It's National Feral Cat Day!

    Every October 16th, I write about the underdog kitties, the cats most shelters kill, often even before a stray hold is up because they may pose a "danger to the staff." One this day, we fly the feral flag for the felines who may technically be homeless, the"community cats," the shadow cats sleeping on porches or in garages and being fed by caring folks who have a soft heart. These cats are often held responsible for dwindling songbird populations, messing in gardens, and creating havoc for the indoor cats who see them in the yard. People might think they are doing the right thing nabbing a stray cat to take him to the local shelter. The reality is that between 60-70% of cats who end up in shelters do not make it out alive. 

    The term "feral" can mean many different things to a variety of people. I've seen the most gentle kitties turn absolutely livid at the vet's office and I've seen undersocialized cats remain stoic and almost catatonic during an exam, nail trim and blood draw. An animal shelter is usually full of strange sounds, sights and smells, such as those of dogs who are natural predators for cats. Very few cats will be able to relax in an environment like that. Shelter vets and staff do their best to evaluate temperaments but they may be rushed, exhausted, more skilled with understanding dog behaviors, or the shelter may simply be full up to capacity. Modern shelters are moving to group housing instead of individual caging, so that potential adopters can see how the kitties interact with each other and in a more home-like setting. But even then, some cats will choose to hide from new people and people are naturally attracted to the friendly or exotic felines. The shy kitties don't get picked for off-site adoption events or public appearances either. So you can begin to see how challenging it is to be a sensitive kitty vying for a great home when the odds are stacked against you from the get-go. Such is the case of Howard and Charlotte, two kitties I have the honor of sitting for. 

    We will never know where Dorothy came from but given how social she was once she was given a real home she was likely left behind when someone moved or dumped off once they realized she was pregnant. Howard and Charlotte, along with their siblings, ended up being very fortunate little kittens and were rescued from a life outdoors along with Dorothy. Not all of the kittens found a home immediately but at least they were well fed and warm (and spayed/ neutered). Then a miracle happened and the remaining kittens DID get homes, and Howard and Charlotte and Dorothy were reunited! Read the full story below, as told by their wonderful (human) mom and a friend to all animals as well. 

Charlotte & Howard

Dorothy & Charlotte

L-R: Dorothy, Charlotte & Howard

    Seven years ago, the cat who would become our kitty Dorothy had kittens in my dad’s woodpile in Vancouver. She wasn’t a feral cat, but was definitely a shy stray.  She had previously had another litter of kittens in my dad’s yard, but was only seen when she was moving the kittens out.  Sadly, we don’t know the fate of those kittens.  However, when Dorothy was discovered with another batch of four babies, my stepmom went to work on socializing her.  My dad moved the kittens to a sheltered bed on their covered porch, and Dorothy would come to tend her babies there where it was dry and warmer.  It was November and the weather was starting to turn colder.  My stepmom could have gotten the kittens to a shelter earlier, but she wanted to keep Dorothy with them and Dorothy was not ready to be captured.  After a few more weeks of a lot of care and love, and with a large snow storm looming, my stepmom was able to get all of the kittens and Dorothy into a carrier.  My dad and stepmom were concerned about their elderly indoor cats and weren’t comfortable bringing the cats inside their house, so we came up with the best plan we could at the time.  Working with a shelter, we decided that the kittens would go into foster care and be put up for adoption, and that my husband and I would come down and adopt Dorothy, the mom.  At the time, we already had other cats and a dog and didn’t feel that we could adopt all five of the new cats.  So, on Christmas day, a volunteer at the shelter opened up for us and we were able to bring Dorothy home.  We kept in touch with the shelter, and one of the kittens was quickly adopted.  We were assured that the other three would also quickly get homes.  The kittens were shortly removed from the website and we assumed they were adopted.  Dorothy, meanwhile, had blossomed to be one of the most affectionate cats we have ever had. She loves to give and receive attention and quickly bonded with our other cats.

    Two and a half years later, my dad sent me an email to say that he thought Dorothy’s kittens were back on the website.  It turned out that of the three remaining kittens, two were still living at the shelter and one had only recently been adopted.  We drove down that weekend to get Howard and Charlotte and bring them back home to their mom.  It turns out that they weren’t the most social of kittens, probably due to their rough beginning, and they had also had a parasite issue after arriving at the shelter.  I think that as they grew out of their kitten hood, they may have been less appealing to potential adopters.  It sounds like they weren’t the type of cats that would run up to a stranger and try to get attention, so they probably hid in the background as other cats were adopted before them.

