Today is a good day. I’ve been trying to catch Ryder so I can take him to the vet and get him neutered, and today I succeded. He’s one of the three rescue cats that live on my patio. The other two, Teddy and Cinco, were fixed when they arrived but Ryder wasn’t so it was my mission to TNR. (That’s trap, neuter, and release). I fumbled my first three attempts. He’s friendly enough to let me touch him and pet him but when I tried to grab him to put him in the cat carrier he jumped about two feet in the air and took off. The next attempt wasn’t succesful either. When I tried to hold on to him he just turned around and sunk his teeth into my wrist. That took neosporin and several band-aids to clean up. For the next attempt the following week I donned my old leather jacket and some leather work gloves and approached him; he knew something wasn’t right immediately and squirmed away again. I had been talking to my family on the phone about trying to catch the little guy. They live in rural southwest Pennsylvania and been dealing with their own stray cat issues. A neighbor of theirs moved away and left two pregnant cats and two others both with litters. About twelve kittens, so they had their hands full. My dad gave me some great advice, pick up the kitty by the scruff of the neck and grab his two back legs. I tried that and Ryder was helpless in my hands. I had placed the cat carrier on it’s back so the entrance was up and I just dropped him into it. Success! I just received a call from the vet’s office and all is good. No worms, no AIDS or leukemia, only some ear mites. He got some drops for the mites and a spot of flea meds. He’s going to spend the night at the vet and I’ll pick him up in the morning. Then the next adventure begins, trying to help him become an “inside” cat.