Community Cats of Leesburg Florida

I moved into a senior park in Leesburg Florida, Lakes at Leesburg, in December 2015. Soon I began to notice a gray and white cat and then a black cat. I believe the gray and white cat was a male and the daddy cat to several kittens. I would see him over at the central part of the senior park and see him coming through my carport and across our street. The black cat was a female from what I could tell and I believe she had more than one litter. She seemed to follow the path of the gray and white male cat. On May 24, 2016 I snapped her photo as she came through the side of my back yard.

I moved to the senior park from Jacksonville, Florida to seek a quieter life and figure out my retirement. I thought a senior park would be the answer. I quickly learned it was NOT the answer for me ... it was obvious to me I should look elsewhere. However, by the time I came to the realization I needed to move, the community cats had become an issue. I could NOT leave this park and not try to help all the community cats.

In March 2019, I quietly began to trap-neuter-return the community cats which came through my carport. I didn't need to go elsewhere in the senior park, THEY WERE COMING TO ME. I believe they knew that I was a trusted caregiver. Back up in Jacksonville, when I was living in Deercreek Country Club, my husband and I worked to TNR a few dozen cats. In Jacksonville, we were blessed to have First Coast No More Homeless Pets FCNMHP, founded by Rick DuCharme. We had one litter of 5 kittens that we fostered and socialized and had adopted out. When we divorced, I ultimately ended up in my own house in Mandarin, Florida.

By myself, I continued the TNR in my new home. There were two older adult tom cats, a black one and a orange tabby, that were neutered and returned. And, then there was a white calico pregnant cat who had 6 kittens. I found those kittens in the neighbor's bushes and rescued them. I watched throughout the morning and into the afternoon for the mommy cat. Soon she came into my backyard and I coaxed her into my Florida Room. And, so began the fostering and socialization of 6 kittens with the mommy cat. That is another story for another time.

So, it is March 2019 here in my senior park and looking out my kitchen window I see the black and white cat -- what a cutie!!! -- and she has a full belly. It wasn't obvious whether she was indeed pregnant or if she had worms. I began my research for Lake County, Florida to see what TNR resources were available to TNR community cats. I first reached out to the Humane Society in Umatilla ... crickets! Nobody got back to me. It was searching around Facebook that I learned about LEASH and how they work with the Lake County Animal Shelter with their Caturday program. That's the route I took.

I picked up a LEASH trap from Karen, a director of LEASH. I put the purple trap in my carport and waited to see how long before the black and white cat would be trapped. Watching her, she was very cautious around the trap. I finally had to put bumble bee tuna in a path into the trap so that she would go completely in ... which she did. Karen penned the name of Mystic Elsie for her since I was calling her "little cutie." Little cutie = L.C. = Elsie! Mys. Elsie.

Mystic Elsie the welcoming Community Cat of Lakes at Leesburg

Throughout 2019, I worked at the trap-neuter-return of eight different cats. All of these cats were trapped as they came through my carport. Working to do the TNR, with the help of LEASH and the Lake County Animal Shelter, I kept thinking I need help in this senior park. In late January 2020, I trapped a black male cat. He was a very big boy and very pungent with his urine smell. That made NINE COMMUNITY CATS TNR'D by me.

Hold the phone!! TEN COMMUNITY CATS TNR'D by me with a 12 pound male tabby on February 11, 2020!

UPDATE!!! A dozen -- that's TWELVE COMMUNITY CATS TNR'D by me with a pair of 8 month old brothers on June 3, 2020. I first saw the pair, which I named Inky and Dinky, in late 2019 as they emerged from under the house behind me. Inky is a tuxedo, black with white bib, belly and paws. Dinky is a gray/brown tabby also with white markings of bib, belly and paws. Dinky was the exception with the ear tipping in that his right ear, rather than left, was tipped! Inky and Dinky were slated to be neutered months before June, but the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic put everything on hold.

12 TNR COMMUNITY CATS OF LAKES AT LEESBURG

  

#1 - A030402 - Mystic Elsie - white and black female 2 years; #2 - A033139 - Donald Trump aka Big Orange - orange tabby male 12 years; #3 - A034628 - Rudy Giuliani - black male 6 mos.; #4 - A034810 - Tabitha - gray tabby female 2 years; #5 - A034811 - black female 2 years; #6 - A034809 - black female 2 years; #7 - A035139 - black female 2 years; #8 - A035500 - Baby Yoda - dark gray male tabby with white paws/markings - 4 mos.; #9 - A036168 - Louie - black male - 1 year. #10 - A036346 - Monsignor Fancy Pants - brown with gray male tabby - 12 pounds, 2 years. #11 - A037531 - Inky - black with white tuxedo male - 8 mos; #12 - A037532 - Dinky - gray with white markings tabby male - 8 mos.

Each of these twelve community cats were trapped with a LEASH trap and attended to by a veterinarian at the Lake County Animal Shelter through the Caturday program. Three of the cats were a part of the last Saturday in October 2019 Caturday. The other nine were individually taken on either a Tuesday afternoon or early Wednesday morning to the Animal Shelter for TNR. In total, there were 7 males and 5 females; of those twelve community cats, six were black cats of which 3 were males and 3 were females.