 

    It has been about four and a half years now since Dorothy and her two babies were reunited.  I believe she recognized them right away, and they are together constantly now.  They love to groom each other and cuddle and sleep together and I am so happy they are together.  Howard and Charlotte have a good life, but still remain pretty shy.  Charlotte lets me pick her up, but rarely lets my husband pick her up.   Howard will approach us at certain times of the day and certain situations, but it has to be on his terms.  One glorious day Howard had dental work and came home extensively drugged.  He was blissfully unaware of what was going on that day, and I was able to hug and hold him to my heart’s desire.  Then he came to his senses and was back to his reserved self.

   Diane asked me to write about Dorothy and her kittens to share how much joy these cats have brought to our lives.  I know we did the right thing in adopting them every time I see them curled up together.  They aren’t feral, but they could have ended up that way.  They also could have ended up staying in the shelter for several more years before someone gave them a chance, simply because they weren’t the cats that were the most approachable. I never have regretted adopting Dorothy and her kittens.  My only regret, and one that makes me profoundly sad, is that we made the decision seven years ago to leave the kittens in the shelter, and only bring Dorothy home that Christmas.  I was nervous that we would end up with too many cats, and we wouldn’t be able to handle it.  When I see Dorothy, Howard, and Charlotte together and how much they clearly love each other, I wish that they hadn’t had those two and a half years apart.  I also wish that the whole family could be together, and hope that her other kittens have found good homes and are well loved.

So please, when you think about all of the cats out there waiting to be brought home to love, consider those shy cats.  Chances are, they really want to be part of a family and will blossom when they learn to trust you.  Maybe you won’t be able to hold them as much as you would like, but they can still bring a huge amount of love and joy into your life. 

October 16th is National Feral Cat Day!

Caring people all over the country are fed up with cats being killed. Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) sterilizes free-roaming cats and returns them to their home in the community in place of old-school "catch and kill" animal control methods of the past. Check out this piece about certain areas of Las Vegas attempting to make this change to save lives and as the article points out, save money in the process as well.

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2014/sep/23/how-save-stray-cats-euthanasia-fix-them-vaccinate-/

A National Feral Cat Day tradition of mine has been to spotlight one special "feral" kitty; this year we hear Rosemary's story. Fourteen years ago I often volunteered my time doing TNR for individuals feeding outdoor felines but unable to do TNR themselves. This particular site was at an apartment home of a senior couple. The wife was struggling to care for her elderly husband and knew they probably wouldn't be living independently for much longer. A short little tabby had had at least three litters and those kittens had all disappeared, many likely due to predators since this was prior to the massive development in Redmond.

I trapped Rosemary on a Sunday and took her into a private vet clinic the following day to be altered and vaccinated (this was before the Feral Cat S/N Project offered so many surgery days). I phoned at noon to see how the kitty was doing and was told she was far too pregnant to spay! So I brought Rosemary home and set up a large cage with lots of blankets and covered half of it for privacy. I was working during the day so she had a nice, quiet environment without other cats but still Rosemary growled and hissed at me at every opportunity. By Wednesday she delivered six kittens! I gave her lots of food and changed the blankets as best I could without disturbing everyone. One kitten died within two days and I had to extricate his little body out of the cage with Rosemary understandably attempting to lash out at me. After a week or so I began to gently handle the kittens and take them out of the cage for short stints. I don't remember when Rosemary stopped growling and hissing but at some point she started trusting me enough to pet her but didn't want to be picked up or restrained in any way such as a hug. I was able to let her and her family have the whole room without being kenneled. Sadly three more boys passed away, leaving one boy and one girl. The remaining boy was very ill and a vet I saw (the practice is out of business now fortunately) told me he would die as well and that there was nothing they could do. That little guy recovered and ultimately found a home where he is the center of the universe. The little girl, a tabby like her mom, was placed in a loving home as well.

Rosemary was spayed and happily lived outside for three years. Then one December she was apparently attacked by a a vicious dog and badly shaken. The wonderful doctor whom we still see to this day performed an intense surgery to repair the damage and sent Rosemary home with an elastic sweater, antibiotics and a pain patch. Clearly this kitty would no longer be going outside! I honestly didn't know how Rosemary would react to being inside, plus she had to spend her recovery in my bathroom so that she couldn't jump and she had even less space to move around. I was amazed - she was absolutely the best patient I could ask for and her injury healed superbly. I guess Rosemary had been an "owned" kitty once, perhaps in the beginning of her life and it all came back to her as the two of us fell in love with each other. Everyone who meets Rosemary falls in love with her. She's adorable and responds to stroking with deep purring. Its difficult to believe she is the same wild cat who used to pop me in the face if I got too close!

Every cat has a different story and while we can never know what they've endured, we can work to make their lives as rich and fulfilling as possible. For some cats that means an outdoor home with warm blankets and daily meals; for others that might mean the spot on the pillow beside us at night.

