Big week at the Darien outlet mall!

This week SEVENTEEN cats got fixed at the Darien outlet mall property! Did we catch my LBT? No. Don't rub it in...

So, how did this come about? Settle in, it's a story...😊

In January of this year, I stopped by the mall on my way to another transport as I sometimes do. I like to try and catch a glimpse of my "runaway" and see what kitties are around. This trip I purposely timed in the hopes of running into the main care-givers so I could gift them some bags of cat food and my holiday card. We had a great chat and they expressed some concern that development of the area seemed more imminent than it had previously. Worry over the fate of the cats was high on their minds. Upon returning from that trip, I took to the interwebs to survey my contacts and friends in rescue to see what resources we could line up and on what timeline. As to be expected, area feral sanctuaries are effectively closed for intake, but since relocation is a last resort anyway, not a huge set back. A few surgery slots at First Coast No More Homeless Pets in Jacksonville, FL were offered, and most crucially, I connected with Humane Animal Resource Team Inc. (HART)'s president! HART is a non-profit in Darien dedicated to spay-neuter projects and networking the county shelter animals. The timing seemed serendipitous as momentum gathered quickly and I arranged a meeting at the colony site with all interested parties and dedicated volunteers.

These signs have been posted for at least 3 years.

"Just" $399k...🙄

At the start of this month, our meeting took place to assess the colony and what threats there were to them remaining in their home territory. I was grateful to learn that development of the area, while a persistent and real threat for the last 3+ years, doesn't appear to be any more "looming" than it always is. So, phew. Ticking clock no longer wound up there. So to placate irritated parties a plan was outlined to gradually move the main and most visible feeding area to a less-trafficked location. Then, based on the number of cats the care-givers believed to be regular visitors and who they knew was and wasn't already fixed we arrived at a plan to attempt to trap 8 cats and get them into local vet clinics that were partners with HART. We parted ways from that meeting leaving HART to arrange the surgery appointments, and then based on that date, we'd arrange the trapping sessions.

HART was able to secure funds and surgery appointments for 2 females and 4 males on March 10th so we had our marching orders! We sprung into action and lined up our trapping sessions for the 8th and 9th with the goal of filling those slots. Any "bonus" trapped kitties we'd "figure it out" how to get them fixed as well.

TUESDAY MARCH 8, 2022

We began our trapping session about 5pm in order to coincide with the normal feeding time of the colony. The main care-givers had withheld food for the previous 24hrs and posted signs to alert the other area feeders that we were conducting TNVR in the area.

It begins!

Within 10 minutes, 2 boys were caught! Bingo! Bango! Cut to 7:30pm, a measly 2.5hrs later, we'd caught 19 total cats! 😲 Of those, 3 were previously ear-tipped (released at end of the night), and 2 were microchipped (and previously sterilized). I was excited to put my schnazzy universal microchip reader to use (that Anchors Aweigh received during our Christmas Amazon wishlist drive)! I was dubious it'd be able to detect the chip through the trap, but lo and behold! On the first kitty, almost the second I held the reader up to the trap up pops this number! I didn't believe it. Research told us it was a Home Away brand chip and we put in the call to determine who had implanted it The other chipped kitty my reader didn't work on, so I learned some universal readers are "universal". 🤷 How'd I know he's chipped then? His OWNER told us! This guy had a distinct "2 slashed" ear tip so one of the main care-givers called the woman who he knew owned this guy. Kitty's name is Luther and he had been missing for a MONTH!! I was trying to read the microchip to give the owner proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was her Luther despite the distinctive ear mark. Ah well. She was so glad to have him back and promised he'd get to the vet ASAP. Love it!

Luther! Back at home after a month on the lam!

PLEASE update your chip info, people!!

