Emmy - A Cat With Value

No cat is born a socialized companion cat. All cats are born feral. The friendly cats placed for adoption are simply feral cats consciously trained (during their first 8 weeks of life) to enjoy people. Only recently did the mainstream even start categorizing cats this way –probably not until the 1990’s when Alley Cat Allies began promoting TNR (trap-neuter-return) as the most humane alternative to shelter euthanasia of less-socialized cats.

Friendly vs. feral is only one of the litmus tests that euthanasia-based shelters use to manage their population. Other common litmus tests include young vs. old, sick vs.healthy, and viral-positive (Felv or FIV) vs. non-viral positive.

These tests are troubling on many levels. They allow euthanasia shelters to bring in all cats that come their way and then cherry pick the most adoptable (friendly young cats and kittens) that require minimal veterinary care -- and then euthanize the rest – for “justifiable reasons”.

None of these litmus tests hold up under scrutiny. Minimally-trained shelter personnel have no sure way of determining the age of stray adult cats– yet cats live or die based on their estimates. A single positive viral test does not conclusively diagnose feline leukemia or FIV -- yet cats live or die based on one test. A cat’s true personality is not obvious when they are under extreme stress – as they are at shelters – yet how friendly they are on intake determines whether they live or die.

Underlying the entire process is the assumption that people only want to adopt very young and friendly cats. Yet, since shelters only account for about 15% of the total cat adoptions, we know that is simply not true. 85% of cats that find homes are not prescreened by unreliable litmus tests – they are simply random cats – friendly and feral, young and old, sick and healthy – that show up at someone’s home and touch the heart of the person who discovers them. They give the cat food or milk, watch them eat, and take them indoors or give them an outdoor shelter. The bonding process happens completely and quickly – not because they are a perfect cat but because they are a life worth saving.

Emmy – the cat who came to us with Joyce – is a good example. She’s semi-feral – accepts some human attention but prefers the company of other cats overall. At a shelter, she would have been DOA – but she graces our lives with her charm, beauty and spirit. All cats – even old,feral or sick cats – have intrinsic value. Luckily for cats, many people recognize this -- even if the organizations funded to protect them often don’t.