Caretakers at Kitty Village are working overtime and are stressed out.

Since the last two tragedies hit the Village, we have been working everyday to enclose the rear yard for the remaining Villagers. Both caretakers are physically building the specialized fence system to keep the Villagers in and predator’s (both human and animal) out. All other projects have been put on hold.

  Last two that went missing.

Samantha and Bandit are still confined to the porch, and I can see every day how they are stressed out. Bandit more so, because his best friend Teddy is gone and Bandit has roamed free his entire life. Bandit is still very much feral. He will not let us come near him with out hissing and taking a defensive posture. He was much calmer when Teddy was here. He probably thinks that we got rid of Teddy, but I hope not. 

  Bandit and Teddy Sleeping Together.

Not seeing Teddy, Orangey, and Petey any more breaks our hearts. Every night, I would sit on the porch with the Villagers and talk to Teddy, Samantha, and Orangey who all would respond with a meow. Now only Samantha talks to me. Being here at the Village everyday is just a reminder of those who are gone. A day does not go by without thinking of them.

  Petey went missing August 2019

So far none of the neighbors have reported finding any animal remains on their property. There have been  coyote attacks in the neighborhood in the past and there are always remains. Not knowing if it was another animal like a Coyote that got them or was it human intervention is driving us crazy. Two Villagers gone almost exactly one month apart and no animal remains does point to the latter of the two theories.

This is unsolved for now and placed into my cold case files.

I must say, if it was a Coyote, that’s nature and I can only be sad. But, if it was Human intervention, well enough said.

A Look at the Past.

Just Kittens new to the world, from left to right, Petey, Samantha, and Teddy. Above, you can see how Smokey (Mom) looked when the kittens were born.

 

Look how different Smokey’s coat looks now. She is an absolutely wonderful house cat. Sad to say but maybe it was a good thing for her to lose her eye.

Bandit, a beautiful looking animal. I wish he would begin to trust us more, but only time will tell.

Petey and Teddy sleeping together.

Orangey and Kiki got along wonderfully.

Orangey helping with the feeders.

Well, we must move on for the sake of the others and get the Village finished. We hope that the missing will return. If not, we might be able to take on a few new needy Villagers in the future.

Bandit and Samantha still on watch for the others to return.

Again, as always, I thank you for reading Kitty Village News.

S&B

Some people care for feral cat colonies that have over 100 feral cats in the pride. But when you only have six you get very attached to them.

When we took on the responsibility for running Kitty Village, I thought it would be fun to care for these beautiful animals and never thought about the cost and heart break it would bring. It is not inexpensive to run the Village especially Vet costs. But, I would spend ten times more to not have the heart break it also brings.

In late summer, we lost Petey. We have no answers to what happened.

In December, we lost Orangey. We have no answers to what happened.

Now on January 8, 2020, we lost Teddy.

We love all the Villagers, but Teddy was one of a kind here at Kitty Village. Words can never ever express how we feel and how we miss him.

         

They could have been trapped and relocated by ones who have voiced there opinions in our neighborhood web site about how they dislike cats.

They could have been killed by those mentioned above.

They also could have been killed by Coyotes.

Coyotes have been seen in the area and to the north of my neighborhood, where there is a large colony of feral cats. Animal Care and Control said that the colony has been attacked by coyotes finding most times just the heads left behind. Even though the coyote population is growing in the county, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission seem not to be interested with the problem or can not control it.

My problem with totally accepting the coyote theory is no remains have been found in my area.

  Petey and Teddy were always together.

As my readers know, I have been building a fence enclosure in the yard for the Villagers but due to the  cost of building this special type of fencing system, it has been very slow going. The Village now has three survivors out of six and those have been rounded up and secured.

If Teddy was not with Petey he was with Bandit.

I converted my rear patio into a cat enclosure.

Sam and Bandit are now in that enclosure, and Bandit is not happy at all for two reasons. First, he does not like being confined at all. Second, he misses Teddy where he was always at his side.

   

Above is Bandit inside the enclosure. To the right shows where Bandit is trying to get out. 

We are still searching for answers that I am afraid we will never get.

If it was a coyote, well that’s nature.

If it was human interaction, than that’s a very dark souled individual living in our midst.

Here at Kitty Village, we are sorry to bring you this bad news.

Thank you for Reading Kitty Village News.

S&B

Tragedy and a New Found Reality has hit Kitty Village Very Hard for the Holidays

It is with deep sadness that we have to announce that Orangey is gone.