Mystic Elsie Community Cat - Lake County Animal Shelter Caturday

Each of the twelve community cats that went through the Caturday TNR, received FVRCP and Rabies vaccines and paperwork like the example for Mystic Elsie, the first TNR community cat. Each of the twelve receive a rabies vaccination certificate like the one for the November 13, 2019 TNR cat.

In January 2020, I learned that I was not the only Lakes at Leesburg resident quietly doing TNR with our community cats! Thank God, I say!!! A number of other community cats have benefited from  caring senior residents stepping up to do trap-neuter-return.

Lake County Spay/Neuter Rebate Program Form

The Lake County Animal Shelter, a no kill facility, performs TNR through the Operation Community Caturday program, working with LEASH. Misfits in Mt. Dora is another resource for TNR where you can take your community cat and use the spay/neuter rebate program form.

Do YOU live in Lakes at Leesburg? You too can be a part of the humane solution to the number of community cats. Complaining, poisoning, killing, relocating is NOT the answer. TNR is the answer.

TNR Resources in Lake County

LEASH - "an independent non-profit organization, to work in conjunction with the Lake County Animal Shelter, other local shelters."

Misfit Clinic - "a non-profit, low cost spay/neuter clinic."

Lake County Florida Office of Animal Services - "The Lake County Office of Animal Services provides for public safety and animal welfare."

Lake County Animal Shelter Operation Caturday - "Operation Community Caturday, a partnership between the shelter and LEASH, Inc., will seek to sterilize up to 600 free-roaming cats per year."

Lake County Florida Animal Shelter Facebook Page - "The Lake County Animal Shelter was designated as a no-kill shelter in 2017."

Lake County Spay/Neuter Rebate Program - "The program allows full-time residents to bring their pet to their licensed veterinary practitioner to receive the procedure, then complete an application that provides up to a $50 rebate to the pet owner."

An Overview of Caring for Free-Roaming Cats - The Humane Society of the United States has put together this very helpful guide. It is a wonderful resource for educating the public on the many aspects of dealing with free-roaming cats and TNR. Please take time to read this!

Advancing the TNR Movement - You can find more helpful resources to assist you once you've embraced TNR and want to be an advocate getting out the humane word about it all.

I hear people remarking that these outside cats should be on leashes like dogs. That is a myth! Alley Cat Allies has penned a very informational page to answer the question why cats should not be kept on leashes.

Mahatma Gandhi really penned what this is all about. "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

Mystic Elsie Missing in Leesburg Florida

Missing Cat in Leesburg, Florida -- Mystic Elsie went missing Sunday, July 21, 2019. She is a spayed, with tipped left ear, black and white female cat. Her body is white with large areas of black on her top back. She is a very sweet and shy young cat.

I have cared for this little cutie for almost two years. She was approaching her second birthday and seems to have just up and disappeared out of the senior park. I don't want to think that a nearby neighbor somehow nabbed her and that she is no longer with us.

Mystic Elsie Sitting in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

I pray to God if something nefarious happened to Mystic Elsie that she did not suffer. I've also been praying that she will return ... so I haven't been quite able to convince myself that a neighbor "took her out!"

Mystic Elsie Sitting in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

I had worried a lot about the safety of Mystic Elsie because she was just so conspicuous with her activity! I know the nearby neighbors would see her walking up my driveway and sitting in the front yard garden looking up at my kitchen window, waiting for me to see her to know she was hungry!!!

Mystic Elsie Sitting in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

A few months ago I had contacted a woman from LEASH and secured a TNR trap. I trapped her and took her to the Lake County Animal Care facility to have her spayed. She is A030402 and was spayed on March 13, 2019 through the Caturday program.

When I brought her home from the Animal Care facility, later that same day, I kept her inside in my Florida Room for four days to see if she could acclimate herself to being an indoor cat. I really hoped that she would want to stay inside so that I could provide her with a better life than outdoors. She did not handle being kept inside and wouldn't eat. I was heartbroken that I'd have to release her back outside and hope for the best!

Mystic Elsie Sitting in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

I have cared for community cats for nearly twenty years, starting with a feral colony in Deercreek Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida. At that time, I had the support of my husband as we probably cared for up to 4 dozen cats. It was there that we learned of what some neighbors will do to community cats and I don't mean good things!!! Several of the community cats which had been spayed and/or neutered were trapped by an outside trapper. Supposedly, he relocated them to Ormond Beach. I can't help but think that wasn't where they were taken!

Mystic Elsie in My Front Yard Garden in Leesburg, Florida

I am heartbroken thinking about what might have happened to Mystic Elsie. I recently told a nearby neighbor how I worried about her because she was such a sweet thing and just so conspicuous with her activity.

MYSTIC ELSIE AS A KITTEN

Mystic Elsie as a Kitten in Leesburg Florida - March 31, 2018

In addition to having Mystic Elsie spayed, I was feeding her a couple of times a day. I know many nearby neighbors could figure that out without me telling them that. I just can't comprehend that someone could harm such a sweet animal.

