As many of you already know, all but two of us cats are rescued ferals from when Mom and Pop moved to North Carolina 13 years ago. They got us all spayed and neutered and released most of us back outdoors where they had built a shelter for us. When they moved to another county three years back, they moved all of us with them, keeping some us us older ones in the house and building a shelter to house the rest of us. You can read that story here from last year's post here.
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| Two Spot and Only as kittens before we moved them indoors. |
Fifty percent of feral kittens die withing their first year.
All those years ago there was very little information available about TNR or ferals for that matter. When Mom called the local humane shelter for assistance they told her they would only put us down if she brought us in. (In most shelters, 70% of the cats brought in never make it out alive. This rate goes up to 100% for feral cats.) She found Alley Cat Allies online and they gave her all the tips and advice she needed to trap, neuter and release us, care for us and finally tame us.
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| Big Guy at the original food station at our old house. |
National Feral Cat Day was launched on 10th anniversary of Alley Cat Allies in 2001 to raise awareness about feral cats, promote Trap-Neuter-Return, and recognize the millions of compassionate Americans who care for them. Things are a lot different now, thank COD. Every year, people in communities across the country hold hundreds of events on National Feral Cat Day to draw attention to the cause and make a difference in the lives of cats.
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| The screen porch of the new shelter at our house now. |
Even if you are not caring for a colony of feral cats, there are a lot of things you can do to help them live out their lives with respect and care. Here are some things:
* Get involved in getting bills passed in your state that will protect feral cats or stop the ones that are being passed that work against ferals. Join Alley Cat Allies Feral Power network and stay on top of feral cat legistlation.
* Donate to Alley Cat Allies or a local group near you that assits ferals and their caretakers. Humane Society of US puts out a great list of feral cat organizations but don't donate to HSUS - they use most of their donations for salaries and media.
* Donate your time or traps, food or shelters to a local group that cares for ferals. See the link above for a list of feral groups.
* Get educated - learn about ferals, how to care for them and do TNR. A great book is Neighborhood Cats TNR put out by a NYC feral group. They also have lots of info on their website www.neighborhoodcats.org.
* Educate others about feral cats. Join Alley Cat Allies or your local feral cat group - Like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter. Spread the word about what they are doing and how to help to all of your family and friends.
* Adopt a feral kitten. If they are caught while they are still kittens, feral cats can be tamed and will be a loving addition to your home. (Mom has tamed all of us - some still are very skittish and others took to indoor life like flies to butter!) They still may take extra work to get them used to being in a home but it is so worthwhile. A good resource for taming kittens is from Save a Cat web site.
See, there are lots of way to help out us feral cats! Just pick one and get to it. We are cool critters who deserve love, respect and to live in dignity.
* Educate others about feral cats. Join Alley Cat Allies or your local feral cat group - Like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter. Spread the word about what they are doing and how to help to all of your family and friends.
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| Feral kittens up for adoptions are Freiend2Ferals in Asheville NC. |
* Adopt a feral kitten. If they are caught while they are still kittens, feral cats can be tamed and will be a loving addition to your home. (Mom has tamed all of us - some still are very skittish and others took to indoor life like flies to butter!) They still may take extra work to get them used to being in a home but it is so worthwhile. A good resource for taming kittens is from Save a Cat web site.
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| Mamacita has been indoors six years and enjoys her life. |
See, there are lots of way to help out us feral cats! Just pick one and get to it. We are cool critters who deserve love, respect and to live in dignity.
