Last night in line at the grocery store, buying (of course) my usual load of cat food, there was a couple behind me waiting to be checked out. I had been given enough donations to stock up, so the cart was pretty full of cat food. The couple weren’t what I would call nicely dressed, but they weren’t homeless either. What they exhibited during the entire time in line (about 8 minutes maybe?) was how exasperated they decided to be. Shuffling from side to side, muttering about feeding so many cats and making some pretty crude comments. I finally turned around and smiled and told them I was sorry that it was taking so long, but I ran a non-profit cat sanctuary and when the canned cat food goes on sale, I am the first in line.
The woman looked at the cans of food and looked at me and said: “Honey, if I had THAT many cats, I would just start eating them! Then she winked at me, nudged her male counterpart and said “We hear they are quite tasty!”
I wanted to kick her in the teeth- but I didn’t. Even the clerk who knows me quite well was offended. She spoke up and said “For your information, Mary Anne is one of the few here in town who does rescue stray and feral cats. She has done so for years.” I just walked away with my cart load of food.
This morning at 4:00 a.m. my usual wake-up time, I laid in bed and tried to sort out my thoughts. What am I doing right now with my life? Why do I care so much for these creatures that clearly have a low order on the pecking pole? How did I get here? It just all seemed so overwhelming…sixteen spays in the future, fighting ringworm, the huge vet bill as a result of the challenges of working with Pumpkin and Hope- then the hardest obstacle, finding all these wonderful cats forever homes. It suddenly didn’t even make any sense.
I was praying and talking to God and I suddenly had a flash of memory. My Daddy walking home from work with his mailsack on his back. Peeking over his shoulder, tucked into a side pocket was a calico kitten looking right at me! When he got to my side, he gently placed “Pirna” which would be her name into my waiting arms and this kitten climbed up on my chest and sat on my shoulder just waiting for what was coming next. My Daddy had found her in the field on his walk home.
She would eventually pass away at the age of 21 of cancer. This was before spay and neuter was important and Pirna (or Princess) would have multiple litters, some kittens we kept, others were given away to friends and acquaintances. She would be the family cat, but she was MY kitty and everyone knew it.
So, my path was forged years ago by my Dad and his love for animals and it is something I cherish, a way to stay connected to him even though he is no longer with us. People may not understand me, I am getting used to that- but I am so at home with these cats. Everything else, I hope will be taken care of in time. If not, I will do all I can to keep these cats fed and healthy, for that is my ministry. That is my life.
Perhaps you should ask Pumpkin how she feels about it.
There may seem to be no rest or reward in continuing the fight for these poor cats and kittens right now. But, when it is finally your turn to cross Rainbow Bridge, you will have such a royal clowder of feline friends joining you that St. Peter himself will hand you your Golden Slippers and roll out the Red Carpet to pass those Gates. Even that couple behind you last night will be impressed, as they look up from the Fires, where they are roasting, and see it.
Awwww MA some people are just ignorant! I know you often question whether you are doing the right thing or not. You are the voice of all these poor fur babies that have been tossed aside. Because of you they have a chance at a “happily forever after” life. Don’t second guess yourself! What you do is so very important. Praise God for giving you the abilities to nurture and love these sometimes unfortunate babies and even the ones you cannot save know they are loved. That speaks volumes for you! God bless you MA!
Mary Anne, you don’t have to explain or in any way justify your life. Any one who does anything other than congratulate and praise you for your tireless efforts on behalf of helpless animals is truly someone you should not give a fraction of a thought to.
you can’t fix stupid people…you can just do the best you can and help that that need it the most
I agree with everyone else. You don’t need to explain or justify what you do to ANYONE! I wonder what those people behind you would have done if after what they said you just looked at them, narrowed your eyes and hissed! Ha!
Your love of animals and connection to your dad is special and no one can take that away from you. I’ve always had a special connection to animals. No one in my family has such a pull so I don’t know where it came from.
While I don’t do a sliver of the work that you do, I did have 12 cats at one time (from 2006-2008). Except for my two oldest at the time that I adopted from a shelter, all the rest were rescues from the street. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, thought I had gone off the deep end. Through old age and illness I am now down to five. I’ve often wondered why folks that rescue horses or dogs are not stigmatized the way people that rescue cats are. I don’t have an answer and quite frankly, now at 55 years old, I really don’t give a fig what people think of me. I know that I’ve helped many cats live a life of comfort and dignity instead of a life of being constantly harassed and chased out of people’s yards looking for a scrap to eat or some comfort. To me, that is a life well lived and worthwhile.
Cheers to all you do!!!
You’re doing not just what you think is right, but what is right. The couple in line with you probably go through life without doubts or thoughts, and when they die they’ll die having achieved nothing, and be forgotten. The monuments to your life will be living in thousands of happy homes, and in the memories of thousands of people who were fortunate enough to adopt the cats you saved.
MA, you are starting to believe the cat haters propaganda, don’t do it! You wrote: “Why do I care so much for these creatures that clearly have a low order on the pecking pole?” False! Cats aren’t low on the pecking pole! The only ones so low on the pecking pole are those who either hate or are indifferent to nature’s magnificent creatures.