The Cat Mama Gets on Her Soapbox

As heartwarming as spring and summer are with their overall themes of new life and rebirth, this can be a very chilling time of year for cat lovers. Trees and flowers aren't the only things busting out these days. This is peak kitten season.

Most of these newborns will wind up abandoned, dead or in shelters where their odds of being adopted, frankly, are less than 20 percent. And we all know what happens to the rest of them.

Living as I do in a college town, I also know that this is the time of year when college students return home and the strays they "adopted" and fed throughout the school year will be turned out to the curb along with the saggy old sofa bought at the Salvation Army. The rationale is that "someone else" will feed them. It is unlikely that anyone will. And these poor creatures who, for the most part have never had to fend for themselves, will suffer a very, very long downward spiral of hunger and abuse before they finally starve to death, are run over or are maimed and/or killed by other animals or sick humans.

If you don't believe me about that last part, read this. It will chill your blood. http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/1056523.html

Over the years, I have adopted over 10 stray kitties. In each case I have spayed /neutered and vaccinated them. I also have helped find loving homes for at least as many kittens, four of which I had to hand-feed from a bottle.

The point of this is not to nominate myself for sainthood -- it really is a labor of love for me -- but to help shed light on a growing problem that too many people don't want to see.

As I write this, I am taking care of a second little feral family: Peggy Sue, the daughter of my Roxie, and her two nearly grown children, Pegasus and Tux. They are the last (I hope) of a feral cat colony. They are good kitties, albeit skittish.

I hope that with patience I will still be able to catch them, spay/neuter them and either release them so I can continue feeding them or find homes for them with people who have the patience to tame them. It can be done. Roxie was once part of their colony, and, in a remarkably short time, she turned from a scrawny little wild thing into a plump and affectionate model cat who loves nothing more than cuddling and having her face rubbed.

Please, please, please if you adopt a cat (or a dog), spay or neuter it as soon as you can. It is the only way to end the spiral. Yes, it is expensive, very expensive, but a lot of states and counties offer assistance programs to those who manage feral cat colonies. Some shelters and veterinary offices also offer discounts during peak season.

You can find out more about Mississippi's Spay & Neuter program at the link below. Many other states offer similar programs.

http://www.msspan.org/bigfixrig.htm

If you do find yourself with a new litter on your hands, please make an effort to find loving homes for them yourself rather than dumping them on a shelter. The shelters are full this time of year, and they do not have the resources to take care of them.

Interview the folks looking for a cat and ensure their motives are pure, especially around Halloween or the full moon. As you know from reading that article link above, there are a lot of sickos in the world.

Your veterinarian can be a great resource guide. Believe it or not, most of them are vets because they truly love animals, not just to make money. My vet has been wonderful in offering me discounted services for worming and fixing feral kittens. He has also helped me with new home referrals.

Finally, if you want to help and don't have the time or inclination to catch/trap, foster-parent, or find new homes for them yourself, consider making a donation to those non-profit groups who do. In most cases, your donation will be tax deductible. Just do a little research to make sure your group truly is non-profit and that they are on the up and up when it comes to humane treatment of their charges.

OK. That's my rant for today. Stepping down off the soapbox now. I will return to our regularly scheduled blog next post. Thank you so much for reading this.