I’ve been feeding the colony that I feed for just over 6 months now, and the kittens that were just over 5 months (too old to be tamed and fostered) have definitely turned into cats, and I can’t believe that I didn’t notice! They used to be so little, funny little skittish things, who would run at the sight of me and hide behind the rafters to wait for me to go.
Now days they are all sleek lovely cats, who don’t fear me unless I touch them. One of them doesn’t even mind that. He puts his head in the way when I’m dishing out the meat. I used to rub the top of his head to discourage him from doing that but now he just knocks my hand out of the way and continues eating.
I’m glad that they are getting used to human presence, and are mostly okay to be touched (the wild mother still isn’t super friendly, she’s more skittish than her kittens and has made a swipe at me more than once when I’ve tried feeding her kits from a spoon).
Still, it’s kind of heart breaking to think that these cats will live for another decade or so, and will live out their lives under a university prefab devoid of the comforts that domesticated cats are meant to have. They’ve all been neutered, so they can’t reproduce. But if that one person who dumped that first cat had the common sense to be responsible and get the mum neutered, or had given it to the SPCA or an equivilent, there wouldn’t be five wild cats living in a cold, wet horrible place under a yucky prefab building.
If you have a cat, get it neutured. If you don’t want it because you’re moving and can’t take it with you, or it’s not to your liking PLEASE DON’T ABANDON IT! There are many many organisations that will take it for you and place it in a loving home where it IS wanted. I know the wild cats in the colony don’t know it, but they could have had much, much nicer lives than the ones they have now if that one person had shown a little bit of responsibility, a little bit of care.
I know, I’m probably preaching to the choir but honestly? Hunkered down under a building where we hide the food so the part-time inhabitants don’t have to see it and therefore can’t complain about it (No love, Massey University, No love) you get a feel for how miserable things could be. And having pets that are loved and taken care of, I feel for these cats that don’t have that.
So if you have a cat, please get it neutered. If you don’t want your cat, please don’t abandon it.
July 17th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Our cats are both spayed & it kills me to think of all the strays around the world.
So crazy.
July 17th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Very cute picture, btw!
July 17th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
My neighborhood is crawling with abandoned cats and bunnies. There’s a mean dog that lives his entire sad life on a tiny balcony. No wonder he’s such a monster when my little clan walks by! People even keep roosters in apartments around here. Most of my neighbors are from Armenia and Latin America and I understand that people relate to animals differently there, but I hope I don’t sound too self-righteous when i say that some things should be universal. It makes me terribly sad to see all these neglected animals.
July 18th, 2009 at 1:05 am
nice post. i agree completely. i’ve rescued all sorts of cats in my short life already, and if we couldn’t keep them, we found them new homes AFTER we spayed/neutered them. it’s not that hard, the surgery is pretty inexpensive nowadays, and even if you can’t pay for it, at least put the animal in a shelter so they can do it. far too many strays, like you said. you’re a good person :)
July 18th, 2009 at 2:34 am
Ugh, god – yes. This!! Thank you for taking care of these little guys, you have a big heart that I so admire. I can’t understand the way people treat animals sometimes, it just blows my mind.
July 18th, 2009 at 2:47 am
I love that you do what you can to make life a little better for cats who should never have wound up in the situation they are in because of irresponsible humans. Thank you for doing the right thing and for reminding others. Every time I read about kitties like this, I hug mine closer and wish I could adopt more. And that people would spay and neuter.
July 18th, 2009 at 2:51 am
Thank you…I only wish that people all over would read this, and then realize how inexpensive it is to have animals spayed and neutered. It’s heartbreaking.
July 19th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Oh <3, you guys are awesome! Thanks for the support :)