Orangey went missing on December 15, 2019

For the past couple of months, word has been spread thru the neighborhood that some people have said they are going to trap cats and have them euthanized. This information was passed down to Kitty Village by others in our neighborhood and it was also recently seen posted in conversation by a few members of the Palm Beach Ranchettes on the Ranchettes app site for all to see.

I can only assume at this point that Orangey was trapped and either moved to another neighborhood  or she was killed. I will tell you why I have come to that conclusion.

The above picture is the day that I met Orangey for the first time. She was actually looking for help and we found each other. She was very dirty, skinny, and hungry. She has this little high pitched meow that no one else in the village had. We became friends that day.

Orangey had the clipped ear-marking of a feral cat but she did not act like one. I had to do a lot of  research to find out where she came from and discovered that Orangey was trapped five miles south of my location. She was then taken to Animal Control which is four miles north of my location. After getting spade and given her vaccines she was then dumped off into my neighborhood.

I discovered that unethical people trap and bring cats to animal control to get rid of them. The problem is  when they find out that they have to come back and get the cat or else Animal Control will bring the cat back to where she was trapped, they decide to pick the cat up and relocate her elsewhere themselves as they wanted from the start.

You see, Orangey was not a feral cat but someone’s indoor/outdoor house cat at one time. I know this because she was very comfortable with people and will let them pet her. She made her home on my rear porch which was set up very comfortably for her. We only saw her straying on our property or staying on the porch during daylight hours. She may have wondered farther at night but I feel not far at all. Ninety percent of the time you could find Orangey on the rear porch day or night. 

This is the flyer that we mailed in the neighborhood and also put up posters in hope to find here.

All our Villagers, including Orangey, where taken care of with visits to the Veterinarian.

We are now feeling that what happened to Petey a few months ago seems like the same thing has happened to Orangey. They both could have been trapped and relocated or killed. When Petey and Orangey disappeared  we checked our property very well and found no signs of them being attacked by another animal.

Orangey and I had formed a bond together where she would follow me around the property and would always come to me when called. She would always approach anyone welcoming a good petting. 

                      

I will keep looking for both Orangey and Petey hoping to find a clue to what has happened. We pray that they are still alive and might return home some day.

We are taking drastic measures at Kitty Village to protect the  rest of the Villagers.

Not a Merry Christmas here at the Village, I am afraid.

Thank you for reading Kitty Village News.

S&B

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all here at Kitty Village News

 

Thank you for reading Kitty Village News.

S&B

Teddy has recovered completely and has returned to the outside Village with Bandit, Sam and Orangey.

Teddy was in the Kitty Village Infirmary for twelve days.

When Teddy first arrived at the Kitty Village Infirmary he had the nick name Big Foot.

For the next twelve weeks, Teddy had a daily regimen of Pain Killers, Antibiotics, and warm water foot soakings with Epson salt.

There was also daily treats and massage therapy.

Teddy did have to share the living room with his Mom Smokey. Mom treated Teddy just like when he was a tiny Kitten. When she had enough of him she would smack him on the head and hiss. Teddy was unfazed by this.

When Teddy was finally set loose to the outside Village, we worried how he would react after twelve days of being indoors. But we remembered Teddy is Teddy and it did not faze him one bit settling down in the screen porch.

As for Bandit, I never saw a happier Kitty in the Village, ever. Bandit would not leave Teddy’s side, purring and rubbing up against him. Everywhere Teddy walked Bandit was right by his side. That was Bandit’s way of saying I missed you very much.

Well, until the next adventure.

Thank you for reading Kitty Village News.

S&B

Something is always happening at the Village.

Teddy has somehow injured his left paw.

Call out the Meowambalance.

Teddy has received some type of bad trauma to his left paw. He can not walk on it and there is a visible wound between his swollen toes .

After visiting the Veterinarian,  Teddy’s prescription is being house bound for the next seven days. He is getting pain killers, antibiotics and having his paw soaked in warm water with Epson salt twice a day.

This is all being done on a Villager who does not want to be inside and is vocally stating It. Also, it appears that Teddy’s Mom, Smokey, also does not want him inside.

Smokey has been indoors for over a year now and enjoying it. Smokey watches Teddy limping around the room and once in a while hisses at him. It’s like Smokey is telling Teddy, “you’re not going to ruin a good thing I have going here, so get out!”

Welcome to meow city! Thank God for noise cancelling headsets.

Teddy is in the Village Hospital recovering from his injury.

Outside in the Village, some of the Villagers are looking for Teddy and waiting for his return.

Needless to say, the Village employees are getting stressed out and cannot wait till the fence project begins.

Thank you for reading Kitty Village News.

S&B

 We are sorry to say, we have exhausted our search for Pete and have to end it.

Feral cats can roam an area of 100 acres or more. But being that Pete has been fed at one location for the last four years, he most likely would only roam 5 to 10 acres at the most.

Because we can not find Pete, there are only a few possibilities as to what happened to him. Remember, it was August 31st and we were all preparing for a bad hurricane that was approaching the Village.

Neighbors had their sheds and garages open preparing for the storm by shuttering up their houses and putting away yard items. Pete could have been trapped in one of those sheds or garages and did not survive. A cat could live 5 to 7 days without water but, some neighbors left after preparing for the storm.

Some neighbors left the area in their Campers. Pete could have been trapped inside and then let go or most likely escaped at the location they stopped at when he was discovered.

 Also, there is the chance he was attacked by a coyote or other animal.

The last possibility is that he is on walk about and will return some day.

As afraid of people that Pete was, he would never have gone up to anyone. He could only be trapped. Remember what happened when I tried to trap Pete on my screen porch. He ate right through the screen to escape.

Teddy and Pete were always together.

That void has now been filled by Bandit who is always with Teddy.

Sorry there have not been any posts for a while. We have been  hunting for Pete and working many jobs lately saving money to build the enclosure we started to keep all the Villagers safe and we are almost  ready to get the job started.

Pete, or as we call him Petey, will be missed and we can only hope that he will possibly return one day to the Village. When we finish the enclosure, there will be one access door into the village that can read the micro chip that Pete had been given. The door will open letting Pete in then lock to keep him safe in the village.

Thank you for Reading Kitty Village News.

S&B

We are stressed out at the Village.

First Petey went missing and now it’s Bandit.

The storm passed the Village Tuesday night so we let the Villagers out. We thought they would run off into the distance but they stayed on the porch and only departed for a bathroom call.

  Teddy and Bandit

Now, Wednesday morning, Bandit does not show up for 8 am breakfast. Oh My God, Bandit has never missed a meal in the four years that we have known him.

Talk about being stressed out… All day we  put the Village back together, opening the hurricane shutters and taking patio and yard items back out, putting up awnings and much much more. All this time, no Bandit.

Now comes dinner time, and Betty does her normal routine which is to call all the Villagers in for dinner. Presently on the porch is only Orangey. Betty stands in the  porch looking out into the yard and shouts out, “Teddy, Samantha, Bandit, Petey, dinner time. Who is hungry?”

No one responds!

My heart falls deep into my stomach, while I watch with disbelief on what is unfolding.

Betty calls out a second time. Then a third time….and then a fourth!

The longest fifteen seconds in my life, then Teddy comes running from around the pool. Samantha is next, charging across the yard, but still no Bandit or Petey.

Betty looks at me with a look that sank my heart even deeper. I tell her to go inside and get their meals ready while I keep calling for Bandit and Petey.

After a couple of minutes Bandit comes running across the yard and into the porch. I yell to Betty that Bandit is here and my heart lifts, but only a little because there is still no Petey.

I am saddened to say that… I’m afraid Petey is gone for good.

Next post will be in tribute to Petey, and what I feel could have possibly happened. We will keep hoping because we want him back.

Thank you for reading Kitty Village News.

SB

Sadly it Looks like we are Saying Farewell to one of our Villagers.

The approaching storm was stressful enough, but this is devastating.

The hardest part of caring for Kitty Village is when you lose a Villager.

It seems just like yesterday when Bandit and Smokey decided to have their family on our land, but it actually is four years almost to the date.

We fed and cared for them with trips to the veterinarian when needed and even with some major surgery. But losing one is very, very hard.

Pete disappeared Friday evening August 30th not showing up for dinner. He has missed a dinner or breakfast in the past, but always showed up for the next meal. When he did not show up we frantically searched the neighborhood knocking on doors and even posted that he was missing to no avail.

I am so sorry to say that Pete never returned home.

Now that the storm is almost upon us with high winds starting around 5 pm today, I have completed securing the village with all Villagers inside for the storm. They are not happy about these arraignments, but we are not going to lose another Villager.

We will talk about Petey more in my next post, but for now, those in the path of the storm, please take care of your villagers.

Thank you for reading Kitty Village News.

SB

With the Hurricane coming

Tragedy has hit the Village Very Hard!

Pete or as we call him Petey is missing!

Petey who is brother to Samantha and Teddy has gone missing. Petey is the shyest of the Villagers and will always run away if you approached him. He is micro chipped and listed under Home Again and Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control. We have been searching the area for two days now with no success. I am afraid that something very bad has happened to him.

 

For the past four years we have cared for and looked after Petey.

We are praying that he is okay and will return home.

Our search goes on!

Kitty Village News.

SB