Mystic Elsie as a Kitten in Leesburg, Florida - April 11, 2018

In hindsight, I should have intervened earlier to have Mystic Elsie spayed and brought inside as a pet. I have a senior female tabby cat named Boots who is just turning 11. Boots is the kind of cat that needs to be in a single cat household. That would be the reason I held back on trying to bring in another cat like Mystic Elsie!

Mystic Elsie as a Kitten with Litter Sibling Black Cat - May 9, 2018

Please God bring Mystic Elsie home ... I miss her. Please God don't let me know that my instincts are correct in that a neighbor harmed her. I need to get this thought out of my head; i.e. "What did YOU do?"

Thinking back over my time here in this senior park, I have heard a lot of stories about neighbors harming the community cats. A cat was found under a vehicle nearby after eating poisoned food that a neighbor put out. She told people she was allergic to the cats and had them walking through her carport ... so she decided to poison them!!

Another nearby neighbor told me how she knew that people in the other side of the park were trapping and killing the community cats. She learned that before she moved into the park over seventeen years ago!! She had a couple of cats and was warned to keep her cats inside.

I recently heard about how the TNR cats, because they have tipped ears, were being trapped and then dropped off in the Ocala National Forest!!! I'm telling you, it's sickening what's happening here.

This senior park has been touted as pet-friendly, but that just isn't so for community cats.

OTHER MISSING CATS

I moved into this senior park in December 2015. I've gotten familiar with well over a dozen community cats, and probably closer to two dozen. I've often wondered, "where did they go?" when I realized, "gee, I haven't seen that cat in a while!"

Gray and White Male Cat Missing - Probably Father of Mystic Elsie

There was a cute male cat that used to roam around the yards from the park office over through my yard and about a block area. It was a dark gray and white cat that obviously resembles Mystic Elsie. In that photo from August 2016 you can see his coloring. Many times, if I went walking over to the park office, I'd see him approach me as I walked, and then stop and look at me. He was quite a cutie! I'm thinking the last time I saw him was maybe September 2017 ... he just up and disappeared and then I realized "gee, he was just gone!"

Black and White Male Cat Missing - Probably Brother of Mystic Elsie

There was another black and white cat that came from the same litter as Mystic Elsie. He had a bit more black than Mystic Elsie with his left leg being black and more black markings on his face. In the photo above you can see him in my back yard along with a gray tabby with white paws. I would see this black and white cat usually passing through my yard or in the yards behind me or across the street. I assumed it was a male cat. I'm thinking it's coming up on a year since I have seen him around! Poof, just vanished!!

MYSTIC ELSIE RETURNS 4 DAYS LATER

July 25th, four days later, I was more than a little surprised to be standing in my carport early morning and then hear a sweet little meow. I looked to the front yard garden, and there was Mystic Elsie. She usually gets her first feeding of the day at 7:09am. And, here she was, like usual ... BUT with an injured paw as she was limping. I'm not sure if she got fire ant bites or maybe stepped into a thorn from someone's garden.

Mystic Elsie Returns July 25, 2019

As I know a neighbor has put out poisoned food and killed a cat previously, every day that I don't see Mystic Elsie, I get concerned for her welfare! Since she went missing and returned, I am not seeing her like I usually do. She is later in the morning and sometimes not till early afternoon does she come by to feed. I'm thinking somebody has coaxed her inside and is keeping her. They probably don't realize that Mystic Elsie has a caretaker!!

UPDATE! It is January 19, 2020. I have heard much being said in our senior park by some of the residents claiming there are a lot of cats again. It has been mentioned that someone is now trapping the cats and relocating them. Another person has voiced their support offering that they have given that trapper $10 for gas money. I've heard about community cats being trapped and dropped off in the Ocala National Forest and now some mysterious island in Eustis, Florida. Such inhumanity to these community cats is more than a little concerning!

When I first moved in, several neighbors told me about a resident putting out poisoned cat food and poisoning at least one cat that was found dead under another resident's vehicle. I then heard about someone putting out dixie cups with peanut butter and poison in the bushes on the main boulevard. Somebody found a dead cat under a golf cart near the office and clubhouse. Another cat was found nearby the office that appeared to have been hit and killed by some vehicle.

Somebody has been trying to trap opossum. And then squirrels have been the target of trappers ... supposedly being drowned if not poisoned! Cats, and now opossum and squirrels OH MY. It doesn't stop there. Ducks!! Supposedly it is ONLY the Muscovy ducks being aggressively targeted after the golfers in the park complained about poop on their 9-hole golf course. The Muscovy duck eggs were being smashed. Someone remarked about not seeing any more of those Muscovy ducks. How about the other birds and ducks? I've personally seen a wood stork with a wounded foot ... did somebody put out some kind of trap that snagged that bird? We've also got Sandhill Cranes, Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks and Mallard Ducks ... are these people also stomping on their eggs?

It sure doesn't sound "friendly" to community cats, birds and wildlife in this senior park.