I wanted to take a moment to write
some personal thoughts about the epidemic
of kitten births that happen every spring.
Many of these cats are being
fed by people who do not
consider them their cat.
Although they feed these cats
because they feel sorry for them,
they don't take real responsibility
for them by getting them their current
shots and having them spayed/neutered.
Then they are surprised and angry
because they suddenly have kittens.
Shelters won't take them as they already
have too many and these kittens
usually need more socializing.
Many are very scared and cannot be caught.
Leading to even more unwanted litters
of kittens because they weren't spayed.
If you are feeding one of
these cats YOU are responsible for them.
If you don't want the responsibility
don't feed them and they will
move on to someone who might
take the responsibility necessary to
really help them properly.
One of my neighbors had been feeding a cat
who suddenly presented her with five beautiful kittens.
I had managed to catch two
of the kittens and when I was
ableto, got them into my shelter.
We are so full of kittens
that I, as a volunteer,
can't even get them in.
Since I took them from their
mother, they are MY responsiblity now.
Here are their pictures.
.
Cute, aren't they?
Their life expectancy wouldn't be very
long living on the streets.
I was never able to catch
the others and the lady
said she gave them to someone with a barn.
I was highly frustrated by that
because I don't know if they ever neutered them.
I had an appointment for the
mom cat to be spayed but when the time came
to pick her up and take her in
I found out she had been missing for a week.
Very sad, we will never know what happened to her.
The kittens were taken to the shelter
and adopted together many months later.
If you have a male indoor/outdoor
cat that you let wander and
he isn't neutered you are still
responsible for the over-population of
back door fed cats in your
neighborhood.
This is a picture of my latest rescue.
He was abandoned by someone living in
the apartments across the street from me.
People down the street were feeding him
but they wouldn't take him in or get him checked.
When I picked him up he was sick,
and he also wasn't neutered.
I kept Mikey for about 3 weeks
getting him healthy and was able to get
him into my shelter where he was
neutered and put up for adoption.
I'm pleased to say Mikey found a nice home
right before the holidays.
Please take some responsibility.
Please neuter your pets!
And if you are caring for
an outside animal, please
give them the same courtesy
and care and neuter them.
If you would like to read more about feral cats,
here are some good links:
Feral Cat Coalition
Feral Cats
Feral Cat Success Stories
