Mews & Views

Cat Spay of Santa Fe 2011 Update

2012-01-12T10:54:00.002-07:00

During 2011 we funded the sterilization of 1,130 cats living in northern New Mexico. This was our first full year of operation and it brings our program total to 1,589 cat sterilizations for 798 households -- and we hope to build on this growth in 2012.

Although we provide the funding for these spay/neuters, the real key to our effectiveness is the willingness of area spay/neuter and veterinary clinics to accept our vouchers as payment in full -- often at a significantly reduced price than they charge to the general public. Establishing a centralized clinic to do our work would be much less effective. Why? Because the people who most need our help -- families with young children, students, the unemployed and those living on fixed incomes such as the elderly or the disabled -- can't or won't drive long distances to a spay/neuter clinic -- especially when it involves two trips -- one in the early morning to drop the cat off and the other in the late afternoon to pick them up. Working through in-place veterinary clinics puts spay/neuter directly in the communities where our target group lives. And in a region as spread out as northern New Mexico this is particularly important.

We especially thank the following clinics for their participation:

Animal Wellness Center, Santa Fe
Brainerd Animal Health Center, Sapillo
Espanola Humane Society, Espanola
Gruda Veterinary Hospital, Santa Fe
Pecos Valley Veterinary Clinic, Pecos
Sangre de Cristo Animal Hospital, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Humane Society Spay/Neuter Clinic, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Humane Society Mobile Spay/Neuter Clinic, Northern New Mexico
Valley Veterinary Clinic, Santa Fe
Vista Larga Animal Clinic, Edgewood

Often we hear "If you can't afford to get your cat fixed, you shouldn't have one", but we simply don't believe that's true. There are many that can provide a good loving home for a cat who don't have the wherewithal to pay for the sterilization. And -- often these are the same people -- that can benefit most from the unconditional love a cat can give them. By helping them get their cats fixed we help cement the bonding -- eliminating the problems that most often cost these cats their homes -- kittening, yowling, fighting and spraying. And in a culture that kills thousands and thousands of companion animals each year for lack of homes -- we think this is an important thing to do.

Common Cat Toxicities

2011-08-29T10:31:00.000-06:00

Last month, an employee of the National Zoo, was charged with attempted animal cruelty for allegedly trying to poison feral cats in her Columbia Heights neighborhood by putting out cat food laced with antifreeze and rat poison. The Washington Humane Society caught her actions on video tape after some area residents alerted them to the problem. The case has not yet come to trial and the employee has not been fired or suspended from her duties at the National Zoo despite an urgent request from Alley Cat Allies that she be at least suspended pending the outcome of her case. Yet – as sad as this case is – malicious poisoning of cats is not as common as you may think.

According to the ASPCA Poison Control Center -- who averages 375 calls daily from pet guardians and veterinarians regarding possible pet poisonings – most cases of pet poisoning are not malicious but happen accidentally. So understanding how pets are poisoned is the easiest way to prevent it from happening in the first place.

The most common source of pet poisoning – 25% of the calls to the poison control center -- comes from medicating them for common illnesses with human drugs. Well-meaning pet parents try to diagnose and treat their pets without seeking the advice of a veterinarian – and don’t realize that many prescription and over-the-counter drugs safe for humans are toxic to their pets. These include a variety of pain killers, cold and flu medications and anti-depressants. Even medications that are safe for both pets and humans need to be dosed properly and that requires the input of a veterinarian as well.

For cats – another 20% of the calls to the Poison Control Center – comes from the use of flea and tick medications formulated for dogs. Although cats and dogs share many common parasites the medications safe for dogs can be life-threatening to cats. Since many families find it easier to get the dog to the vet than the cat they may be tempted to treat the cat based on what the veterinarian recommends for the dog. Big mistake! Cats are not small dogs. When they have parasites or are ill, take them in for diagnosis – in the long run it will be cheaper than dealing with the aftermath of not.

Rounding out the list of the top ten toxins to pets are rodenticides, people food, flavored veterinary medications, chocolate, household cleaning supplies, plants, herbicides and outdoor toxins like antifreeze and fertilizers. See the poison control center web site for a detailed list.

Keeping your cats indoors and cat-proofing your home to ensure potential sources of poison are out of their reach is your first defense against poisoning. If you do suspect that your cat has been poisoned call a vet immediately – and – get in touch with the ASPCA Poison Control Center. Time is of the essence. And to learn in more detail about the manifestations of the most common feline toxicities, read our veterinary scholarship paper on the subject.

Every Cat's Name Tells A Story

2011-08-14T13:17:00.000-06:00

The current issue of Cat Fancy Magazine lists the winners for their 2011“Most Unusual (Cat) Name” contest. From the more than 300 entries they received, they selected Mice-Tro, Ghengis Tom, Nixi Nootzie, Ka Ching and Door Hinge. While no one would consider using names like that for their human children, one thing most cat “parents” have in common is the desire to give their cat the most “purrfect” name – something that tells a story often by accentuating the cat’s unique appearance or personality.

We thought it’d be fun to see what names were in our top list – selecting from a pool of over 700 cats that we've provided with spay/neuter vouchers so far this year. It was hard choosing, but we did our best and here are our results: Our top name was Still Here – it so aptly describes how many cats morph into their families. This one showed up one day – and months later was “still here”. Second prize goes to Roamio – a name proudly given to another stray cat that moved in with a family who -- at least until after he was fixed – roamed his neighborhood pleasing the ladies. Chevy came in third – he’s a young kitten that a woman spotted under her neighbor’s truck – she told him about the kitten but he didn’t believe her – but an hour later, his truck was up on a hoist and it took three men to find him and get him out. He brought the kitten back to the lady and of course she named him Chevy after his truck. Honorable mentions go to Bob de Cat, Illuminati, Scruffalufagus, and Lucy Lu.

One thing is clear – there are as many cat names as there are cat guardians. Of our 714 cat names only 12 repeated themselves more than 3 times – in order of frequency, they are: Tiger (11), Precious (8), Angel (7), Blackie (6), Baby (5), Pumpkin (5), Missy (5), Callie (4), Smokey (4), Spooky (4), Sunshine (4) and Mama (4). Human names are the most commonly used -- such as Lola, Oscar and Isabella. Descriptive “Cat” names came in second – like Kitty Gado, Meow, and Sylvester -- or Mittens, Snowflake, and, Gremlin. About 10% are called by terms of endearment like Lovee, Tupelo and Baby Boo”. Less than 6% of the cats had no name – because – as many of their guardians told us – the only thing they answer to is “Kitty”. How true!

Cat Spay of Santa Fe Comes of Age

2011-08-11T10:41:00.003-06:00

July was a benchmark month for Cat Spay of Santa Fe. By its end, we had helped 570 caregivers fix – and keep -- over 1,000 cats – in just a little over a year since we first launched. And we did this by partnering with ten northern New Mexico veterinary clinics (private and nonprofit) so our participants could do the surgeries in their own communities on their own time schedules. This is paramount because our target cats mostly live with the elderly, the disabled, and families with young children who find driving long distances to a centralized spay/neuter event difficult if not impossible to handle.

Establishing locally-based low/no-cost spay neuter programs has to be at the crux of any community’s cat assistance services. With it, all the other issues surrounding cats become manageable – free kitten ads start to disappear, shelters no longer burgeon, and outdoor cat abandonment happens less often. Without it, cats with perfectly good long-term homes lose them when their intact behaviors (kittening, yowling and spraying) become more than their caregivers can handle. Lacking the money or the clinic accessibility to fix their cats, they give them up (to a shelter or by releasing them outdoors).

Of the 1,000+ cats we’ve fixed so far in Santa Fe, less than a handful came from shelters, breeders or pet stores – almost all were either found outdoors, given to them by a friend or relative whose cat had kittens or born to their own cats that were not sterilized. Although shelter cats are almost always sterilized before adoption, they account for less than 20% of the cats adopted each year – so the majority of cats rely on their caregiver to ensure they’re fixed – and those with the money to do it usually do. No one chooses to live with an intact cat – much the opposite – it’s the most frequent reason that a cat is given up. Often simple solutions are the most effective – and nothing is simpler than providing low/no-cost and accessible spay/neuter for all cats living indoors or out.

If you live in northern New Mexico, our program is fast, convenient and free. Usually you can apply during a 5-minute phone call and your vouchers will be mailed the next day. They cover the full cost to spay or neuter each cat and vaccinate once for rabies (if it’s done at time of sterilization). The program is open to families with gross incomes under $40,000 a year who are committed to the life care of their cats and willing to get all the cats in their care fixed within 30-60 days of applying. We can also provide assistance to property owner caring for naturally-occurring colonies of yard or barn cats regardless of income. Full program information is on our web site: zimmer-foundation.org.

Do Cats Grieve?

2011-07-18T10:00:00.000-06:00

Whenever we lose one of our TLC Older Cats – as we did Mama Cat a few weeks ago – we inevitably are asked if the surviving cats go into mourning. Since none of them speak English, there’s no way to ask them so we look to their body language for clues. And so far – with about 13 deaths over the last 6 years – we haven’t seen any hard signs of mourning from any remaining cat after any death -- at least not in the human sense of mourning.

Life seems to just go on for the remaining cats except for one thing that was particularly obvious when Mama died. We know that cats are territorial – so territorial that even when living communally with free access to all areas, each cat has his or her own area(s) and/or bed(s) and with 99% certainty that's where you’ll inevitably find them. (The area and bed may change with time of day but they are still “reserved” for a particular cat’s use.) Mama’s areas and beds were strategically located in a hallway leading to the bedrooms – one was under a bench and the other was in a walk-in closet. About a day after her death we started seeing different cats sleeping in her beds like they were trying them on for size. And -- within a week – their “ownership” was transferred – the closet bed to Robin and the under-bench bed to Joyce. Apparently they were next in line for an upgrade and claimed the vacated beds for themselves.

Why don’t we see more signs of mourning in our cats? They certainly have close bonds with each other and enjoy each other’s company. Perhaps because cats – unlike people – live solely in the present and mourning relates to dwelling on the past. It’s not that they don’t care for each other – during Mama’s last few weeks there may have been a group sense of her graveness as she was groomed several times a day by various cats – like they were doing their best to comfort her. But – when she made that last trip to the emergency clinic – she was literally out of their life entirely.

Perhaps in a home with a smaller number of cats there may be differences because the lives of each cat are more intertwined than in a colony setting. For years we were told that cats were solitary animals but that simply isn’t the case. Once they settle in, cats thoroughly enjoy the company of another cat. So when a two-cat home loses a cat the loss may appear more severe for the surviving cat – but what appears to be grieving may actually be loneliness brought on by losing their best friend. In these situations, the best medicine may simply be a new cat to share their home.

Mama Cat Dies on the Fourth of July

2011-07-10T10:44:00.001-06:00

We said goodbye to yet another TLC Older Cat this week – this time it was 18-year old Mama on the 4^th of July. Her passing took us by surprise – not because we hadn’t anticipated her dying -- but because of how she died.

Mama had been an out-of-control diabetic for the last year, so we’ve been holding our breath as to when she would become ketonic and die. We tried two different insulins with a myriad of different doses to regulate her blood sugar, but regardless of whether we gave her more or less insulin her readings stayed erratic – ranging from 30 to over 600 – with the normal range being 50-130. We even tried giving her Glipizide last December as an alternative to insulin but that quickly sent her to the hospital with elevated liver values and ketones in her urine. Once she stabilized, we brought her home, and began a steady low dose of PZI insulin twice daily. Recognizing the futility of trying to regulate her glucose levels, we simply monitored her weight and appetite to make sure she was feeling okay.

Then a week ago she started having seizure-like events. The first two were very mild involving slight tremors, but the last two were more severe -- where she would get dilated pupils and have trouble standing afterward. Because she was diabetic we thought they related to hypoglycemia but when we’d check her glucose level it ranged from 350-450. Her veterinarian ran some tests and advised us the problem was serious but not diabetes-related.

She must have had a long-standing undiagnosed heart condition that slowly enlarged her heart and weakened its right side so she couldn't effectively pump blood to her brain. Her seizures were actually fainting spells. We stabilized Mama with oxygen and diuretics and she came home for hospice. She did okay for a few days and then had another fainting spell. We took her immediately to the emergency clinic but she didn’t survive the 15-minute car ride and was pronounced dead on arrival.

Mama started life as a family pet but at age 7 was relinquished to an animal control shelter – as often happens families with young kids find themselves over their head and try to simplify their life by eliminating family pets. The shelter transferred her to our Older Cats for Older People program and from 2000-2005 she lived as a service cat at an assisted living residence in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She lived on the Alzheimer’s floor and was loved by everyone -- staff, residents and their families. Then in 2005 she was returned to us when her employee-caregiver resigned from the residence along with several other staff members. She was concerned that no one would take over Mama’s care with the turmoil caused by a major employee exodus. We’ve had Mama ever since. She was a pleasure to be around –certainly one of the most easygoing cats I’ve ever known – and I know she'll be waiting for us on the Rainbow Bridge in a Buddha-like position with a loud, friendly purr. RIP.

“Lies, Damned Lies, and Animal Shelter Statistics”

2011-06-16T10:22:00.002-06:00

The recent resignations of two Michigan Humane Society board members, was not so much a reaction to their excessively high euthanasia rate, as to their lack of transparency.

With three open-admission shelters and an annual budget of 12 million dollars, Michigan Humane is one of the largest companion animal organizations in the country – and one of the many still embracing the 1950’s animal control model. Under this model, shelters accept local tax dollars as well as private donations, to take charge of displaced cats and dogs (puppies and kittens, strays and relinquished pets) and then either adopt them out or put them down at their sole discretion – with little or no public oversight. Rarely would board members at these organizations challenge their euthanasia rate -- it’s intrinsic to their operation. And 2010 was just a typical year for MHS – euthanizing about 71% of their intake, compared with 71% in 2008 and 74% in 2007. If board members found this objectionable they would have resigned a long time ago – or never agreed to sit on the board at all.

Perhaps the catalyst for these resignations was a recent MHS announcement. They announced that they achieved their goal to place 100% of their healthy intake by 2010 – and they had also rehabilitated and placed half of their “treatable” admissions as well. They went on to say in 2011 their “treatable” placements had increased to 81%. This would be wonderful news except for the fact that their kill rate remained unchanged! And their “kill rate” – the only meaningful measure of their performance -- is the only statistic that can’t be fudged.

As resigning board member Cheryl Phillip put it:

“I doubt that our funders would be happy with a 100 percent healthy adoption rate if they knew that behind the scenes, fewer than 7,000 of the 24,000 total intakes were actually adopted, and more than 17,000 animals were “classified” as untreatable by MHS management ... and were killed.”

To investigate lowering their euthanasia rate (which is 7 times higher than that of an open-admission “no kill” shelter), Phillips called for a third-party review of their procedures, but was voted down 7-5. Apparently other board members found nothing unusual about MHS significantly increasing their adoption rate without lowering their kill rate. But therein lies the beauty of statistics.

To support their fuzzy math, MHS noted that they use a national standard for assessing whether animals are (1) healthy and adoptable, (2) treatable, or (3) unhealthy and untreatable. These “standards” are the “Asilomar Accords” -- formulated at a 2004 summit of key No Kill and Animal Control organizations. The Accords were touted as the first step in bridging the gap between the two movements so they could work collectively to save the lives of all healthy and treatable companion animals – to ultimately, create a “no kill nation”.

Shelters were encouraged (and often given Maddie's Fund financial grants ) to establish and maintain a standardized database recording their intake and disposition according to the three categories above. The data would serve two purposes: (1) It would increase public transparency by being posted to both the Asilomar web site and those of the participating shelters, and (2) It would be used by shelters to track their own progress – with the goal for each shelter to immediately stop euthanizing their “healthy” admissions and then, as practical, begin rehabilitating the “treatable” admissions so they too could be adopted. When both of these categories reached a 100% adoption rate, the shelter would be considered “no kill” – and when all shelters achieved this goal the U.S. would become a “No Kill Nation”.

This all sounds good on paper, but it fails miserably in practice. Although Asilomar established the categories for animal evaluation -- they left the definition of the categories up to each participating shelter. (Apparently the tension between the no kill and animal control organizations was too great for a consensus on what constituted “healthy”, “treatable” and “untreatable” cats and dogs.) With no consistent definitions the statistics have no meaning and allow organizations like MHS to create whatever picture they want with the unwitting backing of Asilomar. Instead of increasing transparency, the shelter statistics are more muddled than ever.

Asilomar turned out to be just a paper tiger. But that should have been clear right from the beginning. If the founding members had been serious about eliminating the euthanasia of all but the truly “unadoptable cats and dogs – those terminally ill or a threat to public safety – they would have started with the basics – pro-active spay/neuter. Instead they specifically excluded it from their scope. You don’t have to be a statistician to know the probability of becoming a No-Kill Nation is pretty low without first ensuring that all cats and dogs have access to free (or at least affordable) and local spay/neuter. Why do you think so many end up at the shelters in the first place?

Larry's Great Feline Adventure Has A Happy Ending

2011-05-08T11:07:00.000-06:00

No one knows better than I do how territorial cats are. Their home is so important to them that they go to great lengths to mark it with their scent – using glands on their cheeks, flanks and paw pads. You’ve probably seen your cat rubbing or scratching areas in your home and although you don’t see or smell the scent they deposit, they do. Your cat may even rub against your leg to mark you as part of his territory. Unfortunately some cats (usually unsterilized) mark with urine. Simply fixing the cat will usually stop this type of marking – but if it doesn’t, at least the spray will be less noxious and can be cleaned up with the enzymatic cleaners found in pet stores. Once a cat establishes his territory he has a home. Within his invisible scent-laden “walls” he’s safest and has little desire to venture out. Why should he? His softest beds and tastiest food are well within its boundaries.

Yet in spite of understanding this feline phenomenon, once a year – usually when the winter weather breaks and the sun is shining brightest -- I come down with spring fever and forget all I know about cat behavior. One of my eleven happy indoor-only cats goes to the screen door and looks at me like Lucy holding the football – convincing me that this cat -- who spends his waking hours defining his territory within my house --can and “should” be allowed outdoors where he has no territory. I think, “He’ll have fun outside and come right back in after a few minutes of fresh air”. And in a moment of weakness I open the door and let him out in our courtyard – foolishly thinking the garden walls will keep him safely in view – and after a few minutes of sunning he’ll walk back into the house and thank me for his little excursion. Instead -- just like Lucy -- the moment he breaks free from the house he lifts the football – takes a running leap over the wall – and panics. He’s gone in a flash and leaves me feeling guilty and anxious for his safety. This year the cat was Larry – a 12 year-old black feral cat.

When Larry jumped the wall I knew he was gone – at least until dark. He’d do what cats do when they’re suddenly thrust outside their territory – he’d find the nearest hiding place, hunker down and not move again until dusk. Under the cloak of darkness he’d try to get back to his home – or at least find something to eat. I had an idea of where he went and sure enough I found him – under an evergreen along the front yard. Periodically during the day I’d go and make sure he was still there and talk to him but he wouldn’t budge. So I waited and sure enough when the sun went down he showed outside our sun room with all his catmates staring at him through the screen. We opened a nearby door and tried to coax him in but all we did was scare him back under his bush. He came back to the sun room a half hour later and our attempts to coax him indoors failed again. Luckily our sun room has electric screens for walls so I tried a different tact. I brought the other cats indoors closed the door leading to the house and raised the screens. About a half hour later I found him in the sun room so I opened the door and he came running in as fast as he could.

Did he enjoy his outdoor adventure? Not at all. Hiding under a bush all day with nothing to eat or drink isn’t any cat’s definition of fun. A little tough love on my part yesterday morning would have saved him (and me) from himself. But Larry and I still hold to the fantasy that a cat wants to be outdoors even though we both know where a cat really wants to be is in his territory – whether it’s indoors or outdoors isn’t the issue – it just has to be where he’s had the time to mark it with his scent so he and everyone else knows that it’s his home. That’s where a cat is safest – and happiest.

Cats In High Places Make The News

2011-05-01T09:46:00.000-06:00

An Albuquerque gas station Friday morning heard mewing sounds coming from their roof. Concerned about what to do -- they called the fire department for help. Soon after a crew came out to investigate and uncovered a litter of baby kittens nesting there. They brought them down and took them to the local animal shelter for care and adoption.

Strange as it seems, this is not that unusual. Mother cats often go to great heights to protect their babies. Rooftops or even tree tops can be nesting areas for feral cats. Whether they give birth in these high places or just move the kittens to (perceived) safety afterward isn’t clear. For whatever reason some mom cats believe their newborn kittens are safer up high hidden from people and predators –– regardless of the inherent risk of falling. And – in urban areas where there’s traffic and people outdoors day and night – they may be right.

But to most people the site of even an adult cat looking down at them from a tree or roof is cause for alarm. Usually their panic is unwarranted. If the cat got up the tree on her own, most likely she can get back down on her own– but not while you’re under the tree watching.

On those rare occasions when a cat climbs up higher than she should have, you may want to intercede. First try putting food out near the tree to tempt the cat down. This works best at dusk or dawn. (A scared cat won’t go anywhere in daylight no matter how tempting the food may smell or look.) If the cat doesn’t take the bait, wait at least 24 hours before seeking professional help– and don’t try to rescue her yourself. The cat will be nervous and may struggle, scratch and bite – and if you’re not used to being up high the commotion may make you lose your balance and fall.

You can try calling a fire department as the gas station did – or a utility company – but most are not as compassionate as the Albuquerque FD. Typically they don’t respond. If your city has an animal control officer or shelter they may help but many don’t have the right equipment. Tree-cutting services are often the most helpful and have the right equipment to safely rescue the cat, but may charge a fee. Some are registered at the web site: Cat In A Tree Rescue.

Beyond hiring a professional, there’s little else you can do to help. Fortunately most of the time the cat can figure out a way down – sooner or later – and when she does be prepared for her to scoff at you as only a cat can scoff. Her expression says what she’s thinking more clearly than words ever can – “What was all your fuss about? – I was just up high getting a new perspective on life and wasn’t in a bit of trouble. You humans are such babies!”

Found Kitten Tips

2011-04-24T14:24:00.001-06:00

April showers bring May flowers – and the first litters of 2011 kittens too. Often in places you’d never expect to find them. Since pet cats are often fixed at an early age, most new kittens are born to the outdoor stray and feral cats that live as wildlife. These cats colonize around a food supply – in urban areas, the contents of (and the rodents attracted to) dumpsters at residential and commercial developments – in suburban areas, rodents and the food put out for them by residents – and in rural areas, rodents attracted to feed put out for farm animals. Simply said, outdoor cats are everywhere.

Like other wildlife, these outdoor cats are crepuscular – most active at dusk and dawn. Fearing people, they keep a low daytime profile. They may live in your yard without you even knowing it – at least until their kittens are born. Kittens are immobile and mew a lot– and mom has to stay close by them – increasing the odds of your seeing them. When you do, it’s important to carefully evaluate the situation before acting.

If you find kittens without their mother, don’t disturb them but keep a close eye on them. It’s possible they’ve been permanently separated -- but more likely – the mother is simply taking a “mommy break” or moving the litter one at a time. As long as it’s reasonably warm out and the kittens are in a protected area, they are okay alone – but only for a few hours – after that, if the mother doesn’t return, the kittens may need you to intercede for their survival.

But most of the time you’ll find kittens with their mother. If the kittens are under 4 weeks old and in a relatively safe spot, leave them where they are – the mother can care for them better than you can. Observe them from a distance, but don’t disturb them – if the mother senses you may approach, she’ll quickly hide them.

To help Mom with nutrition you can put out kitten food (dry and/or wet) for her to eat, but don’t leave it out all the time. Meal feed her at the same time(s) and place each day – removing any uneaten food after 15-20 minutes. Be consistent to train her when to come for food. When her kittens are mobile and can eat cat food (4-5 weeks of age) she’ll start bringing them around too. You can observe the Mom and her kittens eating, but do so quietly and at a safe distance so not to scare them. If she senses any danger she may stop bringing them out for food.

Once the kittens are coming regularly to eat, you can safely live trap them to separate from their mother by bringing them indoors. You can move them in your home or that of a friend who enjoys kittens –all they need is a place to receive love, attention and security while they learn to enjoy both human and kitten companionship. It takes only a few weeks and while the kittens are learning to be house cats, you can typically network with friends, relatives and co-workers to find them permanent homes. No special education or skills are needed – just a big heart and a small room to foster them in.

With the kittens safely indoors, you can now live trap the mother to get her spayed. Female cats can get pregnant while they’re nursing so it’s important to act quickly. Once Mom is fixed return her to the outdoors where you found her. If you want her to stay in your yard continue providing her with daily food and she probably will stay. She’ll not only be a nice neighbor but will also help keep rodents at bay. If you’d prefer she move on, wean her off the food you’ve been providing and she may relocate. But even if doesn't, you’ll have the comfort of knowing her kittens are safe and she won’t be dropping any more litters for you to worry about.

