JUNE 13, 2022 - TRAPPING REPORT, RAINBOW REPORT & UPDATES
On Saturday, June 4, 2022, the husband of our head trapper rescued a CumbreKitten.
TRAPPER REPORT:
“My husband left the house very early in the morning on his scooter. He was turning into the main road to Moraira when he saw a little kitten on the pavement, not moving and not reacting when he stopped. So he grabbed the little one and put it in its box. Then he called me and I came with a transport box. Since Veronica did not open until 9 of the clock, I took the little one home with me and gave it some food and water. The poor little one had such inflamed eyes. I took her to Veronica who did all the necessary treatments and kept her at the clinic for the following treatments.
In the meantime she is recovering very well and enjoys lots of cuddles, but still needs treatment. The newly formed cat care association in the village, Gatos Felices Benitatxell, has been informed and will take over the next steps.”
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NEED HELP WITH TRAPPING? CONTACT US - CUMBRECATS@GMAIL.COM
On Friday, June 10, 2022, our head trapper was contacted by some community members who required help.
TRAPPER REPORT:
“A week ago I received word from some great cat lovers, who have always supported us, that a feral female had brought her kitten into their winter garden during our rainy months. At the time, the little kitten was only about 4 weeks old and her mother was milking. So we decided to wait until the young kitten was old enough for us to catch the mother.
We made the appointment for today. The mum came almost regularly at 10 of the clock for breakfast. The trap was already set up the evening before so that she had to eat in it at least 1 time.
The female was a very shy animal. Sometimes she came together with her spayed sister. I thought it would take longer to catch her.
First her kitten went in to eat, so I had to refill. Then her sister came and went in to eat, so I refilled again, and then we had to wait. Strangely, there was no cat in the garden or on the street.
Twenty minutes later I saw her balancing on the garden wall, and she came into the winter garden. We were all so excited and crossed all our fingers that she goes would go into the trap and I could close the door.
She stopped in the middle of the trap to eat, and we held our breath. Just a few more steps, and she was inside, and I could press the CLOSE button on the trap.
I took her to Veronica's and picked her up at 2pm. She slept in a quiet room until she was fully awake. Late in the evening I wanted to release her, but she hesitated a little, and then she flew away, and I could not capture that moment in a photo.”
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IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT FEEDING CUMBRECATS IF YOU NOT A QUALIFIED FEEDER!
On Wednesday, June 8, 2022, a local neighbour contacted our head trapper for help.
TRAPPER REPORT:
“Some of you will remember this CumbreCat because he was our mascot on our sponsorship cards. He lived by the horse stables at the entrance to the park.
Unfortunately, he had cancer on his ears. We noticed this at an early stage and asked Veronica to operate on him. However, due to the heavy pedestrian traffic in this area and because everyone was feeding these CumbreCats, it was impossible to catch him.
We pleaded with the community via Facebook not to feed this colony so that we could capture it, but our efforts in three languages had no effect. We did not stand a chance. Feeding our CumbreCats is both a blessing and a curse, because it limits our efforts to give them the care they deserve.
Anyway, five months later, this CumbreCat, who we named Whitney, and his best friend, a black and white male cat, got fed up with the tourists and foot traffic in the area and decided to move. They turned up in the safe garden of a cat lover. This lady is one of our regular cat carers and fed them both and they both enjoyed their quiet and safe space.
One day Whitney was standing in front of the carer and his eyes were pleading for help. She informed me of this and that his cancer was getting worse.
I prepared the remote cage and taught the carer how to use it. The plan was to get him used to drinking in the trap. By this time he was so sick that he was not eating much, but he was thirsty.
After about 5 days Whitey was tired, and we knew he would not live much longer. In the evening he went into the trap, lay down and fell asleep. The keeper closed the trap door slightly.
She took him to Veronica who kindly put him to his eternal sleep.”
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A GOOD OL' BOY IS NOW IN RAINBOW LAND
On Friday, June 10, 2022, our head trapper was contacted again about a very old CumbreCat in Pueblo de la Luz who had cancer and needed to be trapped.
TRAPPER REPORT:
“Old Henry” was a male CumbreCat from Pueblo de la Luz who regularly came into the garden of one of our carers to eat. He had cancer and of course the carer wanted to catch him, but she had no luck. Then things changed, and old Henry came into her garden to eat. His nose cancer had already broken open, and the carer called me with the emergency. To make him hungry, she did not feed him.
When I got to her house, old Henry looked very bad, but he was hungry as a wolf. The remote-controlled trap was prepared and the metal carrier with a sliding box was also set up and prepared with his favourite food.
He ran as fast as he could to eat the small pieces at the entrance of the trap, but only with his head in, and then he was gone. I could entice him to eat with a fork, but I could not get him to enter the trap.
After many attempts to lure him into the trap, he decided to hide under the keeper's sofa. I had an idea! There was enough space between the sofa and the small table for a laundry basket, so I put that over him.
The carer helped me, very carefully, but he was quicker than I thought. Finally, I was able to fix him under the box. The carer came over and opened the door of the metal box. Slowly and carefully we pushed him inside and closed the door.
This was fantastic teamwork. Only together could we achieve such a great result. We were both so happy that tears ran down our faces. They were tears of joy as well as sadness.
The feeder will miss her old Henry, the CumbreCat, as he was a part of her life for over a decade. That's love and devotion!
The carer wanted to take her old friend to Veronica, who could do nothing to help the cancer-stricken old cat, but had him put down. They both said goodbye to a charming old cat so that he would no longer have to suffer from his cancer pain.”
FINAL NOTE:
We would like to say a big thank you to Isolina from Gatos Felices Benitatxell who organised the euthanasia and cremation not only for our deceased CumbreCat, but also for those who were hit by cars or simply found dead. It is great to have this collaboration. We appreciate it. 💝
