Tonight we're watching two new cats in our house. One, a year-old handsome, white boy with golden eyes. Not neutered. He was dropped off at our farm. And a little grey kitten. About three months old. He was a drop off at our neighbors.
The white cat was in our barn and came running when he heard voices. He assumes voices are a good thing. Not always the case. But ours were.
I have to believe the people who abandon them think cats can go from domesticity to living in the wild. They're usually not neutered or spayed. They roam and fight with cats they come across. They spread diseases because they have not been vaccinated.
We found another cat a week ago searching for food but barely able to walk. Obviously not a feral cat but a drop off. I have never felt an animal so thin. He was about 14 and should never have been left to fend for himself.
We took him, fed and cared for him. He tested positive for feline leukemia and we paid for him to be put down at my vets. I held him while he purred and went to sleep for good. No more worrying about survival.The white cat was also way too thin and starving for food and attention. His ears were burned from exposure. He tested negative for diseases. My vet will neuter and vaccinate him.
We already have cats. All drop offs from over the years. I have more than enough animals to pay for and don't need to pay for someone else's 'mistakes.' But they're here and they need us.I write tonight, the grey kitten on my lap, to say please think before taking a kitten into your home, unless you can commit to keep it forever and provide basic veterinary care.
If you can't keep one you already have, talk to a vet or friends. The ones that are found and rescued are the few and the lucky. The rest are dead, starving or killed by coyotes. Some have toughed it out and are now wild. It's a horribly unfair thing to do to a domesticated animal. An animal you've once called your pet.
Mary Beth Adams
Union Springs
I have to believe the people who abandon them think cats can go from domesticity to living in the wild. They're usually not neutered or spayed. They roam and fight with cats they come across. They spread diseases because they have not been vaccinated.
We found another cat a week ago searching for food but barely able to walk. Obviously not a feral cat but a drop off. I have never felt an animal so thin. He was about 14 and should never have been left to fend for himself.
We took him, fed and cared for him. He tested positive for feline leukemia and we paid for him to be put down at my vets. I held him while he purred and went to sleep for good. No more worrying about survival.The white cat was also way too thin and starving for food and attention. His ears were burned from exposure. He tested negative for diseases. My vet will neuter and vaccinate him.
We already have cats. All drop offs from over the years. I have more than enough animals to pay for and don't need to pay for someone else's 'mistakes.' But they're here and they need us.I write tonight, the grey kitten on my lap, to say please think before taking a kitten into your home, unless you can commit to keep it forever and provide basic veterinary care.
If you can't keep one you already have, talk to a vet or friends. The ones that are found and rescued are the few and the lucky. The rest are dead, starving or killed by coyotes. Some have toughed it out and are now wild. It's a horribly unfair thing to do to a domesticated animal. An animal you've once called your pet.
Mary Beth Adams
Union Springs
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Farmer's Gal wrote on Sep 23, 2008 1:25 PM:
Better for coyotes to eat tastier and more pesty creatures. Besides, in this article, we are talking about domestic HOUSE cats who are getting dumped in the wild where they are ill-equipped to cope, or at farms which can be only a step above the wild -- not about feral-to-start-with cats (like the ones which are driving you nuts at your house, Karl -- or am I mistaken?) "
karl again... wrote on Sep 23, 2008 12:21 PM:
"Boo" to cats. "
Farmer's Gal wrote on Sep 23, 2008 8:20 AM:
But it is very hard for us because we lose them all the time -- we'll fork out bucks to have a kitty fixed only to have it taken by coyotes or some such and never seen again.
We do what we can, but can't afford shots on top of fixing and emergency medical care for that many cats -- and it's not like we went out and deliberately accumulated that many pets, or like we are irresponsible or something. But I've had to watch from a distance and hope a beautiful but fully feral 4-5 month old kitty with a huge bleeding wound (probably an abcess) on his throat would heal without help because we couldn't get near him. His mother is getting more tame and I hope we can catch her soon -- last time we tried, she nearly tore my thumb off. I am glad to report that "Spots" did recover, though he had a fur-less patch on his throat for along time.
But it's just not right -- if you have a pet you don't want, it is your moral responsibility to find it a new home -- not to dump it where it may be killed by wild animals, injured fighting with other cats, or die slowly of disease or starvation or exposure to the elements.
BTW, one of our dump-offs had been fixed. He's a very friendly and affectionate black-n-white who doesn't know he's been fixed -- and just cannot get along with the other males. We need to find a different home for him. He can hunt, and he'd be a great cat for a one-cat home or a home with only female cats -- he loves them, fixed or not, and they dote on him in return. We can't keep him, as we've given him every chance to fit in but he continues to disrupt and fight and chase off our less dominant kitties, so he has to go.
But we will NOT be dumping him at someone else's farm. We'll find someone who needs a friendly mouser and give "Bud" a new home. "