For more complete information on caring for outdoor cats, see our handout: Managing A Feral Cat Colony.

“If I get my female cat spayed, do I have to neuter my male cat too?”

2011-04-16T14:18:00.000-06:00

More often than you’d think, we get asked this question by caregivers calling for spay/neuter help -- but once they understand our program is totally free -- they enthusiastically apply for vouchers for all their cats (male and female) – and it’s good that they do.

The cost of getting cats fixed (particularly in multi-cat homes) is out of reach for many people even through low-cost spay/neuter programs. They try to economize by just fixing the female cats – or in some cases if they’re concerned about male spraying – just fixing the male cats. They're trying to do the “right thing” by preventing kitten births in their home, but in the process they miss out on some of the most important benefits of cat sterilization. Here are just a few:

1. Fixing all your female cats may prevent them from having litters of kittens, but if any of your male cats have outdoor access, they’ll roam until they find other females who are intact and impregnate them. You’re simply shifting the kitten problem to someone else’s cats – or contributing to an increase in the community’s feral cat population.

2. While your male cats are on the prowl for unsterilized females, they’ll be spraying – most likely in someone else’s yard -- and the property owner won’t appreciate it. Un-neutered male cat spray is highly noxious and one of the reasons that so many people view outdoor cats as a nuisance. After neutering the odor diminishes considerably and makes you and your cats better neighbors.

3. Neutering a male cat lowers his testosterone level and heads off his getting into serious cat fights with other un-neutered males. Just one trip to an emergency clinic to stitch up a nasty cut or treat an infected puncture wound can set you back magnitudes more than the up-front cost of neutering.

4. FIV – a potentially debilitating lentivirus that affects 2-4% of all domestic cats – could potentially be eliminated simply by neutering all male cats. The virus is very short-lived outside the body making saliva transferred through bite wounds from one infected male cat to another during territorial fights the most common means of spreading FIV. Ironically neutering a male cat at a low-cost spay/neuter clinic often costs less than running a viral test to see if your cat has the virus.

5. Neutering your male cats will reap personal rewards for you too. Once male cats are fixed they become better companions – more docile and more accepting of human attention.

Sure fixing your female cats is a step in the right direction – but just that. To fully benefit you’ll need to follow through and get your male cats neutered too -- the sooner the better. If you live in northern New Mexico we may help with the cost – visit our web site or call to apply.

Simon's Lion Cut Isn't Pretty But Feels Great!

2011-04-12T09:54:00.000-06:00

At 18, Simon is about 88 years old in human years. Needless to say, routine grooming is getting harder and harder for him to do on his own. If he were a short-haired cat this wouldn’t be a problem, but Simon is a pure-bred Himalayan Cat with long silky fur. He has to be groomed religiously or he’ll get matted. Actually – even when he could groom himself he still got mats – just not as many or as often – and those were easy to shave off at the vet clinic when he went in for routine exams.

But recently mats took over his entire tail and back side to the point we worried about them tearing his thin aging skin. Petting him made him uncomfortable because we pulled on his fur no matter how careful we’d be -- and sleeping on them had to be a challenge -- like sleeping on a lumpy mattress. As much as we wanted to help him out by combing through the mats, Simon wouldn’t cooperate. If he sensed a comb anywhere near him he’d throw a full-scale temper tantrum only a two-year old could rival. (He joined our Older Cat Program in 2003 and was apparently not trained as a kitten to enjoy being combed.)

That’s when we saw the severity of the situation. We called all the grooming places in the area but found that even those who advertised they groomed dogs and cats did so in name only – and understandingly so. No one wants to risk cutting a nervous, wiggling cat that doesn’t want to be shaved – or worse yet getting bit in the process. Most recommended taking him to a vet clinic where he could be anesthetized but that was risky too.

Simon has advanced kidney disease and isn’t a good candidate for anesthesia. Yet of all the options, it was the only one that would work, so reluctantly we chose it. The clinic used a small dose of a fast-acting anesthetic and it gave them a 20 minute window – just enough time to make a gross pass over his entire back and tail area – but as soon as he started waking up they stopped – not risking more anesthesia to create a fine-tuned lion cut. He’s not as pretty as he once was but at least the mats are gone – for the time being. And at his age and health level, we’re hoping the hair takes its time growing back. But Simon doesn't look in the mirror and seems happy with his new “do” -- it’s cleaner, softer, and he can have all the petting he wants without any snags.

It's time to retire the phrase "kitten season"

2011-03-08T10:35:00.002-07:00

Here we are again -- at the onset of “kitten season” – the time of year where you see the biggest disconnect between cat lovers and cat welfare workers. To cat lovers, this is the best time of year to adopt a new cat – I mean kitten. Soon the shelters will be burgeoning with new litters and –and newspapers and Craig’s List will start running ads for “free kittens to good homes.” And – since the majority of kittens are born to outdoor cats – you may actually find the cat (I mean kitten) of your dreams living in your own backyard – or that of your neighbor’s. All you need to do is scoop her up before she turns 8 weeks old to effectively socialize her to the life of an indoor companion. Or – if you’re not looking for a new cat (I mean kitten) -- you can take the kittens you spot outdoors to a shelter or rescue where they’ll receive good care and find great lifelong homes.

But – if you’re a cat welfare worker you’ll have a different take on “kitten season”. First – it’s hard to think of kittens as a “season”. Cats over 4 months old are polyestrous long-day breeders with females (if they’re sexually active) going into heat every 3 weeks from March thru October – or year-round if they live indoors with artificial lighting. Second – of the kittens taken to shelters – only those that arrive at the shelter at the right age (around 8 weeks) and well-socialized (have had lots of prior human contact) find that loving permanent home – and that is if they are also healthy and the stress of being at a shelter doesn’t make them sick. (All shelters – no matter how fancy – are subject to airborne viruses that often are more than the immature kitten immune system can handle. When they get sick, they’re often euthanized rather than treated.)

So what happens to the kittens who don’t get adopted? They’re euthanized in shelters right along with the adult cats, dogs and puppies sharing their plight – healthy but homeless. According to the ASPCA, U.S. shelters euthanized approximately 3.7 million animals in 2008 – and there’s no reason to believe that number will drop much in 2011.

But despite these staggering euthanasia figures, we perpetuate the fantasy that kitten season is exciting. Probably because it's more palatable than thinking about the 10,137 shelter killings a day – 422 killings per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year -- killings that could be prevented if instead of celebrating kittens we managed their numbers. Isn't it time to retire the phrase "kitten season" -- a phrase that only pulls a pretty curtain over an incredibly ugly situation allowing us to close our eyes and ignore the root problem. A problem with a known and easy solution -- free and accesible spay/neuter for all cats -- male, female, friendly or feral.

Why Ear-Tip Feral Cats?

2011-02-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

Ear-tipping is simply removing the top 1/4" from the cat's left ear.

Many people new to feral cat management question why feral cats must be ear-tipped when they’re sterilized. Ear-tipping is simply the removal of the top ¼” of the cat’s left ear while they’re being spayed or neutered and still under the effects of anesthesia. The practice began in Europe in the 1970’s and was later popularized in this country by Alley Cat Allies. Our TNR program – as most others -- follows their guidelines and requires ear-tipping of all participants.

Buy why bother identifying them as sterilized outdoor-only cats? Sterilizing a colony of cats is a challenge for any care manager. First you have to set up a meal-feeding routine that conditions the cats to come at the same time each day and be hungry when they do – then you have to convince them to go in a food-baited live trap so you can safely take them to their surgery. You’d think that once a cat is caught in a live trap they would never be caught again yet many cats do return to the trap. So once colony sterilization is underway, the caregiver needs a reliable method to know if the cat in the trap is still intact. Otherwise they’ll waste a surgery appointment by taking in a cat that’s already done. This is often complicated because the colony may consist of mostly black or gray cats – and it’s hard for to tell them apart – that is without the assist of an ear-tip. And often care managers are surprised to learn they're feeding more cats than they thought. Where they thought they had 1 or 2 gray or black cats, they fix and ear-tip them only to find look alikes without ear tips still to be sterilized.

And, as ear-tipping becomes the standard for identifying managed outdoor cats, it’ll help well-meaning cat Samaritans too. When they see an ear-tip on an outdoor cat, they’ll know the cat is not a lost or abandoned pet cat and won’t accidentally cart the cat off to a shelter. This will help take the load off shelters that are often given cats that should never have been taken out of their outdoor home and let them focus their time and resources on the cats who actually need their help.

Although there are other ways to identify a sterilized outdoor cat, they’re not as effective. Micro chips and tattoos require close examination -- which is often difficult with a fearful and shy feral cat – and cat collars with ID tags by their nature are designed to come off if a cat gets hooked on something – which they invariably will. Only the ear-tip can be seen from a distance and without handling the cat. It’s permanent, safe and painless – and if it prevents a cat from being live-trapped twice for sterilization – or carted off to a shelter when it’s not lost or abandoned – it’s well worth the cosmetic intrusion.

Spay Day USA is Today

2011-02-22T09:52:00.001-07:00

Today marks our 11th Spay Day USA participation. This event was established in 1995 by the Doris Day Animal League to draw national attention to the importance of spay/neuter for cats and dogs – and to give a central theme to grass roots events held simultaneously throughout the country -- often free or very low-cost spay/neuter events.

Today – over 85% of all pet cats are automatically spayed or neutered by shelters and rescues before being adopted -- or soon after by their caregivers. The other 15% -- are often left intact. Not because their caregivers don’t recognize the importance of getting their cats fixed but simply because they can’t afford the surgery – even at a low-cost spay/neuter clinic. These are often the cats living with students, young parents, disabled or elderly adults living on a fixed income – or with property owners feed colonies of stray and feral cat who take up residence on their land -- and the sheer number of cats put the cost of surgeries out of anyone’s reach.

Often these caregivers are stereotyped as “irresponsible” but this is simply not the case – given access to free and convenient spay/neuter help they jump at the opportunity to get the work done. How do we know this? Because we provide them with the help they need to be “responsible” and they tell us.

In celebration of this year’s Spay Day, we’d thought you might enjoy hearing them first hand so we’ve pulled a few comments out of our mail bag to share with you:

“I am 66 years old living on $824. SSA retirement and this would really help me. Thank you.” -- Clare, Santa Fe

“Thank you for helping me and my cat M. We took her to the mobile clinic in Las Vegas and she’s recovering nicely. Due to being impoverished after my bout with cancer in 2007, paying such an expense would have been very difficult. But the dear companionship of my M is a joy worth it. Thank you.” -- Robert, Las Vegas

“I haven’t been able to find anyone to give this very nice cat a home and It was apparently abandoned, unneutered, by the previous tenants here. It has been hanging around my yard since I moved in, but has been a constant, ever thinner fixture since the weather turned cold. Although very friendly to people, he is quite aggressive to my existing neutered, older cats, and I can’t expect them to accept him into the yard or house as an unaltered tom. I can stretch my budget to feed him, but professional services are beyond me at this point. This is a wonderful program you are offering and I hope I can qualify so that I can integrate the cat into my household.” -- Terri Santa Fe

“My S. kitty is nearly mended now from her recent spay surgery. I am relieved that this has been taken care of as I could not have financially done so on my own. Again, many, many thanks.” – Bahira, Santa Fe

“Your funding of this project has made a difference to both the feral cats in that area as well as the elderly residents. They have been very worried about the “wild kitties” and as a friend to many of the folks there, I want to especially thank you for putting their minds at ease.” -- Sue, Santa Fe

It's easy to see that these caregivers are anything but irresponsible. So the next time you hear a media piece blaming them for a burgeoning cat population -- remember these true-life stories. Once we quit blaming others for the problem of homeless cat euthanasia, we can work on solving it. And the solution is known and simple – make every day Spay Day USA -- providing routine free and available spay/neuter access for all cats – male, female, indoors and outdoors -- to everyone regardless of income.

Every Day Is Valentine's Day When You Have A Cat To Love

2011-02-13T10:27:00.001-07:00

Valentine’s Day is always special but this year it seems to be more anticipated than in other years. Sure the purveyors of all things Valentine – candy, cards, flowers and dining – are most likely behind all the press it’s getting, but don’t be put off by the commercialism. Valentine’s Day goes deeper – it’s not so much about loving someone as about “being in love”. That added feeling of warmth and happiness that comes from intertwining our lives with others – like the euphoria we feel when a bright sun shines after a heavy rain. Or the happiness that comes from getting a promotion or scoring well on a test.

It goes without saying that most of us who have cats love them. Why else would we scoop their litter boxes and put their food out before having our morning coffee or sitting down to our evening dinner? In return, our cats provide us with unconditional love – they’re always there waiting to greet us when we return home -- and are just as happy to see us on a good day as a bad day. And – when we take the time to sit with them, they jump up to be petted -- purring as if we’re the most important person in the world – and to them we probably are.

The benefits of cats as pets are well documented. The simple act of petting a cat can lower blood pressure and their daily companionship can often head off or minimize human depression. Public housing units are required by law to allow cats so even those on the thinnest budgets can benefit from a loving cat-human relationship. Unfortunately assisted living residences don’t always accommodate pets and because of this, many individuals who would benefit from the extra care these places provide continue living independently so they can keep their cats. And – when they do ultimately move where their cats aren’t allowed – the emotions they feel are akin to those of mourning the death of a loved one.

Often the people who benefit most from having a cat -- students, young parents, disabled or elderly adults living on fixed incomes -- are the ones with the most difficulty paying the front-end costs to neuter their cats and so they’re often depicted as “irresponsible”. This simply isn’t the case. They get the importance of spay/neuter but with limited incomes other bills take precedence and before they know it, the situation is out of control – the female cats start going into heat and having kittens -- and the male cats start spraying – so they’re taken to animal control shelters where they’re often euthanized – or dropped outdoors to fend for themselves where they often form or join feral cat colonies.

It isn’t that they can’t provide good homes for their cats – they can. It’s just a matter of economics. By simply providing them with free and local spay/neuter we can help keep these cats in their homes with the guardians who love them. In northern New Mexico, – with the help of area spay/neuter and veterinary clinics -- that’s what Cat Spay of Santa Fe is doing. If you know of someone here who has an un-neutered cat, give them our phone number so we can help make their Valentine’s Day a day of love and commitment to the soft furry friend that keeps them company. Our program is fast, convenient and free. Every cat that stays in their original home is one less on the streets or in the shelters. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Brain Seizures in Older Cats

2011-01-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

When we think of the chronic illnesses of older cats, kidney disease tops the list with a variety of cancers following close behind. One ramification of both end-stage kidney failure and some neurological-related cancers are brain seizures. And -- although they aren’t common -- they can and do happen – and when they do – they can be very disturbing to watch – especially the first time they happen. The topic of feline seizure disorders is well presented this month in a new TLC veterinary scholarship paper on our web site. Our work with the older cats has given us a personal perspective as well.

For our pet cat Gracie, seizures began when she was 12 years old in July 2002. We heard a banging noise and saw her paddling away in a puddle of urine on the floor. The episode lasted only seconds but it seemed like minutes and we had no clue as to what to do to help her. When the seizure ended we rushed her to the vet. They did a brief exam with blood work and sent us home. We learned an isolated seizure was not serious but if two or more seizures happen in a short time frame it’s a veterinary emergency. We should avoid handling her while she seizures (for safety reasons) but we should remove any potential hazards from her immediate area.

Gracie didn’t seizure again until the fall of 2003 when we heard another telltale banging noise. What we saw was Gracie lying on the floor paddling her 4 legs and writhing uncontrollably. These events became an all too common happening. Unfortunately she was often in precarious places when they occurred – once on top of a tall cat tree and once at the top of a flight of stairs. There were no obvious warning signs to alert us. Because of the frequency of her seizures, she was put on Phenobarbital and in July 2004 we had a MRI done. It showed a contrast-enhancing mass on the dorsal aspect of the brain that extended on either side of the midline. In addition it showed an extensive area of cerebral edema (fluid). Unlike the more common meningioma, her tumor was inoperable and so we continued her on Phenobarbital and later Keppra to control the seizures as best we could. And – to dry up the edema – we added prednisolone to her meds as well.

Although Gracie’s actual seizures only lasted for a few seconds, their after effects (post-ictal period) commonly continued for one or more days. Immediately after a seizure she’d be ravenously hungry and walk around in a daze bumping into anything in her path. After a half hour or so she’d slow down a bit but her walking would be very unstable. We bought her a mesh cat “play pen” to keep her safe during the post-seizure phase and kept her as comfortable as we could until she went back to normal. Remarkably she lived for seven years coping reasonably well with her affliction until she died on February 17, 2009 from a seizure that would not end. She was 19 years old.

In addition to Gracie, we’ve had three other cats from our TLC Older Cat Program who also had seizures. Two (Sweetie and Tasha) had seizures in the end stage of kidney failure and Amber had infrequent seizures during the last two years of her life. She had many other health issues and we didn’t pursue the cause of her seizures but treated them with Keppra.

Seizures are a difficult behavior to encounter in your pet. The only good thing to be said for them is – based on accounts of people who have seizures – they aren’t painful and afterward the cat has no memory of ever having them!

Cat Spay of Santa Fe Fixes 459 Cats in 2010

2011-01-09T14:21:00.001-07:00

Cat Spay of Santa Fe finished its first (May-December) year with a total of 459 cat sterilizations – and we’ve already got another 60 outstanding vouchers redeemable this month to give 2011 a jump start.

Our program is unique because it offers free and accessible spay/neuter help to cats that typically live below the spay/neuter radar – not because their caregivers don’t get the importance of sterilization -- but simply because they can’t afford it. They may be students, young parents, or unemployed, disabled or elderly adults living on fixed incomes – or they may be property owners feeding stray and feral cats that claim their yard as home -- where the sheer number of cats puts the cost of surgery out of reach regardless of income.

We appreciate the help we’re receiving from area vet clinics (shelter and private). For as important as it is to make spay/neuter free, it’s equally important to make it convenient. For many caregivers, the cost of gas is prohibitive and others are dependent on public transportation or friends and relatives to take them to a clinic – and they’ll hesitate to ask for help if it involves a major drive.

Our vouchers are now accepted in Santa Fe at Valley Veterinary, Sangre de Christo Animal Hospital, Gruda Animal Hospital and in Edgewood at Vista Larga Animal Hospital. In addition, the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society accepts our vouchers at both their Spay/Neuter & Wellness Clinic and at their SpAN New Mexico Mobile Clinics – the latter accounted for almost half of our 2010 surgeries and enabled us to extend our services to outlying areas that would be difficult to cover without them.

Through the efforts of these clinics we're able to help caregivers fix -- and keep -- their cats. Cats that could otherwise end up on their own outdoors or euthanized in shelters. We look forward to 2011 as our first full year of activity and hope to see our spay/neuter numbers triple. Full details and program applications are available on our web site – but for many of our lower-income applicants who aren’t computer savvy – all it takes to apply is a five-minute phone call. We have no waiting list and mail vouchers as soon as the application is approved. Happy New Year to you and your cats!

BTW we're mapping our spay/neuters on our web site --totaled by zip code. To see the scope of our service area just click here. We'll update the map monthly throughout 2011.

Coswell Dies After A Long Bout With Feline Lymphoma

2010-12-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

We lost Coswell last Sunday to advanced lymphoma. It started in his intestine last winter and was being well-managed on medication until about a month ago. Then the lymphoma started moving into other parts of his body – most notably into his eyes. By the time we euthanized him he had gone completely blind and was showing signs of neurological problems.

Coswell was a beautiful 15 year old cat that came into our TLC Older Cat Program in 2003 when the Ann Arbor animal control agency trapped him living at a shopping mall dumpster. He had a sweet disposition and had probably not been on the streets long when he was taken. Whether he was a lost pet or abandoned cat we’ll never know.

He had the most beautiful white whiskers of any cat I’ve seen and one of the best purr machines I’ve heard. He got along well with all the cats and was a favorite friend of Onyx. We will all miss him dearly!

Winter's On Its Way -- Are Your Cat Shelters Ready?

2010-11-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

This time of year we get calls from people who started feeding cats in their yard in the spring and summer – who are now scurrying around to find a Cat Rescue to take them -- fearing they’ll die outdoors from the cold. Happily – this is not the case. Prior to 1950, almost all cats lived only outdoors – and cold temperatures pose no more a threat to them than they do for any other wildlife. Outdoor-only cats grow thick winter undercoats and naturally huddle together to share body warmth when it’s frigid outdoors.

But --unlike other wildlife who instinctively build their own winter houses – cats do not. They may need some help securing a dry shelter to shield them from wind, rain and snow. For without it—if they get wet and can’t dry off – they may get frostbite or hyperthermia – and this can be life-threatening.

Suitable dry shelters are often already present in your yard -- the underside of a porch, a barn or shed, or idle doghouses – and may be what attracted the cats to your property in the first place. But it can also be something you build especially for them. Alley Cat Allies offers plans for a six-cat shelter (see photo). Or it can be something you modify such as a plastic box with an access hole in it anchored to the ground.

For shelter insulation, straw or marsh grass work the best – never use hay as it can cause sneezing because of the tiny seeds in it – and stay away from blankets that can get wet and not dry out defeating the purpose of the shelter. And don’t worry if the cats don’t appear to live in their shelters – many use them only when absolutely necessary – in the dark of night when the temperatures dip their lowest.

So if you were feeding cats earlier in the year and enjoy their companionship don't let winter get in your way of keeping and caring for them. Just be sure your cats have access to dry shelter from the elements – because in the winter months that shelter can be as important to their life quality as the food you give them. For more examples of what people use for outdoor cat shelters visit us on Facebook.

Have You Had Your Cat Fix Today?

2010-11-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

In the United States we take pet guardianship for granted. Cats – in particular – are often free for the taking and permitted to live in most housing. If not, they often hang around outdoors at apartments and mobile home parks (attracted by the rodents feeding at community dumpsters) so even those without indoor pets can enjoy seeing and feeding them. This is not the case in Japan where they are commonly banned from apartments depriving many Japanese of the joys cat companionship. But Japanese entrepreneurs have stepped up to the plate and now provide a new twist on cat-human relationships vis a vis the establishment of Cat Cafes.

Just as the name implies, cat cafes are essentially coffee shops that house ten to twenty well-cared-for cats so people can enjoy them while sipping coffee or tea. There’s almost a hundred cafes right now with some specializing in a particular breeds or colors of cats but most providing a variety of cats – tigers, calicos, etc . Customers pay a nominal hourly fee and follow a few simple rules – like washing their hands before petting the cats and agreeing not to pull their tails. Mostly women under 35 frequent the cafes but men and older women go too. It’s not the same as having your own lap cat but close enough when that option is not available.

Our Cat Retirement Farm was a sort of “cat café” – we had no end of volunteers that would come out weekly and provide daily care and entertainment for our group of 15-20 orphaned senior cats. Although most of the volunteers had cats of their own at home some did not – they (or other family members) were allergic or lived in places where cats were not allowed. And -- sitting in a group of cats is different from living with one or two – there’s something almost spiritual about a group of contented, well-taken care of felines. They effuse tranquility. By providing visitation events for assisted living facilities, the farm allowed us to help the elderly – if only for a few minutes – remember their earlier companionship of cats – sadly we often take that right away when we move the elderly to assisted living facilities – at a time where they could most benefit from the cat’s attention and presence.

To get more insight on how cats affect a person’s well-being – particularly one in crisis – pick up a copy of Dewey’s Nine Lives – the just-released follow-on book to Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched The World by Vicki Myron. She is the librarian who found a cat in her library’s return-book chute one winter morning and made him their resident library cat. She saw Dewey’s impact on the residents of her small Iowa town and then documented it in her first book. This second one tells two more Dewey stories and seven others – of people who had their own Dewey-like experiences. It’s a very heart-rending book out just in time for Christmas – what a wonderful gift for cat lovers everywhere.

Happy Black Cat Day (I Mean Happy Halloween)

2010-10-30T13:17:00.000-06:00

It’s hard to think of Halloween without thinking about black cats – they’re almost as big a part of it as pumpkins and trick-or-treating – but not in as cheerful a way. This time of year we’re barraged with news releases warning us to keep our black cats indoors to prevent them from being stolen and sacrificed in annual satanic Halloween rituals. And many animal shelters refuse to adopt out black cats in October for the same reason. I’ve yet to find any statistics to support these claims but there’s no denying that cats – especially black cats -- are rich with historical and folkloric references. In our work with cats, the “black cat” issue has only surfaced once.

Early in our Older Cat Program we placed Blackjack -- a pure black male cat – very sweet and cuddly as the resident cat at a local assisted living residence on their Alzheimer’s floor. He seemed the perfect cat to engage and assure the residents and families in their difficult time. After living there for only a few weeks it was clear that he would do a great job but – the staff asked for a second cat for those people who were superstitious about black cats. Luckily we had the perfect match – a pure white female cat named Mama. The staff embraced her and quickly changed” Blackjack’s” name to Papa. Now they had a special cat for everyone and by linking the white and black cats together by connecting their names (Mama and Papa) the “black cat issue” soon ran its course.