 

Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage. - Sri Aurobindo

The Rewards of a Rescued Kitty

 

Dorothea, pictured above in her back yard, is a bright, beautiful kitty who might easily have become a free-roaming feral cat living on the streets of Seattle. She was clearly abandoned and hanging out with two older, friendlier male cats. I came upon Dorothea when I met up with friends for lunch. We inquired at nearby apartment buildings and the people we chatted with said they had seen the cats outside for days and that the cats didn't seem to belong to anyone. A rental house that had recently been vacated posed a possible answer as to where the kitties had been living. We will never know if the three had lived together prior to losing their homes or formed an impromptu family when they discovered each other. The boys were easy to pick up and put into carriers to transport; Arthur, the kitty whom Dorothea still lives with to this day actually implored us to help them all. "Little Doe" was frightened however and we had to resort to a humane trap to safely removed her from the alley.

 

All three kitties went in for health checks and neuter/spay. One of the boys was a handsome Siamese and not as bonded as Dorothea and Arthur were. He was adopted out to a couple. Dorothea and Arthur remained in their "foster home" and eight years later I am thrilled to sit them when their daddy goes out of town. While Arthur may have been taken in eventually by a neighbor, he also may have faced sad and hungry times ahead as a former companion kitty accustomed to an indoor life now living outside. Dorothea however, being shy and lacking Arthur's outgoing demeanor and human experiences would likely have become a feral cat. "She was so damaged by the experience of being abandoned at that tender age that she almost gave up on accepting human contact," says her daddy. He patiently extended unconditional love, safety, warmth and quality cuisine and she blossomed into a sweet and precious little soul. Dorothea's story reminds us to treat each kitty as an individual and never accept the black and white dichotomy of the term "feral."

 

While some feral felines are born outside and never socialized to humans, others have lived in homes as companions yet are forced outside due to no fault of their own. Sometimes unfeeling people will take a dog with them when they move yet put the cat (or cats) outside and drive off. Was the trio we rescued waiting for their guardian to return or had they reached a point where they simply did not know what to do or where to go? Truly feral cats can have a quality life with a regular caretaker who feeds them daily and provides shelter and health care when necessary. But no cat, especially an indoor cat who has depended upon his person for everything, can live a safe existence completely on his own in a busy city environment. National Feral Cat Day is October 16th and an excellent time to educate others about free-roaming cats and being a responsible cat guardian.

Today is National Feral Cat Day!

 

About fifteen years ago, I came across a large group of cats living outside of a house in the Columbia City area of Seattle. I noticed that most of the cats all looked alike - tuxedos and B&Ws. This was to be the first site on which I would practice TNR. Some of the cats were ear tipped already, so no need to catch them but it was overall a difficult site because the people feeding didn't want to cooperate. Gigi (above right) was one of the kitties I caught to be spayed and returned to the site. Her seven month old sons were hissing and spitting in their traps; they would be neutered and returned as well. But Gigi had a different plan in mind. She escaped in my garage and it was three months before I could get her in to the vet. I couldn't touch her but she was a sweet girl and I felt sad about returning her to a place where the "owners" provided no care other than dumping dry food in the driveway once a week yet had literally told me that, "Those aren't my cats." It's also not advisable to return a cat after three months of imprinting on a new location. So Gigi stayed on as my yard kitty. After seven years I could pick her up and after 12 years and one particularly cold winter, she came to live inside. Gigi is now around 20 years old, deaf, and a genuine "Velcro kitty." She has a heated bed but spends her time glued to me when I am home. 

 

Alfie, trapped at seven weeks old, is pictured above at about one year of age (on the left). He and Gigi are in no way buddies so when they both happened to be on the couch at the same time I snapped this picture!

 

Learn more about feral cats via the Alley Cat Allies video below and help educate others who don't believe feral cats can have quality lives or enrich the lives of their guardians.  

 

http://www.tailsinc.com/2012/10/what-is-a-feral-cat-video/

National Feral Cat Day is Oct. 16th

Sunday is National Feral Cat Day and feline friends all over the U.S. are celebrating feral cats! Check out this darling concept from Omaha NE:

http://tealcatproject.com/cats/

What is a feral cat? A feral cat is often an abandoned kitty who has been outside for a while and is now wary of humans. Kittens born to an unspayed female who grow up without human contact will become feral adults. The crucial socialization period when kittens need to be handled and loved by people is 5-7 weeks. After 8 weeks of age, it is not impossible to tame a feral kitten but it doesn't happen as quickly. Odin, to the left, is a good example of a kitten humanely trapped a little late. He is perfectly wonderful with me but doesn't approach my human friends when they come over. While tame cats may become feral when left on their own outside, they can often revert back to being housecats with patience and understanding. Truly feral cats should be trap/neuter/returned (TNR) to live out their lives as community cats. The term feral is rarely black and white; each situation is unique and cats develop relationships with different humans differently. For more about TNR and National Feral Cat Day, see www.alleycatallies.org