Flooftober Feral Fixathon (and More)

October 16, 2016 4:18 PM

Tinykittens is livestreaming a two-day Trap-Neuter-Release "fixathon" to humanely care for a feral cat colony.

The people of Tinykittens (previously and previously) have made new strides in humane care for cats, particularly in socialization of feral cats and kittens. As part of their ongoing awareness agenda, they are streaming the trapping, spaying, and neutering operations of an entire colony (27 cats so far). Today is Day 2 of the 48-hour fixathon.

For those who want something less surgical and more full of adorable fluff, tinykittens offers two ongoing livestreams: Starling and her litter of kittens, and the Ringworm Romper Room where Hayloft Flyer Kittens Amelia, Orville and Wilbur are joined in quarantine by blind (but bouncy) kittens Faith and Hope and newest quarantinee Mason.

posted by Hypatia (12 comments total)

I've been popping in and out all day! They just finished the last surgery. What a team!

Tinykittens has been my go-to retreat from the election drama.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 4:51 PM on October 16, 2016 [4 favorites]

I've been watching this too; in fact, I've been watching Tinykittens much more often lately and it just occurred to me after reading Nancy's comment above that it's to get a break from the election. Watching Starling's babies grow from little blind fluffballs to playful scamps has been a joy. And my own cats have been enjoying it too. I'm looking forward to the ringworm clearing up so all the kittens can romp together.
posted by jenjenc at 5:11 PM on October 16, 2016

In case you need even more cats*, here's a Facebook list of all the kittens and cats that have graduated from TinyKittens over the past several years.

*IMO this election requires a whole lot of cat pictures to help restore sanity
posted by pemberkins at 5:46 PM on October 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

If you want to serenade the kittens in the Romper Room, Van Morrison has you covered. (I just put that on in a separate window while watching the kittens....it's a surreal evening here.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:11 PM on October 16, 2016

I sure do love these folks. I've been following faithfully since the post about Eve and every day there's something new and wonderful. The kitty family who kicked off this spay-a-thon was Mama Zetta and her 5 boys. Including Nano, who was severely under-nourished due to a hole in his diaphragm that was pushing his stomach into his chest. He passed away while they were prepping him for emergency surgery and I cried real tears. In addition to saving all these individual lives, they are also single-handedly expanding the knowledge of veterinary medicine by pushing for things that no one ever cared to do before, like doing surgery on such a tiny little kitten.

They were alerted to Zetta and family by the property owners and that's how they found out there was this other colony of cats that needed to be cared for before all the sheds they were living in would be torn down. If the property owners hadn't spotted Nano and if they hadn't have gotten in touch with Shelly & crew, the shed he and his family were living in would have just been torn down and they all would have been killed.
posted by bleep at 6:22 PM on October 16, 2016 [7 favorites]

Kitties are sleeping.

That is good. Good kitties. Sleep tight.
posted by BlueHorse at 6:28 PM on October 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

I love tinykittens so much that I use my real name there. My one true name.
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:37 PM on October 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

I don't even remember where I heard about Tinykittens first (now that I see the Previously's, it was probably here), but lately they are the only reason I can bear to look at Facebook. The heart-tugging struggle for poor little Nano notwithstanding, it is usually the bright spot of my day.
posted by briank at 5:20 AM on October 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Here's a facebook video (no need to log in) of one of the cats, who had a painful ear thing treated and is now purring up a storm.
posted by Hypatia at 6:58 AM on October 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

TinyKittens alum Skye the Sink Cat now has an online store. All proceeds go to defray her ongoing medical costs.
posted by firechicago at 8:03 AM on October 17, 2016

I love feral cats like crazy and have adopted several over the years (current main squeeze in profile pic). But the fact is that fixing and releasing adults is a feel-good solution that is not nearly adequate to controlling their numbers and the subsequent suffering and misery of overpopulation, even if scaled out much more.
posted by spitbull at 7:00 PM on October 17, 2016

As well as helping these cats individually, Tinykittens is a great educational tool. I've seen several viewers change from the "I'm going to let my cat have one litter before we spay her" attitude to "we're altering our cats as soon as possible." Other viewers have initiated TNR in their communities, or volunteered at existing programs. Classroom participation is fostering understanding and compassion in children.

Is tinykittens going to be able to end cat overpopulation and homelessness? No. But it's doing real good in the world. In addition, that is, to helping the blood pressure of various mefites.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 1:28 AM on October 18, 2016 [2 favorites]