I've been talking to my colleague, Nazlina, about what AnimalCare does for some months now. A few weeks ago, she told me she was planning a project for her General Studies students, so I suggested that she may wish to consider doing a CNRM project for the market cats and the cats on that road from the college leading towards the market.
So, everything was arranged and today was the big day!
I had enlisted the help of Ah Fatt and Mr Christopher Teng, both of whom have been spay-neutering the market cats. In fact, Christopher even looks after all the kittens in a very neatly-kept area right outside the market. There are cages and litter-boxes, and he feeds them twice a day. AND, it's so, so clean, too.
Ah Fatt had suggested 6pm since that's when the cats come out, but that was not convenient for the students.
I also needed Ah Fatt and Christopher to identify which cats they had already spayed-neutered as they did not ear-notch their cats (Christopher said he would ear-notch all from now on). Furthermore, none of the students had done this before, so Ah Fatt and Christopher would need to advise and guide them along. Christopher had said it is important to check the nipples of the females to ensure they are not still breast-feeding their kittens, lest the kittens be deprived of the much-needed milk.
We started at 8.45am. I had only a few minutes' break from class, so I did the introductions, and left everything to Ah Fatt, Christopher and Mr Lim, who helped bring all the cages.
A friend had just donated these two cat-traps as well, it's for us to use for our One-Street CNRM, so these were used as well:
It's like a bigger mousetrap. When the cat touches the bait, the door slams shut. One should not leave the cage unattended as the sound of the door slamming may frighten the cat and part of the tail or leg may be caught at the door. So, the trapper should always be around to ensure that the required attention is given to the cat, if need be.
This is Christopher with one cat...and another two (or three?) following behind! The market cats are generally friendly as they are fed by the market folks.
Doesn't this remind you of the scene from Peter Pan? We're following the leader, the leader, the leader. We're following the leader, wherever he may go!
Nazlina and her students
Come out, kitty.
We got one!
Hmm...how to get this one out?
Sweet talking? This one's hiding under the car.
This is a big male cat.
See that kitten down there? He was hanging around, enjoying the whole carnival-like atmosphere, knowing he's too young to be neutered, so he's safe.
By the time I finished my class at 10am, they had caught nine cats! Great job!
Kudos to the first-timers, and of course, their lecturer! (May there be many more of such projects in time to come?)
My own students, Yang Yik, Bavani and Irwin had joined in as well, and they used the trap. Here's one that they caught.
There was no time to lose as two of the cats were a bit aggressive. One female was attacking another two milder ones in the same cage, so we had to send them to the vets. We divided the ten into two groups, each to one vet so that we won't tax on any one vet too much.
We took four of them to one vet while Ah Fatt took the other seven (they caught one more while we were gone, so it's a total of ELEVEN cats) to our other panel vet.
These two must be siblings. They are huddled together. Both appear to have mange on their ears.
This is the tabby my students caught. Apparently, they had put some bait inside, and she walked straight in. Then, they merely closed the door.
This is the largest of the lot - obviously, male. He appeared to have some eye discharge and his eyes looked red.
Their circulation are all pink and healthy. At the market, I don't suppose any cat would be scrawny or under-fed, which, I suppose, is a good thing. But this is also why people dump kittens at the marketplace...sigh.
Big Blackie has conjunctivitis, which requires an eye ointment three times a day. I called Ah Fatt to ask if he would be able to administer the ointment for Blackie and he said yes.
The two mangy brothers will be treated with one Ivermectin jab each for their mange. They are both only 5 months old, but the vet said it would be okay to get them neutered since they will be returned to the colony and it may be difficult to catch them again.
So, that's three males and one female at this clinic.
Then, we brought the students back and I then went to our other clinic to check on the other seven.
The vet wasn't in, so we could not determine their gender.
This is No. 11. With the help of the vet assistant, we transferred him (or her) into a bigger cage.
The Calico (a female, obviously) was the fierce one, who earlier, was attacking the other two meeker ones. Now, she's quieter. While at the market, I had to sprinkle water on her several times to break up the fight.
The other three. This black-and-white one looked very sad and I felt really bad. There's no way I could make him (or her) understand why we are doing this. Sigh... He (or she) kept looking at me, as though asking for help.
This is the fierce Calico.
I waited for half an hour but the vet was still at a clinic in PJ doing X-Rays, so I had to go off.
Now, Mary is at the clinic. One female has been done, and the rest will be done in turn.
So, once again, kudos to Nazlina and her students for a job well done!
Many thanks to Ah Fatt, Christopher and Mr Lim, for helping out. And of course, our vets who had reserved this day for our cases.
We will be collecting the males tomorrow and returning them to the colony.
The females will be fostered until full recovery before they are returned.
Eleven cats spayed-neutered, HUNDREDS of unwanted births and untold suffering prevented!
Viva la CNRM!!The spay-neuter and medical treatment of all these eleven cats are fully sponsored from our funds. If you'd like to conduct a similar project at your neighbourhood and you need financial assistance, please write to me at chankahyein@gmail.com
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