Two of our remaining TLC cats are black – Robin and Larry – both are sweet as can be and neither reflects the image or likeness of evil. And both are feral – Larry more so than Robin – so it’s a little ironic that they find people scary – not the other way around. Trapping them to participate in black magic would be difficult even if they were allowed outdoors -- which they’re not. We prefer to keep them indoors with us to enjoy their good looks and meek personalities.

So when you think of Halloween go ahead and think of black cats like Robin and Larry who are as innocent as new-fallen snow. Let the negative image churned up each October of black cats as instruments of evil fade into the soon to be forgotten past. Celebrate instead the fact that even with cats – “black is beautiful”. Happy Halloween! Meow!

Happy National Feral Cat Day

2010-10-16T10:48:00.001-06:00

Today is National Feral Cat Day – an annual event established by Alley Cat Allies in 2000 to call attention to the “forgotten felines” -- those cats who are not exposed to humans during their first 8 weeks of life – and consequently grow up afraid of people – making them more akin to squirrels and rabbits than to the cuddly pampered lap cats who share our homes.

Our cat programs began in 2000 by providing free spay/neuter help to feral cats in Michigan and now we continue that work in New Mexico as one element of our Cat Spay of Santa Fe program. Over the years, though, our primary focus has shifted toward pre-emptive “TNR” – working to keep cats in their original homes -- off the streets and out of animal control shelters -- by providing free and convenient spay/neuter access to lower-income families. We know that the overwhelming reason why people abandon their cats is that their cats aren’t fixed – and money and convenient access to spay/neuter help is the overwhelming reason why they stay intact. By fixing these cats we can stop feral cat colonies from forming (or growing) in the first place. And it’s incredibly easier to get disadvantaged pet cats fixed than it is to live-trap feral cats for sterilization.

We salute the efforts of Alley Cat Allies in driving home the existence of feral cats and their efforts to ensure that all cats – not just shelter-adopted house cats – are brought under the spay/neuter radar. But in the process let us not assume that feral cats are inherently different from pet cats – as they are the exact same species. And – let us not assume that because a cat wasn’t socialized as a kitten that they can’t or wouldn’t enjoy living with people. We’ve learned that lesson first hand from the 4 teenaged feral cats who share our home. It took a little front-end work to get them comfortable but now they enjoy all the amenities of indoor living. After 5 years of being house cats it’s hard to distinguish them from the other socialized cats they live with -- other than we can’t pick them up and --except for Cleo -- they’re not lap cats.

While we chip away at the cat overpopulation problem leaving outdoor cats in place makes perfect sense – too many adoptable cats are euthanized in shelters to encourage the domestication of feral cats en masse. But – as often happens – when someone is feeding feral cats they become attached to one or more – there’s certainly no harm in moving the cat indoors using appropriate safety measures and with a basic understanding that they will act differently than companion cats act. Feral cats are no more biologically wired to rough it outdoors than pet cats are. Leaving feral cats outdoors is fine -- but -- whatever you do – if you’re feeding them indoors or out -- make sure you get them fixed. If you're in the Santa Fe area we may be able to help -- see our web site for our feral colony management program details.

Missy Finds Four Steps Work Better Than Two

2010-09-19T10:26:00.001-06:00

For a 17-year old cat, Missy is in pretty good shape. She takes a daily dose of Denamarin to support her liver function but appears healthy other than that with her weight is holding steady at a trim 7-1/2 pounds. The only indication we have that there may be some underlying geriatric health issues is that she’s spending a bit more time at the water dish than she did a few months ago. She has an annual exam coming up soon and new lab work may point to early kidney or thyroid disease – we’ll soon find out.

Yet in spite of her continued good health she has lost a step or two – literally. Here’s how we know. Missy is one of those stereotypic cats who’d prefer to be the “only cat” in the home – so having 11 cat-mates is not of her choosing and – unlike the other cats that eat, sleep and play together -- she mingles as little as possible. When we lived in Ann Arbor, Missy simulated “only cat” status by living in my upstairs office – an area off the beaten path of most of the other cats. In Santa Fe we have a one-story house so after a few days of scouting out a territory she selected a section of our kitchen counters – possibly the only “second story” area she could create. This is fine with us as the counter area isn’t one we use for food prep and anything that keeps Missy happy is good – both for her and the other cats that she hisses and growls at when they get too close for comfort.

Even last fall -- when Missy eked out the counter as her home -- her old bones were too stiff for her to jump directly from the floor to the counter so we kept a chair handy for her to use as a step. This worked fine for several months but more recently we’ve found her sometimes sleeping on the floor under the counter instead of on it -- and wondered why the change in her behavior. Then – while watching her jump onto the chair to get to the counter we discovered why. The hop onto the chair (and from the chair seat to the counter) is getting increasingly difficult for her. Instead of just taking a running leap onto the chair, she stands staring at it and wiggling her behind – and like a tennis player serving in the wind – she sometimes stops in mid-jump to start the process all over again. Apparently over the last several months Missy’s lost more agility –and/ or has reduced vision – and it’s limiting her mobility.

Not wanting her to lose the home of her choosing, we bought her a set of cat steps from Angelical Cats and placed it next to her chair. She’s now able to skip up her stairs without missing a beat – and can spend most of her day in her own private territory – fantasizing on being the only cat in the home. If only all geriatric health problems were this simple to fix!

U.S Shelter (Cat-And-Dog) Killing Rate Lowest Since 1950

2010-09-11T10:33:00.001-06:00

In its July/August 2010 issue, Animal People reports that shelter kill rates are down 17% over the last 3 years despite a depressed economy that many thought would have the oppostive effect.

It was feared that the low economy would dramatically increase the number of owner turn-ins (from people who no longer could afford to have a pet) and decrease the number of new adoptions (with fewer people willing to take on the cost of a pet). The result of this would be an increase in shelter kill rates.

Whatever caused the dip in shelter kill rates is not clear and is probably the result of many factors. Still, Animal People was able to identify one important factor:

“Wherever shelter killing has markedly dropped, about 95% of the progress can be attributed to low-cost and free high-volume cat and dog sterilization – which both reduces the numbers of homeless animals and, as free-to-good home puppies and kittens vanish, increases the opportunity for shelter animals to be adopted.”

It’s truly a closed-loop system – by lowering the input (through pro-active spay/neuter) you also lower the output (shelter kill rates). It’s a very simple concept that seems finally to be taking hold!

Cat Spay of Santa Fe Celebrates Its 100th Spay/Neuter

2010-08-30T10:00:00.001-06:00

Since we launched our free spay/neuter program last spring we’ve often felt like we’re watching water boil. We’ve filled the pot and put it on the stove and are now painfully waiting for the burner to do its job. The burner is inertia -- that momentum that takes so long to build and apparently even longer to stop.

You see, we have the unique position of watching our Santa Fe spay/neuter program ramp up while our Washtenaw County program ramps down. Yes – almost a year after we officially discontinued our TLC spay/neuter programs we’re still getting calls and applications for spay/neuter help from Michigan. Despite the fact that our 2010 application says in bright red letters that you have to live in the Santa Fe area to participate. That’s how strong the desire to get a cat fixed is when you love your cat but live on a limited budget. And, as much as we’d like to help Michigan residents get their cats fixed, we simply can’t. All we can do is refer them to other programs.

So when we posted our spay/neuter invoices today and found we’ve completed 100 surgeries in our new community we exhaled. Half of these surgeries were done in August – twice as many as were done in July and three times as many as in June. That’s how inertia works. In the near term we’ll continue to show steady increases in applications as our program gets better known through word-of-mouth and the area cat organizations and vets start to recognize that our funding is there for the cats that need it most. Our newspaper ads and bulletin board posters will kick in too.

While inertia keeps building in Santa Fe, the opposite is happening in Michigan. So it won’t be too much longer before our Washtenaw County phone requests and applications fade out entirely being replaced by similar -- and fillable -- Santa Fe requests.

Saying Goodbye To Gloria -- A Great Friend and Companion Cat

2010-08-19T09:41:00.000-06:00

I had the pleasure of living with Gloria for less than 5 of her 19 years. We don’t know much about her early years other than her guardian died leaving her alone in the home. When she was discovered – scared and crouching under the bed – she was live-trapped and taken to animal control where she was mistaken for a feral cat (because of the live trap) and almost euthanized on arrival. While preparing her for euthanasia the staff noticed she was declawed so called us to see if we wanted to take her which we did. She was one of the 70 teenaged cats we admitted to our TLC Older Cat Program and one of the luckier ones who fostered out quickly to an elderly Ann Arbor woman in 2002 – only four months after we rescued her.

Gloria was reluctantly returned to us in 2005 because – as sweet as she was 99.9% of the time -- she had a gnarly habit of biting without warning. Twice her foster mom made a midnight trip to the emergency room to be treated for the bites – and one of those times was hospitalized overnight. Much to her foster mom’s dismay, we made the unpopular decision of retrieving Gloria before her biting had any more serious consequences. (Next to human bites, cat bites can be the most serious as the mouth of the cat is a breeding ground for some pretty potent bacteria.) Yet in spite of her intermittent biting, Gloria proved a great lap cat and – although she kept mostly to herself –adjusted well to group living with the other TLC cats in our care.

Yesterday afternoon Gloria sat on my lap for the last time. Not at home but at our vet clinic. We had made another painful decision for Gloria -- to euthanize her. She had had an abrupt downturn to her life quality brought on by an antibiotic-resistant ecoli infection in her kidneys that greatly exacerbated their already degenerative state. Once the infection was identified we started her on Imipenem – an antibiotic that is not commonly used on cats but had a broad enough spectrum to treat her resistant infection. At first it seemed to work – she perked up after the first two days of treatment. But over the weekend she slid downhill fast. By Monday she was limp and weak – even having trouble walking any distance. We hospitalized her where she received IV fluids and medications and a blood transfusion. But – after 48 hours of treatment – she was weaker than when it began. We brought her home hoping she’d perk up but it was soon obvious she wasn’t going to recover. So back she went to the clinic and passed peacefully with their help.

We don’t know if Gloria’s death was brought on by an allergic reaction to the antibiotic or just to a 19-year old cat’s kidneys being stressed beyond their limits. We do know the infection was cured and that her kidneys were pretty bad even before the infection was found. She had been on daily SQ fluids for most of this year. I guess in the end it doesn’t matter. We did all we could to keep her going but nothing could prevent the inevitable. She’s on her way now to the Rainbow Bridge – where many of other her TLC cat friends will be to greet her. RIP.

Going Beyond TNR to Feral Colony Management

2010-07-25T09:42:00.000-06:00

I don’t think anyone can dispute the merits of getting outdoor cats sterilized. It improves their overall health and disposition, helps bond them to their caregivers, makes them better neighbors and lowers their numbers. This sounds great, but is it too good to be true? No, but there is one hitch. Not in the individual benefits to each cat fixed, but in the collective benefit to cats as a species – lowering their numbers.

Using cat sterilization to reduce the overall cat population only works when there’s a focused colony manager/caregiver both willing and able to monitor the cats so they get to know all the colony members – even the most timid– and then proceeds to live-trap the cats – all the cats (male and female) to get them fixed quickly before more litters are born.

How do they do this? They establish a set meal-feeding routine – putting out food once or twice a day at the same time and place. This conditions the colony to appear at the same time each day and – because they aren’t allowed to free-feed – they’re hungry when they arrive. Once the manager identifies the whole colony – a process that may take a week or two depending upon how timid the cats are – they can start supervised live-trapping to get all the cats (male and female) fixed – a few each week – every week – until all the job is complete. After that, all the manager needs to do is continue the meal-feeding routine to flag colony newcomers – if any – so they can be fixed quickly too.

Using this method -- in less time than it takes one female cat to reproduce (63 days) -- an entire colony of 20 cats can be sterilized – at a rate of just 2-3 cats a week. The results are a kitten-free zone – a plot of land where naturally-occurring outdoor stray and feral cats can live their lives without contributing to the already burgeoning cat population. And, as we noted, sterilized cats are healthier, have more pleasing temperaments, bond closer to their colony manager and become better neighbors. No longer spraying, yowling, fighting or reproducing.

Linked together, these kitten-free zones will eventually end the community’s reliance on healthy-but-homeless cat euthanasia – replacing it with a grass roots network of kitten-free zones.

If you live in the Santa Fe County area and you’re feeding outdoor cats, why not take it to the level of colony management? If you do, we can provide you with step-by-step guidelines to create a kitten-free zone as well as provide you with free spay/neuter vouchers -- one for each cat – so long as you use them within the allotted time period – 45-60 days depending on the number of cats in your colony. Interested? To learn more, visit our web site and click on the Feral Colony Management Program.

How Much Is That Kitty In The Window?

2010-07-17T09:43:00.000-06:00

According to the 2010 GFK Roper AP-Petside.com Poll over half of the pets in American homes were not purchased from a pet store, shelter or breeder – but were obtained “elsewhere”. Although they don’t delineate what “elsewhere” means, it’s pretty safe to assume that at least with cats, they were found outdoors or given to the caregiver by a friend, relative or neighbor who found the cat outdoors or had a cat with kittens. Many shelters and rescues deplore this type of adoption openly through media campaigns – press releases, t-shirts and bumper stickers – advocating for rescue adoptions only. “Free Kitten Signs” are the bane of the animal welfare movement.

Yet are “free” kittens any less loved in their adopted homes than “purchased” kittens or cats? Does putting a price tag on a pet – purchased from a pet store, rescue or shelter – guarantee they get a good home?

The February issue of Cornell’s veterinary newsletter Cat Watch reported on a study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science (October 2009). It compared 173 cat adoptions. 95 participants received their cats for free while the other 78 paid $75 for their cats. Their attachment to their cats was compared and no significant differences were found. They concluded that if shelters adopted out adult cats for free it would speed up adoptions significantly (making more cages available for new admissions) and would result in a dramatic reduction in shelter euthanasia.

If you have any doubt that a free cat would be any less loved than a purchased cat – from a shelter, rescue or pet store – just ask yourself a simple question. “If you got your cat for free – and the odds are you actually did – would you love him or her any less than if you had paid money for her?” Of course you wouldn’t.

The practice of shelters charging for pets is more one of economics than anything else. Shelters need to offset their costs or they can’t exist. In a perfect world, the offset would come from community contributions and not be tied to services. Their clients – the cats and dogs in their care – are better served without having a price tag around their necks. (Due diligence comes from adoption interviews and checking references.) If shelters asked for voluntary donations instead of charging mandatory fees they may be pleasantly surprised at the results. It’s illegal to pay for human babies – and one day we’ll view companion pets this way too.

In the meantime, if we really want to see those “free kittens” ads and signs go away, we would provide community-wide accessible and free spay/neuter. Once we get pet cats routinely fixed there won’t be many mama cats out there to challenge the system.

Delaware Succeeds Where New York Fails -- Enacting A Milestone Animal Welfare Act

2010-07-15T14:32:00.005-06:00

Delaware may be a much smaller state than New York, but its heart is magnitudes bigger. They just passed a landmark animal welfare bill – not only by unanimous vote – but with the endorsement of all of the Delaware animal shelters too! Its passage follows on the heels of New York State tabling a similar but more narrow bill that – although it had the support of most of the New York animal organizations -- was vehemently opposed by the two largest: the ASPCA and the Mayor’s Alliance.

Like the New York bill, the Delaware bill focuses on restricting euthanasia to those situations where a licensed veterinarian certifies a cat or dog is in irremediable pain or poses a physical threat to the staff or other shelter animals. Beyond that, euthanasia can only be used after a shelter demonstrates that they have tried everything possible to provide shelter and adoption assistance – including staying open on evenings and weekends and holding lost pets for return to their guardians for at least 3 days.

Before euthanizing a viable cat or dog, the shelter manager must personally certify that:

a. There are no empty cages, kennels or other living environments suitable to continue housing the animal.

b. There are no other compatible animals they can be housed with.

c. There are no foster home available to provide temporary care

d. There are no other qualified animal organizations who can rescue them.

On intake, shelters must check for microchips, ID tags and tattoos and post all lost pets on their web site with sufficient detail that someone could identify their pet to claim them. Wild animals – which I assume includes feral cats – are to be returned to their natural habitat.

Within 8 hours of receipt cats and dogs must be vaccinated to prevent widespread outbreaks of disease in the shelters and within 72 hours they must receive a health exam performed by a licensed veterinarian or technician who has been certified as proficient in doing exams. Any emergency veterinary work deemed necessary must be performed. All shelters must have designated areas set up for treatment, and isolation or quarantine.

Further, shelters must be transparent in their operation – providing detailed quarterly statistics on their operations on their web site.

This law is just another example of how far we’ve come – and it is a terrific model for other states to use in formulating similar laws. We’ve long believed that actions speak louder than words and this action speaks particularly loudly because it comes from the highest authority in Delaware. Congratulations on a job well done! Cats and dogs everywhere will benefit from your action

A Fresh Look At FIV+ Cats -- One More Reason To Fix Your Cat

2010-07-11T10:57:00.000-06:00

With 13 teenaged cats, I spend a lot of time sitting in vet clinic waiting rooms. I usually read a book, but sometimes I browse through the clinic’s vast offering of cat magazines. Last week I was glad I did as one of them pointed to an article on the Best Friends’ web site entitled: “FIV: Catching A Bad Case of Rumors”. The article’s well worth reading as it allays many of the fears and misconceptions associated with FIV. And I was surprised to learn that BFAS now permits FIV+ cats to be adopted by guardians with other cats in their home – cautioning them to keep the FIV cats healthy and take extreme care while introducing them to their others cats. Good advice for all cat introductions -- not just FIV cats.

But this is a sea change in shelter behavior. When FIV was first identified in 1986 it was swept up in emotion – largely due to its biological similarity to the human lentivirus HIV. Although it’s sometimes referred to as “Kitty AIDS” it is not – and it cannot be transferred to humans. Standard shelter practice was (and still is in many animal control shelters) to test for FIV and euthanize positive cats – even when they are ostensibly healthy. And even without performing a different test to verify the results of the first – a protocol recommended to guard against test errors. Because of this, even cats without FIV can be erroneously euthanized as well as kittens who may test positive as babies because their mother had FIV but are actually negative on tests performed after they turn 6 months old.

Allowing FIV+ cats to be adopted is good news – so long as the guardian is aware of the condition. Many cats with the virus lead long healthy lives with no outward sign of illness. Knowing that the cat has FIV helps too. Essentially cats with FIV have compromised immune systems so if they contract an illness they’re less able to shrug it off. Knowing this, their guardians can head off problems by getting veterinary help at the first signs of illness.

And if sterilized FIV cats are properly introduced to existing non-FIV sterilized cats, the risk of transfer is extremely low. The virus only lives for a short time outside the blood stream so it’s almost always transferred from one cat to another through deep puncture wounds – usually in fights between un-neutered male cats. Cat fighting is stable homes rarely leads to puncture wounds. Casual contact (shared food dishes, water bowls or litter boxes) doesn’t cause infection nor does most sexual contact.

Spaying and neutering cats is a highly effective way to stop the spread of FIV -- since it prevents the situations that often result FIV transfer. And this is just another reason why free and convenient spay/neuter of all cats living indoors or out is so important.

The TLC Cats Bask In A Virtual Outdoors

2010-07-03T10:21:00.001-06:00

It was 9 months in the planning – but took only one day to erect -- our outdoor enclosure for the TLC Cats. From the outside it doesn’t look like much but it provides the cats with safe outdoor viewing of a myriad of wildlife -- birds, rabbits, pack rats and even a resident Quail family– that regularly hang out around our house.

We average about 6 or 7 cats out there at a time – and the outdoor feeling must be very real because the first few days we let them out, they would run back in the house when we approached the room – giving the impression they thought they had been caught sneaking outdoors. Now they’re getting the idea that it’s okay for them to be out and stay put. They have total access to the room when we’re home and awake.

To create the enclosure, we simply attached three electric shade screens to an exterior house wall and took advantage of the portal roof and paver floor to complete the structure. An exterior living room door leads into the enclosure.

The cats now have a safe way to breathe in the fresh Santa Fe air, sunbathe, peep at the critters and nap without the inherent risks of being outdoors – predators, parasites or the possibility of getting lost. All we need to add to complete the experience are a few pots of cat grass to munch on.

Would they prefer being in the real outdoors? Probably. But the open screened view is crystal clear from the inside so they can see the critters up close and personal but it's opaque on the outside so the critters don't see them. Ranging in age from 12 to 19 years old, these cats are much more a fan of spectator sports than live action -- and this safe enclosure optimizes their participation -- and it's just in time for the 4th of July!.

Oreo's Law Takes A Bite Out of Best Friends

2010-07-01T14:43:00.000-06:00

Best Friends Animal Society is taking some well-deserved heat right now for their failure to support Oreo’s Law. By holding a neutral position on this bill, they let down over 70% of the animal organizations in New York State who had supported it – not to mention the many cats and dogs that will die in New York shelters because the bill didn’t become law. It was tabled in June and will not be brought to a vote again until 2011 if it’s brought back at all.

Oreo’s Law (NY Assembly Bill Number A09449) was introduced last November after the ASPCA opted to kill an abused dog named Oreo rather than turn him over to another animal organization who offered to provide him with life care. If the bill had passed, it would be illegal for a shelter to unilaterally euthanize animals – who are not dangerous, suffering irremediably or afflicted with rabies -- without first giving other qualified organizations 24 hours notice of their intent. And – if any qualified organization comes forward to take the animals, the shelter is required to transfer them rather than kill them. There are already similar laws in other states – most notably a 1998 California law which is credited with saving thousands of animals.

Best Friends staying neutral on such a bill is particularly curious because anyone who knows the story of how they started knows it was by doing exactly what this bill codifies – rescuing cats and dogs from death row. Have they forgotten their roots? Why would any animal organization at the forefront of the No Kill Movement not get behind a law that makes shelter euthanasia more accountable to the community? I went to their blog to find out – and was saddened by what I read.

They chose neutrality because they didn’t want to take sides in what they considered “a fight over ideology and history” between significant animal welfare figures – Nathan Winograd and Edward Sayres. Yet this wasn’t a cocktail party debate they stayed clear of -- it was hard-and-fast legislation that would ensure shelters availed themselves of every means necessary to reasonably save the lives of viable cats and dogs before resorting to killing them. Doesn’t this law support the very premise of No Kill? … Of Best Friends?

Then Best Friends concludes that staying neutral was reasonable because:

“Ultimately we believe it made no difference, with regard to its passage, whether or not we supported the bill. … Without the support from two of the biggest organizations in the region (ASPCA and the Mayor’s Alliance), the bill simply wasn’t going to pass.”

Of course the ASPCA isn’t going to support Oreo’s Law -- it reins in their actions. And by supporting the law they would have to acknowledge that shelter euthanasia should be used only as a last resort not as an assembly line taking homeless cats and dogs in the front door, killing them and then taking them out the back door.

Making a decision to stay neutral on a bill – not because of what it does to advance a No Kill Nation – but because you don’t want to be on the losing team is morally corrupt. We do – and should -- expect more than that from Best Friends. They have a stellar history but this action puts a major chink in it.

It's 11:00 p.m. -- Do You Know Where Your Cats Are?

2010-06-09T09:55:00.002-06:00

I once listened to a speaker from England explore cultural differences in cat care. For example-- in the U.S. -- shelters often refuse a cat to someone who won’t agree to keep their cats indoors -- while in the U.K. --shelters often do the opposite -- refuse to adopt to someone who won’t let their cats outdoors. Few cat care issues are as emotionally charged as this one – and even in the U.S. where animal organizations strongly discourage outdoor lifestyles -- because it puts the cat’s life at risk from cars and coyotes – there’s still many who hold a cat’s right to go outdoors is inalienable -- after all a cat is a cat. Right?

I’ve struggled with this for years with my own pets. For awhile we had cat doors to let them come and go as they pleased during the daylight but kept them indoors at night. There’s no question that our cats enjoyed this freedom – but it came with a price. We used Revolution monthly to prevent fleas and worms, and when it was wet outdoors their muddy paws soiled our floors. But the worst part was that when someone infrequently disappeared for a day or so, we’d be frantic with worry – only to learn they were fine. To add salt to our wounds – when they did return -- they’d look at us curiously wondering why we were seemed so relieved to see them again. After all – they knew they hadn’t gotten lost or injured -- they were just out catting. But the fact that we felt so guilty spoke volumes.

Over the years we’ve cut back outdoor access dramatically – they still go outside but only in a confined area – and only when we’re watching them. They no longer can run loose even in the daytime. And because cats are highly territorial I think they’re okay with this too – a territory is a territory. Once it’s defined it becomes their planet.

