Finding a family of felines on Canfield Mountain

COEUR d'ALENE - A family of felines has a new lease on life after being rescued from their home in the bushes on Canfield Mountain.

On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 5, Leslie Bartlett and I were cruising around Coeur d'Alene looking for wildlife and signs of fall. We took our regular tour up Nettleton Gulch to the gate at Canfield Mountain.

As we arrived at the turnaround just before the gate we noticed a man kneeling down with his hand out. A medium sized grey and white cat was advancing toward him in a slinking fashion. We parked and the man, Brian Prescott of Hayden, walked over to explain that he was trying to catch the two adult cats and one kitten he saw in the bushes. He said he didn't know who the cats belonged to, but he wanted to save them.

"I'm pretty sure that someone dumped them out there," Prescott said.

Bartlett and I joined in the efforts to capture the frightened cats, though we had to leave shortly after. Prescott remained and was able to get the kitten into his truck.

He took the kitten home and introduced her to her new family.

"She's doing great, we ended up naming her Clara Bell," Prescott said, "My kids absolutely love her; the first couple days they wouldn't even leave her side."

Bartlett said he believes they are house cats and may have been abandoned, either by their owner or a stranger.

"They were too healthy and clean to be feral cats," Bartlett said. "I don't know how someone could just leave them there."

Lindsey Schwolgin, co-director of the animal rescue group Power of the Paw, said there is a problem in the area of people abandoning cats.

"It happens way more than I would like it to," Schwolgin said. "It happens in areas like that, that are secluded."

Schwolgin said she hasn't heard of a cat dumping problem on Canfield, but said it is possible.

"There's an issue in the Tubbs Hill area; quite a few were being dumped," Schwolgin said. "I was contacted multiple times at beginning of the year about all the cats being dumped at Tubbs.

She said responsible pet owners who spay and neuter their cats help combat the problem.

After leaving the mountain that night I posted a photo of the cats in a Facebook group called Lost, Found, and Adoptable Pets of CDA Idaho, in hopes of finding their owner. Brenna Carveth of Spokane is a member of the group and a self-proclaimed animal lover, and when she saw the post she started making plans with others to capture the kitties the next day.

On Sunday Carveth arrived with her sister to the mountain and immediately located the cats in question. She said they caught one but couldn't get the other to approach them. She was able to rent a trap from Kootenai Humane Society. She returned to the mountain and after many hours was able to secure both of the cats.

She was able to transport both cats thanks to the help of Melissa Hamon, of Coeur d'Alene, who showed up with an extra cage. Hamon said she was glad to help and offered for her cage to be used until the cats no longer need it.

I was working that day when I received the call from Carveth that she had the cats in her possession. She wasn't able to take them home, so I met with her and picked them up.

After taking them home I was able to hold them for the first time. They were both scared but full of love. In less that five minutes they were purring and rubbing themselves against my hand.

The startling moment came when I felt that both of them were females with full milk in their breasts. We knew of the kitten that Prescott took; it appeared to be about 10 weeks old. However the amount of milk the mother cats produced led us to believe there must be more babies.

After two trips to the location the following day Bartlett and myself finally located the rest of the feline family. We found a small nest with four tiny kittens; three of them were meowing for their lives, the fourth had already passed away. We swept them away and got them to their mothers as fast as we could. The baby who lost his life was buried in my yard alongside my cat who passed in January, and the other three were reunited with their moms.

(I say mothers, because we do not know who the birth mother is. Both adult cats protect, feed and love the babies equally.)

Since they have been rescued, all five seem to be thriving and have enjoyed living indoors. Though their experience was horrible, they have bounced back and act like they know not of the heartless acts humans are capable. The mothers and their babies are able to rest comfortably with me, though soon I will be finding them families so they can begin their new lives.

It is illegal in the state of Idaho to abandon an animal, especially one who needs medical care, such as a pregnant cat. Kootenai County Sheriff's Animal Control Officer Anthony Ghirarduzzi said animal abandonment in Kootenai County is illegal and is covered under animal abuse. He said his office did not receive any reports on this matter, so no action has been taken.

"It's heartbreaking, I was so sad," Carveth said. "I know someone dumped them because they were pregnant; it makes me sick to my stomach."