So that left us with 14 cats to be fixed!! 7 boys and 7 girls! Even-stevens. That never happens, does it? Hahaha! We set up 2 of the girls and 4 boys in their secure on-site "holding area" for the six March 10th surgery spots. Now...we have 8 kitties in need of surgery and the two main area clinics only have Wednesday surgery days remaining for the week! (It is recommended to only hold ferals in traps a maximum of 72hrs.) So I loaded the bonus octet into the Sterile Feral Limo and whisked them away to the Anchors Aweigh Layover Lodge with the intention of getting them into those two clinics the next day. Now, with so many bonus kitties and the prospect of nowhere to take any more, we decided to call off our 2nd day of trapping. The 3 we were hoping to get, 2 at the store with medical issues and my LBT were not trapped. Womp-womp. Also, we learned too late (after the release) that Castaways Pet Rescue was listed as the back up contact for our microchipped kitty that scanned. Castaways didn't have record of this specific kitty, so they guessed he was chipped at a vaccine clinic they hosted. Too bad we missed the chance to get this cat into an adoption program (he seemed sweet), but he was healthy and looked good, and most importantly already fixed so whatcha gonna do?

My passengers were very quiet the whole ride to the Layover Lodge, and most excitedly, zero odors were created during the trip too! 🤣🤣🤣 This group of eight have the honor of being the inaugural group to stay in the Layover Lodge. It was a minor learning curve in the way that something you've never done before but have read about and seen done by others is a learning curve. It felt special and loved I was able to do it.

Not elegant, but functional.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 9, 2022

I'm up and at 'em first thing to hustle my 8 overnight guests to the two area clinics. Three boys and 1 girl got into PetFix in Savannah, then it was out to Statesboro to get the remaining 4 girls into Fixing the Boro. After dropping them off, I get word that FCNMHP in Jacksonville, FL actually does sterilization surgeries on Thursdays and Fridays!! I'm on the phone in a heartbeat voice-to-texting everyone to see if we can rally and actually do our 2nd trapping session as originally planned for that night. There are SO MANY more cats in this colony than we thought. We were feeling motivated to get as many as we could, and thanks to a generous private donor, we had the luxury of trying. Through these flurry of texts and Facebook messages, I also learned that HART actually secured 3 surgery spots for TODAY at a clinic in Brunswick, GA, so 3 of the boys caught Tue. night actually were zipped off there. So! Another reason to reinstate our 2nd session to try and get 3 more boys to fill our original Thursday surgery slots. (You following this?! 😉)

The Fixing the Boro foursome needed to be picked up at the end of the day, so I did that while everyone else started our 2nd trapping session in Darien. Turns out, of the 4 ladies, one was pregnant (2nd trimester) and one had pyometra! So lucky! We saved this little girl from a life threatening infection! She absolutely would've died if we hadn't trapped her. Nice win! After settling in the girls back at the Layover Lodge, I continue on to Darien to join the trapping session that started about 5pm. I arrive about 8pm and learn that it had been rainy and slow - a stark contrast to Tuesday night's session. We ended up with just 9 trapped cats Wed. night. Of those, 5 were ear-tipped and so released at the end of the session. The last poor ear-tipped kitty sat in the trap exposed to the rain for way longer than they should have due to me being completely absorbed in the clean up and flaking on going to check the last traps. I'm so sorry love! I hope you got dry quickly and didn't catch a cold! Shame on me...😢 That left us 4 kitties needing fixed. One boy and 3 girls. So, we didn't fill the 3 newly-empty boy surgery spots. Oh well. Of the 3 ladies caught this night, the care-takers believed the Siamese was already fixed, but she didn't have an ear tip. The plan for her was to confirm/deny the spay and get her vaccinated and tipped either way.

LIFE SAVED with a SPAY!

You fixed, girlfriend? Turns out...no.

With rain falling pretty consistently, we pack it in about 9pm after four hours of patient work. We check on the 3 boys who were back from the clinic in Brunswick and notice...they are not ear-tipped?! WHAT in the actual---?! Arg!!! Taken aback, we kinda talk through what, if anything, we should do. Ultimately, it's decided to take them to the vet Thurs. who was going to do 2 boy and 2 girl surgeries to see if she'd do 2 girl surgeries and 3 ear tips. Fingers crossed! Then, the boy caught tonight can join the remaining boy caught Tue. at the other vet who offered 2 boy surgeries. Whew!

Go in, will ya?!

During the clean up, we decide to try to take my trio to Spay Alliance in Savannah the next morning before driving them all the way to Jacksonville. Spay Alliance is closed on Wednesdays, and it was 8pm when we caught this bunch, so we didn't have a chance to make a proper appointment. Beg forgiveness, right? We figured, if turned down for Thursday, maybe Spay Alliance could take them on Friday, and if still no...THEN I drive them to Jacksonville. I'll tell ya, the Sterile Feral Limo got a BIG TIME workout this week! Loved every second of it! Alright! Three more girls to check into the Layover Lodge!  

