clinic day

What a marvelous day at the clinic Sunday! 130 cats fixed, no losses, and six kittens pulled for foster and adoption! Truly epic numbers! and an epic work day; long and hot, but all worth it! The only less than sunny note was that one feral girl gave birth in a trap; I was helping unload and saw one kitty kind of headbumping toward me against the side of the trap. I said, "oh, are you a little friendly guy then?" and pulled the cover back a bit, but that revealed a tiny little face with buttoned-down ears and squinched-up eyes. At first I was nonplussed; why did they bring a nursing mother to the spay clinic? Then it hit me, "Aw, $&%^; y'all got some newborns here!"
Apparently she had 'em on the hour-long drive to the clinic that morning. Although she seems young, she's still being a good mom and taking care of them (thank goodness!!); some youngsters get too scared to do anything for new babies. So she was set aside in a cool dark corner and will come back in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, back at the colony, there's a minor mystery I'll have to wait for the weekend to clear up. This time of year, it's dark by the time I get out there to feed 'em; there are area lights but they're on poles two stories off the ground so they're more show than go. Anyway, I was scritching the Black on his head and felt something crusty, but it was too dark to examine it. He didn't pull away, so at least whatever it is doesn't hurt. I'll have to wait till the weekend to learn more, when I can come during daylight hours.