We're Celebrating National Feral Cat Day - Oct. 16

Ivy looking in from the deck. She left us last summer at age 17.

Today is the 10th Annual National Feral Cat Day sponsored by Alley Cat Allies to create awareness of the feral or community cats living in our midst.  This years theme is All Cats All Communities. To meet the post poster cats Inky, Pearl and Pie click here.

As most of you know by now, our cats are feral cats that were living in the woods behind our farmhouse in the mountains of western NC when we moved in 1999.  Back then most animal shelters euthanized feral cats thinking that was the best way to deal with them.  Ally Cat Allies was the only national group that offered TNR (trap, neuter, return).  I found this group online and contacted them about the best way to help our feral cats. 

With Alley Cat Allies brochures and instructions in hand, I trapped  over 30 cats for TNR.  I found a great veterinarian in our neighborhood who worked with me to get them all spayed/neutered.  Dr. Farmer did the spay/neuter for the local Humane Society (the one who were going to put my cats down) so she gave me their discount.  She was a life saver.  Dr Farmer explained that she drove by these cats every day and felt so bad for them but without consent or assistance from the neighborhood, she was at a loss how to deal with this.  That's where I came in.

The first shelter of straw bales.

It was an ongoing project for about a year or so but we got the cats all neutered.  I built a straw bale igloo as a shelter for the first winter with straw on the ground inside for warmth and a plastic tarp over the top to keep it dry.  That shelter progressed to an old kitchen counter that my husband insulated and out fitted for the cats with a flap door and a raised platform for feeding.

The screen porch on the present cat house.

We had a huge garden on our land and the feral cats kept the garden free of voles, mice and other pests.  They did not let people come too close but I would leave toys for them to pay with - catnip filled ones and balls.  Their favorite was  a plastic Easter egg - it would roll over the grass and was light enough for them to bat around. 

Our neighbors all knew about the cats so would keep an eye on them for us.  Unfortunately other people began to drop off unwanted cats here thinking we would care for them.  We did.  They were trapped and taken to the Dr farmer, then either rehomed if they were tame or released back into the group neutered.

The director of the local shelter did come by one day to see how things were going and was very surprised at how healthy the cats looked.  She had felt that because they had no home, their lives must be so miserable, they would be better off dead.  She came away from this visit with a different perspective on feral/community cats.

Woody on our deck.

Woody now

Many of my original feral cats have gone to the Rainbow Bridge. Those left are living the best life indoors with us in our new home an hour and a half from the farmhouse where they all were born.  Even though the ferals were taken indoors at a late age, they have tamed up quite well with a lot of effort and love.

Please help feral cats in your community today and every day by volunteering for a local feral cat group if there is one, donating money or food for the cats.  Thanks to Alley Cat Allies, so many towns and cities have TNR groups now whereas when I began it was not the norm.  For other ideas about how to help the ferals visit here.

National Feral Cat Day - Oct 16

Snowball as a feral kitten, living outside.

Today is National Feral Cat Day, hosted by Alley Cat Allies.  Since our house is full of rescued feral cats - this is a very appropriate holiday for us.  Let's start at the beginning for those who don't know us.

When Mom and Pop bought their farmhouse back in 1999, in the mountains of western North Carolina, they  unwittingly acquired  a colony of feral cats who had been living in the woods behind the house. Many of the kittens were not healthy and Mom was very upset.  She called the local Humane Society and got the typical reaction when she mentioned ferals - "We can trap them and kill them for you.." 

The first shelter made of straw bales covered with plastic and lines with straw.

Horrified at their reaction to feral cats, Mom looked for other humane options and found Alley Cat Allies online.  They sent her brochures and helped her figure out how to trap them, find a vet to do discount spay and neuters and build a shelter for them to be warm and safe while living outdoors. Mom and Pop TNR'd  about 20 something of us with the help of the neighborhood vet.  That's a lot of cats!  TNR works and we had a great life in their yard with food, love and shelter.

The shelter evolved to an insulated kitchen cabinet.  Pop added a second level and porch to it.

Many years later, those left of this colony are now living the Life of Riley - indoors with love, food, medical care and a warm place to spend their lives.  Things are different now thanks to Alley Cat Allies.  They provided education and tools to care for ferals and now many organizations across the nation are working to care for feral cats.  So, if you need help to care for a colony of cats near you - please contact Alley cat Allies or a local feral cat organization.

This is the screen porch on the shelter for the younger ones.   The older ferals are inside with Mom and Pop.