THURSDAY MARCH 10, 2022

Bright and early, with my new trio in tow, I head off to retrieve the 3 boys and 1 lady caught Tue. night that got their surgeries at PetFix on Wed. All did well and hitched a ride along as I carted the 3 new ladies out to Spay Alliance. I approach the desk and share my story. They're booked for today. Naturally. Tomorrow is scheduled to be full as well. However! They take my name and number and promise to call if they have enough no-shows/reschedules either for today or Fri. to allow my trio to be worked in. I thank them and head over to MickyD's for some deliciously unhealthy breakfast sandwiches. While in the drive through line Spay Alliance calls...

"How far away are you?"

"Getting breakfast at McDonald's. Why?"

"We had a dog spay cancel for today, and so far another dog surgery no show we're trying to get a hold of. If the no-show doesn't come in, we can do your 3 kitties today!"

"AMAZING!!"

"I should know in the next few minutes here, so I'll call you back soon."

"OK!"

Feeling lighter than air, I start bopping in my seat and singing nonsense while enjoying my yummy hashbrown. I decide to pull across the street to get gas and pad for time. As I'm filling up my tank, I get the call. My trio is IN for surgery today! Woohoo! I head right over to Spay Alliance to drop them off and get them checked in. -Hashtag-feeling-accomplished-, as the kids say. Har. 

Spay Alliance is pick up at end of day, so by mid-day I had a call that they were all out of surgery. It turns out one was indeed already fixed, but NOT the Siamese! It was the cutie tuxedo I dubbed "Opal". Poor love had to be opened for them to find out as she didn't have a tattoo on her tummy either. She got nice pain meds and we're happy she is now tipped and vaccinated. The 3rd, a black kitty I called Jade was pregnant but not sure how far along. The Siamese, "Sapphire", was spayed - for real this time - and all did well post op. 

Sweet Jade

Sorry you had to go under the knife again, Opal!

Down in Darien, the 2 boys' and 2 girls' surgeries went routinely and the boys done in Brunswick on Wed. got their ear tips! Hooray! Thankful to the vet for agreeing to do that and at an inexpensive rate!

All of the first 11 guests did great convalescing at the Layover Lodge. I'll say, I really lucked out with this bunch! There was no wild howling at the moon. There was no alligator death rolls. There was no frantic pulling the trap covers into the traps. There was no smashed and bloody faces. Food and water stayed tidy and mostly in place-easily reached to swap out. Bathroom needs were addressed in consistent locations and were of regular frequency and consistency. 😂 Thanks guys! 

5 star guests!

FRIDAY MARCH 11, 2022

RELEASE DAY!

HOMECOMING! Mid-morning, I checked everyone out of the Layover Lodge and loaded up the Sterile Feral Limo. We arrived back at the mall about 12:30pm. All the releases went smoothly and each kitty seemed glad to be back on their home turf. Check out our Facebook page to see the release videos! They are so rewarding!

OVERVIEW

• 2 days, 6.5 hours of trapping, 28 cats trapped total
• 11 ALREADY STERILIZED (Which speaks to a good previous effort to manage this colony that almost half the cats trapped were already fixed!)
• 17 cats NEWLY FIXED: 8 boys and 9 girls. Of the girls "just" 2 were pregnant so we "beat the heat" and 1 had pyometra so we very literally saved her life!

We estimated a minimum of 20 additional cats were seen during these two days that never got trapped. Some of those are probably fixed from previous efforts, but certainly not all, as a few small (less than 6 months) kittens were observed. There are likely more than 20 additional kitties bopping around the whole mall property. Sigh. Work in progress, I 'spose.

HUGE THANKS go out to the main care-givers, HART of Darien, the private donor, and to the two phenomenal women who volunteered their expertise, time, energy, and equipment for this effort!! I COULD'VE just borrowed the traps and tried to orchestrate it all myself, but it certainly would NOT have gone as smoothly or as successfully as it did with their help! So grateful they took pity on a gal with a passion project! GREAT JOB, ALL! 💚💚💚💚

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