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Jaycee called from San Marcos. Three 2-½-week-old kittens living in the courtyard of her apartment complex were not doing well. The larger brown tabby kitten had an infected eye. The other brown tabby was noticeably smaller than his siblings. The black kitten looked quite healthy, but we couldn’t leave him by himself.
The feral mom was around. We almost always allow a mom to raise her kittens. Sometimes we are able to take the entire family to a secure location where the mom is caged until the kittens are weaned. This time that wasn’t possible. Jaycee had no transportation, but she was able to pick up the kittens and put them in a box, which our volunteer, Nicole, picked up.
Fortunately, serendipity rules Thundering Paws, Nicole has worked in a neonatal kitten nursery and had lots of experience. She lives in Wimberley, so she was nearby. She had all the supplies she needed—Kitten Milk Replacement or KMR, bottles, a scale, and know-how. The tiny kitten went from 108 grams to 120 grams in a few hours.
Usually, I would ask Nicole to transport the kittens to San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter (SMRAS). However, with the pandemic raging in Texas, Hays County, and San Marcos, the shelter is unable to perform normally while keeping their staff safe. This is a tragedy for many animals and, of course, for the humans who care about them. Small shelters like Thundering Paws are not able to take up the slack.
Nicole sent us a Foster Application a few weeks ago. While she works in Lakeway and cannot provide the constant care needed for nursing kittens, she can be an important waystation for the tiny ones. She had the next day off and was able to offer these babies her skills for 36 hours. Jen, a retired veterinary technician, lives in Lakeway and the two were able to transfer the babies on Nicole’s way to work.
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I’m the director of Thundering Paws and I make life-changing decisions every day! At the time that Jaycee called, I wasn’t in a time crunch and was able to answer the phone. Had that not been the case, I fear for the ultimate fate of these kittens.
Is there anyone out there who would be willing to be trained and has time to answer our phone? A volunteer or volunteers in that capacity would be AMAZING! For this particular volunteer job, I will want to interview a person over the phone and via Zoom. Please call the sanctuary, 512/402-9725. Of course, if we can’t answer the phone, leave us a voicemail. Thank you! 
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Buddy (tabby), Dash (black), and Skweeks (orange) enjoying the purrrrfect Thundering Paws catio on April 5th.
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Volunteers
Normally, we ask people to come to the sanctuary to clean. However, with the pandemic, we aren’t allowing new people inside. Equally off-limits is the Cat Adoption Center at Petsmart in Bee Cave. The space is too small, and the ventilation too compromised to guarantee the safety of our volunteers. We are constantly thinking up ways that people can help us safely.
One lovely fellow comes over weekly and scrubs our plastic and metal supplies—litter boxes and scoops, carriers, cages—at an outside sink. It’s a once-a-week job.
We need people to drive cats and kittens to Hill Country Animal League in Boerne a few times a month.
We have three storage sheds that could use cleaning and arranging, perhaps when it cools off. And you know how storage sheds are: it will be messy again in a month. So, cleaning and arranging one could easily be a once-a-month commitment.
Yard work in our beautiful, tree-filled yard is constant.
If someone is able to level our driveway, that would be excellent! It’s full of potholes.
From time to time—and right now—we have maintenance needed on our catio. A set of kitty-sized stairs needs to be secured to the wall and a platform built for access.
We have a wire covered 10’ x 10’ kennel which we call “The Rabbitat,” where Carson, our bunny, spends nice mornings and days when it gets cooler. The Rabbitat needs branches cleared off the top, a good mucking-out, and fresh straw strewn on the ground every other week and after a good rain
On an almost daily basis, we need a cat driven to and dropped off at or picked up from a local veterinarian clinic
Of course, we always need people marketing our animals and our cause, raising money for our continued work and getting kitties attention for potential adopters.
If you can think of anything else to do, either virtually or outside, please let us know! Even if you can’t do the work, suggestions are helpful.
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Thank you for everything you do for us, and for animals, especially during the pandemic.
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