On our new home, we’re building a screened-in area on our patio for the cats to go outdoors without risk – and we hope it’ll be finished later this month. Originally we thought our walled-in courtyard would be safe but quickly found it works only for the geriatric companion cats whose arthritis keep them from jumping over the wall. Our indoor feral cats – Robin, Larry, Joyce, Cleo and Emmy – are a tad younger and more agile so the wall doesn't contain them. They’ll have to wait for the screened porch to sun themselves and breathe fresh air.

At least that’s what we thought until we made a rookie error a few evenings ago. It was warm outdoors so we left the sliding screen door to our courtyard unattended while we watched TV in the living room. We thought the house was secure but it wasn’t. Cleo is a classic Torti -- both smart and cunning. She saw an opportunity for adventure and took it – by cleverly pawing at the screen until it slid open just wide enough for a cat to slip out.

By the time we discovered her new skill, Cleo, Larry, Joyce and Robin had all jumped over the wall and vanished. It was dark. We were tired. And calling them didn’t bring them home. Worse -- we knew even if we saw them we couldn’t catch them because they’re feral and would run -- away from us not indoors. So we turned all the outdoor lights on and monitored the doors to see if they were near. Luckily, by 1:00 a.m. Larry, Joyce and Cleo had decided their adventure was over and it was time to come back home.

But Robin proved more difficult and we feared the worst. By morning there still was no sign of him anywhere so we spent the next day looking for him. Unlike dogs, cats don’t run – the last thing they want is to be outside of their territory – so we kept our sights on the immediate area. We knew he had a collar on with our phone number and was microchipped so if he landed at a shelter at some point we’d be notified. We also know that cats use scent as a location tool, so we cracked our garage door open about his height and stuck a pillow with his scent on it in the opening. And – lucky for us – the following morning when I opened the door to the garage there was Robin – as big as life and twice as beautiful! He found his garage – possibly through the pillow’s scent – and waited safely inside it until I opened the door to let him in.

Now the screen has a new latch on it – so even a crafty Cleo can’t slide it open – and we’re staying after our builder to get their screened-room finished asap. Keeping cats indoors or outdoors is still open for discussion – but at least for me – I sleep better when I know the cats are all safely inside when I go to sleep.

Three Cheers For The Mouseketeers -- Disneyland Employs Feral Cats For Rodent Control

2010-05-30T10:07:00.001-06:00

I’ve been a long-time fan of the Disney parks. Although they’re not perfect (no organization is) -- with few exceptions – they excel beyond reasonable expectation at what they do – making people happy. Not only are their rides and exhibits clever and their food delicious -- but all the miniscule background details are well-oiled. And it’s these background details that make your park experience so special.

As a former manager of a small strip mall I know how challenging it is to keep a public property looking brand new. Yet Disney has found the perfect recipe for keeping trash always in its place – light bulbs always working – and gardens burgeoning with healthy (often flowering) plants. Their bathrooms are impeccable – and -- other than Mickey and his friends -- you won't hear a mouse scurrying anywhere on the grounds.

What makes this no small feat is that you also rarely see maintenance crews working. Why? To keep your park experience purrfect, the work is done after the park closes for the night. That's right. Disneyland employs 600 after-hours employees to groom the land and clean the facilities – and about 200 nocturnal feral cats who keep mice and other small rodents at bay.

Yes -- according to a May 2nd article in the Los Angeles Times -- feral cats help create the magic of Disneyland. No one remembers when they first moved into the park – nestling in the trees and shrubs during the day and roaming at night -- but instead of evicting them -- Disneyland uses the proven principles of managed TNR (trap/neuter and return) to control their numbers. They sterilize the resident adult cats and find homes for any kittens born there. The cats have five permanent feeding stations located throughout the grounds. "We are not trying to get rid of them," said Gina Mayberry, manager of Disneyland's Circle D ranch, where the park's animals are housed. "They keep the rodent population down."

This Memorial Day Weekend will be a busy one at amusement parks. If you're one of the lucky ones spending it at Disneyland,remember that although Micky Mouse is the official host of Disney, it's the feral cats they provide a permanent home for that benefit most from their care.

These Are The Cat Requests That Break Your Heart

2010-05-19T08:35:00.001-06:00

“I am inquiring about finding a new home for our cat. She is 10 years old and loves being indoors and outdoors. We have a house guest coming for the summer that is highly allergic to cats. If I could find her a new home for her by June 6th it would allow me over a week to de-cat our home.”

To someone who loves cats as much as I do, an e-mail like this is devastating. How could anyone give up their 10-year old cat to accommodate a house guest? There must be some other alternative that would allow the cat to stay in the home during a visit from a friend or relative – even one with allergies.

The fact that she’s not looking for an alternative probably means she’s no longer bonded to the cat and this is as good excuse as any to give her up. By age ten, most cats are pretty sedentary – not as playful as they were as kittens – and they start costing more to keep – with middle-aged illnesses just around the corner. But, if you've bonded to your cat, this is the time of life that they are the best company -- wanting more lap time and cuddling than when they were young and frisky.

A 10-year old cat on the adoption market is standing at the end of a very long line to find a new home – most adoptions are of kittens or very young and friendly adult cats. Many shelters and rescues won’t take them on because they know it takes a long time to place them – tying up a cage or foster home that could place several kittens during the same time period. Animal control shelters often accept them, but usually they go into the back room to be euthanized on arrival without even being given a chance for adoption. They flunk the “adoptable” litmus test – simply because of their age.

So what do you do if you have a mature cat that you can’t or won’t keep? The only reasonable solution is to network with everyone you know to find a permanent home for her bypassing shelters and rescues altogether. There are people who will adopt a 10-year old cat but it may take months to find them. Wanting them out of the house by June 6th is simply not realistic. Our TLC Older Cat Program -- during its brief shelter phase -- placed about 3 dozen teenaged cats. Most of the people who adopted them were middle-aged women living alone who had recently lost a cat to old age illnesses -- like cancer or kidney failure. Targeting this group takes some creativity but as a rule they make great homes for older cats as they’ve gone through the process before and understand the benefits and challenges of seeing a cat through life to the Rainbow Bridge.

The Great Cat Debate: Can An Adult Feral Cat Become Socialized?

2010-05-18T12:41:00.000-06:00

How often do you read that if kittens aren’t given intense human attention during their brief socialization window (the time before they turn 8 weeks old), they’ll stay feral cats all their lives? This is the premise at the heart of TNR (trap-neuter-return) – that feral cats are more suited to living in outdoor colonies than indoor homes. On the surface, this is understandable science. After all, cats are animals – why would they want to sit on a human’s lap or share their home without having been pre-conditioned to do so as kittens?

Yet how often do you also hear individuals who rescue cats – or find cats living in their yard or barn – say that adult feral cats do tame – even if it takes awhile for them to calm down. But if the science is correct, this is impossible. Right? So what’s really going on here? Here are a few explanations:

• Lost or abandoned pet cats revert to feral behaviors to survive outdoors. And these previously-socialized cats tame quickly – usually within a few weeks or months of when they reconnect with humans. And,

• Feral cats often bond to a caregiver who regularly brings them food. The cats learn through repetition that the caregiver is their friend and will not harm them. So eventually they let their guard down around that particular person, but still not around other people. This is a form of habituation not socialization.

Yet neither of these situations explains what we’re seeing in our own home with our four teenaged feral cats: Larry, Joyce, Emmy and Cleo. When they first moved indoors in 2005, they were clearly feral – always hanging out as a group in the areas of the house we didn’t. They wouldn’t even come to our kitchen to eat – we had to feed them separately in their own area. Then, about a year ago, we started seeing subtle changes in them – with Cleo leading the way by sleeping with us at night – even though she kept an arm’s length away and stayed on the edge for a quick exit.

After moving to Santa Fe last fall, the cats seemed to come around even more. Right from the start they ate in the kitchen with our companion cats – and started joining us in the office comfortably napping while we worked. Now Emmy and Larry are routine bed visitors – and Cleo no longer stays an arm’s length away -- often sleeping on my pillow all night long. Now Emmy and Cleo allow me to pick them up and carry them – without struggling to get free. And – while renovating our home – there’s been a frequent flow of work crews in the house – and they see as much of our feral cats as they do our companion cats.

So if feral behavior is truly irreversible – how can teenaged feral cats – change so dramatically? We know enough about their backgrounds to know that they weren’t socialized as kittens – and yet their acceptance of people now extends well beyond their caregivers. What’s really happening here is a question -- but my guess is that cats aren’t as genetically pre-wired to be permanently feral as we portray them.

Right now – with as many homeless cats as there are – leaving feral cats outdoors is still our best strategy. They’re proven survivors. But once we get the numbers down, it’s a concept we may have to revisit. Just because they aren’t stereotypic lap cats, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t enjoy the life of Riley as much as the next pampered pet cat – Larry, Cleo, Joyce and Emmy prove that they can. So when it comes to feral cats, it's not true that they’re all black-and-white – a lot of them are calico.

Happy Mother's Spay

2010-05-09T09:44:00.002-06:00

Is it okay to spay a mom cat? Can she be fixed when she’s in heat, pregnant or nursing? The short answer is yes. And, because cats are polyestrus long-day breeders – you often have no choice. They go in and out of heat continuously -- every two weeks -- during the “long day months” of February through October -- unless they’re ill or already pregnant. Their heat cycles start when a female kitten is as young as 16 weeks and yes – mother cats can become pregnant while nursing – and related cats and kittens (brothers and sisters, fathers and daughters, sons and mothers) do breed. If you’re living with a male and female cat or kitten (related or not) you can have a litter of kittens even if your cats are indoor-only. My first female cat got pregnant while I was moving into a new apartment – I left her in the new one while I went to pick up another load of belongings-- not knowing a kitchen window was slightly open. When I returned there was a neighbor’s tom cat in my living room and 63 days later we had a brand new litter of 3 kittens. That’s all it takes. My cat lived alone and had never been outdoors and yet she was pregnant! I didn’t even know she was in heat.

The best way to prevent this is to get your cats (male and female) fixed as young as possible. Vet students today are being trained to sterilize cats at 8 weeks of age and two pounds of weight. Many private veterinarians also fix cats at that age or wait until their 12 weeks old and three pounds. Some still adhere to the older practice of waiting until they’re six months old – this helps to make a pet cat more suitable as an indoor companion, but leaves you exposed to having or causing an unintended litter or two.

The early spay/neuter surgeries have been standard practice in animal shelters with in-house veterinarians for over 20 years now and not only have they demonstrated it’s safe – but some argue it’s better -- because young kittens are more resilient than older cats and have less surgery after-effects to deal with. For female cats the surgery is often simpler – since they can’t be in heat or pregnant.

So can you fix an in-heat or pregnant cat? Yes. But not without increased risk -- as the surgery is more complicated. If you think your cat is pregnant, fix her immediately – the longer you wait, the more complicated the surgery will be. If you find yourself with a pregnant cat and your vet recommends against spaying her -- or you have moral quandaries about doing so --you may have a litter of unintended kittens. If so, start finding homes for them even before they’re born, but plan on keeping them together as a litter for their first 8 weeks. This is how they learn to be cats.

And – most importantly –get Mom spayed as soon as her kittens are eating on their own – at about 4 weeks of age. Mom can get pregnant at that time and finding homes for her second litter will be a lot harder than the first. Our Feral Colony Handbook (Appendix C) gives a good overview on how to care for and socialize kittens.

And please – don’t intentionally breed your cats – no matter how beautiful they are. The odds are their kittens won’t look like them anyway. If you really enjoy kittens, channel that energy into a more positive light by volunteering as a foster home for kittens that couldn’t be prevented. Cat rescues and shelters get flooded with them and they have to be placed in foster homes until after they’ve been socialized and are at least 8 weeks old. You and your children can perform a great community service by opening your homes to these very orphaned babies – making every day a mother’s day for them.

Cat Spay Of Santa Fe Update

2010-05-08T12:51:00.000-06:00

After our first burst of activity in late April, Cat Spay of Santa Fe went dormant. We kind of expected that to happen as it takes time for a new program to build a rhythm. And – since it is a new program – that’s okay -- because it gives us some time to work out any kinks without making too many public mis-steps. (We used our earlier Ann Arbor spay/neuter programs as a model but there are differences between Ann Arbor and Santa Fe that'll cause changes to how we work with both applicants and veterinary clinics.)

While we build up an application rhythm, we're finding ways to speed the process up -- here are a few things we're trying:

• We've already expanded our service area. In Ann Arbor we were sandwiched between some very large metropolitan areas – like Detroit, Jackson and Toledo (Ohio) – so we serviced only specific zip codes to limit applications. In Santa Fe County, with the exception of Albuquerque (who has its own free spay/neuter program) we're surrounded by low-population rural areas – and so we’re expanding our initial service area to include them – so long as they’re able to drive into the county for the surgeries.

• We’ve joined Scoop – a social network web site of the Santa Fe New Mexican for animal lovers –and this is our first post to it. If you're reding this on Scoop and want to help us fix pet cats for lower-income Santa Fe area families – just print out our program flyer -- or contact us and we'll mail you some for posting. The more places in Santa Fe who display our flyer, the more people we'll reach. Community bulletin boards are often our best way to find qualified applicants. To help, you can post the flyers on pretty much any community bulletin board in or near Santa Fe County --- where you live or work, shop or attend school or church -- anywhere you think cat lovers will see them.

• We've mailed posters and applications to the many Santa Fe pet stores and veterinary clinics for posting. By their nature, these places often see or hear from the ones that have cats and can’t afford to fix them -- and we'd like to be at the top of their referral list for help.

And – while we wait for our application rhythm to kick in – we’re working with Felines & Friends to fix as many feral cat colonies as possible. They’ve got four active TNR projects – a senior citizen home, a casino, a doggie day care and a pet boarding business – all with colonies of reproducing cats that'll be much better neighbors once they’re fixed. We’ve provided vouchers for about 50 of these cats so far – and will happily provide more if they’re needed to quickly complete the job.

Our long-term focus has to be on the pet cats in lower-income families -- to prevent more cat colonies from forming -- and to ensure cats don't lose good homes just because their guardians don't have the front-end money to fix them. But existing cat colonies need help too – so until our funds are flowing regularly to sterilize pet cats, we’ll work wherever we can to help all cats. It’s simply the most effective way to limit and eventually eliminate – the senseless practice of euthanizing healthy-but-homeless cats -- and isn't that really our ultimate goal anyway?

"Sterilize Pet [Cats] First"

2010-04-29T10:49:00.004-06:00

In the April 2010 issue of Animal People, Merritt Clifton wrote an interesting and inspiring editorial titled “How To Introduce Neuter/Return & Make It Work”. Much to our surprise -- he stresses the importance of sterilizing pets first. It took us almost ten years of facilitating the spay/neuter of cats in both TNR colonies and lower-income homes to reach this conclusion – and we’ve never seen any print reference to it before. In his editorial, Clifton points out that:

"Roaming pet cats have more than enough reproductive capacity to quickly replace themselves and the entire feral cat population: and because the roaming pet cats may be making the greatest contribution to cat population growth, the program (TNR) can accomplish more, faster by focusing on sterilizing the roaming pet cats than by starting out trapping ferals. Trapping ferals should be the second phase of the program, begun after the sterilization rate among the roaming pet cats is raised to 70%-plus.”

Let no one question for an instant the importance of getting all cats fixed – feral and friendly – living indoors and out. But the question is, "Where can the most good be done with the limited financial resources available to provide free spay/neuter help?" And the answer has to be with the pet cats – that because they are not sterilized – are either given a wide berth to live outdoors (and reproduce) – or are abandoned because of their unsterilized-cat behaviors – yowling, fighting, spraying and kittening -- are impossible to live indoors with for any extended amount of time.

One has to wonder why the focus of limiting cat populations started with feral cat colonies instead of assisting lower-income pet cats in the first place. It’s commonly accepted that these cats are the primary source of new feral colonies. Wouldn’t it make more sense to cut off the source instead of dealing with the aftermath ? Since they’re companion cats– they’re easier to sterilize – you don’t have to live trap them -- and they already have in-place caregivers to provide their life care – once they're fixed.

I think two factors determined the present TNR focus: (1) Alley Cat Allies highly effective (and important) campaign to provide a humane alternative to shelter euthanasia for outdoor-living cats, and (2) the American Puritan ethic that demonizes lower-income pet guardians as irresponsible for not fixing their cats --ignoring the fact they don't have the money to do so -- over offering a community hand to get their cats fixed. Sadly, this is reminiscent of cutting off your nose to spite your face!

Onyx -- A Geriatric Cat With Curious Symptoms

2010-04-27T14:18:00.000-06:00

For a 17-year old, Onyx has stayed pretty healthy – at least up until this year.

In February, Onyx started breathing rapid shallow breaths averaging about twice the normal rate. His blood work showed early kidney disease – which is to be expected for cats in his age group – and a slightly high thyroid value– also not atypical. We took chest x-rays and found a few small “donuts” in his lung area and so we tried treating the breathing problem as asthma – but he didn’t respond to the medications.

Then, during a recheck a few weeks ago, we noticed blood spots in his eyes and measured his blood pressure – sure enough it was high at 190 -- and so we started him on medicine to lower it -- which it did – to 145 – but the spots are still in his eyes and his pupils stay large all the time. If this was caused by hypertension, lowering his blood pressure should have helped but maybe it’ll take more time. Fortunately his vision seems okay – as we've learned last year with other TLC cats – uncontrolled hypertension can lead to blindness.

Now we're trying thyroid medications and they may help -- even though he’s only slightly hyperthyroid. If not, we’re still left with a few other causes – none of them good. Symptoms like Onyx has could be caused by cancer, dry FIP, extreme fungal infection or heartworm. Of these, heartworm could be the most likely. Why? Because last summer he tested positive for heartworm exposure on a routine blood test.

It takes awhile for heartworms to grow so the timing is right. We tested for adult heartworms a few weeks ago and it was negative but the test only works when there are at least 2 female heartworms – one female or males don’t show up. Even if it is heartworm, there’s little we can do to treat it. The poison that kills the heartworms is so strong it can also kill cats so it's not safe. And, since Onyx doesn’t seem to be in distress, he may be okay – we just don’t know. We worry about his symptoms and hope they don’t get any worse. Having a known diagnosis is always preferable – but as we’re seeing with Onyx – it’s not always possible.

Cat Spay of Santa Fe Issues Its First Vouchers

2010-04-25T09:49:00.001-06:00

We’re already getting activity in our Santa Fe cat spay/neuter program, issuing 23 free vouchers to 3 applicants – not bad for our first week. Over the course of the year, we’d like to fix about 1,000 cats and kittens so seeing this level of initial activity is promising. Here’s where they came from:

Although our formal program is limited to 3 cats per lower-income household (families making under $40,000 per year), we can help with the TNR (trap-neuter-return) of feral cat colonies when it’s appropriate. We had a request from Felines & Friends to fund their TNR efforts at a local Senior Community and we jumped at the opportunity to help -- especially when we learned that the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society had partnered with them to do the surgeries. They estimate the colony size at 20 cats, and so far they’ve trapped and fixed 9 of them – 8 of which are female.

Many senior communities have great outdoor settings for cat colonies and this one is no exception. The cats provide daily entertainment for the residents who enjoy feeding and watching them. Since many elderly people are reluctant to have their own pet cats – fearing they won’t live long enough to provide life care – or live in communities that prohibit them from having pets altogether -- naturally-occurring outdoor cats provide much of the same benefits for them that pets would and the cats benefit from being fed and having a sheltered, quiet area to live in.

Two other individuals applied for vouchers through our publicized program: One for two 9-month old cats (1 male and 1 female) and the other for a 6-month old female kitten. By providing free vouchers for these cats, we hope to increase the odds they’ll keep their homes forever -- while at the same time preventing more kittens from being born. Since all three of cats are old enough to reproduce, fixing them quickly is paramount – especially in the home with one female and one male. People often don’t realize how young kittens are (16 weeks) when they mature – and how soon they can have litters.

We look forward to seeing what the coming work brings but know it’ll take a little while for us to develop a regular flow of new applications.

“Do You Have Any Room For Cats and/or Kittens? We have had 3 stray cats give birth to 17 kittens in our garage and around our home. Can you help with this problem?”

2010-04-22T10:58:00.000-06:00

Here we go again. On yesterday’s local news, one of Albuquerque’s animal control officers reported their shelter's burgeoning with stray cats and kittens and they can’t take any more in until the numbers drop – and this is only April – just the onset of “kitten season”.

So if Albuquerque Animal Control is closed to new cat admissions, what do they recommend as the alternative? Leave adult outdoor cats where they are but work with your local spay/neuter programs to get them fixed. They point out that cats often have a better chance of survival living outdoors than at at a crowded animal control shelter – and that’s true any time of year not just during kitten season. They also recommend leaving newborns with their mothers – they die at shelters too – when a foster home isn’t readily available. (If you do want to rescue kittens – and when possible that’s preferable to letting them grow up feral -- it’s best to wait until their 4 weeks old. But rescue them only if you (or someone you know) has 3-4 weeks to spend teaching them how to be pet cats and networking to place them in good indoor homes. Our Feral Colony Handbook gives a good overview of the process in Appendix C.)

Not too long ago we may have heard a distinctly different PSA – reporting the same event – an overcrowded shelter overflowing with cats and kittens -- but blaming “irresponsible pet owners who don’t fix their cats” for the problem. And the shelters would have responded differently as well. Instead of suggesting leaving stray cats outdoors and getting them fixed, they would have euthanized them as excess. We have Alley Cat Allies to thank for this sea change in shelter behavior -- their many years of advocating for TNR (trap-neuter-return of stray and feral cats) is finally paying off – replacing shelter euthanasia with sterilization of all cats – living indoors and out.

So when someone asks us to help with 17 cats – 14 of which are kittens -- our heart sinks. All too often people don’t see the urgency of fixing cats until after kittens are born -- when they’re overwhelmed by the numbers. Then it’s too late. The simple task of fixing and caring for 3 adult cats becomes the daunting task of also socializing and placing 14 kittens.

It’s okay to feed outdoor cats – but don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by them. Take charge of the situation and fix the cats before they reproduce. And, if you live in our community, we’d like to help with our Cat Spay of Santa Fe program. It’s open to cat caregivers with family incomes under $40,000 per year. We can provide up to 3 free spay/neuter vouchers for the cats in your care – and we don’t care if they live indoors or out so long as they have a permanent home with you. Visit our web site for details.

New York Joins California and Tennessee In Proposing Animal Abuser Registries

2010-04-12T10:06:00.001-06:00

The landscape of animal protection laws is changing. Twenty years ago, only 4 states had felony laws for animal abuse – now 46 do. But it doesn’t stop there. During the same time period, the number of states banning animal abusers from having -- or being near -- pets has at least doubled to 27. And just over the last three years, states have begun enacting laws requiring animal control officers and social workers to share information on homes where domestic or animal abuse is found.

But this year, legislatures in New York, Tennessee and California have gone even further. They’ve introduced bills to establish state-wide animal abuser registries – similar to those used to alert communities of resident sex offenders. The registries would include anyone convicted of an animal cruelty felony -- including the malicious and intentional maiming, mutilation, torture, wounding or killing of a living animal – as well as animal hoarders and operators of animal-fighting rings. Such persons would have to register online or with the police providing a current photo and detailed personal information.

Having access to animal abuser data bases would be a tremendous boon to shelters and rescues that do pet adoptions– enabling them to more-effectively screen for known abusers. But keeping tabs on known animal abusers may benefit the community overall. FBI profilers have long considered animal abuse as one of the primary early indicators of persons capable of violent behavior toward people – and there’s a clear connection between animal abuse and domestic violence. . A recent study found that in homes where children are physically abused, 88% of the time their pets are also. Sadly many home abusers – knowing the special love between the family and their pets -- will torment the pets as a way of inflicting pain on their family.

Would animal abuser directories be effective? Potentially. But to truly work, the courts would have to take animal abuse more seriously and provide the felony convictions necessary to get the abusers eligible for a registry. With the exception of animal fighting rings which enjoy a high rate of conviction, pet animal abuse is often punished with lesser offenses if at all.

How Can I Feed Feral Cats In The Daytime If I Only See Them At Night?

2010-04-10T10:12:00.000-06:00

“I have a few stray or feral cats that come in but only at night and I have a shed set up for them. One comes in and eats but only late at night and the others come in but don’t stay very long. How do I train them to eat in the day if I never see them in the daytime?”

That’s an interesting question. A few different things may be going on here. First of all, feral cats (as well as lost-or-abandoned companion cats who revert to feral behaviors) are naturally nocturnal– the same as most other wildlife. They’re most active at dusk and dawn maintaining a low profile during daylight when people (who they find scary) are outdoors.