 

Snowball and Pop in a love session.

P.S.  We would like to invite you all to our Al's 10th Gotcha Day on Oct 21.  Since CB doesn't post special days anymore, we wanted to let you know before hand!  Mark your calendar.  It will be fun!

National Feral Cat Day 2013

Today is a very important day for us - it is National Feral Cat Day!  As most of you know, all but one of us (Yoko) are former feral cats.  If you have not read about our story - check out the interview on Mousebreath listed in the sidebar to the right.

Big Guy, Nick and Ivy living outside.

So much has changed over the years, thanks to Alley Cat Allies.  When Mom began working to get us all trapped, neutered and released, 14 years ago, very few local humane shelters would do anything to help ferals.  Their first reaction was to euthanise.  Mom ran smack into a wall with her local shelter.  They told her we did not have a worthwhile life, living outside without human contact and we would best be put to sleep!  That made Mom mad!

Lily's group

She found Alley Cat Allies online.  They were instrumental in helping her figure out the best way to trap us humanely.  Mom also found a kind veterinarian in our area who was willing to work with her for a nominal fee to get us all spayed and neutered. Years later, the Director of  that local shelter came by our house and was surprised to see us all living happily and healthily in the shelter Mom and Pop built for us, playing, having a great time. At least she had a more open view about feral cats than she did before.

Our present day cat shelter

Alley Cat Allies plays a tremendous role in educating the public about feral cats and dispelling myths.  They advocate vigilantly to end the killing of feral cats and get legally involved in cases where cats have been harmed to change laws to protect ferals.

Lily's kittens all grown up - Woody and Tabitha

Alley Cat Allies promotes humane care for ferals with programs like Campus Cats, Every Kitty - Every City and the Feral Friend Network.

They provide educational tools and brochures to guide feral cat caretakers.  You can get information on how to TNR, colony care, veterinary care and even how to socialize feral cats and kittens.  People used to think feral cats could not be tamed, but hey, look at all of us!  If you want to read about another feral cat that was rescued, saved from death in a shelter and tamed - check out Panther's story!

All cats deserve a chance at a happy healthy life, even ferals.  Help out when you can - get involved, spay and neuter and maybe someday all pets will have homes!  We can dream can't we?

National Feral Cat Day - Oct 16, 2012

Sweetpea was the first to come inside since she was so tiny.

It is National Feral Cat Day and I cannot say enough good things about Alley Cat Allies.  I could not have done what I did for all my ferals without their help. I told this story several years ago when I first started blogging and have brought up parts of it since. For my newer readers, I would like to explain how we ended up with so many feral cats in an indoor shelter. Here is their story.

Darby was rescued as a kitten, living alone under a house in another neighborhood

Many of you already know that all but our oldest two cats (Chica and Yoko) are feral cats that lived in our old neighborhood in a rural mountain community.  When my husband and I purchased the 1920's farmhouse 14 years ago, we inherited a large feral colony living in the woods behind the house.  I asked around and no one knew anything about the cats. An older couple living in the nearby trailer was putting dry food out for them but they could barely afford that let alone medical care for the cats so litter after litter had been born.

Ivy on left, Nick on right and Big Guy in rear next to their first straw igloo shelter.

I wanted to do something to help them, especially after a blind kitten wandered into the yard suffering from a severe URI.  Being new and not knowing any veterinarians in the area, my husband took her to the local shelter and they promptly put her down. ( I later learned that this shelter always euthanized feral cats when brought in.  They were considered unadoptable.) I was horrified that she didn't even get any veterinary care and vowed to do better with the rest of the cats.

Mamacita on left, daughter Rosa on right.

I looked online and found Alley Cat Allies and contacted them.  They gave me all the information I needed about trapping the cats, working with a vet to get them neutered, vaccinated and then releasing them back into the area. With the help of a compassionate vet nearby who offered me a considerable discount, I TNR'd about 18 cats over a period of a year. 

Young litter mates Minnie in rear, Joey in front - now 13 years old.

The feral cats were fed twice a day.  My husband built an insulated multi-level shelter for them. And when they needed medical care, they were trapped again and taken to a vet. We lost a few to wild animals, cars, illnesses - living outdoors is a hard life. When some of the cats developed health issues, we began to bring them inside to live. Several years later when I found the main male Big Guy laying on the upper level of the shelter unable to move, I knew this was the end for him.  I rushed him to a vet but there was nothing I could do - he died in my arms, knowing he was loved very much.

Albert, our deaf cat, found as a kitten  along a busy highway in 2004.

