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I am no longer the caretaker of "our" colony: I had to take a back seat and do the care of sick cats and fostering for the most part, but today my husband and I went to the colony to help do some trapping. The colony caretaker is so committed and she told us that last week she picked up a sweet, totally tame long haired cat who unfortunately got out of the cat cage she brought (she was not aware that this cage was not fail safe - now she knows only to use traps). She was sure if she didn't feed for a couple of days this cat would reappear and she could get it.
Indeed she did pick up the cat, in our presence, and long story short, this one is only maybe 8 to 10 months old and totally TAME and doesn't bite or scratch or run away! This is what we are finding: Tame, sweet, abandoned cats, all of the time! And this in the midst of many feral cats.
Isn't that sad?
We took the kitten (I consider him to be a kitten) to the wonderful North Shore Animal League for the feral spay/neuter clinic. I am also going to have the SNAP test for fiv/leuk done plus have him microchipped.
My friend, the colony caretaker, already got a foster home lined up! Via another lady! We are thrilled. A very experienced trapper who sometimes helps us told her that if she had not gotten the kitten he would not have lived - he's too tame.
I learned from a lady who founded a cat rescue in NYC that many, many of the so-called ferals are abandoned, totally tame "house cats". Is that terrible or what?
I learned from a lady who founded a cat rescue in NYC that many, many of the so-called ferals are abandoned, totally tame "house cats". Is that terrible or what?
It is terrible. Cats are seen by too many people as being disposable. They don't see them as living, breathing, feeling little beings. And there are still city people who allow their cats outside to wander. Some will get lost and end up alone on the streets or join feral colonies.
I can't read these threads without feeling like I'm about to start bawling.
The idea of one day moving and not taking my kitties with me is just unfathomable. I have dreams sometimes where they are in danger and even those dreams make me CRAZY.
Too many people in this world are just, well, I can't write what I want to write or I will be censored.
I've only had one cat for the last five years, my former ferocious (I'm not kidding) feral. I'm concerned about introducing another cat or cats but after reading these posts I realize I need to figure it out. I have two dogs as well who are fine with cats but my younger dog loves them so much she sometimes scares them. But I'm sure we can do it.
I wish every thread on Pets had the really wonderful people I've seen on this one. If only everyone thought the same...
It's absolutely heartbreaking. I have six indoor kitties and one outside feral cat. I had him TNR a couple of years ago. Three of my indoor cats are formally feral. My two males, Logan and Sebastian came from a feral cat adoption program and my female Shelby, I trapped her in my backyard. These three cats are the nicest, most loving cats I could ever ask for. I could never abandoned any of my pets. I would give them my last piece of food. The people that help those abandoned cats are real life angels. Bless them all.
UOTE==^..^=;28241480]It is terrible. Cats are seen by too many people as being disposable. They don't see them as living, breathing, feeling little beings. And there are still city people who allow their cats outside to wander. Some will get lost and end up alone on the streets or join feral colonies.[/quote]
I have a family member, even, who (he can be mean, might be lying, might be telling the truth, will never know) says he dropped the elderly cat to the kill shelter when he was moving to another city. Told me to see my reaction. Can you imagine such a thing?
Two of my permanent inside cats were "allowed" to go outside by a neighbor - he adopted them from someone else, the female had a litter while she was a kitten herself, on another neighbor's lawn - I was called to "help" and I will not go on but I had a lot of rescuing to do, got her spayed, took her in as our own and then had to do the same with her non-neutered brother who was, by the way, scared of being outside and followed me into my arms.
One of the kittens who was born on the lawn I had to take to emergency vet - she had 2 broken bones - and then the kitten died 2 weeks later from her injury despite surgery. Turns out, because she was made to suffer outside for 2 weeks before we found her, she had already developed an embolism which suddenly killed her.
On top of this, our lady vet told me, after the kitten died, she was planning to adopt her!!!! (I used to notice how she was carrying her around in her arms all day in the vet office!) How often does that happen?
Here she is. I visited her daily till she died and had named her "Cutie Pie".
==^..^=;28241480]It is terrible. Cats are seen by too many people as being disposable. They don't see them as living, breathing, feeling little beings. And there are still city people who allow their cats outside to wander. Some will get lost and end up alone on the streets or join feral colonies.
Quote:
I have a family member, even, who (he can be mean, might be lying, might be telling the truth, will never know) says he dropped the elderly cat to the kill shelter when he was moving to another city. Told me to see my reaction. Can you imagine such a thing?
Yes I can. People do this all the time.
Quote:
Two of my permanent inside cats were "allowed" to go outside by a neighbor - he adopted them from someone else, the female had a litter while she was a kitten herself, on another neighbor's lawn - I was called to "help" and I will not go on but I had a lot of rescuing to do, got her spayed, took her in as our own and then had to do the same with her non-neutered brother who was, by the way, scared of being outside and followed me into my arms.
Sorry, I'm confused.... how did he adopt 2 of your permanent indoor cats from someone else? I would have picked them both up and brought them inside.
Quote:
One of the kittens who was born on the lawn I had to take to emergency vet - she had 2 broken bones - and then the kitten died 2 weeks later from her injury despite surgery. Turns out, because she was made to suffer outside for 2 weeks before we found her, she had already developed an embolism which suddenly killed her.
On top of this, our lady vet told me, after the kitten died, she was planning to adopt her!!!! (I used to notice how she was carrying her around in her arms all day in the vet office!) How often does that happen?
Good grief!
Quote:
Here she is. I visited her daily till she died and had named her "Cutie Pie".
(I now have Cutie Pie's mother and uncle):
(I get all teary when I think of all of this)
She was beautiful. I love calico cats.
And yet people will still open their doors and allow their cats outside......
Sorry, I'm confused.... how did he adopt 2 of your permanent indoor cats from someone else? I would have picked them both up and brought them inside.
I think what she was saying is the neighbor had them first because he had adopted them from a third party, and then later after this neighbor's ownership of them, she wound up with possession of the two of them. While with the neighbor they were allowed outside, now they are indoors only.
A neighbor and I take care of two loosely-connected feral/stray colonies (we're about 1/4 mile apart.) We feed, water, TNR and treat for parasites and illnesses or injuries when we can. So, we're known as "cat friendly" or possibly "crazy cat ladies" LOL. Last summer, she watched out her window as a woman drove slowly by her house, paused, ejected two older kittens, then sped away. To my knowledge, I've had two kittens and one adult cat dumped in front of my house in the last year or so.
Too many people regard cats as "throw-away" disposable animals and assume that they'll survive just fine in the wild despite the fact we're in Michigan and it gets seriously cold here...we have an abandoned barn and thermal cat shelters. The very feral cats/kittens have a much better chance of surviving happily for years but the tame ones simply don't have the street smarts.
We've managed to find homes for a few of them but most probably wouldn't be suited for indoor living even if we could find homes which is a WAY long shot around here. I don't even encourage them to get tame, I figure their chances are much better if they remain extremely wary.
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I would have picked them both up and brought them inside. 
despite the fact we're in Michigan and it gets seriously cold here...we have an abandoned barn and thermal cat shelters. The very feral cats/kittens have a much better chance of surviving happily for years but the tame ones simply don't have the street smarts.