The goal of feral cat management is to train the cats to trust you and identify themselves so you know how many cats are in the colony. This way, when you begin trapping them to spay and neuter, you’ll be able to fix the entire colony. Otherwise, you only see (and will be able to fix) a layer of cats – those that are least feral or more limited in activity such as pregnant or nursing mom cats. TNR is only effective when the entire colony is sterilized.

Establishing a regimented daytime meal-feeding routine is key to management. Just pick a regular time that’s daylight year-round and convenient to you – morning, afternoon and/or early evening – and put food out for them to eat. Do this at the same place and time every day. When you’re unavailable, make sure you have a substitute because consistency is critical to training the cats.

While the food is out, position yourself far enough away that the cats aren’t scared to come over and eat, but close enough that you can observe the cats so you can learn who’s in the colony -- and so the cats begin identifying you with food. Eventually, many of the cats will bond with you and greet you when you come. This is not socialization but habituation – they learn not to be afraid of you because when they see you, good things happen – i.e., they eat. ( This is a special exclusion for you and the cats will still be fearful of other people.) When the cats are done eating and walk away from the food, remove any leftovers to ensure the most timid colony members don’t wait until you leave to eat and to prevent other wildlife from eating – they may be a hazard to the cats and will increase the cost of colony care.

If, within a week or two, the cats don’t adapt to your daytime feeding routine, it may be that you’re time-sharing the colony with another caregiver and they have another food source. Cats have pretty large territories – especially male cats – and your shed may be one way-station they visit as opposed to their primary home base. If that’s the case, you may want to discontinue feeding them altogether and close off your shed. Or, you might try checking with neighbors to find out who the other caregiver(s) are so you can coordinate feeding and sterilizing the colony. Sharing the colony management ensures consistency and longevity for the cats.

Mama Cat's Diabetes Takes A Vacation

2010-04-08T14:54:00.000-06:00

When teenaged cats contract chronic illness (kidney disease, hyperthyroidism and/or diabetes) – and almost all of them do -- you can be pretty sure they’ll need veterinary treatments for the rest of their lives – pills, injections, special diets and even SQ fluids. And once they’re on a treatment plan, they’ll also need more frequent vet visits for exams and lab work to ensure the medications are doing their job and not causing any unintended side effects.

It requires some commitment, but with today’s veterinary medicine, many cats can have a good quality of life for many years after the common diseases of old age take hold. And, while controlling these primary diseases, you often prevent other life-threatening diseases altogether – like hypertension and heart disease.

Yet at first, the very idea of medicating your cats is daunting. But once you get the hang of it -- and the cats know what’s expected of them -- you settle down and adjust to a new normal. And—by doing so – you’re rewarded with sharing an extended time with your cats – knowing that not only are they still with you, but that they’re more comfortable and vibrant than they would be otherwise

Every now and then a teenaged cat beats the odds and recovers from a chronic disease. Mama is one of those cats. Last year she was diagnosed with diabetes shortly after she unexplainably lost 3 pounds of weight. Her glucose levels were running about triple the normal rates (80-120), and so we started giving her insulin injections twice a day and checking her glucose at home periodically. As time progressed her 350’s dropped to 250’s and about a month ago she started reading consistently in the normal range. We’ve stopped giving her insulin altogether now, and only need to recheck her glucose a few times each month. So long as the test readings stay in the normal range, she’s no longer considered diabetic. We feed her a high protein diet and encourage her to eat wet food over dry food as much as possible to keep the carbohydrates low.

Why has Mama’s diabetes gone away – or at least gone into remission? We don’t know. Some cats are able to use supplemental insulin to jumpstart their own insulin production and that may have happened in Mama’s case. Or, it could be that her weight loss – dropping from 15 pounds to 11 pounds over the last year -- may have arrested her diabetes. Whatever the cause, we’re glad she no longer needs twice daily injections. And, she looks better too. At 17, Mama cat is doing great – better than we had thought she would this time last year.

So how did we get from Feral Cat Colony Assistance to Lower-Income Spay/Neuter?

2010-04-04T20:09:00.006-06:00

“The focus of our Cat Spay of Santa Fe program is to keep the cats -- most at risk of being abandoned outdoors or relinquished to shelters -- in their original homes by providing free and convenient spay/neuter assistance.”

When we moved to Santa Fe from Ann Arbor we changed more than our address. We also changed the focus of our cat spay/neuter programs -- from feral colony trap-neuter-return (TNR) to lower-income pet cat sterilization. Not because we don't get the value -- or the urgency -- of reducing feral cat populations -- but simply because we do. We just believe we can be more effective in complementing in-place TNR programs by doing pre-emptive TNR -- fixing lower-income pet cats to keep them from being abandoned outdoors and exacerbateing the feral cat problem. Borrowing from our new web site's background information, here's why we made the shift:

Today we think of cat spay/neuter in terms of population control — but routine cat sterilization actually began in the 1950s with the introduction of kitty litter — long before cat population was seen to be a problem. Kitty litter brought cats indoors — and behaviors that were perfectly acceptable outdoors (yowling, spraying, and fighting) became unacceptable indoors. As their caregivers started complaining, vets offered the "fix" of sterilization. Fixing the cats did in fact end most of the noxious behaviors — and cats became accepted (and cherished) indoor pets.

Today, some 85% of indoor pet cats have been fixed — but that leaves 15% unfixed — and in our experience (10 years, working with both pet and feral cat caregivers), these unfixed indoor pet cats are the ultimate source of most of the kittens born each year. While we support and applaud those conducting TNR programs, we've come to the conclusion that the colonies established under these programs cannot be stabilized until that 15% of unfixed pet cats is significantly reduced — and in our opinion, that can happen only when sterilization services are both free and convenient.

In managing our TNR program in Michigan (almost 2,000 colonies), we continually received requests to fix a few new cats that had just "shown up" (frequently pregnant). Initially we thought, well, that's okay — it's nice that these free-roaming cats found a colony to join. But when some of these cats started showing up in boxes — on doorsteps — and kept "showing up" year after year — the realization started to dawn that these cats weren't free-roaming — but abandoned.

Then, in managing our lower-income spay/neuter program (almost 2,000 participants) and talking with the families, we began to understand what was happening. Most people find the behaviors of unfixed pet cats (male or female) very annoying — and most know the solution is to fix them — but when it's stretching the budget just to buy food and litter, paying for sterilization (even with a low-cost program) isn't out of the question, but it is a significant burden that's very easy to put off. And then when that behavior happens to strike a famiy member as intolerable — or when the cat becomes pregnant and the family can't deal with the prospect of a litter (or more likely, yet another litter) — and the family sees their choices as taking the cat to an animal control shelter (where they believe the cat will be killed) or dropping them off in the country at a house that looks "cat friendly" — it's hard to see them as "bad" — or "careless" — or "irresponsible" — more just "human".

To reach this group, we'll need the cooperation of the veterinary clincs in our service area (Santa Fe County). Convenience (near-access to the service) is as important as cost — especially to the elderly and infirm. Of the 57 small-animal vet clinics in our service area in Michigan, over 50 worked with us — and we worked regularly with 30 because of their location and pricing.

So for the time being, we've chosen to focus on the pet cats of low income families - living indoors or out. If we can significantly reduce the abandonments and kitten births of these cats, TNR has a fighting chance of working. We encourage those doing TNR continue to do so — even those TNRing just a few feral cats hanging out around their porch, shed or barn. And we'll help to the extent we can.

Our current program limits us to 3 cats per family — but that's how most feral cat colonies start, If you're feeding outdoor cats and fix them right away you'll prevent a full-blown colony from forming in the first place. And if you do, we'll may be able to help with the cost.

Cat Spay of Santa Fe is open for business at Zimmer-Foundation.org

2010-04-04T10:51:00.003-06:00

Easter marks -- not only the beginning of spring time -- but also the start of kitten season -- the eternity from early spring to late fall when intact female cats go in and out of heat every two weeks -- even when they're nursing baby kittens.

Nationally, most intact female cats have at least two litters a year -- in warmer climates or years when winters are less frigid -- three litters are not uncommon. And, when female kittens are born early in the breeding season, they'll be sexually mature in 16 weeks and contribute a litter of their own during the same kitten season they were born in.

Spring and summer are also the time of year when pet adoptions are at their highest. Shelters are kept busy fostering and socializing baby kittens and adopting out as many as they can before they get too old to be selected. Media announcements alert us to the shelters' plight of too many kittens and not enough homes -- and yet the irony is that the shelters only see the top layer of available kittens. 85% of all cat and kitten adoptions are done person-to-person not shelter-to-person. And -- potentially -- an even higher number of kittens don't make it into adoption statistics at all -- they simply are born and continue to live -- not as companion pets but wildlife -- in feral colonies with their mothers and fathers -- much the same way that squirrels and rabbits live.

As cute and loveable as kittens are -- the problem of cat overpopulation is not -- in fact it's dark and ugly. But -- it does have a known and implementable solution: pro-active sterilization of all cats and kittens living indoors or out -- the sooner the better.

We've been working pretty hard over the last few months getting our Foundation registered in New Mexico, checking accounts set up, and literature prepared so we'd be ready to start issuing our free spay/neuter vouchers before kitten season got too far along. The last piece of the process was publishing our web site and it was completed last week. So now we're open for business at Zimmer-Foundation.org. We can issue free veterinary vouchers -- covering the full cost to spay or neuter up to three cats -- for Santa Fe County families with annual incomes under $40,000 per year. The procedure is simple:

If you live in an apartment complex or a mobile home park and have an e-mail address, click on our e-mail application and complete the form. Once you’re done, click the e-mail button (at the top of the form) to send it to us for processing.

If you don’t have an e-mail address and/or you own your home, you’ll need to use the mail-in application. After you complete the form online -- print it out using the double-sided setting on your printer-- and simply fold it in thirds with our address on the outside. It’s pre-addressed so all you need to do is add a first class stamp and stick it in a mailbox. (Homeowners also need to include the 2009 tax information requested as independent verification of annual family income.)

We’ll process applications quickly and send vouchers for qualified cats through the mail. If you don't hear back from us within 10 days, call or e-mail us for an update. The voucher specifies the clinic authorized to do the surgery. As soon as you receive your voucher(s), call that clinic to schedule your surgeries as the vouchers are only good for 30 days.

If you live in Santa Fe county and would like to help us get the word out – simply print out our flyer and post it on a public bulletin board. Good locations for posting are pet stores, veterinary clinics, churches, schools and fast food restaurants. And, if you know someone who has an unsterilized cat, you could even print out the mail-in application and hand it to them to use.

Fixing cats is the best way – if not the only way -- to fix the companion animal welfare system. No longer spraying, fighting and kittening – sterilized cats are better companions and much less likely to be abandoned outdoors or relinquished to a shelter.

Would Chemical Sterilization End Shelter Euthanasia of Cats?

2010-03-20T12:19:00.001-06:00

“In the United States, 30 million feral cats roam the streets. Euthanizing the animals is costly and morally repugnant. Surgical sterilizations works, but it is expensive and difficult to implement. A kind of animal contraception would be welcome. And now someone is willing to pay for it. Billionaire inventor Gary Michelson has pledged $75 million to fix the feral pet problem. Most of the money is aimed at paying for research, but a big chunk will be awarded for the developer of the first solution that meets the award criteria: it has to be a onetime treatment that lasts for the animal’s life time. (See http://tiny.cc/pets352 for more information).” --Mensa Bulletin March 2010

I don’t want to rain on Mr. Michelson’s parade. I truly wish more billionaires were willing to fund pro-active cat sterilization – and would stand up and state publically that the time-worn practice of shelter euthanasia is morally repugnant. It’s been clear for a long time that pro-active sterilization of cats and dogs is not only the more humane way to lower populations, it’s also more effective. Yet the bulk of private donations and tax dollars that go into companion animal welfare is used to construct and maintain animal control shelters – vestiges of the 1950’s who typically kill as many or more cats and dogs as they adopt out with little funding left over for pro-active sterilization, so free and accessible cat and dog sterilization has never been fully tested.

So, while I wholeheartedly support Mr. Michelson’s desire to find a magic bullet to fix all cats, I wonder if he’s underestimating how difficult this will be using chemical means. No, not the invention of the drug – chemical sterilization should be well within reach scientifically. But, how do you administer it to feral cats? They are afraid of people, nocturnal, and untouchable. I suppose you could put it in their food, but how do you handle dosing? Cats eat communally and come in all different sizes – so won’t you run a risk of overdosing some, under-dosing others – and potentially missing the ones that are out roaming on the day you sterilize them? Would the same drug work for males and females? If not, how would you separate them to fix them? If you tried to dose them over more than one feeding session, how do you keep the ones already sterilized from being fixed a second time? What if an already surgically-sterilized cat is in the group -- what's the effect of chemically repeating the process?

With tactical problems like these, you would probably have to live-trap them and anesthetize them in order to ensure accurate dosage – and you’d need to ear-tip the cats to prevent re-doing them at a later date. Since a major part of the surgical spay/neuter cost is the anesthesia –by the time you pay for the designer drug -- and to anesthetize the cats to dose and ear-tip them – you’re cost advantage may be long-gone.

And – most importantly – the reason spay/neuter is so critical is not only because it prevents more kittens but because it also alters the cat’s behaviors and personalities. This is what allows them to live indoors with people. Will the drug prevent cat spraying, fighting and yowling(as surgery does) or just kittening? If not, if a caregiver wants to take a chemically-sterilized cat home to live with them, will it be the same as living with a surgically-sterilized cat or an intact cat? Let’s hope – if and when someone wins Mr. Michelson’s prize – the criteria they use for designing it goes beyond that stated in the offer. Or, maybe the $75 million could be better spent moving us toward a community that provides free accessible spay/neuter for all cats – friendly and feral – and let the problem take care of itself.

As Of Today, Only Swiss Animals Living In Zurich Have Legal Representation

2010-03-08T10:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the people of Switzerland overwhelmingly defeated a bill that wold have assigned 25 more public attorneys to represent abused animals in court matters.    If passed, it would have extended a service presently provided by just one attorney in Zurich -- Antoine Goetschel.

And, although most of Mr. Goetschel's clients are dogs, he recently caught international attention representing a 22-pound pike who was caught in Lake Zurich and then eaten by a man who then boasted to his local paper over how the pike was caught in icy storm-swollen waters last February.    Although fishing is not considered cruelty to animals, the fact that it took over 10 minutes to bring in this pike is considered cruelty and was backed by an earlier court precedent in Germany that ruled anything over one minute is too long.   Mr. Goetschel defended his actions in representing the pike by conjecturing how people would have felt if a puppy had been dangled by a hook for 10 minutes? And by citing that farm animals in Switzerland are protected by a strict, legally enforceable time limit between capture and death -- so why not fish?

This is one of those stories that on first reading sounds incredibly absurd. Yet, when given more consideration sounds more rational. I often wonder who truly does speak for animals in our culture -- and more specifically for cats? In the U.S., cats are legally viewed as property and fall within the bailiwick of county governments through their direct animal control officers or indirectly through their contracts with humane societies and aspcas's.  Yet these agencies for the most part have their roots in animal "control" not "protection". And -- sadly -- are the very organizations are the leading cause of death of cats -- euthanizing them with little or no accountability for their actions -- to the cats or to the community.

Perhaps there is a role for public defenders with animals rights issues -- and it's part of the logical extension of our current vision of cats and dog as "family members" not "animals" per se.    We can't have it both ways forever -- you can't think of your dog or cat as one of the family and continue to legally view them as property -- with no legal rights to life and happiness.    The vote failed yestereday in Switzerland but we can be sure -- the issue will come to votes again both there and everywhere else -- it's just a matter of time.

Albuquerque to lower shelter euthanasia rates through free spay/neuter vouchers for low-income pets

2010-02-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

With a population of 523,000, (845,000 in its metro area) Albuquerque’s two animal control shelters are kept very busy. In 2009 they accepted 26,000 cats and dogs -- successfully adopting out about 16,000 -- but killing over 10,000 others– roughly 71 cats and dogs a day! As horrifying as this is, there’s nothing especially unique about it. The same thing happens in animal-control based-or-funded shelters throughout the country.

“There is one solution [to stop the killing], and it is spay and neuter programs” announced Mayor Berry at a special Spay Day USA Press Conference yesterday. Beginning in April, Albuquerque will start issuing no-cost vouchers to qualified low-income caregivers redeemable at local veterinary clinics.

This is great news on many levels for Albuquerque, for New Mexico – indeed for the nation.

First and foremost the announcement was made by the moral compass of Albuquerque – the mayor of New Mexico’s largest city. He stood front and center and announced that the killing of homeless cats and dogs is wrong. As obvious as this is, it's rarely spoken out loud by shelter or government officials. Second, instead of blaming the lower-income families whose pets fall below the traditional spay/neuter radar as “irresponsible pet owners causing pet overpopulation”, he's extending a helping hand– by providing free spay/neuter vouchers. Third, by working through the local veterinary network already in place in Albuquerque – instead of holding special event clinics or using one central (and often inaccessible) location – he is providing them with convenient access -- which is essential to getting lower-income family pets fixed.

It’s long been known that there is no such thing as a “no kill shelter” – to be” no kill” requires a community-based effort – eventually a nationally-based effort. It’s also long been known that killing of homeless cats and dogs is unnecessary. It has a solution that’s both simple and cost effective – pro-active spay/neuter of all cats living indoors and out, friendly and feral. As helpful as private spay/neuter programs are, they can never be effective as similar work sanctioned by the community. It’s nice to see that Albuquerque has recognized this and is now taking action to stop the killing – let’s hope other communities take notice and follow their example.

Working to make Spay Day USA every day -- for cats in Santa Fe County

2010-02-23T09:59:00.002-07:00

In 1995 the Doris Day Animal Foundation (DDAF) started promoting Spay Day USA as an annual spay/neuter awareness day – encouraging grass-roots level animal welfare and rescue groups to do something special for just one day each year – shifting their focus from adoption to sterilization – holding special events to provide free or very-low-cost spay/neuter in their communities. Today is the “day” for 2010.

DDAF’s web site credits these events with over one-and-a-half million spay/neuters– which averages out to 107,143 cats and dogs getting fixed during this annual 24-hour event – 75 sterilizations every minute. And, it’s just another example of what we already know. Cats (and dogs) are not left intact because their guardians are irresponsible. When free or very-affordable spay/neuter service is provided at conveniently-located clinics, guardians do act responsibly and get their pets fixed. The spay/neuter barrier is not education or culture – but access and money.

Without special help, 85% of all pet cats are routinely fixed when they are first adopted. The remaining 15% -- that live in the families of the very young (college students and families with small children), the un-or-under employed (living off unemployment or from one paycheck-to-the-next) and the elderly or disabled (counting on social security to pay their living expenses) – simply don’t have the funds up front to fix their cats. Yet, fixing them is critical to their retaining their homes – otherwise their noxious spraying, fighting, yowling and kittening will eventually become intolerable for even the most committed caregivers – and the bond between them breaks – leaving the unaltered cat out on the street to fend for herself or taken to a shelter where she is as likely killed as adopted.

Even though these cats constitute only 15% of the pet cats, they cause 80% of the kittens born annually. Why? Because – when these unsterilized cats are abandoned outdoors –they form or join cat colonies – and continue reproducing. While Alley Cat Allies – and the myriad of groups using their Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) model – is highly effective at sterilizing these colonies, preventing the formation of new colonies is outside their scope. And, without halting new colony formation – by fixing the cats most at-risk of being abandoned –- TNR can never complete the task of controlling the outdoor cat population.

We thought it was only fitting to use 2010 Spay Day USA as the day to announce our new spay/neuter program – as it ties into providing year-round help for the same cats Spay Day USA addresses – pet cats in lower-income families – those who can provide routine daily love, food and water for their cats – but not the front-end money to get them fixed. By helping pet cats keep their original homes we’ll be preventing new outdoor cat colonies from forming – and thereby increasing the effectiveness of TNR work.

Our new program will be called Cat Spay of Santa Fe – and targets at-risk cats for residents of Santa Fe County. We have a lot of work yet to do to establish the program but hope to be up-and-running by late spring or early summer. Through Cat Spay of Santa Fe residents of mobile home parks and apartments – or families with annual incomes under $40,000 per year – can apply for up to 3 free spay/neuter vouchers covering the full cost to spay or neuter each cat and vaccinate once for rabies.

Over the next few months we’ll be contacting the vet clinics (shelter and private) to solicit their support. For as important as it is to make spay/neuter free, it’s equally important to make it convenient. For many caregivers the cost of gas is prohibitive and others are dependent on public transportation or friends and relatives to take them to a clinic – and they’ll hesitate to ask for help if it involves a major drive. Our Michigan spay/neuter programs enjoyed the support of over 30 veterinary clinics who regularly accepted our vouchers enabling us to schedule most surgeries locally – where the cats live. We hope the same will be true in Santa Fe County. Stay tuned for more details.

Let’s hope we can help make Spay Day USA every day in Santa Fe.

Our Cats Got Bright Red Hearts for Valentine’s Day—And Coordinated New Collars Too

2010-02-14T11:30:00.001-07:00

This year – for Valentine’s Day -- I wanted to do something special for our cats. And -- what better way is there to show them how much we love them and want to keep them safe – than giving them new, bright red engraved hearts to flaunt – complete with our name, address and phone number? Although they’re all micro chipped – we know ID tags are the best way to get them back quickly -- if – god forbid –they ever get lost outdoors. Microchips only work when the cat ends up at a major shelter or goes to a clinic where a conscientious vet scans for a chip on a first “new home” examination. By the time either of these events happen, it may be weeks or months after your cat originally got away.

Why? Because when people find a lost cat outdoors – especially a friendly cat – they often jump to conclusions. They assume that -- since the cat doesn’t have a collar -- she doesn’t have a loving home – or was cruelly abandoned. If they’re attracted to the cat, they may rescue her by taking her home to live on a trial basis. Sometimes that works but often it creates a problem – especially if there are other pets and the guardian doesn’t know how to introduce the new cat to them Or, if the other family members don’t find the cat as attractive – the tension it creates often results in the cat being abandoned weeks or months later – or given to a rescue that may not be equipped with microchip scanners and may assume the cat was abandoned.

The statistics on recovering a lost cat are abysmal – but an in-your-face name tag is often the best way to ensure your cat comes back home. It’s hard to assume a cat was abandoned when they’re dangling their address around their neck. The microchip is important too – as a back-up -- if the collar comes off before the cat is found. There's always that possibility because a cat collar is intentionally designed to come off if the cat hooks it on something for the cat's safety.

No matter how careful you are, your indoor cat is vulnerable to getting out– it happens in a fraction of a second. If you try to catch your cat the situation often worsens, as the cat will bolt and run to get away from you. As hard as it is, it’s often better to observe them without moving quickly – so they don’t think you’re being aggressive. Unlike dogs who’ll run when they’re lost, cats simply hunker down in the closest and best hiding place they can find – often within feet of where they got out. They’ll stay hidden during daylight and come out between dusk and dawn –only to look for food or to try to find their way back home.

If you have a good general idea of where they are, your best option is to bait a live trap with the stinkiest canned cat food you can buy, and place it in the vicinity of where you lost the cat. Eventually she’ll get hungry enough to enter the trap. When she does, quickly cover it with a towel to calm her, and then bring her indoors torelease her. If you can't trap her, hopefully the ID tag will be her best ticket back. And -- even if you never lose your cat -- you can still admire how pretty she looks -- with a loving heart dangling from a color-coordinated collar.

Here We Go Again ... New Illnesses In Our Older Cats

2010-02-12T13:52:00.001-07:00

Since losing Amber and Tasha last September, our cats have been relatively healthy – at least as healthy as a group of 13 senior-to-geriatric cats can be. Then -- around New Year’s -- that started to change. We weighed them in early January, and found a few of them had lost significant amounts of weight. And -- since cats are so good at hiding illness -- weight loss is often your first clue that something’s not right. We keep a digital baby scale on hand just for this purpose.

Gloria – our 19-year old matriarch -- had dropped from 10 lbs in October to 8 lbs 12 ounces in January. Since she had been diagnosed in September with early-stage kidney disease we took her to the vet for evaluation. During her exam the vet noticed she had a Grade 3 heart murmur (scale of 1-6) and hypothesized that hypertension may be the cause – since it afflicts about 20% of all cats with chronic kidney disease. We took her blood pressure – and sure enough – it was high – ranging from 190-210. We put Gloria on amlopodine and rechecked the blood pressure a week later and it had dropped back to the normal range – averaging about 150. She’ll need medication now for the rest of her life. We chose to have it compounded in a chicken-flavored liquid over giving her a pill (Norvasc) because the pill is thin and brittle -- and quartering it – the common dose for cats -- is almost impossible without it splintering. The liquid form is a little more expensive but it tastes good and ensures a consistent dosing.