That changed the dynamics of the group and other male cats began to try to move in, chasing off the remaining ferals.  I brought the few left inside in 2005.  If you know anything about feral colonies - when there is a good place to live, if you remove the cats from the area, another group will come in and that is what happened.

Neighbors told me about seeing a white mother cat and tiny white kitten that had been fed by a shop nearby that closed in November for the winter. There had been four kittens in the litter - three black and one white.  I don't know what happened to the black ones.  It was January now and the two remaining cats were without food during a cold and snowy winter.  Of course, I put a bowl of food out on our deck with a basic shelter for them to use.  Lily and Snowball found it soon enough.  They were starving. It was pitiful watching them both shove each other out of the way to get at the food.  At last they had a safe place to get out of the cold and plenty of food.  I even put toys out for Snowball to play with on warm days on the deck.

Snowball that first winter.

Lily went on to have two more litters in spite of my best efrots to catch her.  I tried humane traps,  dog kennel cages - anything and everyhting but she was very smart and out witted me every time. She was a great mother and with food and shelter provided, both litters survived.  Again, I began TNR on the kittens as they became old eough to spay and neuter. Including Lily, we had ten more cats.

Two Spot on left and Only on right. Now you see how they got their names.

We knew at this point we were moving out of the area and began to solicit neighbors to feed and care for the cats with our financial support. No one wanted to make the commitment and I could not leave them behind.  We started trapping them to bring them indoors to move them with us.  I finally caught Lily and the last of the kittens by leaving the enclosed porch door open and letting them wander inside at their leisure.  Once they became used to this, I started to set the door as a trap door, pulling the string from inside the house when they were in the porch, safely away from the door.

Lily - mother of all the white cats.

So yes, we do have a lot of cats but I love each and every one of them. I can't imagine life without silly Lily (who is now a love bug), Snowball, Only, Two Spot and all the rest of them.  The white cats have a separate cat shelter on our land with an insulated heated indoor room and a big screen porch to play in.  The older cats are in the house with us so we can monitor and medicate them if needed.

Tabitha, one of two of Lily's tabby cats.

I am so grateful for organizations like Alley Cat Allies and other groups and individuals that have stepped up in the past 10 years to care for feral cats and educate people about them.  With love, time, effort and patience, feral cats can become a part of our community, our lives and our homes. 

National Feral Cat Day - October 16

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

National Grouch Day - Oct 15

Tabitha here with my grouchy face on.  It seems that today Saturday  October 15 is National Grouch Day. A day for the public to celebrate grouchiness and the things that make you grouchy! Here goes -
I don't like...

-having to wait until the older cats get served stinky goodness first - I am the biggest so I should eat first.

-being told to go away when I just want lovin'. A girl has needs.

-Pop sitting in my chair. I should get my chair when I want my chair. Find your own chair Pop!

-Woody sitting next to some other ladycat. He is MINE!

-being told to stop playing in the water bowl. It's fun! I don't care if everything gets wet.

I think I have covered it all. Go ahead be grouchy today. That is what today is for! What gripes have you got?

On a more serious note...Sunday Oct 16 is National Feral Cat Day. We are all rescued ferals at our place and we know how hard life can be. Stop back by tomorrow for our special post. In the meantime, do something kind for the ferals in your community.

Camera Critters

Photo Hunt - Public

National Feral Cat Day - Oct 16

Big Guy and Nick outside the evolving shelter.

 
October 16 has been declared National Feral Cat Day by Alley Cat Allies, a national feral cat organization.  They hope to make people more aware of the plight of feral cats and what  can be done to help them.

Most of you know that all but two of my cats were feral cats living in the wooded area behind my farmhouse when we moved to North Carolina.You can read about them in last year's Feral Cat Day post here.

Many people, and this includes many so called humane society shelters, feel that ferals are the equivalent to a wild animal and should be killed to keep their populations down.   This is cruel and inhumane and certainly not the solution.  Once a feral colony has been displaced, another will come to live there since it usually is a place with access to food, shelter and relative safety. 

Big Guy (cow cat), Nick who have gone to the Bridge and Ivy who lives inside with us now.

