There are lots of stray cats running around our new neighborhood. The woman who used to live next door would put food out for them, so they used to congregate right by our house. After she moved (about a week after we moved in), most of them moved on and seem to have found some other food source. Someone else probably puts food out, although I did watch one little kitten catch a small bird. We still see them around, and they all look fairly healthy.
Except that one tiny cat was different than all the others. This one never really moved on when the others did. It just stayed in this area, and seemed to get skinnier and skinnier. One hot day I broke down and gave it some water. After a few more days of it crying outside our window I couldn't help giving it some food.
I felt bad about it though, because feeding a stray cat ultimately just creates more stray cats. I couldn't tell if it was a male or female, but we've already seen a pregnant female running around, meaning soon there should be some homeless kittens. I gave food to the starving cat out of sympathy, but if I give it enough food it will just compound the starving cat problem.
This one was different in another way though. All the others are somewhat afraid of people, and will run away if you get too close, but this one really seemed to like people. It made me think that this one didn't really know how to fend for itself and needed a person taking care of it. I wasn't just going to adopt a feral cat off the street though. The whole thing bothered me and I didn't know what to do. I kind of just wished it would go away, but every day it'd show up and cry outside our door. It even would try to come inside when we went in and out, and we had to chase it away.
So yesterday I put some food in a crate and caught the poor little thing. We found a humane society 30 miles away and took it down there. They'll spay her (turns out she's a female, I never lifted her skirt to find out) and give her vet care if she has any diseases or parasites or anything, and give her a chance to get adopted. They said she seems friendly compared to many other stray cats that get brought in, so hopefully someone will take her. They also said they think she's full grown, which surprised me because she's so small. I know she was severely undernourished but figured she was still pretty young. She seemed very happy about the food they gave her.
The only problem now is that they sometimes do have to kill cats at that shelter. They said they give every cat a good chance to get adopted, and at the moment they had a lot of room. This little cat seemed very nice, so hopefully someone will take her. We're thinking about going back to see her after they get her all fixed up. If she's nice, maybe we'll take her.
3 comments:
Equilibrium and genetic advantage is a funny thing. It is clearly disadvantageous to be the runt, and unable to adapt...but is it disadvantageous to adapt in a way that plays on human sympathy to the point where you feed and support the lil' guy? Of course, the surgical sterilization changes the dynamic a bit...but maybe his genetic advantage was being cute enough that another species decided to help?
It's such a complex, beautiful system, isn't it...
The stray and feral cat over-population problem is a terrible thing. But there are humane methods to managing the number of homeless cats, such as trap-neuter-return (TNR). Kittens/cats that are friendly or can be socialized should be placed into an adoption program to find permanent homes, and those that are truly "feral" should be returned to live out their lives.
TNR stabilizes populations at manageable levels, eliminates “annoying” mating behaviors, is more effective/less costly than repeated eradication attempts, is humane to the animals, and fosters compassion in the community.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but most local shelters and humane societies only allow about 5 days for an animal to be adopted, and they usually do not treat sick animals. These shelters rely on euthanasia at astonishing rates, even for healthy animals.
I thank you for your compassion and trying to help. Feral cats are not to be feared. If the cat is friendly and welcomes human contact, he only needs a vet checkup to ensure he is healthy and then he is ready for a home. There are many local animal welfare groups that will assist individuals with particular situations like yours and follow a no-kill philosophy.
Thanks both for your comments.
The presence of humans in an environment certainly changes the survival strategies of all species.
I agree that TNR seems like the most humane and appropriate way to handle feral cat populations. I'd like to do that for all of them around here, but the time and expense would make that pretty tough.
I wish there was a no-kill shelter around here somewhere, but there just isn't. I'm going to keep my eye on this cat, and if they're going to kill her I think I'll have to adopt her.
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