Cats are fiendishly smart, cute and furry. They also reproduce like rabbits. Nobody in their right mind consciously sets out to have a feral cat infestation. In my case, the cats dropped in for a visit. They were really cute, so I fed them. Because they were so cute and unfriendly, befriending them became an resistible challenge. Sadly, I'm a sucker for creatures that hiss and growl at me. Except for opossums. I could do without visits from those giant snarling rats. 
The very first time I met Mama, the cat that started my feral problem, she was roaming around my yard while howling. Thinking she might be rabid, I called animal control on her. The animal control officer showed up three hours later. Stepping out of his truck with a smirk, he said, "Gee, guess it must be gone by now, huh?"
I replied, "Nope. Sorry to disappoint you, Buddy, but she's right over there."
He peered into the bushes and said, "Aw, that cat ain't rabid. She's young, healthy and in heat. She probably belongs to somebody."
With that, he got in his truck and drove off.
Through the years, I'd see Mama lurking around my property. Sometimes I'd catch her and various offspring peeking in my windows. But if I spoke to her or tried to approach her, she'd take off in terror. Maybe the big dufus from animal control was right and she was somebody else's cat. But to me, she seemed unusually afraid of people. By the time she parked herself and a brood under my porch, she was certainly no longer a young cat. I thought maybe she was getting tired. It never occurred to me that she was looking for a babysitter, a kitty daycare to dump off a litter of kittens because she was working on the next litter.
When Mama and the first litter disappeared on their hunting trips, I occasionally wondered if they had gone home for a visit. Because they might have been somebody else's cats, I never felt it was my place to make medical decisions for them. After the damage was done, namely twenty something cats hanging around my yard, I had no choice. I had to act. Being the squeamish sort, catching cats and having them altered was not my cup of tea. The job was expensive, unpleasant and time consuming. Because I was subjecting the cats to surgery, I was often wracked with guilt. By the time the situation was under control, if I had discovered owners of those cats, I probably would have hurt those people.
If you decide to feed a stray cat, be prepared to make a commitment. Cats are smart and can quickly spot a sucker. Remember, you are dealing with creatures that have sharp minds and their own agendas. Most likely, their plans probably do not coincide with yours. If the cat marks you for a soft target and decides to stick around, take control of the situation. Make sure your feline squatter gets rabies shots and disarm that cat of a lethal weapon by making sure it can't reproduce. By being proactive, you'll save yourself a peck of trouble, expense and heartbreak. It's much easier and less expensive to deal with a couple than to tackle a couple dozen. When you start feeding a stray, that cat is no longer somebody else's cat. It's yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment