Gizmo

Gizmo, a handsome gray male from the Parkview Kats project on 51st off Cottage Grove. TNRed and looking forward to a healthier life.

Park Kittens available!

Seeking a loving home for two kittens abandoned at the park district at 55th and Western (OK, not in Hyde Park, but their rescuer is here). Super-sweet, healthy, frisky, and loving to people and each other. This is a brother-and-sister pair. Their rescuer, Rivka, will give you a litterbox and scoop, litter, some kitten food, and even a carrying case. If you are interested in meeting these two call Rivka at (773) 627-7279.

Don't forget we also have available for foster or adoption: Mo (female calico), Pushkin (grey male), and of course Mikey (tortie) and KITTENZ! Nobody has claimed tortie cat either. See below for pix and more info on these kitties.

Larry -- caught!

Aimee continues her TNRing at our latest site, Project Parkview Kats. Last night she caught Larry, the handsome devil shown here, and Figi, a big grey tabby. Picture of Figi to come. You can also see Larry in two posts below. Larry is number two of the Three Stooges, the most visible members of this colony. Next target: Curly. Last week Aimee also TNRed Gizmo; picture to come.

MO from this location is a friendly and wants a forever home. She is a beautiful calico girl with an adorable face and she wants to come inside desperately. She is spayed and vaccinated and uses the litter box. She clearly can get along with other cats! Help us find Mo a home!

FOUND tortie cat

Beautiful and friendly tortoiseshell cat found over the Memorial Day weekend by concerned student near Palevsky dorm and the University's library. Seemed far away from a possible home, so now presently lording it over said concerned student's home. Is "the sweetest (and prettiest) tortoise shell kitty" yours? Write us at hydeparkcats@gmail.com.

Mikey

Mikey, short for My Kitty, is a wonderful and sweet tortoiseshell. She was left behind by her previous owner. The current residents have been feeding her and sometimes letting her in, but she has had several litters. When we met her a couple weeks ago, she had five little kittens. She also has one older offspring, Big Boy (the orange cat pictured with her on top), who is not quite as friendly as Mikey but who we think might warm up more after being neutered. We have TNRed Mikey--don't worry, she can still nurse her little kittens--and we are working on Big Boy. We have offered the residents assistance in getting the five kittens spay/neutered as well. We were really smitten with this one! It seems that now she is spayed she can stay with one of the residents where she is (Blackstone). This seemed like a happy outcome.

UPDATE: It seems the current residents decided that Mikey and the kittens are now up for adoption. Please write to us at hydeparkcats@gmail.com if you are interested in a wonderful sweet beautiful (spayed!) cat or any adorable kittens.

Pushkin

Pushkin was rescued from an alley near St. Thomas the Apostle church. He is very friendly and insisted on being caught and paid attention to. Unhappily, life as a stray cat can be very difficult, full of turmoil and strife, and Pushkin has been diagnosed with both FIV and FLK. These are diseases communicable to other cats but not to people or other animals. Because of his wonderful sweet disposition and adorable little face, his caretaker wants to find him a hospice/home/foster situation. Do you have a sun-room, perhaps, where Pushkin could relax and recuperate? His caretaker will provide for his needs, including euthanasia when the time comes. If you are interested in helping Pushkin (or Mo, below), please email us at hydeparkcats@gmail.com.

Mo

MO UPDATE: Aimee says "Mo let me pet her and even rolled around on her back. She tried to get in the house again... She is very sweet. We need to find her a home. She's not meant for the streets. We could pick her up in our hands at this point. As you know she is a beautiful calico, and wants love and attention bad. She's not shy, just scared." MO IS AVAILABLE FOR FOSTER OR ADOPTION. Email me at hydeparkcats@gmail.com.


Mo is a beautiful calico from our new project, "Parkview Kats," on 51st slightly west of Cottage Grove. She is one of up to twelve cats frequenting the alley there. Aimee got in touch with us and is now on her way TNRing this colony! Thanks to Treehouse's service to lend out humane traps, Aimee was able to start TNRing her colony the other day. The first two caught were this pretty pretty girl and Gizmo (picture to come). Mo is quite vocal -- a stray? Maybe a friendly?

Below is Mo with her two BFFs, Larry and Curly. The three are often together, although not completely harmoniously. Aimee hopes to get the other stooges soon.

stray? owned? pregnant? please send info.

We have had numerous reports over time about possible stray cats on Dorcester between 54th and 55th Streets and in the alley at Blackstone between 52nd and 53rd Streets. We are trying to ascertain which cats around here are indoor-outdoor (spayed/neutered, owned cats) and which might be stray or feral (and unfixed!). If you can provide any information, please contact us at hydeparkcats@gmail.com.

Pleae see Mamiko's gallery of cats to view some pictures of cats we think may or may not be strays.

If one or more of these are your cats--please consider a collar and tag. Parker's Pets on 55th Street has some cute ones.

We believe the gray and white cat (seen chomping on some kibble and coded in these pictures as "Merwin") may be pregnant. We can help this kitty, but we don't want to pick up somebody's pet.

If you know somebody who cannot afford spay/neuter surgery for their pet, or who might need help feeding their pet, please let us know. We can help!

Pixie says thanks

Pixie, a resident of the MJK Alley, smacks his lips in appreciation. Thanks to Burt, Gregory, and Ming for recent donations, and to Mary B. for writing in to donate cat food. We thank you and the cats thank you!