13-year old Keja had lost almost 2 pounds since we weighed her in late September. She was born with allergies and we had been giving her Vetalog (steroids) twice a week over the time she’s lived with us to control the itching from the allergies. When we moved to Santa Fe we weaned her off of Vetalog – with the hope her allergies might not be triggered by the arid climate. But by January her ears – the first area to show allergic distress -- were black and gunky. We treated them topically with a combination steroid/antibiotic drop and they cleared up – at least for awhile. Then earlier this week we noticed her forehead was inflamed and she had lost some of the skin on her nose so she went back to the vet. This time she got a steroid injection (faster-acting then pills) and an antibiotic (to treat a possible staph infection) and the inflammation quickly cleared up. As much as we’d prefer not to keep her on steroids, we know they’re needed to keep her comfortable but do worry about how they’ll complicate her chronic kidney disease – also newly-diagnosed.

15-year old Coswell’s January vet trip was to recheck his thyroid – he’s been hyperthyroid since last August – and because he too was losing weight, I thought the dose might need to be adjusted – as hyperthyroid cats tend to eat a lot yet still lose weight. It turned out the thyroid was well managed– so it wasn’t the source of the weight loss – and beyond that he seemed reasonably healthy – although very thin. But, only two weeks later, he started having diarrhea and vomiting. I weighed him again and found he had lost still another pound. So Coswell went back to the vet and this time they kept him to do an ultrasound which uncovered a growth on his colon. They aspirated a few cells and diagnosed him with lymphoblastic lymphoma – a very aggressive cancer. We chose not to pursue chemotherapy– it could potentially extend his life but only for a few months – and are treating him now with steroids and Vitamin B to keep him comfortable and possibly shrink the tumor. His appetite has improved and he’s put back a little bit of the lost weight.

While Coswell was at the clinic, we found new vomit and diarrhea and realized he wasn’t the only sick cat in our house. The other sick cat turned out to be 17-year old Missy. We worried that we might have a virus running through the house -- since her symptoms were so similar to Coswell’s -- but her lab results were completely different so it was just a coincidence. Since Missy didn’t feel well she was pretty ornery at the clinic making a thorough check-up difficult. Instead we treated her symptoms with antibiotics and supplements and they seem to have calmed her digestive down – at least for the time being.

It’s been quite a winter for the cats and it’s kind of sad to watch these sweet cats follow the patterns of those we’ve previously lost – kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, cancer and intestinal problems. We know they still have a fair amount of time left -- but you can’t help but think their quality of life is somewhat diminished when they start needing quarterly vet visits and trays of medications to manage their health. We’ll try to keep them as comfortable as possible – for as long as possible -- and can only wait to see what happens. Not only are cats masters of hiding illness, they’re also masters of handling illness too.

To learn more about our group of retirement cats, click on older cats.

We may not know the impact of Feral Cat TNR, but we do know the impact of not doing TNR.

2010-01-24T10:39:00.008-07:00

In 2008, a group of bird organizations in Los Angeles – most notably the Los Angeles Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy -- sued the City of Los Angeles for advocating and/or funding TNR (feral cat trap/neuter/return) without first conducting environmental impact studies in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Last month --without addressing the merits of TNR --Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas McKnew ruled in favor of the bird organizations and issued an injunction against the City of Los Angeles’ participation in TNR until its full effects are studied. McKnew’s ruling is a very narrow interpretation of CEQA -- and it puts an undue burden on feral cat caregivers to document the environmental effects of sterilizing their colonies. It’s feared it may greatly reduce the effectiveness of TNR overall by dramatically reducing the number of individuals and organizations willing and able to put in the added time and cost of conducting these studies. Many TNR organizations have little funding and are thinly-staffed.

We believe that placing TNR programs under CEQA guidelines is inappropriate and shortsighted. TNR programs do not add cats into the environment -- they simply fix and manage the cats that naturally occur outdoors. Even if you accept the premise that feral cats are evil predators – which we do not – TNR sterilization is the only humane and effective way to lower their numbers – and, it respects their rights to live as all other wildlife is allowed to live.

Organizations that single out cats as the cause of bird endangerment are guilty of nothing short of speciesism. A 2005 study commissioned by the Defenders of Wildlife and conducted by scientists from the USDA, Forest Service and The Smithsonian Conservation and Research Center pointed to the destruction of tropical habitats as the major contributor to the decrease in avian species that spend their winters in those warmer climes. They barely mentioned cats in their extensive survey of existing data, equating cat predation to that of dogs, skunks, raccoons, opossums, rodents and human hikers. Yet these bird organizations persist on singling out only cats as the villain. If bird organizations truly want to help birds, they need to give up their irrational anti-cat rhetoric and concentrate on the core issues impacting birds today. Imposing sanctions on cats doesn’t help birds – it only hurts cats.

Without TNR programs, communities lose their best hope at containing cat populations leaving them only with the broken animal control model – killing off the visible layer of outdoor cats while leaving the rest in place and intact to reproduce creating the same problem over-and-over again.

We know from our own TNR work that most property owners are more than willing to care for the occasional naturally-occurring feral and stray cats that take up residence in their yards and barns – but they need front-end help to get the cats fixed. If there is no organization there to fix the cats, the numbers grow beyond what the property owner can manage – and eventually they’ll be dropped at another outdoor location – still able to reproduce – or they’ll be taken to a shelter to be killed. Both of these outcomes are preventable through TNR. And no -- we don’t need an environmental impact study to know that.

Four Paws Up To The Veterinary Community -- 2010 Feline Guidelines Finally Give Cats Their Propers.

2010-01-14T14:39:00.003-07:00

If you’re like me, when you take your cat to an animal clinic, you usually feel like you’re in the minority – navigating a waiting room full of dogs. I dislike doing this so much that I go out of my way to frequent cats-only clinics. It’s hard enough just taking cats away from their home without adding the stress of seating them between strange dogs while they wait nervously for the doctor.

But I’ve been curious about this for a long time. Cats are the number one family pet– with dogs coming in a close second. If both were getting equal medical attention, the clinics should have at least as many cats as clients as they have dogs. Yet a 2006 study confirmed my suspicions -- that only 28% of pet cats routinely see a vet while 58% of pet dogs go to the vet. And -- among those dogs and cats that frequent vets -- dogs are taken in 2.2 times annually while cats go in only 1.1 times. No wonder the waiting rooms are always full of dogs – twice as many of them go to the vet twice as often as cats go!

Needless to say, this study triggered a wake-up call for the veterinary associations. They promptly formed a commission to study why cats were losing out on quality health care and to update guidelines for feline veterinary care. The results of their commission are now published on both the AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) and the AAFP (American Association of Feline Practitioners) web sites. Although most of the report is geared to vets, a few things are worth noting.

First they’ve solved the mystery of why cats aren’t routinely taken to the vet. Their caregivers consider them as much a part of their family as they do their dogs but the cats are perceived as not needing medical care because they are self-sufficient. And – even when they are sick – the caregivers don’t seek treatment because cats are so good at hiding illness their caregivers don’t know they’re sick.

Then they redefined the life stages for cats from three ( kitten, adult and senior/geriatric) to six distinct stages – each with individualized veterinary protocols. These are Kitten (Birth to 6 Months), Junior (7 months to 2 years), Prime (3-6 years), Mature (7-10 years), Senior (11-14 years), and Geriatric (15-25 years).

The 2010 Guidelines recommend cats in all life stages have at least an annual wellness exam. For older or chronically ill cats, more frequent vet visits are advised. They’d actually like to see all cats get semi-annual exams but aren’t pushing the envelope. The logic behind semi-annual exams for all cats is to catch health problems early to keep the treatment costs down.

But to me, the most interesting part of the Guidelines has to do with their budding awareness that veterinarians need to be more sensitive to the needs of cats in their clinic design and procedures – that cats are distinct from dogs. Here are my favorites:

• Provide a separate waiting room for cats or at least elevated platforms to place cat carriers on out of reach of dogs.

• Reduce the waiting time before the cat enters an exam room.

• Keep the exam room itself quiet and warm.

• Use an exam table that’s warm and has a non-slip surface.

• Avoid loud noises or sounds that mimic hisses – such as whispering.

• Let the cat stay in the carrier for as much of the exam as possible -- at least through the history-taking phase -- so the cat can adjust to the veterinarian in a “safe” environment.

• When not in the carrier, provide towels so the cat can partially hide and use the towels as a preferable handling tool over scruffing the cat.

• Avoid making eye contact with the cat when possible.

• Conduct the exam in the most comfortable position for the cat – such as on the veterinarian’s lap.

• Keep hospitalized cats away from dogs and out of eye contact with other cats.

It’s great to see this magnitude of veterinary enlightenment coming into feline practice. Whether it gets more cats into the clinics for wellness checks and diagnostics is yet to be seen. But for the cats that do go to the vet, the trip will be a whole lot more pleasant. I give these changes in veterinary protocol Four Paws Up – and I think our cats will too. Now … if only I could find a clinic that follows them in my new community … I’d purr my heart out!

Want To Really Help Cats In 2010? Fund Spay/Neuter

2010-01-05T10:34:00.007-07:00

"My parents and I discovered a stray/feral cat in the summer of 08 and have since been feeding him twice daily and have set him up with a shelter under a covered table against the house with a few comfy beds, a covered litter box that houses the deepest bed and a scratch pad (yes he is now very spoiled)."

“We have since discovered that a few other neighbors also feed him twice daily. We have also been noticing a few other little hutches set up around here, although we do not know if he is the only (cat) in the area. We have built up a relationship with him to the point that he lets us pet him, even when eating, and often comes out and insists on being petted.”

“My question is how do we “winterize” him? He disappeared for a few days last winter -- we assumed to a garage but we don’t know – when it was bitter cold. But I’m still wondering if there is a better/healthier way for him. I live near my parents and considered bringing him to may apartment over night and bringing him back during the day – although I don’t want to traumatize him at all. If you have any ideas, or think this would be a healthy option, please let me know.”

What makes this story so unique is that it’s so common. I could easily have scripted the content from the many phone calls and e-mails we’ve received over the years. Although the media broadcasts stories for old-guard animal organizations on how short and miserable the lives of outdoor cats are, the people we hear from paint this very different view. Many outdoor cats – feral and stray – have someone – and many have more than one someone -- providing them with food and outdoor shelter. A special bonding develops between these cats and their caregivers.

Animal organizations would like us to believe that outdoor cats need rescuing – their donations depend on it. Nothing opens up purse strings more than anecdotes about emaciated cats being given to a shelter for loving care and placement in a good indoor home. That’s a simple concept – and who wouldn’t want to contribute money to such a humane cause? But the reality is more complex -- when outdoor cats are given to shelters for “protection and adoption” they all too often killed after being declared “unadoptable”. The majority of shelter adoptions are not of adult stray or feral cats, but of very young cats and kittens that are well socialized to people. Shelter euthanasia is the leading cause of death for stray and feral cats.

It’s more complex to grasp the concept that leaving cats in their outdoor homes is not only more humane but is also more effective -- provided it’s coupled with free -- or at least affordable -- spay/neuter. Because this concept is more complex, donations for cat spay/neuter are much harder to attain than for sheltering.

Without adequate funding, spay/neuter programs aren’t able to pro-actively work on the problem of cat overpopulation. But think of it. If there were free spay/neuter clinics, most caregivers would choose sterilization over relinquishment of the cats that come their way. No one likes to give a cat to a shelter. But, dealing with unsterilized cats – living outdoors or indoors – is doomed to failure. The ongoing litters, the fighting, spraying and yowling of intact cats – are more than even dedicated caregivers can handle long-term.

With free spay/neuter everyone wins – the caregiver keeps their cats, the cats gets three squares a day, and the community gets many fewer kittens to place each year. And those cats that are truly in need of rescue can be adopted out more effective by no-kill cat rescue groups with foster-home networks. So in 2010 if you truly want to help cats, put your money where it will do the most good – into solving the problem of cat overpopulation through pro-active spay/neuter – not trying to simply put a band aid on it.

Peace On Earth Good Will To Cats

2009-12-25T10:01:00.003-07:00

Although we traded in our shelter on a pro-active cat spay/neuter program several years ago, our Foundation is still listed on a lot of web sites as a cat rescue. Calls and e-mails continue to reach us asking us if we have room for more cats. This year – as in the past – these calls and e-mails seemed to spike around holidays – in particular the Christmas holidays.

To someone who loves her cats as much as I do, I find it particularly depressing to think that many cat caregivers actively spend their holidays trying to relinquish their cats – too often after they’ve passed the age of “adoptability”. “What are they thinking of?” I wonder. “Didn’t they realize that a pet relationship – like a human relationship – has to be for “better or worse?" At least with human relationships, the consequence of separating is manageable. Life goes on. But, what’s a 10-year old cat going to do when you decided she no longer fits your life plan? The hard truth is the cat will probably be killed.

Oftentimes the people will start out their request with a disclaimer. They really hadn’t adopted the cat – but rescued her – five to ten years earlier. If it hadn’t been for them, the cat would have died.

They saved her life. But now she no longer amuses them or has a chronic illness or behavioral issue – or they have a dog or another cat (that they did adopt) – that doesn’t get along with her. And so on. I find these calls juxtaposed with the meaning of Christmas “Peace on Earth” downright depressing.

Perhaps that is why this recent e-mail below seemed so special. It’s the flip side of those distressing phone calls and e-mails – depicting the warmth and love so many people – in fact the majority -- have for their cats – whether they “rescued” or “adopted” them:

“My Boyfriend and I live together and there had been some cats that lived at a house where he worked. The cats were getting too expensive so they were looking to get rid of them and my boyfriend fell in love with this very friendly one. So we brought him home and he adjusted well to inside life, he was very friendly and would cuddle with us at night.

Then we had to travel a little bit (by car) and didn't know anyone we trusted enough to take care of him so we brought him along. He did not like the car but we didn't keep him in the cat carrier and after a while he would settle down and just sleep with me.

We took him to 2 different houses on our trip. The first one had a dog but the cat never saw the dog and just stayed in the room we were staying. The second house has three adult male neutered cats. We let him meet a couple of the cats and he got slightly aggressive but he didn't go out of his way to be aggressive.

Anyway, now that we have him home he is not the same. He won't come when we call, he isn't very affectionate. I thought maybe it was because he missed going outside so I bought a harness and lead and took him outside yesterday. He enjoyed being outside but he was scared by any noise. He just isn't the same anymore. If I pick him up and lay him on me he will stay. He purrs when I pet him, but he used to come up to us all the time and want attention. Now he just sleeps all day and doesn't want anything to do with us unless we have food or we make him lay on us. I'm afraid that we made him an inside cat way too quickly. Is there anything you would suggest that we do?”

Frankly I was very taken by the genuine love the couple have for their new-found friend – taking him with them on their trips – getting him a leash and harness so he could still safely enjoy the outdoors – concern that he no longer seeks attention.

Although I’m not a cat behaviorist, I’ve taken in a lot of cats and the pattern they described is one we often observed. Relinquished adult pet cats start off extremely needy – when you first give them a home they follow you around like a little puppy dog craving your time and attention. Then, once they realize you’re not going to leave them and that they have a permanent home, they go back to being cats. Doing what a cat does best – sleeping. Sure they still enjoy your attention and will purr when you offer it, but cease to be as demanding of your time. They know you’re there, you love them and give them nice sleep spots and plenty of food– all they want to do is enjoy the moment and take frequent cat naps to dream about how happy and secure you’ve made them.

All you have to do is be there for them -- they'll purr and cuddle when you seek their attention -- but will fall into a daily routine. That's what makes cats so easy to care for. And that's why your long-term commitment is so important. All they want is a bowl of food, a nice bed and someone -- you -- to love for the rest of their life. Merry Christmas!

Cats 0ver 4 months old are much less likely to contract Felv Virus.

2009-12-24T10:19:00.003-07:00

“Do you know of any shelters or sanctuaries that would take a kitten who has feline leukemia? She’s been living in my bathroom for the last two weeks after being put out of his regular home by my neighbors. I’ve been keeping her in my bathroom because I have other cats. Do you have any suggestions to help me?”

The most important thing to remember about a cat or kitten that tests positive for Felv is to make absolutely certain the test was accurate before taking action.

It used to be that feline leukemia (Felv) positive cats were routinely euthanized to prevent the spread of the disease to other cats. Over the years, as we’ve learned more about the disease and its rate of contagion, the policy has changed considerably. Today, although testing positive often results in euthanasia at animal control based shelters – it’s more because it’s a litmus test of adoptability than it is warranted by the disease. If you search the internet for information on Felv you’ll find a mishmash of conflicting data. Fortunately in 2008, the American Association of Feline Practitioners issued updated guidelines on Felv that provide a little assistance in determining what to do if you have a Felv+ cat. As good as their guidelines are, it’s important to disclose their research was funded by Idexx – the company that manufactures the common snap tests used by veterinarians to detect Felv. Here are some of the key points from their study:

1. What is Felv?

Felv is a retrovirus . During its early stages a cat is likely to not exhibit any symptoms. After weeks or months or years the cat may start having recurrent intermittent illness. Signs can include loss of appetite, weight loss, poor coat, enlarged lymph nodes, fever, pale or inflamed gums, URI, skin or bladder infections, and persistent diarrhea.

2. How common is Felv?

In the overall cat population (living indoors or outdoors) less than 2% of healthy cats have Felv. This rate is down considerably from what it was 20 years ago – possibly due to the availability of vaccines or possibly because of better record-keeping and testing established once the disease was identified.

3. Who is most at risk for Felv?

Kittens under 4 months of age are in the highest risk group. The most common transmission is from infected moms to their kittens and as cats develop more effective immune systems their resistance to the Felv virus increases. One study cited in the AAFP 2008 report injected the virus into a group of newborn kittens (less than 2 months of age) and virtually all of them developed a progressive Felv infection. In another group of kittens over 4 months old, only 15% contracted the disease once they were infected with it. This does not mean that cats over 4 months of age can’t contract Felv, it simply means that they are much more likely to shed the virus if they do come in contact with it. The virus is highly fragile and lives only a short time outside the body of an infected cat.

Vaccinating kittens under 4 months of age for Felv is recommended because they are at a much higher-risk of contracting the virus than older cats are.

4. Who does AAFP recommend be tested for Felv?

a. Pet cats or kittens before they are first brought into a home. It’s important to determine if the cat is positive to prevent inadvertent transmission to other resident cats or – even if the cat will live alone to prepare a treatment plan if the cat is positive.

b. Cats that will have ongoing exposure to untested or Felv+ cats. It’s recommended that to minimize their potential to contract Felv that they be vaccinated annually – and, before the first vaccination they should be tested to confirm they are Felv-negative.

c. Cats that have recently been bitten by a cat that is (or could be) viral positive or cats

d. Cats that have become ill even if they have previously tested negative on a Felv test.

5. Should outdoor only cats (aka feral cats) be tested for Felv?

Althought the AAFP broadly recommends testing all cats, they exclude feral cats from their recommendation. The prevalence of infection is similar to outdoor pet cats so feral cats do not present an increased threat to pets given outdoor access. They do recommend neutering outdoor cats because this greatly reduces the two common modes of transmissions: queen to kittens and bite wounds caused by fighting among intact males.

6. How is Felv diagnosed?

The Idexx “Snap Test” is typically done at a veterinary clinic when a client brings a new pet cat in for their first examination. The same test is often performed by rescues and animal shelters when they intake a new cat for adoption.

If the test is negative, the cat is generally considered free of the Felv virus. But, if the cat’s last potential exposure to Felv was less than 28 days earlier, to be absolutely certain the cat is negative, another Snap Test is recommended after a 28-day incubation period is done – a time when the cat cannot come in contact with untested or Felv-positive cats. This protects against infections that were too immature during the first test to be detected. It will not protect against the potential that cat has the virus but is in a dormant state – which is also not detected by the Snap Test – and is why an ill cat that tested negative needs to be retested. So although a negative result is good, it’s not foolproof.

The real drama begins when the initial vet clinic or shelter test shows a positive result. Does this mean that the cat is infected with the Felv virus? Maybe, but since the impact on a cat is so major –if the cat is visibly healthy – the first positive test should be viewed with caution.

When a positive test result happens, Idexx Laboratories advises veterinarians to immediately retest the cat using an IFA test. If that is positive, then consider the cat infected and begin an appropriate management plan for the cat.

But, if the IFA test is negative, the results are inconclusive. The infection is either in an early stage or the original Snap (ELISA) test was incorrect. To determine which, Idexx recommends waiting 28 days and then re-administering both the Snap and the IFA test. If the second group of tests are both positive, you can assume the cat is Felv positive. And, if both tests are negative then you can assume the cat does not have the virus. But what do you do if you have a negative on one test and a positive on the other even after retesting a second time? According to Idexx, if the Snap test is the positive test you should manage the cat as if the virus is present but retest the cat every 6 months using both of their tests. If, on the other hand, the IFA test is positive but the Snap test is negative, then one of the results is wrong and both tests should be repeated.

Very early in our spay/neuter programs, we routinely tested for Felv . We found the incidence in our program was very low – as is confirmed by the 2008 AAFP report. And, we determined that the money spent on viral testing could better be applied to increasing the number of cats we fixed – to stem the most common means of transmission – mothers to kittens or fighting intact male cats.

Felv testing opens a Pandora ’s Box. Testing is far from perfect. Although you’re reasonably safe in assuming a negative result is negative both AAFP and Idexx recommend testing again 28 days after the cat is removed from an uncontrolled environment to confirm the virus wasn’t incubating. And they also recommend testing again if the cat later becomes ill. It’s even more a nightmare when you get a positive result and then have to go through a series of retesting to confirm the positive test was in fact real.

That being said, testing a new cat you’re bringing into your home to live with existing pet cats is a reasonable assurance that you are not inadvertently exposing them to Felv. Just remember that if you get a positive test result, it’s only an indicator the virus may be present but isn’t in itself a reason to not adopt a cat – or to euthanize one. Felv positive cats can live meaningful lives up to the point they become ill – weeks, months or years later -- with a disease causing untreatable pain with no expectation of recovery.

Yes Virginia, Cats Can (And Do) Live Outdoors Year Round

2009-12-07T09:53:00.014-07:00

Early in the fall – as the days get shorter and the nights get colder – we start getting phone calls from people who want us to take the outdoor cat(s) they’ve been feeding over the spring and summer. Yes, they enjoy having the cats outdoors – watching them play and come over for the food they give them – but now they’re worried they won’t survive the cold. When my patience is at its shortest, I’m tempted to ask if they’re also concerned about the chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons and rabbits that live in their yard too. Many of these other animals are smaller and more fragile than cats and so I’ve never understood this double standard. Cats can’t survive the winter but the aforementioned critters can do just fine? Even history tells us that cats are survivors and adapt to all sorts of outdoor climates. Their first stop in America was New England – notorious for its frigid winters -- when they came over on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims. And, only since the 1950’s have cats lived indoors as house cats.

Then I catch myself realizing that the community is understandably concerned – as they’re blasted with annual PSAs put out by old guard humane societies and animal shelters – many of which live in denial that half the cat population is still outdoor-only -- yard cats, barn cats and alley cats. These PSA’s alert people their cats will freeze to death if they stay outdoors in winter. This is another cat maxim that contains some truth – but only as it relates to the pampered indoor house cat. Yes, if you stick your indoor-only cats outdoors in January they’ll get very cold – and, if they get wet and can’t dry off – they may get hypothermia and die. Why? Because their indoor-only life style prevents them from growing winter coats. But, for cats that call the great outdoors their year-round home – winter temperatures are no more a problem for them than they are for any other form of wildlife. As the days grow shorter—the outdoor cats grow thicker coats. This added layer of dense fur close to their skin insulates them from the cold. And -- since most cats live outdoors in groups of two or more – they can snuggle together on cold nights to share body warmth.

The only distinct difference between the survival abilities of an outdoor-only cat and other wildlife is that cats are not natural house builders. Yet in many cases the reason people find cats living in their yard is that they unwittingly are providing outdoor cats with houses – in the form of open garage doors, covered porches, barns, undersides of decks or mobile homes, sheds and the like. The places cats choose for home are typically ones with both a pre-existing dry shelter and a ready food source – cat food put out by compassionate caregivers and/or a natural supply of rodents such as field or dumpster mice.

So if you have cats in your yard and you want them to stay – give them access to dry shelter and a regular daily meal or two – served at the same time and place with you staying nearby while the cats eat. This will help the cats habituate to you so you can enjoy them more, and will help you identify all the cats living on your land – so you can spay or neuter them to limit their numbers. Or, if you don’t want cats in your yard – don’t give them access to dry shelter – close your garage door, block off the underside of your deck, etc. and don’t feed them. They’ll soon get the message you don’t want them there and will move on to greener pastures. For more information on caring for naturally-occurring outdoor cats, read our handbook on Feral Cat Care.

We can't hide our cats' litter boxes, so now we flaunt them.

