This was posted by one of the rescuers who was on site to help at the
house fire of my rescuer friend. Please keep those purrs coming :)

Helen M

Hi all,

Please do a KITTY CONE OF POWER for trapping the kitties still
at Susan's house. One of the kitties, a small hard stray lynx
point mix, will Goddess willing come to our house for taming,
after Susan traps her. There are a handful of cats still needing
to be trapped. Susan has seen all but 2, including a small very
shy grey. I believe they're enduring/hiding under stuff in the
house. Susan announced to them today, please let us trap you,
we mean you well.

A KITTY CONE OF POWER would be good every day for a while.
Please do these, I truly believe they help. (See FILES for how
to do). THANKS HUFFY! And include Susan and Larry! as well
as the kitties.

I haven't been on the internet since Friday night -- Jan Van Dusen
called me at 6:24 am Saturday morning, Susan had called her to tell
her of the fire. I woke up my housemates Jean and Bonnie, we
threw about 20 carriers (including some huge Vari-kennels -- all
the ones not in use) into Jean's van and headed for Susan's.

Told Susan to keep water & crunchies available, while keeping
traps set with KFC. Someone had suggested removing food, but I
believe that's a big mistake -- you want to keep the cats at the
site! Susan was worried about their climbing up into the attic,
but I don't think they'll do that -- they're in lair mode, hiding
and enduring mode, and I believe they'll stay down, hidden.
The holes in the ceiling & stuff are scary!

-------------------------------
Susan wrote to oaklandfixourferals:

Well, we're alive, cats are alive. Still need to go back to what's
left of my house to find the remaining cats but i doubt anyone died of
smoke or fire.

What we really need, the sooner the better, is a cat friendly rental,
2+ bedrooms. We're in a little one bedroom apartment right now, which
I am so grateful to have, but with 2 adults and cats sstaying
with us, it's a really tight fit. Also, it's ground floor with big
front windows. lousy security...So if anyone hears of a suitable
rental....

Many thanks to Jan van Dusen, gesine lohr, Gesine's roommates, a a few
other people who you all wouldn't know who showed up at my house with
carriers yesterday morning and started rounding up cats and kittens
while I was still dealing with the fire inspector, my landlords, and
just the basic shock of it all. we are so inncredibly liucky.
-------------------------------

Today I wrote these notes:

We have a new foster, hard stray siamese mix adult, came
from serious rescuer Susan Hoffman's place. Goddess forbid,
there was a house fire, they were VERY LUCKY, she and
her housemate are OK, and as far as can tell, none of the
cats were killed. Jan Van Dusen called me at 6:24 am Saturday,
I woke up my housemates Jean and Bonnie and we threw like 20
carriers in Jean's van and headed to Vallejo.

I was steeling myself to be the person going into the house and
bringing out dead cats. When we got there, firetrucks etc. still
there, they'd just done a walk through with Susan. They've seen
all but several of the outdoor (TNRd to back yard) cats, and all
have been OK!

There were other serious cat rescue folks there too, to help.
Jean and Bonnie and I went inside with carriers and started
going under couches etc., scruffing cats and putting into
carriers. Susan said she was amazed that some of the cats
(very shy) allowed us to do that. Landlady very nice, she
had an open studio they've temporarily moved to. Susan's
uncle is giving them first and last renting money! for finding
a new place to rent! so next is to find a place to rent!

Jan had an extra bed, Jean and Bonnie brought it to the studio in
the van Saturday night. They have Wi-Fi at the studio, don't know
from where! (Susan lives on her laptop, she's very good at networking
and finding homes for cats, we've worked with her as has DeAnne and
Jan).

A woman who'd been involved in rescuing 14 kittens (most
with upper respiratory, some with ringworm, but pretty
tame), took all 14 (and she knows how to care for them).
Jan took 8, 5 of whom are "turnkey ready" for adoption.
Susan told me Best Friends has offered to list them on their
internet site.

We took the one hard stray siamese mix, and hopefully
Susan will be able to trap a hard stray lynx-point mix who
we saw, very very terrified, so we'll be able to work with
her on taming also. (My housemate Jean told Susan that I was
partial to lynx-point mix rescue kibs, Bitzo, who died in 1998,
would be proud).

She has 14 traps set in the house, they trapped 2 more cats
this morning (including one who needs 3x/day injections
so that was great). I think it was Judith from Fix Our Ferals
who brought up most of the traps (I brought the 1 I had, Saturday,
and this really shows that I need to get more traps! I have 1 lent
out elsewhere, but rest I had, are out in the great cat-o-sphere).

