Last month our backyard was invaded by a dozen feral cats. Included in the mix were two mothers, their nine kittens and one adult male. Speculation on what attracted them points to neighbors who were generous with scraps of food, probably not realizing that kittens were on the way. It is hard to tell the gender of cats if you can't get close. So, when what appeared to be one or two adults suddenly became a dozen, we had decisions to make, stemming from questions like, "what the heck are we going to do with all these cats running around?" Admittedly, some of the non-cat-lover neighbors used a bit more colorful language about all the cats we had running lose!
We were lucky enough to find out that an animal advocate friend had a neutering "deal" with an advocate veterinarian, who would do the operations for a "small contribution" from anyone adopting the kittens. There are ways to find these good Samaritans, which we will go into in our next article.
Once we knew we had a neuter/spay place to go, we were able to use humane live traps to capture all twelve cats. Not only did the vet do a good job for a reasonable fee, (some new owners contributed only $25), but the kittens were handled every day and socialized while they were there. And, about half the kittens were adopted right from the animal hospital! The one male adult was a year or maybe a year and a half old and looked to be the picture of health. But, it turned out he was diagnosed with feline leukemia, and so, we decided the humane thing to do was euthanized him rather than allow the painful death that was surely in his future.
So, the final tally was eleven feral cats live trapped and neutered. All of the kittens are socialized and placed in adoptive homes. Their moms, now also spayed, remain outdoor (untouchable) neighborhood cats that help keep the rodent population under control. And, none to the eleven pose any threat to the cat overpopulation problem, any longer.
A footnote here, and this really is a true coincidence: about six months before we went through this feral cat experience, my business partners and I decided to form an internet marketing company. And, after careful research, what did we decide to market online? Humane live traps, that's what! None of the aftermath was planned; its almost as if heaven dropped this cat "problem" on us to prove what we had decided to market would be useful to a lot of folks out there with similar problems. Boy! Is it useful! According to PETA, (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, http://www.PETA.com), last year there were 2.4 million unwanted kittens born in the U S. That, of course, means there were not enough homes to go around and most of them, by necessity, were put down. Bluntly put, which is more humane: to have them born to be killed, or arrange that they were never born at all?
