September 1, 2018
The travel preparations are in full swing, the „supply case“ is packed. It contains an IATA-compliant and disassembled transport box, 10 kilos of dry food, worm and flea medication, rapid tests for FIV, FeLV and Giardia, lots and lots of chew sticks, gloves and disinfectant, disposable pads, canned food, small disposable syringes with stoppers and needles, cable ties, gaffa tape, dog harnesses and leads, Stronghold for dogs, a cat transport bag, fleece blankets, disposable gloves and a thousand other little things.
September 3, 2018
On the first day of this trip, Marie visits „her“ feeding site 1 as usual. There she meets Elias and Aliki. Both are in good condition all round. She didn’t meet any cats at the two new neutering sites in the morning. It’s quite stormy at the moment and the cats are retreating. She will try again this evening.
The tracks reveal that the cats at feeding site 1 are also fed by other people – at least in summer.
Marie also promptly found four abandoned mini kittens at a garbage dump, more dead than alive. They are tiny, starving and have thickly encrusted eyes that oozed pus when they were opened. Their chances are slim, but Marie immediately gets them some milk and tries everything for them.
When Marie took them to the vet, she was greeted by Luise and her son Mogli, the dogs from the June trip. The other puppies have found nice homes on the island and in Athens. So only Luise and Mogli are coming to Germany for placement.
The four kittens have survived the first night. Because the distances on the island are long, they have to be carried everywhere in the travel bag so that they can be looked after and fed in between.
And then there was another surprise – Tjabo and Kara, who have found a home together, came by for their second vaccination. In the photo they are greeting mom Luise.
In the evening, feeding station 1 was well attended. Many familiar and some new faces were there. All the cats look well!
The cats come to greet.
Others stroll leisurely along.
The food tasted good.
Sunny has become a beauty, there is nothing left of the skinny, malnourished kitten.
This tomcat also came out well.
A new arrival – but looks like he has a home, is well fed and healthy.
A small new arrival – also a tomcat.
September 4, 2018
Yesterday evening Marie was at the new feeding site. The cats gather there in the evening, today she wants to try her luck with the trap. The four kittens were abandoned at this feeding site.
The cats all still look pretty torn up. Some of them clearly have a home and get a treat from the garbage.
He says that he would like to have a home.
The little one on the right is a cat and of course shy. Maybe she’s going into the trap.
Also a female cat.
This is what it looks like at this feeding site.
The four kittens have survived the first critical period. However, they are not out of the woods yet. They are now rid of the fleas and are being given eye drops and an antibiotic to treat the cat flu. (And, fittingly, an addendum from yesterday: the minis have just been given their antibiotics for the second time. Hopefully there will be some success by tomorrow lunchtime. The two reds are drinking badly, which is due to the cat flu. And they learned to purr today. It’s crazy when a 100 gram tiny cat humps his back and purrs at you…)
These are today’s three neutering candidates.
September 5, 2018
The four abandoned kittens from the garbage dump have been with Marie since Sunday night. They are gaining weight and becoming livelier. The all-clear can be given very cautiously. All four can now purr and love to be cuddled. You can see from their eyes that they have been without oxygen under the pus crust for a long time. All four are given eye drops and an antibiotic. They cannot stay on Andros in this condition. However, apart from their state of health, it is not possible for them to travel to Germany due to the rabies vaccination required by law for cross-border transportation. They are still too young and too sick for this vaccination. And there is also a 21-day waiting period after the first vaccination. Fortunately, Marie was able to find a foster home in Athens where she will keep the little ones on the return journey.
The little colored kitten drinks quite well and is agile.
Little Black and White is drinking well. His eyes have improved quite a bit since yesterday, now we have to wait and see to what extent they recover.
Little Red Shorthair is gaining weight well. His eyes are the worst affected, both are cloudy. This too can still recover. Incidentally, he is the big purrer in the group and also the one with the loudest little voice. As soon as he hears Marie, he tries to run to her.
Little Red Longhair is the dwarf among his siblings. He has now slowly learned to drink on his own. Marie is most worried about him. But this little one is also recovering, and although he is less involved in the play than the other three, he has awake phases.
These three are the neutering candidates for today.
Today, Marie has also caught some cats at a new garbage dump. The cats are staying with the vet. There are three to four kittens and one to two adult cats. The trap is set to manual release so that nothing happens to the kittens. Two are quickly caught in the trap. They are still „hissing spitties“, but that will soon change. The next attempt to catch them was unsuccessful – we will continue here tomorrow. This evening Marie still needs the trap at the new neutering site from which Lilian was neutered today.
One carton of milk is already on its way to the minis‘ foster home in Athens by express delivery. Three more packs have been ordered. It is estimated that the little ones will need one can per week, and from around the 5th week they will slowly be fed more.
A pack comes to Marie for this travel candidate. He is now called Aslan, is a good 4 months old and weighs 1 kilo – just skin and bones. He eats extremely badly or not at all. The cause is a mix of many things. Milk is the only thing he slurps up in significant quantities. Even if he no longer needs milk due to his age, he is temporarily offered a milk slurry mixed with food. What is left of the milk at the end of the trip goes to S. There is always a supply needed, luckily this time there was a whole tin there. There is no kitten milk to buy in the two pet shops on the island.
September 6, 2018
Lilian and the other two neutered cats from yesterday have survived everything well and are back at their feeding places. Lilian is happy to be back in her familiar place. Neutered and treated for parasites, she can now start an easier life.
Marie is now at the vet’s with four new neuter candidates.
He here is probably a brother of Lilian, they also come from the same feeding site.
She comes to Marie’s apartment and obviously knows how to be fed by tourists. She is extremely thin and shy as anything. This morning she was lured into the box with food.
Marie also attributes a relationship to Lilian to this cat.
And this is the fourth sister in the bunch. A healthier and easier life is now beginning for them all. They are neutered and treated for the many parasites.
September 8, 2018
These two cats are also traveling to Berlin. They come from the private foster home in Athens, which will take over the four found kittens and look after them until they are old enough to leave the country. Because the foster home is actually fully booked and four minis are no small amount of work, Marie is taking two cats off her hands for placement. Valentine, the red and white tomcat comes from the area of this year’s forest fires around Athens and came to the foster home with severe burns. Now it’s time for him to have a happy ending in his own home! The tabby Augustinus, born in March/April 2018, was lucky and escaped the fire area unharmed apart from singed whiskers. He is a cuddly sunshine full of unselfconscious young tomcat charm.
Here are the last pictures of Luise and Mogli on Andros. They are also flying to Germany, where they will travel directly to an association in Lower Saxony, where they will be adopted. Luise even already has some interested parties.
Marie also said goodbye to the Minis after taking them to the foster home in Athens. There they are in experienced hands and have good chances. Grow up nicely, little ones, so that Marie can pick you up as Wusels in three months‘ time!
Marie then landed back in Berlin in the evening.
Here are the results of this trip:
- 9 female cats and 1 tomcat caught and neutered.
- Picked up 4 mini cats at the last moment and nursed them back to health.
- Found a foster home for the minis.
- To relieve the foster home, we brought the two tomcats Augustinus and Valentine from there for placement in Germany.
- In addition to Augustinus and Valentine, Aslan is also moving to Berlin with her.
- Also brought to Germany for placement: mother dog Luise and her son Mogli (the other puppies were happily placed on Andros).
- And „on the side“ the other extensive routine at the feeding stations.
September 15, 2018
As an addendum, the information that the food pallet packed in August (see previous post) has arrived on Andros.
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