FILES

Any questions or comments about the articles, please contact the author (seen at the end of each article), or feel free to join the feral_cats email list.

About Starting Rescue
"What do I do? Where do I start"

About Trapping -- And Recovering
Trapping info, including trap-wise cats and difficult situations such as cats in inaccessible spaces such as crawlspaces; transferring cats from traps to carriers/cages; holding cats before surgery, and for recovery after surgery.

IF Doing TNR, Have A Cage
If you're doing TNR, you need to have a cage setup in which you could care for a sick hard stray cat. This will happen eventually, so good to be set up ahead of time! Including having some meds on hand.

About TAMING
...from those who have "been there"!

NEONATAL KITTEN CARE
Info on bottle feeders -- what to do if a kitten won't nurse off a momcat -- WARM a CHILLED KITTEN BEFORE FEEDING! Also some links to kitten care info. www.kittenrescue.org/handbook.htm is very good. If kitten has fleas, GUMS are PALE or ivory, kitten is sluggish/cold, KITTEN HAS FLEA ANEMIA -- urgent to get fleas off (we tend to do quick under-tap warm water wash), keep warm, Karo syrup, Hi-vite drops.

ADOPTION Strategies -- and placement to no-kills
Ways to interview people, also some thoughts on placement to no-kill adoption centers.

ABOUT PEOPLE MEDICAL ISSUES
Some human medical issues in rescue -- being bitten, scratched, allergies, etc.

About Psychological Issues
Psychological issues in rescue, learning about boundaries, dealing with trauma is pretty much the same whether in cats or people, the "wounded healer" is common (and OK if you keep good boundaries!)

Collector Neighbor
Some thoughts on the issues. Unfortunately, usually with a feeder/collector, other people (that's US) have to do the TNR work. But if they're our neighbors, it's in our own interest to do so! (yeah, it's unfair; but really any kind of service/outreach work is in a sense unfair).

Dealing With Emergency Many Cat Situations
"I've fed for 5 years, now I'm moving, where is there a magic person who will trap and relocate these cats for me?" Sometimes one finds such a magic person, but usually not. I strongly feel that we need to encourage people to at LEAST do SOME work with these cats, e.g. teach them to trap/cage tame at least one. Even if this doesn't help the present cats, it may discourage the person from starting feeding-only, in the future. Also -- battle plans! Dealing with MANY CATS-KITS in a house.

Cat Vet Books To Have
Read these ahead of time -- worth their weight in gold in some situations. Simple one to start with, then a really good one that's really not THAT hard to read.

Cat Diseases and Infection
Info on FeLV, FIV, FIP, urinary tract infections, etc.

Cat Medical Conditions
Medical conditions such as CRF

DIAGNOSES -- some tools
A run-through of how to use Cornell's Diagnosis by Signs site. You'll get a BUNCH of things that could be in the differential diagnosis -- don't forget, some may be kind of rare, usually there are a handful that are the "think of/test for these first" ones.

Protocols for herd health
Some basic ideas about PROTOCOLS for a multi-cat, rescue household. Quarantine, disinfection, keeping several different populations rather than one big population, working from "most vulnerable" to "least vulnerable" in daily chores, some links.

***ABOUT THIS LIST***
Here's some "META" stuff, about this list, the "list teaching position", "list ethics", etc.

About WORMS, FLEAS, coccidiosis, earmites, ringworm, yuck!
Figuring out what kind of parasite (or other problem) you're probably dealing with, and what other group members have found to work (effectively AND safely!) (Note: unless indicated in the file, people posting are NOT veterinarians. Information posted is opinion and/or personal experience ONLY.)

Advocacy
Materials to promote TNR, to combat anti-cat advocacy, to improve life for cats and people, to effect humane laws, etc.

Advocacy -- LAWS about cats, cruelty
Finding out what the laws are, some links. A book with legal forms for rescues to use.

Barn Relocation Guidelines
Infomation on relocation of ferals. These are the BEST hard stray relocation instructions I've seen. Really shows how it is a process that takes over a month! and requires confinement at the new site. Following these guidelines would greatly improve the chances of relocated cats.

Brochures etc. to share
Contact authors for permission to use them in your efforts to help ferals in your area!

CAT SPACE and SHELTER DESIGN
Ideas about making spaces for cats, starting small shelters, etc.

Cheapest sources we've found--
-- for flea treatments, wormers, litter, traps, nursing bottles... all the stuff (other than vets) that keeps us all broke! [See also sources in Bookmarks]

DREAMING about cat rescue
Some of our dreams and fantasies about cat rescue.

Do-it-yourself building projects
Plans for traps, cat furniture, etc.

Early-age spay neuter
Early spay/neuter is very safe

Emergency number -- poisoning
ASPCA emergency number for poisoning information for cats

FUNDING -- Going after grants
Some thoughts on finding funding for non-profit cat rescue groups.

Forms, mgt. tools
Paper form designs or other tools to help manage and track feral cat rescue, colony care, and other related activities. Comparisons of the pros and cons of using software or not, or (where applicable) what software is available to help you be most effective. Non-commercial only, please!

Humor
Including the vet answering machine....

Nutritional issues
Some info on nutritional issues, including Michelle's very interesting info on taurine.

Origin of domestic cats
Some info and thoughts on the origins of domestic cats.

PHOTO developing
Getting scanned versions of your photos, some sources that do this while developing the film

Rescue Mistakes to Avoid
E.g. numbers, etc.

TRAVEL with cats, lost cats
e.g. finding lost cat, TRAVELING with cats, etc.

Vaccination Protocols
Recommended protocols, and VAS (vaccine associated sarcomas). There is a small risk of sarcomas at vaccination sites, which you can minimize by which vaccines you choose, vaccination sites, and booster timing.

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