We live in a nice neighborhood and over the past 10 years or so we’ve developed two colonies of feral cats. I feel sorry for all of those feral and stray cats because almost all of them are malnourished and/or sickly. They’re definitely not healthy!
One reason that we’ve gotten all of these stray cats running around is because of a pet grooming business that is located down the street. People mistakenly think that if they toss out their cat at that business or in a neighborhood that it will be picked up and found a home. WRONG. It’s a pet grooming business, not a pet rescue or adoption business!!!
Two years ago I had blogged about witnessing a car drive up in front of our house and tossing a beautiful cat out of the window. That cat ran underneath our bush in the front yard and hid there for days. We finally lured him out with food and encouragement. Over the following two weeks built up trust with him and rescued him.
We took him to the vet, paid over $1,400 in vet care and treat…and got him healthy. We named him Tucker and you can read his story on our blog. Sadly though, Tucker had passed away 6 months later. We were heartbroken. After grieving, we went to a licensed adoption center (rescue group) and adopted Romeo who was 3 months old at the time. He’ll be 2 years old in September 2021.
Today my vent is all about these people who get cats and then for whatever reason decide they don’t want them (or can’t take care of them) anymore. They’re continuing to drive through our neighborhood and toss out their cats like yesterday’s garbage. It really pisses me off!!!
Last week an orange cat showed up who we’ve been calling Garfield. This cat is totally malnourished, sickly and being beaten up by the cats in the feral cat colony. He has injuries all over his face and his left eye appears to be infected. We often hear him crying, coughing, sneezing, vomitting, etc. Breaks my heart! He’s not friendly to us or our neighbors at all. I believe he was abused by his previous owners. He’s scared crapless of people.
We’re trying to build up trust with Garfield and hopefully we can trap him and take him in for medical treatment. He needs it badly. We can’t get any help with it at all because rescue groups are totally over-whelmed. I’m hoping that we can get him trapped soon and in to see a vet…even if it’s at our own expense. I can’t stand to see animals suffer.
The photograph in my post is of Garfield coming up onto our back porch to nibble on some cat food we put out for him. As you can see, he’s extremely thin and not in good body condition at all. Sad, really sad the type of trauma that boy has went through and continues to go through.
My point is this…pet owners need to be held responsible! We need stiffer fines & penalties for people who toss out their dogs & cats like yesterday’s trash. That’s abuse and neglect. If you can no longer take care of a pet…sign that pet over to a rescue group or humane society. You don’t drive through people’s neighborhoods or back country roads and toss out your pets. What the hell is wrong with people????
I do not know why people dispose of cats this way. We once rescued a cat that had been abandoned and had him for several years before he passed away.
This just breaks my heart too when “people” dump animals. We had someone dump a cat near our house too not that long ago and we took care of her. Thank you for showing Garfield kindness. Animals are God’s creatures and those people who hurt them will stand one day and give an account for their actions in this life!
Thank you for your kindness and caring in doing what you can for Garfield. I can not even begin to imagine how or why people don’t spay or neuter their pets and how they can have so little regard for animals to just dump them.
If that is a picture of Garfield, look at his left ear…. it is tipped. He has been neutered in the past as a feral or barn cat.
there is movement right now around colonies due to kittens ad breeding (or at least here there is) Your new friend may have been chased off, one who is wandering looking for a new spot if he was displaced, or yes, dumped. Not all ‘friendlies’ are friendly right away.
I have fed colonies for years, and much it lies in how it is done. You have to commit to TNR and it is no easy choice.
I always ask people when they frown when you say you do TNR, to imagine going out and doing chores day after day- no days off. You feed, water , pay for vets etc out of pocket. You see horrendous things, but on the other side you see joy when you do find a home. I could go on and on on this subject, but bottom line, it is not just an animal problem, it is a people problem.
Unchecked breeding, people tossing cats when they are no longer kittens, moving into new places who do not allow pets, getting rid of pets when life changes. You name it I have heard it.
This is definitely a people problem around here. We’ve seen vehicles drive down our street and toss out cats numerous times. Last summer our home security camera caught two offenders and we turned those videos over to the local police. I don’t mind feral cats as they keep the rodent population in check but I do hate that people around here do nothing to help these colonies, nothing! Majority of the colony cats are agressive so we don’t mess with them. Garfield isn’t agressive but scared crapless of us. We haven’t been able to trap him yet. My vet said she would treat him if we can trap him and give us a discount. I can’t adopt him as we have a cat and one is enough. But I do want to get Garfield some medical care that he needs.
Its heartbreaking but we cannot help them all. I live in a college town and students get a cat/dog and then at the end of the school year they move out of their apartments and dump their pets.
I totally agree with you. Pets are not disposable. Thank you for feeding Garfield and trying to take care of him.