Mucho trapping planned this week.

Thanks!

Serious and heartfelt thanks to Roy and Dianna for forty pounds of cat kibble ... to Margaret and Norah for coming through with the cold hard cash for our TNR efforts ... and to the folks who answered my plea for new traps. Thank you to Margaret, Ginny, and Anna for the traps (in advance--I'll let you know when they arrive). Your help makes such a difference to us! And to the cats!

Here is a portrait of Nino sunning himself in the MJK Alley last week. Just received an email that the Chicagoland Stray Cat Coalition got a call from Alderman Cochran's office about stray cats at this alley. Well, they called PAWS and PAWS called somebody at the Brickyard Garden (a nearby community garden containing a managed feral-cat colony of its own). And the Brickyard folks contacted us. And this is why registering one's colony is so important -- these cats are our cats! We're taking excellent care of them and we can prove it. Anyway, Nino and the other twelve spayed and neutered cats at this alley thank everybody who makes their lives possible.

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace

Here's a new addition to Battlestar Galactica. Isn't she just beautiful? She's Kara "Starbuck" Thrace.

Monday night is our planned night to start trapping here at the Battlestar. We've only seen five cats: Adm. Adama (m), Lt. Agathon (m), Lt. Dualla (f), Starbuck here (f), and Pres. Roslin (Siamese -- only saw her once). Adm. Adama is in very rough shape and so he's presently number one on our entire Hyde Park Cats hitlist. Send us positive thoughts for TNRing "the old man" ASAP! Also feel free to send money.

Larry

Here's Larry, a handsome young devil from a colony on 51st, off Cottage Grove, recently brought to our attention. At least three cats here, perhaps as many as twelve. TNR to commence shortly.

Our biggest problems doing TNR are (a) we only own three traps, and so we're constantly playing "where's the trap" and (b) we need folks not just to trap (this is the easy part, really!) but to foster overnight, and then we really need drivers who will take cats to the Anti-Cruelty Society on weekday mornings and/or return cats from ACS to Hyde Park in the afternoon. The need is great right now, during the warm months. If you are interested in helping us out, either with labor or by donating money or a trap, please write to us at hydeparkcats@gmail.com. Purrs!

Juniper

Meet Juniper, a young black female at Black and White world. She has at least one kitten right now, so we're waiting a little bit to try and catch her ... here she is alone and with Ingleside. Her babydaddy? She and Finzi are the major targets left at Black and White Cat World (aside from any recent kittens and one or two possible more black cats we're not sure of).

Ingleside update; meet Remus

Ingleside is pictured here irately clawing at his trap post-surgery. He came through well and they told us the abcess or wound on his face isn't too bad.

And ... meet Remus (top picture)! Remus is a healthy and now-neutered very friendly male cat who was frequenting Diane's backyard. He has tested negative for FIV and FLK. We hope to find this friendly, loving boy a home. He very much wants to be somebody's housecat ...

we caught us some Ingleside

Finally! Ingleside may only have half a tail, but he makes up for it with his giant mancat face (intact tomcats' large jowls are a secondary sex characteristic). He has an enormous abcess on his face; today he's off to ACS for neutering, vaccines, and a shot of antibiotics. We'll return him to Black and White Cat World tomorrow.

Willa update and cat colony reports

Willa in her safe house ... underneath the radiator. She just sits there, chin on the ground. Not happy. We will give her some more time to see if she comes out of her shell.

In other news, over the weekend we received reports of two more cat colonies in our area. One colony contains two month-old kittens whose mother decided not to nurse them for some reason. We'll go check these areas out soon and report back.

Tree House's new clinic opens soon!

Treehouse's NEW BDVM Spay/Neuter Clinic opens May 18th! See Tree House Animal Foundation for details. The clinic aims to perform FIVE THOUSAND spay/neuter surgeries in its first year!

The Scratching Post: A new blog from Treehouse.

Willa update

We have reason to believe that Willa is a former housecat, so she is now in a safe house -- the same safehouse that Swift stayed in on his recovery from feraldom. Mary Jean reports that Willa "has been silent, except for a few growls when I’ve gotten too close. For the first few hours, she remained reclining in her cage with her head sticking out (chin on the floor). Then, a few minutes ago, she used the litter box and decided to remain in the box. So she is lying in the clean end of the litter box, eyes wide open. She lets me stroke her head with a plastic spoon, but I’m not convinced that she enjoys it (yet)."

Progress report and pictures to come.

Golden back home

No surprises with this one, just that he remained indignant to the very end--make your own growling/groaning sound effects
as you look at this picture. He ran straight to that junk/side yard this morning.

Golden

Formerly "R5 Sad Eyes," Golden was trapped last night in Black and White Cat World. His name is for his golden eyes and the generous support of the Golden family. Diane reports that Golden is very annoyed at being in his trap. He is at ACS right now for his neutering and physical and will be released back into B & W Cat World tomorrow morning.

CAUGHT! Meet Willa!

Ha ha ha, after agonizing weeks of not catching this black and white cat, Vicky caught her! She had been seen, but not regularly, at an alley near 56th and Woodlawn. It took many nights of stake-outs. Congratulations to Vicky on trapping Willa, and we'll update with a status report tomorrow after Willa is picked up from ACS.