2009-11-29T13:49:00.006-07:00

Since we don’t have a basement any more, I had to give a little thought to where we could put our primary litter boxes. I tried using the utility room, but it didn’t work because the washer and dryer take up most of the floor area. Every time we used the garage door we had to snake our way around the boxes. And, when the cats kicked litter out of the boxes it often landed on the adjacent kitchen floor – which wasn’t very appetizing.

So, with some intrepidation, I moved the boxes to a little room off our main hallway that had served as a chapel to Our Lady of Guadalupe for the previous owner – and still earlier as a Buddhist temple for the original owner. It’s easy to see why it was used as a chapel. It’s an interior room that’s only about 7x10 -- has no windows -- but does have a very bright skylight in the middle that gives it a celestial aura. From the moment I saw a photo of it, I had imagined placing our Isabel Bloom Hilda fountain in the center and then filling the room with low-light plants – creating an indoor courtyard. I planned to add a meditation bench too, but instead put in 4 litter boxes. And, I’m glad I did.

Since the room is virtually in the center of the house, it’s an ideal place for the litter boxes and it gives me easy purview into it from pretty much anywhere in the house. This is important especially with our group of elderly cats – as the litter box is often where you see the first signs of chronic health issues including kidney disease, diabetes and hyperthyroidism. And, being able to figure out who left what in the litter box is important to figure out which cat needs a vet visit.

And, for the cats, the room’s central location is convenient. They’re close to a litter box regardless of what room they’re in when nature calls. Since it’s not at a dead end of the house, no one can block access for others by hanging in a particular area. I still have zone litter boxes at both ends of the house, just in case. For those I’m using the Tidy Cat Breeze boxes so I don’t have to worry about litter tracking. In the main litter box area I keep 2 boxes of Precious Cat Classic scoopable litter and 2 boxes of Precious Cat Senior granulated crystal litter – both marketed by Dr. Elsey. We have only 6 litter boxes for 13 cats, but since I’m a compulsive box scooper, it works.

Feline behaviorists and veterinarians have a lot of rules of thumb for litter boxes. Like – have a litter box for each cat plus one extra – and – don’t put the litter box in the basement – or make sure you scoop the box daily as cats are fastidious and won’t use a dirty box – and have at least one litter box on every floor of your home. Like other cat truisms, these maxims do have some basis in reality, but aren’t hard-and-fast rules of cat management either. I’ve tried them all with mixed success. Now I do what is a mix of what’s easy for me to clean and what’s convenient and easy for the cats to use.

The fact that most cats routinely use litter boxes is pretty amazing – and it’s probably the reason they now surpass dogs as the most common indoor pet. Unfortunately for those that don’t always use their litter box – it becomes one of the most common reason people give them up – even when they know relinquishment most often results in the death of their cat – and even when the misbehavior starts later in life – after they’ve had time to make a lifelong bond.

Never assume that good litter box behavior is totally under your control – that if you had the right boxes and the right contents all would be fine. I’ve learned otherwise. To cats, using or not using a litter box is not pre-ordained. They use a litter box because, indoors, it most resembles where they would go outdoors. If the boxes are reasonably clean and reasonably convenient, they’ll use them– except when they don’t. The all-too-often forgotten element is that unlike people, cats don’t always view urine and feces as waste. They're sometimes a language -- another form of communication. When they have something to say, they’ll say it – even if they leave the message in an inappropriate spot. I guess that’s why pet stores have such a large space allocated to enzymatic cleaners like Simple Solution and Nature’s Miracle.

For more information on litter box behavior , visit our web site and click on our handout: Preventing Cat Litter Box Problems.

With the TLC Cats, Cat Trees Still Rule

2009-11-24T10:23:00.006-07:00

After much anticipation our new cat trees arrived. The ones we had in Ann Arbor were still in good shape but were more than ten years old, so we decided instead to replace them when we got settled in our new home.

We spent hours shopping the Internet, evaluating an unbelievable number of styles and price points, but in the end decided to stay with Angelical Cats’ trees. We had them before and knew the cats liked them and that they hold up well cosmetically over time. Still, we wanted to try one of the more contemporary trees too – so we also ordered a Little Lotus from Refined Pet Products. Both choices met all of our criteria for the “purrfect” tree/scratching post – which were:

• Attractive enough to put in our living room

• Easy to maintain -- no tight corners to trap cat fur and no carpet where it wasn’t needed or couldn’t be cleaned using a handheld vacuum.

• Older-cat friendly – perches reasonably close together for easy jumping and no perches over about 4 feet in the air to protect against falling on hard floors

• Stable enough that they won’t fall over if a cat takes a running leap at it

• Shippable by UPS or Fed Ex to keep costs down.

The Little Lotus arrived first -- about ten days after we did -- and we were very glad to see it. With no cat trees in place, the cats were already finding other things to scratch -- chairs, ottomans, sofas – and we needed to get their trees in place quickly to prevent bad habits from forming.

The Little Lotus shipped knocked down to economize on production costs – which we expected -- but we were disappointed with the barebones instructions – little more than a series of cryptic diagrams – and the fact that they didn’t key the pieces to make assembly fool proof. Without keying, you could (and we did) put things together the wrong way – losing a fair amount of time to undoing assembly mistakes. And, we were also disappointed in the cosmetic quality of the tree. There were scuffed-looking paint areas on the edges – not at all furniture quality. Nevertheless we finally had a much-needed cat tree and moved it into our living room, hoping to see the cats climbing (and scratching) all over it with enthusiasm.

And -- although, many of the cats did come over to see it -- not one cat climbed it or scratched at it! In fact the only part of the tree that caught anyone’s fancy was the base – a cleverly designed hidey-hole for catnapping. From the day our Little Lotus arrived, someone could be found sleeping in it. But for whatever reason, the tree itself has stayed idle with no scratching or perching. We wondered if they simply didn’t like the tree or if their new extra wide windowsills were simply more attractive perches. As finicky as cats are, we knew we would only know the answer when the Angelical Cats trees arrived – which happened about a week later.

Unlike the Little Lotus that’s readily available from large retailers like Petco and Amazon, Angelical Cat builds most of their trees to order – and they ship fully-assembled -- so they take a bit longer to get – but they’re well worth the wait. No sooner had we un-boxed the larger of the trees– a double-perch contemporary – there were cats all over it -- taking turns on the perches and scratching both the carpet and the exposed wood posts. We knew immediately that cat trees still rule.

We still had one more surprise, though. When we opened up the second box, we found Angelical had made a mistake on our order. Instead of receiving three of their single-perch trees, we had three curious-looking 10” high perches. We immediately notified them and they’re building the ones we ordered on an expedited schedule. And, they graciously offered to let us keep the 3 little ones without charging us for shipping and discounting their retail 30%. We took them up on their offer and to our surprise find the little perches pretty handy. They do double-duty as steps for the older cats to climb the real cat tree and the larger less-nimble cats simply like to perch on them.

I’ve long been a fan of Angelical Cats trees for many reasons – and one of them is simply because they have such a wide assortment of sizes and shapes. If you buy an assortment, you can use them stand-alone or construct larger trees from the individual pieces -- as we have in our photo by putting a small perch next to the larger tree. You can rearrange them to your heart’s content and in the process give your cats something new to explore when you do.

Having cat trees in place makes us all feel more at home – and it’s a relief to know when we hear the signature scratching noises of cats being cats that it’s their furniture they’re scratching, not ours.

Caution: Displacement Stress May Kill An Otherwise Healthy Cat

2009-11-15T10:39:00.006-07:00

We knew moving our cats would be stressful – for them and us. But, we also knew the trip would only last 2 days and then they would adapt quickly to their new home. These are special cats -- troopers who have already gone through more life changes than most cats – and each time they’ve landed on their feet.

Most started out in traditional one-cat family homes and then were relinquished, lost or abandoned when they were middle aged – 8-12 years old. This change by itself could have killed them – as they ended up at their local animal control shelter where cats over 5 years old automatically fail the adoption litmus test. But, through an odd stroke of fate, they escaped death row to live at our Cat Retirement Farm during the brief time (2000-2003) that we were admitting cats and then subsequently moved home with us for continuing life care when we closed the farm in 2005.

The stress from losing their original family took an immediate toll on most of the cats, and so their first weeks -- or in some cases months -- with us were spent nursing them back to good health -- syringe feeding them Science Diet AD, hydrating them with SQ fluids, and administering medications to treat aggressive upper respiratory infections. These inherently healthy middle-aged cats were overcome by the stress of losing their family, but all they needed to bounce back was a heavy dose of attention and supportive care to keep them going while they adjusted to their new life style. They needed to know they had a home and that life was good. Once they understood this, they rebounded as quickly as they got sick.

We provided the supportive care because we were committed to the belief that the life of each cat has value and once we rescued one, we would care for him or her in the same manner we would a pet cat. Sadly, this is not the case at most shelters whose focus is to adopt out quickly and spend as little time and money on each cat as possible. In these shelters – at the first signs of anorexia or sneezing – the cats are put down – even though these are not life-threatening conditions unless left untreated. The budget and motivation to preserve the lives of the orphaned cats just isn’t there – a sick cat makes the shelter look bad, is hard to place, and can be remedied by an injection of euthanasia juice. There are always more cats waiting to take their place. I’ve always found it strangely ironic that small rescues – often operated by individuals that have no donor base – spend their own time and money to provide their cats with quality veterinary care and yet larger shelters with inertia-laden endowments sitting in their investment accounts -- and often in-house veterinary clinics -- put the same cats down at the first signs of illness.

Even the design of traditional shelters exacerbates the stress an orphaned cat feels often triggering the very illnesses that are their demise. The more days the cat spends at a caged shelter, the more likely they are to stop eating or catch a cold. Fostering them in the homes of volunteers is a much more viable way of housing cats while they await a new home. There, they can receive around-the-clock care, live in a familiar setting, and have the stimulus (windows, toys, people) they need to reduce their stress over being displaced. And, the foster parent, can become a powerful advocate in seeing to the cat getting a permanent home – they learn the cats personality, behaviors and temperaments and can advocate from that knowledge.

In this last life change for the TLC cats, only one cat’s stress caused any sign of illness. Simon had an outbreak of his chronic herpes virus. It had been in remission since the last time we moved him – from the TLC farm to our home. Fortunately this outbreak was nothing compared to his earlier ones (see photo) and was treatable with his regular treatments – cleaning his eyes daily with a moist cotton pad, applying Genteal Gel severe eye drops twice daily, giving him 250mg of L-lysine once daily and applying a few drops of prednisolone acetate twice weekly. We simply increased the pred for a few days and caught the virus while it only affected the skin on the tip of his nose. His eyes fortunately stayed pretty clear.

Why we didn’t see any more signs of stress-triggered illness in the TLC cats probably has to do with the bonds they’ve formed with us and with each other. Once they got to their destination they craved more attention for a few days – in fact even the four feral cats were hovering around our bed the first couple of nights – but soon fell back into their old routines of seeking out their friends to sun and nap with. Life is good when you have wide window sills and heated floors to nap on with your best buddies.

Hello Santa Fe -- TLC Moves Cats and (Eventually) Programs West

2009-11-12T15:27:00.009-07:00

Three months ago if you had asked me if it was possible for us to move cross-country with our dozen cats, I would have laughed hysterically. “You must be crazy”, I would have said. “There is no way to do it.” And, how often do we receive phone calls from people who are moving and believe they have to give up their cats? It’s one of the most common reasons pets are given to shelters. Yet, here we are, freshly moved into our new home with all our cats in tow. No, it wasn’t easy, but we did it. The move from Ann Arbor to Santa Fe took just 8 weeks to effect.

First we had to break the mindset that it was impossible to move with so many cats. We did this by breaking the move into the many steps we needed to get from one home to the other. With a work list in hand, we took care of as many steps as we could -- as soon as we could. This way, as we approached the actual “move date”, most of our work would be long done and we could focus on the monumental (psychologically at least) part of corralling 12 cats (4 are feral and not touchable) and making the 1,500 mile drive to Santa Fe. And, as we completed each step on our work list, the overall project became simpler -- turning an impossible goal into an achievable reality.

Our most perplexing problem was deciding how to move the cats. After weighing the different options of transporting them we concluded there was no good way to do it, so we chose the best of many bad options: driving them there. Our car wasn’t big enough for all of us, so we traded it in on a Ford cargo van. We filled its interior with 3 large cages and put 4 cats in each cage – carefully grouping them with their best buddies. We chose cages over carriers because the cats are close to each other and we hoped that snuggling with their friends would lower their anxiety levels. And, by housing them in cages we could provide each group with a litter box, food and water to make the drive more comfortable.

On moving day, as the movers carried out our belongings we started loading up the cats. We wanted to get as early a start as we could once we were free to leave. First we loaded the 8 companion cats – giving them a chance to adjust to being in the cages before we got on the road. Once they were all boarded, we turned our attention to our feral cats -- Emmy, Cleo, Joyce and Larry. We opened a can of Friskies Tuna & Chicken and laced it with a sedative called Acepromazine. They were a little suspect – wondering why their house had suddenly been emptied out and the other cats had vanished – but they couldn’t resist the fish odor and ate the food as we had hoped. We waited an hour – the time it takes for the sedative to work – and then tried to catch them in carriers. Unfortunately the sedative seemed to have little effect on them, so we took out a cat net we purchased just in case. We hoped the net would level the playing field by preventing the cats from running.

Cleo was quickly trapped and we learned why nets are a bad way to catch a cat. She was wound up inside the net and we had to very carefully untangle her while trying to keep her in the carrier so she wouldn’t get loose. We succeeded and delivered her to the van to wait for her friends. We had an easier time grabbing Larry, Joyce and Emmy – wearing leather gloves and catching them in a super-thick quilt. In less than half an hour, we had caught all 4 feral cats and were ready to hit the road – sighing a big sigh of relief over finishing the least controlled part of our move.

Thankfully, the cats were on their best behavior – only two were obviously distressed: Simon and Charlie. Both cried most of the first day, but even they settled down and accepted the ride after that. In spite of the cats’ cooperation, the drive proved every bit as horrible as I had imagined.

Although my husband Ed and I are seasoned road travelers, this trip was more challenging than any we had taken before. With the cats in the van, we couldn’t check into a hotel along the way when we were tired but had to rely on napping at rest stops. And the late fall weather worked against us too – it was dark after only a few hours on the highway – raining nonstop the entire first night. When we stopped for a quick Waffle House breakfast we realized we had been on the road 17 hours, yet were not even half way there. Very depressing!

Fortunately the daylight and sunny skies made the second day’s drive go much quicker than the first. By 6 PM we were in New Mexico heading west to Santa Fe thinking we were home free. But, as it turned dark and we started our northern approach to Santa Fe on Route 285 – a 2-lane mountain road we had never driven on before. Because it’s sparsely populated and lacked commercial areas, the road was really dark – and out of nowhere we found ourselves in a dramatic mountain snowstorm. The road soon turned whiter than our knuckles and we weren’t sure whether to continue– not knowing if the road would start to curve or climb – or go back to a lower altitude out of the snow. We forged ahead and as quickly as the snow started it stopped and we made the rest of the way in the dark but on dry roads.

Before we knew it we were at our new house. We unpacked the cats to explore their new home while we spent the night at a local hotel – getting a much-earned night of sleep. Although the moving process took 8 weeks, the actual drive took just a little more than a day -- and now that we're settled in our new home -- it was well worth it!

On A Mission: To Find A Purrfect Cat Tree

2009-10-21T08:10:00.004-06:00

I promised our cats all new trees when they get to their new home – and have been donating their current trees to local rescues. Most of them were purchased from Angelical Cats and – although they’re about 10 years old – they’re still in remarkably good condition. Particularly the ones we spent a little extra on to get Berber carpet and ordered with natural tree posts instead of sisal or carpet covering that tends to shred and pull off as the cats scratch.

For our new home I’m looking for trees that look good, and are both fun for the cats and low-maintenance for me – de-furring most cat trees is a challenge – usually requiring a combination of using a dry sponge to remove hair from small areas and a handheld vacuum to get the larger surfaces. Every time I do it, I think how wonderful it would be if they could be easily vacuumed. This means no more pagodas even though from every other standpoint the pagoda design works great – see photo.

Fortunately I found a web site that has a collection of arty cat trees that were designed with the three factors I’m looking for in mind: ModernCat.Net. The three I’m considering are the Whisker Studio’s Egg-shaped Climber Tower, The Square Cat Habitat Baobab, and The Refined Feline Lotus Cat Tower – or the scaled-down 4’ version called Little Lotus. One of those plus three or four of Angelical Cat’s small contemporary trees should give our cats all the scratching and perching space they want – and will keep them from scratching and perching in areas we’d prefer to keep for human use.

Cat trees come in all shapes, sizes and price ranges to fit the number and ages of your cats – and your budget. If you don’t have a cat tree and want to get one, here are some things to consider before purchasing one:

1. Decide how much money you’re willing to spend – the nicest ones are priced accordingly. If it helps, think of it as a piece of furniture for your living room.

2. Evaluate the trees relative to the age and agility levels of your cats. As cats age, their jumping skills diminish and need perches closer together – if the perches are too far apart, the older cat simply won’t be able to use them.

3. Visit local pet stores to see what they carry – but don’t be put off by what you see. They tend to carry the lower-priced trees that your cats will enjoy but won’t hold up over time and may not fit with your living room décor.

4. Search the Internet for more creative alternatives. Many can be shipped unassembled to save on shipping. If the tree is too large for UPS delivery, be wary -- as the shipping may double the cost.

5. Make sure the tree is heavy enough that your cat can’t knock it over.

6. Make sure the tree is easy to clean – nothing looks worse than a cat tree covered with hair.

Once you get the tree, choose a prime location for it. Put it in the room your cats spend most of their time – possibly in front of a window. If the location is right, your cats will immediately choose it over less desirable areas – for sleeping, scratching, and peeping.

Trees help expand the area cats have by making good use of vertical space – and when you have cats that are just starting to live together – the more timid cats can find safety in climbing a tree. Once the cats bond – as Emmy, Robin (hidden inside the pagoda), Onyx and Simon are – they can congregate on the perches together much like kids at a playground.

Can Feral Cats Live Indoors?

2009-10-18T08:50:00.004-06:00

Recently I commented to a friend that the most challenging part of our cross-country move will be getting Larry, Joyce, Cleo and Emmy into the van for the journey. Unlike our other older cats, these four are feral– or heirloom -- as I prefer to think of them. They were born outdoors and were never socialized to people during their first 8 weeks of life. Although they’ve enjoyed our indoor hospitality for four years, they still won’t allow us pick them up – much less put them in carriers. They trust us, but only so far. So my friend suggested we return them to the outdoors -- intimating they’d happier that way.

I love the friend dearly, but was saddened that I’d been so ineffective in explaining to her what a feral cat is. Like many people, she’s bought the concept that a feral cat is wired differently than a companion cat. And – given the option – they would choose living outdoors and hunting for their food to living indoors with all the amenities a companion cat enjoys. This is simply not true.

The terms feral and companion refer only to how a cat relates to humans and not to where they live. Locator terms like “house cats”, “barn cats”, alley cats” and “yard cats” depict their homes – there are feral cats living indoors (as Larry, Joyce, Cleo and Emmy) and companion cats living out doors as well.

The term feral wasn’t used very much to define a cat until Alley Cat Allies began promoting trap-neuter-return (TNR) in the early 1990’s. Before then, a cat was a cat and was tagged only by where they lived – house v. barn etc. The value of identifying feral cats as a category was to gain community acceptance of cats living outdoors – something they’ve done since they were first brought to North America by the pilgrims.

By accepting cats as viable outdoor wildlife, it was then possible to begin a pro-active spay/neuter campaign. Before Alley Cat Allies, only pet cats were routinely sterilized and this resulted in large numbers of kittens each year born to the outdoor cats. The pre-1990 Companion Animal Movement – largely defined by the old-guard humane societies and county animal control agencies – campaigned that it was unsafe for a cat to live outdoors – possibly as a justification of their routine killing of those outdoor cats when well-meaning people bring them to the shelter – a practice most still follow today. But now, thanks to Alley Cat Allies countering that practice with advocating TNR programs to leave the cats in place and sterilize them so they won’t reproduce -- we have our best chance at ending the unnecessary killing of healthy but homeless cats.

When that day comes, perhaps all cats – even those tagged as feral – may be able to have an indoor home with a loving guardian pampering them in the same way companion cats are today. If not, as we already have learned, they can continue to live outdoors the life of an heirloom cat.

And no, we wouldn’t consider leaving Larry and company behind. Although they’re not proverbial lap cats, they do provide us with unlimited enjoyment and we provide them with a safe home and plenty of food and comforts. We believe very strongly that all cat lives have value –feral or friendly. And once you commit to the care of a cat, you’re committing to that care for life.

The Ice Cat Melteth -- Missy Joins our Group

2009-10-15T12:01:00.005-06:00

If you’re a regular Mews & Views reader, you’ve already figured out that we question a lot of conventional cat wisdom. For example: Cats living outdoors meet the definition of feral … People don’t fix their cats because they’re “irresponsible” … Only “adoptable” cats should be saved by shelters – the rest are better off dead. Trap-Neuter-Return is bad for the birds. And …cats are solitary animals – they don’t want to live with other cats. All of these maxims crumble under close scrutiny, yet our accepting them at face value shapes how we treat cats – often to their demise.

The solitary animal theory has its roots in the way cats hunt. Unlike pack animals that work as a team, cats rely on stealth attacks selecting small rodents for their victims. They neither need nor benefit from having other cats around when they stalk and pounce on an unwitting mouse or mole. Yet often after they catch the prey, they bring it back to their colony – as any caregiver who’s had their cat drop a dead mouse in front of them can confirm. Just because cats hunt alone doesn’t mean that they want to live alone. Think of it -- if they preferred living alone, why would they form colonies?

Because so many people – including vets, animal shelter staff, cat guardians alike – believe the solitary cat myth , you’ll often hear comments like – “LuLu is a great cat but she needs to be in a one-cat home– she doesn’t get along with other cats.” Or, “I would keep this stray cat myself – he’s so nice – but my cat Tinker has always lived alone and it wouldn’t be fair to her to bring in a new cat.”

Even those that are brave enough to adopt a second cat often give up after only a few weeks or months -- citing the new cat terrorizes their original cat – or she won’t come out to visit –just hides under the bed all day. These behaviors reinforce the solitary cat myth. But, what they really tie back to is the cat’s territorial nature.

Territory – to a cat – is paramount. When you introduce a new cat into your home with existing cats, it creates two major problems: The new cat loses her old territory entirely and your resident cats have an interloper in theirs. If they were outdoors, this situation would resolve quickly – the new cat --finding existing cats already on the land -- would either move on voluntarily or be run off by them. Or – sometimes – the new cat would be accepted by the colony and join it. Indoors, the new cat can’t run away and – except in those situations where the cats immediately like each other – this results in chaos. You can prevent chaos by setting up a cage for the new cat – with food, water, litter and a nice bed -- and setting it in the area where your other cats hang out. Let the cats get to know each other without being able to chase or attack – this is critical as once they start fighting the introduction problems escalate.

The cage gives the new cat a territory all her own – she can relax and be comfortable in. And, her being in a cage keeps the original territory for the resident cats. Once the new cat has time to calm down, let her out when you’re there to supervise and see what happens. If the cats chase each other, hiss or growl, or hide underneath something, simply put the new cat back in her cage and try again the next day. Once the new cat can come out without any hissing, growling or hiding, the cat has been accepted in the group.

Depending on the cats, this transition to a shared territory can take hours, weeks, months – or in the case of our Missy – years! In fairness to Missy, we received her back from a foster home when we had 20 cats living in three basic groups. She’s a shy kitty and would get stressed out preferring her condo to the open room areas. After a few months of living in a cage, she slowly moved herself to my upstairs office which only a few other cats would frequent. We made sure she had food, water and litter and let her stay there – the door open and other cats visiting – but out of the areas that had the highest levels of cat activity.

We noticed this August that she would sit on the stairs looking into the living room and finally – a few weeks ago – decided it was time to join the group. She still spends most of her time in the office, but a few hours each day she’s out and about – and looking about as happy as a calico cat can. We knew she’d like the other cats if we let her move in on her own timetable.

Fortunately for cat lovers, Missy is an extreme case of slow acceptance. We’ve used caged introductions for over 70 adult cats that previously lived as single pets – introducing them into a group of 10-15 other similar cats. With few exceptions they settled in within 3-4 months of when they arrived. And, over the years, some very close friendships have formed. If you asked these cats if they'd like to go back to being an only cat, i think they'd tell you no -- they'd miss their friends too much!

Resale Stores & Cat Shelters Have More In Common Than You'd Think

2009-10-08T09:26:00.005-06:00

In preparing for our cross-country move, I’ve spent the last month evaluating our belongings -- sifting through 16 years of furniture and whatnots –deciding what to move and what to leave behind. Living in a large house, it was always easier to find a “place” for an obsolete desk or bookcase rather than removing it. Add to the mix -- the many antiques we kept from both the specialty retail stores we closed in 1997, and the country farmhouse we used as a cat retirement shelter until 2003 -- and it’s easy to see why unloading this house was daunting.

