The story of our cat colony
This is the story of how 9 feral cats became part of our lives.
It all started when we decided to feed one hungry, skinny black stray cat. After a few days we noticed he had a companion: a tuxedo cat that seemed to be hanging around with him. We thought they were both males. The tuxedo cat turned out to be a female who, one fine day, showed up with four kittens! The black male cat was after the mama to mate with her again, so we managed to secure him with the help of one of our neighbors (he and his wife had also been feeding him). We got him neutered and he was adopted by the same neighbors. We tried to lure the mama and her kittens into our porch and once even manage to close the door with them inside, but she found a way out during the night and took her kittens with her. We patiently persisted, and after a couple of months the mama and her kittens started relaxing around us again. We were just about ready to try again when the mama showed up with a brand new litter of four kittens! Obviously, we had caught the black male cat too late... At that point we realized we needed help to catch, spay/neuter and release them, and were able to borrow a few traps from a local feral cat organization.
Eventually, the original 9 cat colony expanded with one of the young kittens from the second litter becoming pregnant before we could spay her, and having five babies. Unfortunately two of them died, but were able to get two adopted and ended up by keeping the last one. We also had a few newcomers who weren’t part of the original colony: four strays looking for food and shelter and one kitten who was chased by some kids from the church grounds across the street and into our backyard and under our shed; we managed to get two of the strays adopted. We lost a couple more (Bobby, one of the newcomers who was adopted but ran away; and Solo, who died from rat poison; please see his story on the Home page blog post). Currently (August 2016) we are still taking care of 11 rescue cats: four living in our porch (including the stray kitten) and being integrated into our home; three living around our house (we built outdoor shelters for all them) and four living nearby who come only to eat (the mama from the original colony and three newcomers). That’s in addition to our two cats and two dogs (one with special needs) who live indoors. Of all the cats who crossed our paths those years, we managed to spay/neuter nearly all of them, and have six of them adopted.
Although we were told it was impossible to socialize ferals, we’ve been able to socialize most of them. Two of the rescues who live around our house come over to us when we call and let us caress them; some even take treats from our hands. The four cats in the back porch also allow us to caress and feed them; three of them love to sit in our laps and be caressed and pampered.
THE UNWANTED
Cats used to be worshiped in ancient civilizations. There was also a time when they were considered very useful pets, earning their keep as hunters of rodents. These days, our modern societies don't seem to have as much use or room for the better part of them, And there are just too many out there due to irresponsible pet ownership. One male cat can sire up to 300 kittens in his life time. In one of the counties in the greater Orlando, FL area alone, staggering 2013 statistics showed that about 9,000 stray or feral cats are caught every year. Of those, only 10% are adopted; the others are simply put to sleep (and the great majority of them are perfectly healthy cats). Kill shelters euthanize cats that are considered to be hard to adopt. No-kill shelters are overloaded and most of them can’t or won’t take additional cats. The ones that still do have a lot of strict requirements and won't take ferals or semi-ferals, only domesticated or socialized cats. The ones that are accepted will stay in cages for a long time waiting to be adopted, unless you are willing to foster them until (or if) they do. There are some cat shelters or refuges in the area, but most of them don't have the proper resources to care for all the cats in their property; that leads to overpopulation, disease and premature deaths. Some places such as Lakeland, FL have a city park where ferals that are caught (and spayed or neutered) get dumped after surgery; animal organizations drop off bags of food for them every evening. In short, it's a pretty desperate situation for cats out there, as well as for the well-meaning people who do their best to take care of them.
THE CAVALRY ISN'T COMING: IT'S UP TO US!
In view of the dire situation involving the over-population of cats in so many areas, more than ever it’s of vital importance that we spay or neuter our cats. It’s just as important that we make a commitment to embrace our cats as a permanent part of our families, rather than simply abandoning them when we move or have other changes in circumstances.
So, rather than abandoning our rescues in a cat-unfriendly neighborhood of pit bulls that run loose and maim or kill cats, cars that run fast and people who use rat poison and don’t mind if a cat or two get killed in the process; or rather than having them wait indefinitely in cages for an adoption that's unlikely to come (and that's assuming we'd ever find an organization willing to take them), we chose to care for all by adopting some of them and trying to find good homes for the others (with the help of a couple of neighbors who are cat-friendly). We also managed to get them all spayed/neutered (on our dime and also with some help with several generous friends).
WHY SO MUCH FUSS ABOUT FERAL CATS?
Because our family of cats became part of our lives and we became part of theirs, for better or for worse. And maybe because, whenever we are presented with an opportunity, we are supposed to put to good use those feelings of love, caring and compassion which make us human.
This has been an emotionally, physically and financially draining process for us, but it also gave us many rewards. There's no better feeling than finding a good home for a kitten that otherwise would have had a hard and possibly short life on the streets. And we hope that everyone who decides to get involved in similar causes will feel as rewarded for their kindness as we do.
Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 02/19/2014
Photo: Tiger Lilly, one of the rescues we have adopted.
