AUGUST 2, 2022 - TRAPPING & FUNDING REPORT & KITTEN UPDATES

GREETINGS TO all.

On June 24th, 2022, we toasted the 2nd anniversary of the launch of the CumbreCats campaign with a couple bottles of nice cava. We had a great time with our teams and supporters and continue to be overjoyed by the care and compassion of our neighbours. As the great ancient Greek philosopher Aesop once said, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."



WHERE?

I just want to take a moment to let you know why you are not seeing our trappers in your area.

Firstly, tourists are now feeding the CumbreCats as part of their holiday experience. While this is fine, it results in the cats being removed from their regular feeding areas and the protective eye of their handlers.

Secondly, traffic has increased and the CumbreCats do not like the sound of cars, so it's best for them to stay hidden.

And finally, it's too hot. They will try to stay under their rocks and hide in gardens and enclaves while this heat is upon us. I do not blame them!


WATER * WATER * WATER

Please provide fresh bowls of water for the CumbreCats outside. This is very important for all wildlife.


BIG THANKS

We were surprised and delighted to receive a donation that came from a supporter in Switzerland. She gave it to a friend who came here on holiday to give it to us. Our head trapper happily accepted the gift as he is mindful of the number of kittens that need to be fixed in the autumn.


TRAPPING REPORTS

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 Trapper's Report: "A German resident in the Girasole area had seen a CumbreCat mother with five kittens move into her garden. I knew this mother because I had her neutered a few weeks before. However, the neighbour noticed that one of the kittens had a severe eye infection. She quickly took the kitten to our village vet, Veronica. The village animal welfare group, Gatos Felizes, decided to pay for the eye treatment and CumbreCats decided to pay for the necessary deworming. The kitten had to be isolated and needed daily care for fourteen days and someone to do the eye treatment. The lady from Girasoles kindly took care of this for us. And can you imagine what happened? Yes, the kind and caring neighbour fell in love with the kitten, named him GRISU and adopted him. We are so happy because GRISU is now blind in one eye. Her other three house cats have accepted the disabled kitten and now help him every day. I love this kind of people!"


Tuesday, June 28 2022 Trapper's Report: Magnolias / Lirios "I had had my eye on this very special CumbreCat mother for a long time. She lived among the rocks and bushes, and it was impossible to set a trap in this area. This mother was incredibly shy and if she caught even a glimpse of me, she immediately ran away. I knew that she had given birth to three kittens. One had badly inflamed eyes. My husband was able to save this kitten, but I have not seen the others for 3 weeks. Normally this CumbreCat mother would cross the main road to the feeding station. I decided to set up another feeding station in a small corner. Unfortunately it was too close to the wall and dog walkers would let their dogs jump over and eat all the food. But gradually, very early in the morning, she started to explore the area to see if there was food. On Monday morning, I started my first attempt with the remote trap. I prepared everything and hid behind a palm tree. After 20 minutes I moved a little, but she saw me and ran away. Again I waited for 30 minutes without moving. Finally, she came, walked slowly into the trap and was all the way in when I pulled the trigger to close it. However, a leaf on the palm tree blocked the signal. Frustrated, I had to raise my arm a little higher to press the button a second time and before the door was closed, she flew out of the trap. GRRRR The next day I was out very early in the morning and set the prepared normal trap at 7am. I covered the trigger with newspaper and put a bowl of dry food inside. I parked my car in the distance with the window open to hear the clacking sound that means the trap door is closed. It took 40 minutes before I finally heard the clack! After that, I took the remote control trap to another location. I tried to trap yet another mother cat but she just stared at me. I watched her kittens go into the trap together to eat, but they were still too young to neuter. The mummy cat did not eat anything. After two hours I gave up. It should be easy to catch the kittens when they are old enough. Then I took my already trapped cat to Veronica, picked her up at 12:30 and let her sleep in a quiet, cold room until she was fully awake."


Thursday, June 30, 2022 Trapper's Report

"We are so pleased when Cumbre residents learn how the CumbreCats Trap-Neuter-Return process works and take their own report photos. This was the case with a cat-loving lady from Switzerland who lives in the Pueblo Atenea. She first approached the animal welfare organisation Pluto in Moraira and Pluto referred her to our Head Trapper.

This woman was very experienced in dealing with animals and sent me some photos of the CumbreCats and the kitten in her garden, so I could see what was going on.

She was already feeding the CumbreCat mother and I could see that the kittens were still too young at this point. I guessed that it would be easy to catch the mother and the neighbour was immediately willing to help.

I showed her how to put food in the trap and then how to activate the trap. Two days later she was successful, and the mother was caught. She immediately covered the trap and followed the protocol of taking the CumbreCat to our vet and partner Veronica down in the village to collect the CumbreCat after surgery, so she could recover in a quiet room. In the evening she then released the mother into her garden and she pounced on the food. After filling her belly, she jumped down to her kittens.

This is an amazing example of what caring and compassionate people in our area can do!"


KITTEN UPDATES

On Sunday, May 1, 2022 we reported an emergency regarding an abandoned 10-day-old kitten. Fortunately, our Magnolias caregiver,was ready to foster this little baby. Today she reports that "Harry" is doing great and sent this collage.


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