It probably comes as no surprise to most people that since we have a farm out in the country we seem to be a choice target of cat "abandoners". Of course not just our farm, but neighboring farms all around us as well. As a result we see an abundance of poor suffering kitties that are starving, cold, sick and injured. In spite of that they continue to multiply, having one litter of new kittens after another. Some are feral, some are beautiful lovable animals that were clearly pets before being thrown out of a car going by the farm. What may surprise many of you is that there is no help for all these kitties despite the glut of organizations receiving money for just that purpose. The best any can offer is a "discounted" certificate for spaying and neutering. Not much of a discount, I've found, and when you start to multiply that by several cats you realize it's an expense that most people cannot cover themselves. So I've started a fund to get help for these kitties. Of the money collected, 100% of it will pay for spaying and neutering these abandoned cats. I will continue to bear the cost and labor of trapping and transporting these kitties to be spayed and neutered. And I will also continue to personally bear the cost of feeding these kitties. Should we lick the problem here and more money is left, we will share the love with neighboring farms living with the same dilemma. I picture a future of greatly diminished suffering and multiplying of unwanted, unloved kitties spreading out like ripples on the pond when a pebble hits it, our farm being right in the center, and the pebble being your donation. Please consider making a NOT tax deductible donation to the kitties. Click on the Donate Link below to make a donation through PayPal. Even $1 will help when many other dollars join in. |
For The Kitties |
Last year I became aware that the Finger Lakes SPCA of Auburn offers a spay and neuter clinic for a very reasonable price. I have received many generous donations and have since had many cats spayed and neutered at the clinics with the money I have received and the assistance of at least one very patient and dedicated volunteer there. The clinic additionally gives shots and treats the cats for fleas. All the cats have recovered very well from their surgery with no problems. I continue to trap the cats around the farm and have them "fixed", then bring them back to their familiar surroundings. FALL 2010 UPDATE: We saw no kittens born here this year, yeah!!! I guess the spay and neuter program is working well. We do have some neighbor farms cats done now and know of one farm with cats up for adoption because there are so many of them. Most of those cats are not spayed or neutered yet. If you want any barn cats, or kittens suitable for pets, please contact me so we can hook you up. FALL 2011 UPDATE: Well we had one female turn up here this spring, from where I don't know. But it became evident in short time that she was pregnant. She had 5 big kittens in spite of her tiny size. 3males, 2 females born. I had her spayed at the Finger Lakes SPCA in Auburn when her kittens were 8 weeks old, and her kittens were neutered as soon as they turned 6 months old. The two female kittens disappeared at about 4 months old. I could only speculate on their fate. Additionally, through the generous offering of a Veterinarian in Auburn, my neighbor was able to get 5 of her cats spayed. On the down side, some idiot in the neighborhood is using cats as bow hunting target practice. And a rural community offers no shortage of targets. JANUARY 2013 UPDATE: My how time flies. We managed to make it through all of 2012 with no kittens born here, yay! But some time in December I retrieved a cat that was living in the wild on our property and brought it to the barn to get it out of the weather. It was very friendly, let me pick it right up, but clearly lost or abandoned, hanging by the side of the road with no shelter. It was of course a female and by the next day I had two males hanging around the barn. Once again the Auburn SPCA came to the rescue. I got the two males neutered this month and the female and one other male are going in early February for their surgery. One of the males neutered in January turns out had a nasty would on it's back that I did not even know was there, so the vet fixed him all up with that also and he is doing well. He is very "crazy" though, and it would seem that he has known starvation in his life. He knows I am the food person and every time he sees me in the barn he starts going nuts, growling and hissing at the other cats, charging to the food dishes and scaring them all off until he gets his fill. I see him very slowly settling in as he learns that there will be more food later, but in the meantime he is kind of scary. |