Ivy while living outdoors.
The organization
Alley Cat Allies is sponsoring this day to honor and help feral cats. Without the information and kindness of this group all of my cats would not be healthy, alive and safe with me today.
Many of you have heard this story before so I will make a long story short - when we bought our farmhouse in the mountains of North Carolina ten years ago, we inherited a rag tag group of mostly black cats who lived in the woods on the back property line. Some neighbors put food out for them but they were not spayed nor given any medical care.
Joey as a young feral on the well house.
My local animal shelter felt that ferals should be euthanized since they did not have quality lives without humans to care for them and interact with them. Outraged at their mentality I went online to seek a better solution. I found Alley Cat Allies and called them. They were very helpful personally and emailed me much info on how to trap, neuter and release and even how to tame the ferals.
The veterinarian in the neighborhood did the spay/neuter for the local shelter but disagreed with their train of thought. Barbara was more than willing to help me spay all the cats and did it for as little as $20 per cat! Over the years I have neutered more than 25 cats - some released back out to live their lives, others came inside to live with us. When we moved out of the high mountains last year, we took all the remaining cats with us rather than leave them behind to fend for themselves. We asked our neighbors but no one wanted the responsibility of caring for them so it was up to us.
The new cat shelter in our new home.
They are my joy and actually keep me going on days when I might not be able to get up out of bed! They give so much back in love, silliness, comfort and just being able to share my home with such regal creatures!
Lily, mother of all the white cats (my second feral group) and one of her babies.
Please help out the ferals of our country by donating money, time or skills to this or any other organization that cares for ferals, offers TNR programs and teaches others to let these wonderful cats live out their lives in health and safety while living outdoors!
This here's a cat fight in the literal terms! Get him Minnie. Minnie's got Joey pinned to the ground! They are littermates and usually very loving with each other. This playtime got a little overheated!
