Christmas parties for English classes have had me busy-busy this week, and the weather has taken a turn for the cold. No snow yet, but I can feel it in the air. Spent Thursday and Friday nights out trapping, so alternated between checking traps and sitting bundled up in the car. We wrote the vet in the area of the convenience store cats, and heard back that he thought that the cats were owned by someone at one of the nearby businesses, but that he also knew people who said that they were feeding the cats. We checked around the area but couldn’t find anyone who wanted the cats, and the nearby business in question had actually called animal control to ask that the cats be removed (but animal control doesn’t pick up stray cats in our prefecture). That being said, we could see that all of the cats were obviously receiving food on a regular basis and were in excellent health. We decided to at least go and trap them for spay/neuter and were able to trap 2 of the cats, but a couple of mishaps caused the 3rd cat to be very wary, and we’ve been unable to catch it. Will keep trying. Took one of the cats, Juichiro, to the vet on Sunday for neutering, followed by release. The stress of living in captivity caused him to refuse food for 2 days, and we were concerned that refusing food for a third day could damage his health, so we needed to act quickly. Turns out he’s already been neutered! It’s a puzzle as to how, given his wild state. We’d hoped that he might be friendlier once he got to the shelter, but he’s obviously very unsocialized so had to go back. Went around talking with folks about him while out there Friday night, to let people know what we are doing, and that he might be returning. Though the location is less than ideal, he’s been there successfully for a significant period of time, and there are few options for a cat who would require so much to attempt socialization. Pachi, the cat that we assumed is related to the smaller cat that we’ve been unable to catch, is a male (not yet neutered). He’s a beautiful friendly young adult, so hopefully will soon find a home. Going back out tonight to try to catch the last one.

Isabella from Animal Friends Niigata came out last week to visit us on the way to Osaka, for ARK’s 20th anniversary party. The plan was to tour the shelter and then spend a relaxing afternoon together talking in the classroom…but just as she was arriving, a phone call came in about a kitten seen behind a local grocery store, so off we all went to check things out. The kitten, now named Opie, looked to be about 3 or 4 months old, very dirty, and a bit odd in shape. Unable to catch him by hand, we ended up using a trap. Went straight to the vet, who checked and treated for tape worm and dehydration. It was difficult to look at Opie thoroughly, since he was terrified and had to be secured in a net, but a mouth check revealed that he no longer had baby teeth, putting him at 7 or 8 months old at least. Prolonged lack of good nutrition seems the most likely cause of his stunted growth. We did notice that his tail was very dirty and assumed that diarrhea from the tape worm was the problem. However once we got back we could see that he was incontinent and that he had no feeling at all in his tail. A bit of checking on the Internet had us realizing that he probably had something called “tail-jerk” in which the tail is held still while the body moves, as when a tire runs over the tail. This turns out to be the number one cause of spinal cord damage in cats, however we have never seen a case like this before, or at least not one that we knew about. There seems to be little that can be done, and we have no idea when the injury occurred. His odd shape leads us to believe that it may have been a while ago. In order to give him the best chance possible, we’re sending him up to stay with Animal Friends Niigata, who have more experience with special needs animals than we do. We’re hoping that something can be done to improve his quality of life, but regardless, we’ll willingly give him a home for life. Opie is such a sweet little boy and he so enjoyed his warm bed and food while here with us…it’s hard to imagine how terrible it must have been for him to be constantly wet out in the cold, and have to search unsuccessfully for food. Lucky to have picked him up before the temperature dipped to freezing, as it has over the last few days.

After our afternoon rescuing Opie, Isabella and I headed out to Osaka, while David stayed back getting Opie settled. He planned to join us a bit late, but ended up getting a call about a cat on a three story wall, and stayed back for the night to help sort that out (able to get the cat down). The party was lovely…great atmosphere and food, along with a chance to catch up with lots of people who love animals. After the party Isabella and I headed out with Susan Mercer, to stay overnight with her in Tokushima. We stayed at the HEART volunteer apartment, where 3 dogs are also staying. Not normally living with dogs, I wondered what that would be like, but found them to be really nice! All were big sweeties that loved attention. The following morning we went out with Susan to pick up a puppy from animal control. I find it difficult to visit these places, and I really respect Susan’s determination to go there on a regular basis. Her group is responsible for saving around 90 dogs from destruction there last year, which is over 1/2 of all the dogs that were re-homed from the center. I couldn’t bear to see the kitties, since there was no possibility that they would let me remove any, without an NPO agreement in place. We had a chance to talk with center workers about the hope of saving more animals and preventing unnecessary births, and I thought that they seemed very interested in animal welfare. However we also saw the steel cage that the small puppies had been kept in just a few weeks ago, without warmth or feeding for 24 hours. There seems to be a lack of attentiveness to providing good care to animals that they think might just be destroyed, or to adequately determine what appropriate care even is. In the case of the puppies, it was assumed that they were too young to be able to eat on their own. However when Susan asked staff to get a can of food, the puppies quickly ate it. I think as animal welfare groups we have to do more than just remove animals from control centers. We have to help get better care to every animal that so unfortunately passes through there, which is what Susan Mercer keeps speaking up for at every opportunity. Anyway, one puppy saved and Susan’s work there continues.Pictures from ARK’s party and theTokushima trip…

Isabella and I headed back to Osaka with two animals in tow. Isabella took a dachshund that had paralyzed back legs, for surgery and rehab. I brought back Asia back to stay with Sharon, who is amazing at caring for kitties with special needs. Asia’sstory is really too sad to be told…suffice it to say that she is now without her two back legs due to cruelty. Even given that, she is still a friendly happy cat. Sharon says that Asia is able to make her own way around and into the litter box, though she prefers to spend most of her time relaxing in one place. We’re hoping that we can help HEART to find a forever home for Asia, with someone who is willing to take a special interest in her. This year we’ve been cooperating with groups like HEART and Animal Friends Niigata more and more, as well as talking with other groups who are interested in working together to help animals. Though it can be difficult ironing out some of the details regarding cooperation, the benefits far outweigh the problems, and we are all stronger when we work together.

The Winter Food Campaign that David started continues, and we also received some wonderfully useful items, including towels and animal carriers, from a kind person in Tokyo. One of my students sent some food and some small sized kitty diapers for Opie. Cheryl in Tokyo is helping us to get better organized, with the donation of some money for shelves for our storage room, and with helpful advice on putting things in more convenient order. We look forward to stocking the new shelves with lots of food for the kitties that we’ll be helping through the coming year!

I have sad news regarding Gino, who came back to the shelter a couple of weeks ago, having stopped eating at his foster home. There had been some concerns about Gino’s failure to thrive after rescue, but he tested negative for FIV/FELV and he had improved to the point that we were able to place him confidently in foster care. When he stopped eating, we quickly picked him up and went directly to the vet, who became concerned that FIP was a strong possibility. We syringed food and gave him daily drips, but his condition steadily deteriorated. When he could no longer walk or stand up, and his breathing became a bit labored, we felt it was time to talk with the vet about letting him go. The vet agreed, and was able to clearly diagnose FIP at that point. Though we rarely euthanize kitties (only a handful in our entire experience rescuing), we don’t want them to suffer unnecessarily. It was difficult to say goodbye, but David stayed with Gino until the end, and we feel that euthanasia prevented his last few days of fear and discomfort.