mountain_laurel | cat ladies unite

this morning i finally met my complex's resident crazy cat lady, Stephanie. several times a day i see her out in the parking lot, filling food dishes and fussing with a humane trap. it turns out she started feeding one feral cat over Thanksgiving and has ended up with a small colony, including some domesticated strays and a nursing mother. she's already taken in a couple of strays, but there are more than she (or anyone else in the complex) has capacity for indoors. the Austin Humane Society has a spay/neuter/vaccination program for ferals but they can't accept strays, and the Town Lake Animal Center, while it does not turn away any animal, is not a no-kill shelter.

the cats needing homes that i remember from our conversation:

Isaac, an all-gray adult male (neutered, i'm pretty sure) who's very well-adjusted and friendly, and obviously desperately wants his own humans (when i said "oh, hello, kittycat!" he came trotting right over to me, and he keeps coming over to my windows to look in, much to the dismay of my boys). Isaac is currently living outside because nobody in the complex has capacity for an extra cat, but i think Stephanie's taken him to the vet for a checkup, shots, etc. -- i'll verify that with her.
a young female (Christina, i think) who was rescued from a tree after having been doused with water by a human and dive-bombed by bluejays; she's obviously accustomed to humans and was very relieved to see one. she's been to the vet (where i assume she got shots etc., but i'll verify), who thought she might have a paralyzed colon because her tail hangs in an odd position, but she seems to have normal bowel movements and Stephanie thinks the tail was just injured at some point. she's currently living in a cage on Stephanie's balcony because the feral toms were giving her trouble and she'd been scratched up a bit.
there are nursing kittens who will need homes soon; i'm not sure how many or of what colors, etc., but i can find out... maybe. the mother is feral and extremely skittish, so it may be difficult to find and retrieve the kittens. i believe they're only about 2 weeks old right now, so it'll be another six or so before they're ready for adoption.

i can get more details for anyone who's interested. it'd be helpful if you could put the word out to other cat people as well.

yeah, it looks like i'm going to be helping Stephanie out with the feral colony. i always knew i was going to end up a cat lady.