Daily Photo: Cats and More Cats

Cats in carriers and traps await spay/neuter surgery. Below, cats in carriers and cages recover from surgery.

Not much difference in the look of the two photos, except that each cat’s life has been forever changed for the better, all 108 of them spayed and neutered at the Homeless Cat Management Team spay/neuter clinic today. And that by the actions of compassionate and dedicated volunteers.

This clinic was free for stray/feral cats in colonies only, so nearly every cat was trapped from the outdoors and brought inside for the event. A few emergencies were owned cats, and a few will not be returning outdoors because of injuries or other issues, but nearly all were not pets at all, but were unowned cats, the forgotten cats living on their own outdoors. And they could have gone on being forgotten but for people who fed them, watched over them, cared for them, and wanted to give them a better life if living outdoors would be their lot. Spaying and neutering cats not only reduces populations but also changes their behavior, reducing the stress of constant reproduction on a female cat’s body and the need to fight everything in sight for males.

Two cats were pregnant already, and it’s only January. One kitty with a twisted hind leg from a birth defect had the leg removed but will not be returning to the outdoors; her caretaker hopes to find an understanding home for her and I’ll be posting her story soon. Yet another kitty was found to have a vaccination site sarcoma on her shoulders as big as a tangerine and was already wasted, losing muscle mass and dehydrated, sad to think of her trying to get through the day in this cold, ice and snow. The rest were just like any other cats, even the true feral cats, because they are fed and cared for even though they live outdoors. The next clinic is in two weeks to try to catch as many cats as possible before the feline breeding season begins in earnest.

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