Couple of folks who were going to pick up cats they are adopting,
in the next week, came by early to take the cats. Couple who are
presently fostering some for Susan, were there, helping round up
the kittens, and they ended up taking a couple cats, I think they
were actually going to adopt one, very nice young couple.

Susan said that Saturday night, the cats at the studio (mostly
her personal cats) slept on them like a quilt. When they
brought in the 2 trapped today, the cats went around head
bonking every other cat. She works in SF and housemate
works in Vallejo (computer), they're looking for 2+ br for
1500/month cat friendly, probably will concentrate on Oakland.

Landlady (very nice woman, owns 14 properties) will
rebuild the house (serious roof damage, parts falling in,
serious basement damage, lots of smoke damage), thinks will
take at least 10 months. Firemen told us to avoid/be very careful
walking in what had been Larry's (housemate) bedroom, as the
underneath is mostly gone.

When Jean and Bonnie and I got home Saturday, and got
the new kitty set up in a condo cage in the living room,
then we went around to say hi to all our kitties. Scary stuff!

Susan just called me, they've seen 2 of the couple they had
not yet seen! So only 2 kitties have not been seen, and both
are very shy -- I believe they're hunkered down in piles of
stuff in a closet, enduring, and will come out in a couple days.
She's keeping crunchies and water freely available, and has
the traps set with Kentucky Fried Chicken (bones removed
of course) as bait.

I saw a picture in my mind of 3 traps, set close to each other,
covered with a dark blanket, and then dark bedding over the top to
make it look like a mound of bedding -- so Susan set that up.
---------------------------------

My personal reaction --
I am SO THANKFUL that Susan and hers were so lucky. It was
incredible. Took a bit over an hour to drive there, and all
the way up I was steeling myself, thinking OK, you'll need to
be the person going inside and crawling around and bringing
out cat bodies; no one else is likely to take leadership role
in that, and you can do that. Oh, we went inside, and there
were no dead cats! Terrified cats, under sofas, behind washer,
but no dead cats! Roof falling in, insulation all over, charred
stuff, fire fighting foam. Thank you Goddess! I was too busy to
react much but I was so thankful and happy! Here's a terrified not
tame cat under the sofa, I'm lying on the floor stretched out,
head turned to side, eyes soft, reaching, and I touch her, and
I grasp her hard with a wide-handed scruff, and pull her to my
chest and roll over, and Jean's got the carrier right there and
we put her in the carrier and shut the door. So thankful!

The huge green Vari-Kennel, ended up with 5 cats in it! they were
easy to put in there as you open door wide, so some cats who
probably wouldn't have allowed being put into smaller carrier,
allowed. But this size has no handle (and one would have just
broken, I'm sure!). Jan and Bonnie I think woman-handled that
into the van, to go to the 1-bedroom-really-like-a-studio apt.
The large carriers are staying there, as lairs/havens.
But REMEMBER this tactic, it was very helpful.

Animal Control truck pulled up, I went to talk with the woman.
She'd been there earlier, when firemen weren't letting anyone
into the house yet, had brought a couple trap/cage thingies.
She said she was sorry she couldn't do more earlier, I said
gosh, you showed up! to help! which is great! Reassured her
that kittens were doing flow-through just as had been planned
(well....quicker than planned!).

Red Cross folks showed up, offered motel for Susan who said no,
I want to be with my cats. They gave her like $75 for groceries and
$10 for laundry, much better than a kick in the pants, but wouldn't
do that much -- grateful to get it, but if a cat ran this country,
yeah......

---------------------

Anyhow, that's my sort of not coherent account so far.

While you're sending good energy, I wouldn't mind receiving some
myself. Most of you know my hands are disabled (carpal tunnel etc.,
court rated 36% disabled, don't get disability). Anyhow, I just
went for it, scruffing, and I wanted to, and I thank my hands
for letting us do this! But it's going to cost me for quite a
while, hand-wise. So some good energy would be appreciated.

OK you all --

1) CHECK the batteries in your smoke detectors! Replace if needed!

2) If you don't have at least one smoke detector, get one!
Don't wait for landlord to do so, just get one and put it up,
directions on box, very simple. They're a lot more refined than
they were 10 years ago. Change batteries every year (a good time
is leap forward or spring back time change time).

3) Have near/under bed: flashlight, shoes

4) Have flashlights around the place.

Let's all be thankful.

Gesine