by Ann Raven
(Omaha, Nebraska)
I’ve been feeding a litter of four cats for the last few months. Two calicos and two yellow and white tabbies (see tabby and white coats). I must admit that I have a favorite, although I love them all! He’s the smallest one but he is the most vocal and friendly.
My kitchen has a side door, so when I was cooking supper, the little guy and his siblings were letting me know they were out there and hungry.
Two months ago I moved to a different apartment, due to finances, lucky not to far from the other apartment.
I worry so much about my extended family, so I put my coat and boots on, warmed up their food and took it to them.
I live in Nebraska and it gets very cold here and I don’t know where they sleep. They still go to the side door so that’s where I feed them.
I have a Siamese cat named socks and I think he also misses them. Now they call me the cat lady, I don’t care!!!
Ann
Hi Ann… thanks for visiting and sharing. You are one of us – join the club. But this club is for people who care about other animals, no matter what species they are and you care obviously. This is a good quality.
I feel though that the system that you have in place – feeding them at your previous apartment – is a fragile one and it might not be sustainable.
What if the apartment becomes occupied? Is it occupied by someone else? What do they feel about this?
The trouble is that feral cats are extremely vulnerable. Few people care. Shelters frequently euthanize them if they are trapped and taken to a shelter. You can’t call them “shelters” really because there is not much sheltering going on, it seems to me. Some are good though.
I think your dilemma is the dilemma of all people who care about feral and stray cats. There is no formal, humane, process for dealing with them. It just comes down to people like you who care and who give their time and money to help. And what is bad is that other people then brand you a “cat woman” which is a slightly derogatory remark. These people should be helping too.
Feral cats are the responsibility of the community. The community, through the city councilors etc., should put in place formal procedures for dealing with feral cats humanely as it is the community who put them there.
Good luck. The cats may migrate to your new place if it is not that far away and if you put some food down near your new place.
That said some people don’t like others putting food down for feral cats. They think it encourages the breeding of a “pest”. That is modern life.
