Hey Guys,
I am asking for prayer and good thoughts as I wrestle with a recent challenge presented to me. I have been contacted by an elderly woman who has made it her mission to befriend a colony of black cats taking up residence behind a restaurant. For the past few years she has neutered this inbred colony (thank God) and she has been feeding them although where she is located, it is against the law to feed strays!
There are 13 (hope that isn’t an omen) left feeding among the grasses, a creek nearby provides them with water. Her husband (who passed away now) built them custom cat houses so they can be kept warm. I have been out there twice at feeding time with her and it is clear that they LOVE this lady. They come running at the sound of her car engine. She has names for each one of them and she has vetted them to the best of her ability without actually taking them to the vet. I see an ulcerated eye on one, several with snotty noses, one is limping she thinks he got caught under a fence. The cats are feral in nature and have several hiding places in the trees behind the restaurant. For a cat it’s a decent life.
But she has recently been diagnosed with cancer and as the fates would have it, the restaurant has been sold and the new owner hates cats. He has told the employees there will be repercussions if they are caught feeding them! He is planning on expanding the parking lot and want these cats gone.
She has asked me to take all 13 cats! She said that she has contacted everyone and no one will help her (they are older and black on top of that). I am her last resort.
The challenge first is to trap them- Then it is a matter of addressing the health issues these colonies face. She can’t deflea and deworm (she lives on a fixed income) and parasites untreated can lead to real mess of things.
They would have to be to be vetted, evaluated and treated. Then there is still the matter of the outstanding vet bill CATS Inc is slowly paying down. Good Heaven’s it never ends around here or everywhere else.
We currently have 2 empty enclosures (lots of adoptions last year) and three large empty cages to house them in- but I also have in this mix the outstanding vet bill, a new puppy, a husband missing a leg, cripes.
I start physical therapy next week because in my car accident I really messed up my neck and shoulder. They tell me that my muscles are still in protect mode from being jostled so much during that “fun day.” This is why I have had to endure some strange electrical type charges running through my left arm that leave me just for seconds incapacitated. I can’t even talk when it is happening, it hurts so much. According to their tests I have a pinched muscle who is now running the whole show so I have to retrain my muscles to not protect me quite so much.
So much on my plate but I know that when they start bringing in the earth movers in as soon as this weather clears to plow up that field and these cats will be history. I just need prayer as I sit here and juggle all the variables. You know me, I want to run out there right now and start trapping, but I can’t. I have to really think about this and all the variables in my life at the moment.
I also have an older cat- Baker who is 16 and his teeth are so bad he has to have them all extracted for a mere $500.00 I love this cat even though he has sprayed his entire life which is why he is out in the barn. I have had him since finding him in a tree on our road soaking wet and screaming his lungs out. No one claimed him, so I had a friend climb the tree and fetch him down. He was 5 months old at the time.
Thanks for listening. I appreciate the comments you all make on my strange life good and bad. I’m not like most folks, and I accept that. I laid awake all night last night listening to the winds and worrying about these cats. Finally, I just took Zara out of her crate (she does need to be crate trained) She can’t be with me 24/7 she gets in a lot of trouble following her puppy nose and we snuggled together and we slept that way till this morning.
And in among all the concerns lies peace as Zara meets Porter for the first time:
Awww Mary Anne, this is certainly quite the challenge. Whatever you decide will be the best for everyone I’m sure. Sending a basketful of prayers for you and this woman who, like you, has given her all to these fur babies. Good luck!
Oh dear, my worst nightmare, that I can no longer care for my colony. What happens when I retire, move, die, who will help them? I suppose it’s little comfort to know that most of your readers understand completely and may even be in the same place. So many wonderful cats, not enough time and never enough money. Good thoughts to you and the caregiver! I
You will do what needs to be done, you will do the right thing. It may be something painful, it may be something wonderful, but you are there, you are the person on the spot. No one can know all that you do, or feel all that you do about this situation, which is why your decision will be right.