This is the story of how 9 feral cats became part of our lives.
It all started when we decided to feed one hungry, skinny black stray cat. After a few days we noticed he had a companion: a tuxedo cat that seemed to be hanging around with him. We thought they were both males. The tuxedo cat turned out to be a female who, one fine day, showed up with four kittens! The black male cat was after the mama to mate with her again, so we managed to secure him with the help of one of our neighbors (he and his wife had also been feeding him). We got him neutered and he was adopted by the same neighbors. We tried to lure the mama and her kittens into our porch and once even manage to close the door with them inside, but she found a way out during the night and took her kittens with her. We patiently persisted, and after a couple of months the mama and her kittens started relaxing around us again. We were just about ready to try again when the mama showed up with a brand new litter of four kittens! Obviously, we had caught the black male cat too late... At that point we realized we needed help to catch, spay/neuter and release them, and were able to borrow a few traps from a local feral cat organization.
Eventually, the original 9 cat colony expanded with one of the young kittens from the second litter becoming pregnant before we could spay her, and having five babies. Unfortunately two of them died, but were able to get two adopted and ended up by keeping the last one. We also had a few newcomers who weren’t part of the original colony: four strays looking for food and shelter and one kitten who was chased by some kids from the church grounds across the street and into our backyard and under our shed; we managed to get two of the strays adopted. We lost a couple more (Bobby, one of the newcomers who was adopted but ran away; and Solo, who died from rat poison; please see his story on the Home page blog post). Currently (August 2016) we are still taking care of 11 rescue cats: four living in our porch (including the stray kitten) and being integrated into our home; three living around our house (we built outdoor shelters for all them) and four living nearby who come only to eat (the mama from the original colony and three newcomers). That’s in addition to our two cats and two dogs (one with special needs) who live indoors. Of all the cats who crossed our paths those years, we managed to spay/neuter nearly all of them, and have six of them adopted.
Although we were told it was impossible to socialize ferals, we’ve been able to socialize most of them. Two of the rescues who live around our house come over to us when we call and let us caress them; some even take treats from our hands. The four cats in the back porch also allow us to caress and feed them; three of them love to sit in our laps and be caressed and pampered.
THE UNWANTED
Cats used to be worshiped in ancient civilizations. There was also a time when they were considered very useful pets, earning their keep as hunters of rodents. These days, our modern societies don't seem to have as much use or room for the better part of them, And there are just too many out there due to irresponsible pet ownership. One male cat can sire up to 300 kittens in his life time. In one of the counties in the greater Orlando, FL area alone, staggering 2013 statistics showed that about 9,000 stray or feral cats are caught every year. Of those, only 10% are adopted; the others are simply put to sleep (and the great majority of them are perfectly healthy cats). Kill shelters euthanize cats that are considered to be hard to adopt. No-kill shelters are overloaded and most of them can’t or won’t take additional cats. The ones that still do have a lot of strict requirements and won't take ferals or semi-ferals, only domesticated or socialized cats. The ones that are accepted will stay in cages for a long time waiting to be adopted, unless you are willing to foster them until (or if) they do. There are some cat shelters or refuges in the area, but most of them don't have the proper resources to care for all the cats in their property; that leads to overpopulation, disease and premature deaths. Some places such as Lakeland, FL have a city park where ferals that are caught (and spayed or neutered) get dumped after surgery; animal organizations drop off bags of food for them every evening. In short, it's a pretty desperate situation for cats out there, as well as for the well-meaning people who do their best to take care of them.
THE CAVALRY ISN'T COMING: IT'S UP TO US!
In view of the dire situation involving the over-population of cats in so many areas, more than ever it’s of vital importance that we spay or neuter our cats. It’s just as important that we make a commitment to embrace our cats as a permanent part of our families, rather than simply abandoning them when we move or have other changes in circumstances.
So, rather than abandoning our rescues in a cat-unfriendly neighborhood of pit bulls that run loose and maim or kill cats, cars that run fast and people who use rat poison and don’t mind if a cat or two get killed in the process; or rather than having them wait indefinitely in cages for an adoption that's unlikely to come (and that's assuming we'd ever find an organization willing to take them), we chose to care for all by adopting some of them and trying to find good homes for the others (with the help of a couple of neighbors who are cat-friendly). We also managed to get them all spayed/neutered (on our dime and also with some help with several generous friends).
WHY SO MUCH FUSS ABOUT FERAL CATS?
Because our family of cats became part of our lives and we became part of theirs, for better or for worse. And maybe because, whenever we are presented with an opportunity, we are supposed to put to good use those feelings of love, caring and compassion which make us human.
This has been an emotionally, physically and financially draining process for us, but it also gave us many rewards. There's no better feeling than finding a good home for a kitten that otherwise would have had a hard and possibly short life on the streets. And we hope that everyone who decides to get involved in similar causes will feel as rewarded for their kindness as we do.
Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 02/19/2014
Photo: Tiger Lilly, one of the rescues we have adopted.
If you would like to contribute to our 9 Lives Rescue Fund: