I think that it is worth reminding ourselves how wild feral cats can be. This video does that. It also tells us how their health can be so terribly affected when they have to survive on their own without any medical treatment whatsoever throughout their lives. Invariably many end up with upper respiratory infections. Almost equal in prevalence is mouth disease. This big feral cat was finally trapped after much effort. His teeth were removed which made him feel much better. He’s in the middle of being treated for his upper respiratory infection which included conjunctivitis. It is gradually clearing up.
Because his oral health was so poor, he was completely unable to self-groom (autogroom), which is why we see him so dirty at the beginning of the video. This of course affects his health as well. And it probably makes him feel miserable because cats are fastidious at keeping themselves clean. If they cannot groom themselves it is going to affect their well-being.
So often we see young feral cats losing an eye or both eyes because of a viral infection leading to a secondary bacterial infection which gradually eats away at their eyes to the point where they become blind. It is hard to look at but it is everywhere. They are somewhat invisible because feral cats are so good at avoiding humans. They are out of sight. Being out of sight they are out of mind. They end up having shortened lives because of treatable diseases that become fatal.
RELATED: Picture of the worst cat eye infection that you will see.
This little video which is a bit hard to view is educational because reminds us that humans have an obligation, if we are frank with ourselves, to help feral cats and not to be unkind to them. Far too many people are very unkind to feral cats. They regard them as pests and vermin. They want to eradicate them e.g., the Australians and New Zealanders. We should be doing the opposite; doing what this woman is doing. A woman who I admire and who deserves praise.
The feral cat swipes at her viciously. I am sure she has received many scratches but look at the reward at the end of the day. The big fella has lost his teeth and so much the better but he has gained a friend, a warm home, someone to care and make the remainder of his life far more content than it would otherwise have been.
RELATED: True feral cats are smarter than domestic cats.
This woman is discharging the duties of all humans in helping this cat. We put these feral cats where they are. We put them in this predicament through human carelessness. They shouldn’t be there. It is a failure in cat domestication. We can make amends in this broken relationship by rehabilitating them and bringing them in to the human home where they should have been in the first place.
PETA rightly say that true feral cats hardly ever die of old age. They are thoroughly exposed to contagious diseases such as herpes viral conjunctivitis, feline AIDS, leukaemia and infectious peritonitis to name just some of the diseases which are common in true feral cats. And PETA agree with me in that they state that diseases which are easily treatable can become deadly when they are never treated. Minor cuts and abscesses acquired in fights become terrible infections.
And if their ears irritate them because they have a parasitical infection, they scratch them in a form of self-mutilation. Worms (endoparasites) are as destructive as fleas and ear mites(ectoparasites). And then we have urinary tract infections which when untreated lead to blockages in male cats which can then lead to a slow and excruciating death because they are left untreated.
RELATED: Stray cats are diseased but humans aren’t. Discuss.
And if they manage to survive the diseases or don’t contract too many of them, they are still open to abuse from cruel people who like to injure feral cats or kill them. And then there are predators such as coyotes who kill them for food. What you see in this video is a classic feral cat and he is one individual who has been saved but there are millions of others who are not.
It is said that there are about 500 million domestic and feral cats in the world. That number could be broken down into 200 million domestic and 300 million feral (being generous towards feral cats). There may be a higher proportion of feral cats than that. There is far too much pain and misery in feral cats and it is humankind’s fault. There is no other cause.
Below are some more pages on feral cats.
Mike I thought you would like to wrote about this. These poor big cats actually ate their own tails because they were starving. Last week I actually called the Major of Mexico City begging them to do something. Well just found out all 190 were rescued.
Thanks Tamara, but I saw this story and it so disgusted me that I had to move on. I can’t do it I am afraid. It is the sort of thing that I can’t get out of my mind. The human race makes me sick sometimes.