The most important thing we can do for ferals is to Trap, Neuter and Release them back into their colony or into a safe place for them to live out their lives. This way the females don't continue to have litter after litter, endangering their health and adding to the feral cat population.  With the great educational programs in place by Alley Cat Allies, more communities realize this now and offer assistance to those who want to help feral cats. I was fortunate to have a compassionate veterinarian in my neighborhood ( Dr. Barbara Farmer who now lives in Raleigh and neuters for Alley Cats and Angels) who spayed and neutered my cats for a nominal fee. I set humane traps or dog kennel cages out with food inside and caught each cat one by one.  I would drop off the cat at Dr Farmer's office and within a few ours, the cat was back at my place recovering to be set free later that day or the next if they needed more time. During surgery, ferals are ear tipped - the tip of their ear is cut off or a V shape nick is made so the spayed cats are identified from the non spayed ones.  I did trap some more than once but knew they had been done and released them. Vets need to know how to handle ferals for the spay/neuter process.  Not all vets will work with you on this but many do.

As I was providing TNR to the colony, I realized that while many neighbors were feeding the cats, they did not have a substantial shelter.  They had been living under and inside abandoned trailers and cabins in the neighborhood.  That first year I built an igloo of straw bales and covered the outside with a plastic tarp, layering straw inside for warmth.  Straw allows them to snuggle deep and the natural air pockets keep them warm. Blankets get wet and stay wet while straw will air dry.

Lily and her kittens lived mainly under the house - they are all inside with me now.

My husband got more involved the next year and we converted a kitchen counter into a shelter.  We raised it off the ground on pallets and gutted the interior, insulating it. We added a cat door with a flap to keep the weather out and even put Plexiglas windows on one sunny side with wood doors to open on warm days. We made the top removable to have access to clean and lined the interior with straw.  Eventually we added a lean-to roof on the front with place under it to for them to sit and us to use for their water and food. This kept them dry on rainy or snowy days. We also added another deck on a second level on the other side as well. This allowed them to be outside yet out of the weather. It was quite the shelter when we finished with it and housed them thru two hurricanes and many winter blizzards.

Ivy, safe indoors now and relaxing on the back porch.

One winter we had temperatures at or below zero for days and I wanted to keep the cats warmer than they were.  I don't advise everyone do this but it worked for us.  We set up a warm place for them under the house in the crawlspace.We laid down plastic just inside the entrance and used large square plastic trash cans lined with straw for additional shelter. We covered the trash cans with insulation and more plastic.  Then we put an electric heater in the crawlspace under the house (to keep our pipes from freezing as well as the cats) and left it on low. We closed up the entrance except for a small flap they could get in and out yet the wind did not.  This worked well and they were under the house until spring.  We set up a food station under the deck next to the crawlspace with water and dry food.

I checked on them daily, watching them play and interact from my kitchen window or from our back porch. As the years went by I took them indoors if their health was not good or to the vet for check ups if needed.  Eventually our local humane society realized that they did indeed live lives worth living - the cats had all they needed - food, shelter, medical care and someone to watch over them. 

Lily and her kittens now - indoor only cats.

If you know of any feral cat groups that need someone to care for them, please contact Alley Cat Allies.  They can point you in the right direction for local assistance. They provide information on how to do TNR, build cat shelters, tame feral kittens and who to contact in your area to help.  Don't let your community mistreat them - they deserve our respect and love as any animal does.

If you are doing a post today for National feral Cat Day please leave your link below and if you want grab the code for your blog. (Click get the code, then click blogger, then easy link and then click generate code - it should work.)




Check out our Wildcat Woods Vintage Treasures (see sidebar for link) blog for great stuff - we are offering 20% off in honor of National Feral Cat Day - from Oct. 16-23. All proceeds help pay for our ferals. We are joining Camera Critters today too.

Thankful Thursday - Tree Guys

Mamacita here.  We got woken up early this morning with lots of large trucks and noise.  I wanted to see what was going on but Chica slept thru it all. The white cats are scaredy cats and all huddled together rather than watch the fun.

The tree guys came by this morning to trim all the trees hanging over the wires.   Last winter we got two ice storms and lost power for days. Brrr, that was cold so all summer they have been working on our street (which is a very long 7 mile heavily wooded through the mountains street) putting up better power lines, new poles and trimming the trees so they don't touch the lines.

We are very grateful for all the work they did and are still doing so hopefully we won't lose our power this winter. Yay for the tree guys!

Do come on by for our special National Feral Cat Day post on Saturday October 16. Join in with us to teach folks that feral cats deserve a chance - we are all rescued ferals (except for Chica and Yoko).  We are glad someone gave us a chance.

If you are posting for Thankful Thursday then join in the blog hop! Be sure to visit Teacher's Pets - they are the ones who started this.

Happy National Feral Cat Day!

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!