Cat Costs

Okay. It's time to seriously think about taking the cats into the shelter. I mean that was the plan anyway, but time to actually try catching the cats. The cost of feeding seven strays is starting to add up. We;re going through the canned wet food sooo fast, and we're still not feeding them enough I think as they are still super thin. Should have looked for a bulk supply when Dad and I were at Sam's Club. Definitely going to look for some this weekend.

In the mean time, I keep trying to gain their trust so they don't flee from me when I'm on the same side of the screen door as them. :-P They're fine so long as I'm sticking plates outside from under the door, but once I'm outside they keep their distance. The distance is less and less, but still not close enough for me to grab them. Well not for most of them. MiniMe and Hazelnut are braver or don't care so long as I'm playing with them. Mom tossed one of those feathers on a stick toys. It's got a bell on it, so we can hear them playing with it all night long. :-P But Hazelnut LOVES it the most and will risk close proximity with me just to play with it even when I'm holding it. I've even managed to pick him/her up for all of a few seconds...he/she's quick to squirm free! And tonight MiniMe let me pet him/her for a second before realizing what I was doing and backed away. :-P

Right now we've got an old litter box (our kids use a bigger one now) on the porch with old rags and things for bedding. It's cute to see the five kittens all snuggling inside. When I try and get close to them, I usually try luring them there so it's a smidge easier to grab them. If I weren't worried about ants, I'd leave the cat carrier outside to make catching them easier. Oddly enough the ant problem hasn't been a problem even with all the extra cat feedings and lack of ant prevention (cuz I can never get out there when the cats aren't on the steps or don't want to expose them to the chemicals at their young age). But I keep thinking the moment I assume it's safe is the moment the ants will start crawling all over the porch and steps again and anything on it. When it is time to take them in, I'll have to either catch them by hand and drop them into the carrier while Mom stands guard or ready to close the carrier door OR lure them into the carrier with bait and be ready to close them in. Ideally, I'd like to catch all seven cats, not all at once of course. Snickers and the lil family would have to be separate trips or they'd shred each other or me for even attempting. But hopefully I can catch all the babies and the lure the mama (cuz no way will she let me grab her) in one  go. Kumquat would be delivered to the neighbor and the others to the shelter.

If it weren't so expensive to get them tested and treated, we'd probably take them all in, or at least one or two of them. As is, the shelter may charge us for dropping them off as technically they're our cats since we feed them. Least we don't have to worry about TomDickorHarry (the cat I think  is the daddy since mama and kids aren't afraid of him) since he doesn't trust me at all and runs when I just walk up to the screen door. Hopefully, when/if we get them all to the shelter, no one else will show up. But I had that thought when we left Norwalk too.... Le sigh. Stupid Oreo advertising about us feeding strays.

ANYWHO! On a more positive financial note..... In a few months I should be able to pay off another credit card! That'll leave the Care Credit card that gets used for the vet trips, student loan, and two bigger cards that er um have been left delinquent. But with one down, I'll look into getting one of those into some sort of reasonable payment plan. Either way, two credit cards paid off this year! Yay! :-D

K.... time to go do dishes and kitty feedings (indoor).