be a good catholic cat having all those babies! She is a beautiful looking little cat and it is sad that she got dumped and that she got so scared of people. She's done well to survive as a stray for so long and we'd love for her to have a better life in her older years. All the neighbours (bar one) have a soft spot for her. Her circumstances are not her fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntrox Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 You sound like you have really nice neighbours (bar one - get a life! how would you feel if you were dumped ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) Kadbury we named her Irish because we figured she must be a good catholic cat having all those babies! She is a beautiful looking little cat and it is sad that she got dumped and that she got so scared of people. She's done well to survive as a stray for so long and we'd love for her to have a better life in her older years. All the neighbours (bar one) have a soft spot for her. Her circumstances are not her fault. I thought the name Irish must be from the Luck of the Irish! (BTW, the contraception rate for catholic women is, these days, the same as that for women generally. That sectarian stereotyping belongs in the past :) ) She's so lucky to have you, your parents & most of the neighbours looking out for her. I can understand how you're trying so hard to get her a better life. Not that you're wanting AWL Qld to take her....but I wonder if anyone there would have some tips about how to catch her long enough to get her desexed? I think they once had a program to do just that for feral/permanently stray cats. Edited March 27, 2012 by mita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Mita I will definately check that out. I'm happy to pay for all her work and any ongoing vet expenses but the issue has always been catching her. Plus she has a large school across the road so even if all the neighbours stop feeding her she always has a food supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trifecta Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Obviously you have to set all this up properly & safely..... but have you tried putting the kittens in the trap to lure Mum? My local pound uses this trick, the favourite place to dump cats is at the golf course Usually the queens who return to their kittens & get trapped turn out to be the best candidates for rehoming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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