Wildflowers TNR

05/28/2026

NOT giving medical advice, but i do want to share that i have been very lucky to have been guided over the years for my rescue work by the vet practice that my family has used for decades.
They have taught me things i could triage and treat myself instead of running to the office and wracking up costly vet bills.
These kittens came to us at 10 weeks old and they were surprisingly small. They started losing weight and of course the most common thing is parasites. The other most common thing is parvo which is much more serious.

But in either case, it is of utmost importance to support their bodies while they are being treated and fighting the infection.

That means syringe feeding them a mixture of kitten formula, nutrical, and quality food if they won't eat. Administering subcutaneous fluids to keep them hydrated. Giving small doses of B12 to stimulate appetite. Kaolin pectin paste to firm up p**p.

We keep digital scales, digital thermometers and karo syrup on hand for fading kittens.

We give prophylactic broad spectrum dewormer for worms and giardia to start and will do a f***l test if necessary to rule out coccidia which requires a different medication.

If the symptoms are vomiting and diarrhea the kitten will be isolated immediately and will be treated as if they have parvo. My doctor has told us it's not worth paying for a test. The treatment is the same. Isolation and support.

Being empowered to handle things in-house has helped us stretch our dollars for intensive medical care that does require a hospital visit.

I encourage anybody doing this work, especially with kittens, to ask their veterinarian for the best protocols they could use to address health concerns immediately and effectively.

05/28/2026

Hot tip!
A woman had been trying to trap a cat that was stuck in her apartment building's garage for months. The cat never left the garage and she gave him a box to sleep in on the hood of her car.
I instructed her to get him on a feeding schedule and make sure that nobody else fed when she was trying to trap but she still was not able to get him. She was at her wits end so I went tonight to see if a bigger trap would help.

She showed me video of him going into her trap and stealing the food without setting off the trip plate. And sure enough with my trap, he would eat all the bait without setting off the trap! I put food in it twice and he was able to stretch over the plate and lick the bowl clean!

I had remembered a tip about hanging a piece of chicken from the top of the trap, and so we went to a grocery store and got a rotisserie chicken and zip tied it to the back upper part of the trap.

And that did it. The cat that I had been avoiding getting trapped for months was trapped!

We will see what his temperament is and of course get him neutered and vaccinated. He has a whole apartment building of fans that are so happy to see him finally free! And even though he is scared right now, he does seem relieved to finally be out of there!

05/27/2026

I actually don't like the term " kitten season." While most rescuers use the term to describe the sheer overwhelm at the influx of kittens, I feel like it makes the general public think that this is a normal thing that happens. That this time of year kittens just sprout abundantly.
The truth is kittens are born all throughout the year, in every season. They just mostly die in the winter before anybody even knew they existed.

But we need to get to a place where domestic animal populations are under control and there isn't a season where rescuers get their asses kicked trying to save as many lives as possible.

It all has to come from prevention via affordable and accessible spay and neuter and vaccination for everyone! Can we get there? Can the dreaded kitten season be a thing of the past and instead we have a healthy number of cats and kittens to be loved and cared for as pets and working cats? We think so.

05/13/2026

A lot of this work feels like I need a masters in social work...

I got a call on Mother's Day about a friendly pregnant cat behind a grocery store in Irvington. I went through a group in Central Jersey (thank you Cats!) to get her an emergency spay abort appointment on Monday. When I transferred her to them I noticed she was lactating not pregnant.

So I told the feeder to look for kittens. This is a parking lot where there is a homeless man living in his truck with two large dogs. He sleeps in the parking lot at night and he lets his dogs run free.

The feeder found a dead kitten probably killed by one of the dogs.

When I picked the mama up from surgery I brought her back to the parking lot to see if I could find any living kittens. I couldn't let her out of the trap because she was waking up from surgery but I hoped her smell and her cries would draw a kitten out.

When I was there the guy pulled up in his truck with his dogs and he was very intoxicated and he was sobbing like a baby. He said he loved her and she was his cat and he didn't do anything wrong. Absolutely hysterical crying. He wanted her to live in his truck with the two dogs.

I tried to calm him down, telling him that I was going to take care of her and she needs to rest after her surgery and I just backed away and left with her.

Last night in the middle of the night the feeder calls that she found another kitten. Very hungry and alive. She brought her to another rescuer's house (thank you Forest Hill Friends Page) because that was closer and I coordinated with that rescuer to get the kitten this morning.

It's very clear that this is the Mama's baby. This video shows the first moments of reuniting them back together.
(Also I freshly bathed the baby to deflea her ...and she was stinky!).

05/11/2026

Thrilling night! I went to release seven adult cats at this property and when I arrived fire trucks were still there after putting out a fire at the house! Luckily it was minor and I was able to release all the cats in the backyard where I trapped them.
But then I noticed this tiny little guy and said a trap for him, but I also attracted a huge raccoon. They had a standoff for a little bit and then the kitten scurried under another car.
Luckily he was very hungry and has just a little wee brain and I was able to throw some food on the ground and sn**ch him up while he was eating.
He has the hugest personality and immediately understood that he was here to be pampered and loved and as soon as he's big enough he will have a home of his own!

05/10/2026

Last month this kitty was trapped and spayed. We noticed she was friendly so we planned to take her in to foster. But sadly the doctor noticed she was lactating so we had to return her right away.
When Giuliana, the trapper, returned her she found her babies right away and they were old enough to be taken to rescue. But Mama had taken off.

Giuliana had tried to find her a couple times but she was never around, and when I was in the area I drove down her street and actually found her. I was able to easily pick her up and put her in a trap and we had planned on finding her a home.

Her feeder was okay with her being put up for adoption but she had her own say in the matter. Even though she's a friendly girl she was very unhappy in a crate with a bunch of strangers taking care of her. She wouldn't use the litter box and she did not engage with us at all.

Giuliana spoke with the feeder and he of course was happy to take her back.
When she was back in her neighborhood she shot out of the carrier and clearly is so happy to be back with her friends.

We really do try to do what is best for each cat, and it's very important to communicate with the caregivers to help make these decisions. We are so glad she is well taken care of and that she told us where she wants to be!

05/09/2026

let's help some cats!

05/09/2026

05/05/2026

If you are local to us! ShopRite this week digital coupon spend 100 get 50 off pet food and supplies!!!

The empty shelves after a big tnr clinic, ready to be restocked for the next one!
Supporting us, specifically with cases of friskies food (any size!) is most welcome. It helps us save money for medical expenses! It's one basic we cannot go without.

Please find our wish list on Amazon and chewy via our donation page!

Wildflowers TNR - Donate https://www.wildflowerstnr.org/support-our-work/donate

Thank you for supporting community cats in Essex County!

05/04/2026

Our goal is to return them to their territory better than when we found them. Neutering and vaccinating them of course upgrades their life but sometimes they need a little extra.
The tabby girl had such a huge polyp in her throat that swallowing food must have been very difficult. The doctor said she never saw one so large. After surgery she scarfed down two bowls of food like it's the first time she ate pain-free in a long time.
And the white and gray boy had an eye condition where his third eyelid fused to his eyeball. It was likely from a herpes infection when he was a kitten and the scarred tissue just healed that way. He could not open his eyes all the way and it must have been very irritating. Right now he's squinting because he's going to be a little sore but once he heals he is going to feel like a new man!