Nevertheless, we’ve succeeded. So our effort and planning was worth it. We first chose the furnishings to move and then the consignable antiques to sell. Once they were identified and set aside, our local second-hand store came out to select items for resale. After that, the Salvation Army came in and took most of the rest --so fortunately very little was trashed.

Still, this process was very humbling. Items you think are “treasures” are scrutinized for scratches, style and wear -- and, although they mean a lot to you – to the dealer they’re often damaged goods – difficult to sell and not worth their time to try. It really doesn’t matter who manufactured them or how much they cost. Their goal is to take only those items they think will fly out of the store. Dealers can’t be bothered with things that need a little mending or will take a long time to sell – it ties up valuable store space that could hold easier-to -move merchandise. To be profitable, they need a steady turnover, and so even when they do take items for sale --if they get damaged or shopworn – or don’t sell within a few months -- they’re trashed.

Once I understood this, I made another pass through the furnishings and kept a few more items we wouldn’t have moved otherwise – mostly special pieces of furniture with sentimental value. We had room for these things in our old house, and we’ll find room for them in our new house too. Or, at least, hold onto them until we find someone who’ll appreciate and care for them as we did.

All the while, the parallels between finding good dealers to sell our used furniture, and finding good shelters to take pet cats, kept haunting me. How many times had someone called us – thinking we were a shelter or rescue – and asked us to take their cat? They were moving or having a baby or the cat had stopped using a litter box – for whatever reason they didn’t want the cat any more. But, they didn’t want the cat to die either. They wanted the cat to go to a good shelter that would provide care and placement in a good home. They would go on and on about how nice the cat was and how well the cat got along with their children. Often they would proudly add the cat was already spayed or neutered and current on vaccinations. Sometimes they would offer to throw in a donation. As if any of that would make the cat more appealing to a shelter.

Cat shelters, like resale stores, focus on high turnover. That translates into very young and very friendly cats and kittens that are well socialized and healthy. Like resale stores, shelters base their admission on adoptability – they don’t want to tie up a cage with an adult cat but prefer to use the shelter space for very young cats and kittens that will fly out the door into new homes. And if the cat gets ill or takes too long to adopt out, they frequently euthanize them rather than treating them or housing them for an extended time.

What can you do if you have an adult cat you can’t or won’t keep but don’t want to see them killed? Not much. Your best strategy would be to work through the problem or at least home-foster your cats until you find a person to adopt directly from you. As sweet and loving as they are to you, to a shelter they will be slow to adopt and their cage space can be better used to place the many kittens born each year. So, until communities refocus their cat efforts from kitten adoptions to pro-active cat (and kitten) spay/neuter, orphaned adult cats will find little available shelter space for their slower-to-adopt needs.

Still, worrying about how to relinquish a pet cat is a flawed problem anyway. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that if we bring a cat into our home to live as a family member, that we make a similar commitment to them – to keep and care for them for life? If we make that commitment, then sheltering them later on will never be an issue.

Saying Goodbye To Two Dear Old Cats (continued)

2009-10-02T08:17:00.004-06:00

While Amber struggled with chronic illness for 5 years, Tasha did so all her life. She had a congenital disease that causes cysts to gradually grow and multiply on the kidneys until they’re so impaired they stop functioning.

When she joined our TLC Retirement Cat Program in 2001 she was 10 years old and the disease was advanced enough that the cysts were already palpable -- and her blood work indicated she was in renal failure. We decided not to put Tasha up for adoption, but to treat the kidney disease --fearing even with aggressive treatment -- we would only have her for a few months.

The treatment meant giving Tasha SQ fluids frequently – and eventually daily -- to help her kidneys work and providing her with Winstrol to treat kidney-related anemia. Tasha was an excellent patient, easy to medicate, and soon reaped the benefits of her tolerance – her kidney values crept back into the normal range and stayed there for almost 8 years. The cysts were still there and growing, but she was managing the good portion of her kidneys better than anyone anticipated.

But Tasha’s kidneys were only part of her health problem. As they were brought under control, we also began treating her with Norvasc for hypertension – a common corollary to kidney disease – and Tapazole for her hyperthyroidism – a common illness in older cats. Her “old cat” teeth and gums needed work but we understood she was not well enough to tolerate anesthesia so began dosing her 5 days of every month with Clindamycin to prevent infection.

Despite all of these health issues, Tasha stayed an active and vibrant cat. And the only outward sign of her illness was that she was very thin – but this only enhanced her flame calico markings and extra long tail –making her look as if she stepped out of an ancient Japanese painting. For a brief period one summer we even let her have occasional outdoor privileges -- but quickly reversed this. A neighbor kept seeing her outdoors and thought she was a lost cat and almost took her to the animal control shelter. Fortunately she couldn’t catch her. The reason she thought Tasha was lost was her skinny body – she assumed Tasha was starving from lack of food!

So Tasha, the cat we began hospice care of in 2001, chugged along until a few months ago. We started noting she was going underneath a living room chair to sleep and knew that was a bad sign. We put a cat condo in our living room and set it up for Tasha with food, water, litter box and a cozy bed. She chose the condo over the underside of a chair and – although we knew she was not her old self – thought she was doing okay. Then in August she suddenly became blind – a relatively common outgrowth of hypertension in cats. Fortunately we caught it quickly enough that by increasing her Norvasc she did get some vision back. This was the first outward sign of her demise. About the same time her blood work started showing kidney values creeping toward renal failure. And -- even more worrisome -- we found large irregular growths on her spine and in her abdomen pointing to a feline cancer.

Like Amber, Tasha started removing herself from daily routines and stopped seeking our attention – preferring sleep in her condo to anything else. Her appetite started to decline and by Wednesday she wouldn’t even eat the chicken baby food that she previously devoured. We knew that her appetite was affected by the nausea often present in renal failure and decided to let Tasha go in peace. With food no longer an enjoyment little quality of life was left for this sweet cat. We said our goodbyes and let her go – knowing we had never met another cat quite like Tasha before – and are pretty sure we never will again. She was our miracle cat.

Saying Goodbye To Two Dear Old Cats

2009-10-01T08:42:00.003-06:00

Losing one elderly cat to illness is difficult. Losing two in one day is even more so. Twice previously in the history of our TLC Retirement Program we’ve said goodbye to two cats within hours of each other and yesterday we sadly did so again. Amber and Tasha -- our last two current hospice cats -- died yesterday of very different illnesses but with a similar pattern of multi-system involvement.

19-year old Amber was chronically ill since February 2004. At that time she started bleeding rectally and was diagnosed through a biopsy sent to Colorado State University as having chronic inflammatory bowel disease with a bacterial overgrowth. This is a common older cat ailment and is treated with steroids to control the bleeding. By 2006 she was hyperthyroid – another common older cat disease -- and was treated with radioactive iodine – the treatment worked so well she went from being hyper- to hypo-thyroid and needed twice daily medication to raise her thyroid levels to the normal range. About that time she started to become slightly anemic and was treated on and off for that.

In 2007 Amber was having blood-laced soft stool issues that the steroids weren’t able to completely prevent and her coat began to look oily and flaky. Another blood test was done through Texas A&M’s veterinary lab. This pointed to an adrenal gland problem – perhaps Cushings -- possibly caused by the long-term steroid use. We tried cyclosporine but the problem didn’t go away so through more blood testing we determined that Amber had a GI tract malabsorption problem and was deficient in both cobalamine (B12) and folic acid. We started giving her weekly injections of the vitamins to make up for her inability to absorb them through her diet. Another test performed at the same time indicated she had chronic pancreatitis and leukerin (a cancer drug) was added to her medication list. Try as we did, we were never able to get her back to a totally healthy active life.

Last fall she contracted ringworm – a fungus that can live dormant on a cat for many years and then infect them when their immune system lets down – as hers certainly had. We began weekly lime sulfur dips to control the ringworm and prevent open lesions from forming. She tolerated the dips, but they always worried me because -- for the dip to work -- you can’t dry the cat off. I always tried to do the dips when the sun was shining brightly so she would air dry quicker. By January, Amber was having trouble walking – her hind legs wouldn’t cooperate. Blood work indicated she was now diabetic and needed to go on twice daily insulin. The walking problem could have been caused by high glucose levels. The insulin did more to perk her up than anything else and her walking did improve for awhile.

Finally by September she could no longer climb the stairs we provided her to get to the ottoman she loved to sit on. We set up a floor-level cat condo with a nice bed, food and water and she stayed in there most of the time – still taking a few daily walks to the kitchen for water. We started to question the overall quality of her life – she was becoming isolated from us in her condo because she was no longer comfortable sitting on her ottoman even if we put her on it and lifted her off. The final straw was yesterday. I went out briefly and when I returned I found her lying on the floor next to her condo in a puddle of urine – she had had a breakthrough seizure. As hard as it was to say goodbye to her, we knew the end was imminent with or without our intervention. We had done all we could do for her and now it was time to put her best interests in front of our hesitation to end a life – marginal as hers had become. She is gone now, and we miss her.

For The Elderly, There's More Than One Way To Love A Cat

2009-09-21T07:29:00.004-06:00

When we think of cats and the elderly, we think of Fluffy sleeping in Grandma’s bed or nestled in her lap while she watches TV. These friendships are well -documented and have demonstrated over and again the important role pets can play in helping seniors stay independent and mentally alert. Yet many elderly adults also share a very deep bond with the “heirloom” cats that pop up in their yard, and they comprise a significant demographic of outdoor cat caregivers. It’s easy to understand why Grandma bonds to Fluffy – she’s a 24/7 companion that’s warm, soft and purrs gently – but why would Grandma (or Grandpa) equally bond to shy, skittish cats that only come out between dawn and dusk and often run when they’re approached? I have a theory.

Although the elderly benefit greatly from having a pet, many are reluctant to keep one – fearing they’ll outlive the cat and won’t be there to provide life care. So they deprive themselves of the joy of caring for a cat. But -- when one or more “heirloom” cats appear in their yard -- their heart beats faster as they open the door – usually with a saucer of milk or some food to offer the new visitor. Often outdoor cats won’t eat the first time food is out, but they’ll most definitely show about the same time the next day and be more willing to accept the food then – especially if Grandma stands back or goes indoors to observe them. Once they accept the food the bonding begins, and both the cat and Grandma look forward to their daily scheduled eating sessions. Now, Grandma can enjoy the companionship of a cat without taking responsibility for the cat’s life. As time passes, the bond increases to the same level of an indoor pet and oftentimes the cats move indoors or at least enjoy house privileges on cold or rainy days.

Similarly, most senior living complexes have a resident cat colony doing mouse patrol around their dumpsters. Since many of these communities prohibit pets, these outdoor cats give the residents a way to enjoy cats in spite of the regulations. The photo above was taken at a local senior apartment complex who used our TNR program in 2007 to sterilize their colony. The cats in the photo joined their colony this summer and are the first newcomers since 2007.

The management there understands that it’s best to sterilize the cats and let the residents feed them rather than trapping them to take to an animal control shelter for euthanasia. The known colony provides hours of enjoyment for the residents and – through sterilization –no longer engages in the behaviors that create a nuisance for the management – spraying, fighting and kittening.

The newcomers were promptly sterilized and returned to the grounds. When the manager sent us the photo she noted: “Finally we were able to get a photo of our 3 new kittens with Mom in the background. They were all boys! They seem very happy and healthy and our tenants enjoy watching them play on the patio. “What could be better than that for both the residents and the cats?

Adios Ann Arbor - TLC Moves Southwest

2009-09-09T09:05:00.009-06:00

Serendipity has played a large part in my life journey and once again it’s taking charge. A month ago I was firmly ensconced in a comfortable life style – caring for our retirement cats and managing our Michigan-focused cat programs. Taking one day at a time, my only real goal was to help as many caregivers as possible get their cats fixed. Knowing all too well that the primary reason a cat loses his or her home stems from the challenges of living with an intact adult cat – especially when new kittens are free and the cost to fix a cat is out of reach of a lot of many family budgets.

Then, as we approach our 13,000th free cat sterilization, a lunchtime conversation opened up the possibility of moving to a new home. The logical choice would have been to house shop in Ann Arbor, but with the Internet making it just as easy to look anywhere – I opened Pandora’s Box only to find the house of my dreams. It’s incredible and even more cat-friendly than our current home. Only problem is that it’s 1500 miles away.

As much as I’m looking forward to settling in my new home --it’s bittersweet -- as it forces the end of our spay/neuter work in greater Washtenaw County. The Feral Colony Assistance Program has already closed to new applicants and the Lower-Income Spay/Neuter program – for both indoor and outdoor cats – will accept applications only until September 30th. All outstanding vouchers will be honored and no new vouchers will be issued to expire after October 31st.

We will miss working with the many vet clinics that have contributed their services at discount rates and all the caregivers who have shared our recognition of the importance of fixing cats and making lifetime commitments to their care. Once we’re settled in our new home, we hope to set up similar cat programs to service our new community. Thank you to everyone that made our spay/neuter programs work.

To My Working Cats - Happy Labor Day

2009-09-07T09:12:00.006-06:00

The earliest reference I’ve found to working cats dates back to about 8000 BC when humans started moving away from nomadic life styles toward settlement farming in the Middle East. Wild cats started settling down with the farmers providing their hunting skills to keep down the rat and mouse population threatening their primitive grain stores and garbage dumps. Over the next 5,000 years cats expanded their work-range to include the lofty status of being worshipped as gods --most notably in Egypt but also to some extent in Greece, Rome, China and Japan. Today cats engage in a variety of assignments – from rodent control to TV acting to library and retail store hosts to therapeutic aids and everything in between.

The first cat I put to work was my beloved pet Amino. She was upset about living with my other two pet cats and so I moved her to our company as our Office mascot. Since I spent most of my waking hours there she saw more of me than she would have at home – and was royally spoiled by our staff who would bring her leftovers from their dinners or share snacks off the food truck with her. She had a keen sense of who needed her attention most and when someone was having a frustrating day at work you’d find her sitting on their lap. One of our engineers had a baby who was allergic to cats and they would bring him in for brief controlled visits with Amino – I can still remember the giggles he’d let out when she notice he was there for her attention.

Several of our TLC retirement cats spent time in service – most notably Mama who lived for several years at a local Assisted Living home on the Alzheimer’s floor. Everyone benefitted from her care – residents who would recall stories of their former pets, staff who got well-meaning respite from her affection, and relatives and visitors who could release the inherent tension of visiting a diminished friend or relative by simply petting Mama’s coat.

Earlier in the TLC program, Picasso performed a very special hospice stay with an Ann Arbor man who was on breathing equipment. Because Picasso was old and blind and hard of hearing he could provide extended lap time– where younger healthier cats were scared away by the noise of his supportive life equipment.

A few months ago I enjoyed reading the best-selling book by Vicki Myron -- Dewey The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched The World. The author provides great detail on the variety of services he provided to the town residents. He enjoyed international fame with people coming from as far away as Japan to see him in his workplace.

As you enjoy this holiday remember to include the cats you see – outdoors mousing – greeting customers in specialty retail stores – and doing lap-sitting time with the elderly – in the workers you remember. They are an important – albeit unnoticed – group of willing workers that enhance our lives with their beauty, affection – and yes – work duties as well. All they need to do their jobs is a kindly human to feed them and pat them on the back.

Happy Labor Day to you and your cats.

Tasha -- A Cat Who Defies The Odds -- Goes Blind Then Regains Her Sight

2009-08-28T08:31:00.006-06:00

Tasha’s health continues to diminish. Last Friday morning after I gave her SQ fluids for her kidneys, she jumped off my lap as she normally would, but turned too soon to leave the room, and ended up in a closet instead. When she reached the end of it, she bumped her head against the wall – looking confused as to why she couldn’t go further. When I picked her up I noticed her pupils were fully-dilated – like giant black saucers -- and realized that she had lost her vision. The change was acute -- only the day before she had had no trouble finding her way. But then I remembered that she stayed in her condo the entire previous afternoon and evening – even though her condo door was open. This may have been because she couldn’t see to get out -- and she may have been scared. When a cat first becomes blind, it’s unsettling for them – they don’t have a clue as to what happened.

What caused her sudden blindness? Like many cats with chronic kidney disease, Tasha also has hypertension. We’ve had her on a daily dose of blood pressure medication for several years now – hoping that would control it, and prevent her from becoming blind – one of the negative side effects of hypertension.

Sudden blindness in cats is a medical emergency -- regardless of cause -- so I packed Tasha up and took her in for a blood pressure check and eye exam. On the test, her blood pressure was 170 – high, but not extremely high. Her retinas were detached. We assumed the blindness was blood-pressure related -- although there are other causes -- and that possibly her blood pressure spikes during the day to a level that could cause retinal detachments. To counteract this possibility, we slightly increased her medication and divided it into a morning and afternoon dosage. When we rechecked her blood pressure on Monday morning, it had dropped to 150. Possibly the slight increase in medication was helping. Yea!

Rarely a cat with blindness caused by retinal detachment regains their sight – if it’s caught quickly and if the blood pressure stabilizes. A pet cat of mine did this several years ago, but I didn’t think Tasha would be so lucky – with all the other factors weighing on her health. Yet Tuesday morning when she jumped down after getting fluids, she found her way back to her condo without bumping into anything. And I noticed that her pupils aren’t dilated all the time any more.

At this point, it looks like Tasha’s sight is back – something we’re very relieved about. She’s still a little reclusive – only leaving her condo for a few minutes each day – so possibly she regained only partial vision. But, regardless of how much or how little she sees, Tasha is able to move around without bumping into walls or chairs and that’s what counts. Whether this change is permanent or temporary, only time will tell.

Legislative Alert -- H.R. 3501 Seeks To Make Pet Homes Happy

2009-08-23T08:17:00.004-06:00

July 31st, Thomas McCotter – the Republican Representative from the 11th District of Michigan – introduced H.R. 3501 -- an amendment to the IRS Code allowing a $3,500 annual tax deduction for pet care expenses beginning in 2010. H.R. 3501 is entitled “Humanity and Pets Partnered through the Years (HAPPY) Act” and, if enacted, will definitely live up to its name – making families happy by helping them provide quality care for their often under-recognized family members – the cats and other pets living in their homes.

The bill cites the 2007-2008 American Pet Products Association (APPA) Survey that estimates 63% of all American households include pets – and that having pets in the home has a positive impact on the family’s emotional and physical health.

As proposed, HAPPY will consider all amounts paid in connection with pet care – including veterinary expenses – as eligible expenses. It specifically excludes any costs associated with acquiring a pet – including adoption fees.

If you want to show your support for this important bill, visit the Care2 web site for assistance..

Only The Luckiest Cats Get Forever Homes

2009-08-22T08:50:00.003-06:00

Companion Animal Conferences usually include at least one workshop on dealing with anger and frustration caused by dealing -- not with cats -- but with their human guardians . At first I didn’t understand why, but I think I do now. Most people who work with cats – at least in the no-kill arena – believe that cats are family members – no sooner would they give one up than they would their children. What they don’t bargain for is that not everyone’s on the same page. Take this voice mail for example:

“I have a cat that’s approximately 4 years old. He was adopted from a shelter. He’s an orange tabby. We’re having some oral problems with him and we need to find a home for him. We cannot afford the upkeep of the gingivitis and having teeth pulled and he’s currently losing teeth. And I can’t give him the care he needs. He’s absolutely a wonderful cat so I want him to find a good home. Could someone please call me and if you can’t help me at least offer some suggestions?”

Listening to this voice mail, my heart went out to this woman who seemingly cares so deeply for her cat that she’s willing to give him up just to get his dental work done. I promptly returned the call hoping I could explain to her that although dental health is important, it may not be so important that she needs to give up her cat – especially when it’s not easy for an adult cat to adopt out a second time. Fortunately, there are ways to get veterinary work done without paying the entire bill on the front end – such as the Care Credit Card. And there are non-profits like IMOM.org that can grant money to low-income families for veterinary bills if they don’t qualify for Care Credit. And – dental work can be deferred altogether. Certainly many humans defer their own dental work when money is an issue. It’s not ideal, but it does happen. I’m sure from the cat’s standpoint, living with bad teeth is a better deal than being homeless.

Before I got to the Care Credit suggestion, the caregiver interrupted me and told me she wasn’t looking for advice. All she wanted was to place her cat in a different home. She has a new puppy who shares the cat’s water and she’s afraid the bacteria from the cat’s gingivitis will infect him. I explained that all mouths – cat mouths, dog mouths and human mouths are loaded with nasty bacteria but I had never heard that gingivitis (or any of the other mouth bacteria) was contagious through water bowls. Then she said: “That doesn’t matter anyway because we’re planning on having a baby next year and this cat is one big smother-lover and we can’t have him around our baby”.

At that point I realized once again that people often choose socially-acceptable reasons for relinquishing their cats when the actual trigger is usually something more mundane. Gingivitis wasn’t the deal-breaker in this home – nor was the puppy or the coming baby for that matter. The family has simply moved on. Their 4 year old cat is yesterday’s news. To this family the cat was only an object they had purchased and grown weary of. It’s time for the cat to move on – even if the prospects of him placing a second time are slim and none. He’s never been a family member – just a guest in their home who – although he is a wonderful cat -- outstayed his welcome. Sad, isn’t it?

Feral Cats? Why Not Heirloom Cats?

2009-08-16T13:23:00.004-06:00

I’ve always had some difficulties calling naturally-occurring outdoor cats “feral”. The Wikipedia definition of a feral organism is “one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to a wild state.” Yet with cats, this is typically not the case. Most outdoor cats can’t be feral because they were never domesticated to begin with. These are simply cats living outdoors as cats.

True there are exceptions – lost or abandoned companion cats – socialized by people as kittens for adoption as pets – can revert to feral behaviors as a means of adapting to outdoor life. But, when they reproduce and create colonies – the bulk of the cats living in the colony – are technically not feral either --because they’ve had no concentrated human contact to tame them. If the litters aren’t removed from the outdoors when the kittens are 4-8 weeks old, they’ll never become companion cats – even if their mother and/or father were socialized. This is why it’s so critical to get kittens indoors while they’re still babies.

But, those kittens born and left outdoors – if they’re not feral and they’re not socialized – then what are they? Perhaps they’re heirloom cats. Again, from Wikipedia: “In the plant world, an heirloom plant is a cultivar that was commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but which is not used in modern large-scale agriculture. Many heirloom vegetables have kept their traits through open pollination, while fruit varieties, such as apples have been propagated over the centuries through grafts and cuttings. The trend of growing heirloom plants in gardens has been growing in popularity.”

Make a few substitutions to the above definition and you’ll see what I mean: Prior to the 1950’s the most common cats (cultivar) were the barn, yard and alley cats commonly living outdoors throughout our country – as many still do. The shelters (large-scale agriculture) do not use the heirloom cats for their production, but focus on the modified versions created by intense human socialization of their kittens. Many heirloom cats have kept their traits through open breeding (pollination), while fruit varieties (Siamese, Himalayan, Maine Coon, etc.) have been propagated over time through selective breeding of cats with like traits. The trend of heirloom cats in gardens has been growing in popularity – through a lack of available and affordable spay/neuter support for property owners blessed with naturally-occurring heirloom colonies in their yards.

No, I don’t expect to see a push to stop the misuse of the word “feral” with regard to unsocialized cats any time soon. But I do think that heirloom is more descriptive of these wonderful outdoor cats --whose lifestyle is a throwback to an earlier day. And, possibly more shelters would think twice before automatically killing heirloom cats as it doesn’t have the harsh connotation of “feral”, and would advocate stronger for their sterilization and return to their natural outdoor homes.

Genetically heirloom and companion cats are one and the same – but socially they’re worlds apart. We know from the grim shelter statistics that in Michigan alone over 70,000 cats are killed each year – many of these are heirloom cats that could easily continue living as outdoor wildlife – especially when they are fixed. Until we get spay/neuter to the cats that need it most we’ll have repeated annual bumper crops of heirloom kitties living the lives cats have lived since they first came over on the Mayflower. They don’t need to be saved, rescued or rehabilitated – all they need is to be fixed.

Littermates or Soulmates? Coswell and Onyx Share a Special Bond.

2009-08-06T08:49:00.006-06:00

To see how natural they look sharing a couch, you’d think they lived together all their lives. Yet this photo was taken in 2003 literally moments after they met. We rescued them both on the same day from our local animal control shelter’s euthanasia queue. Onyx (left) had just ended his stray-hold period and Coswell (right) had just exhausted his allotted time in their adoption area.

As soon as we got them to our new-cat isolation room, they quickly jumped out of their carriers and onto the couch-- both sighing a long sigh – relieved to be out of the shelter – and perhaps , happy to be together again? Although they ended up at the shelter almost two months apart, they’re about the same age and coloring, and their immediate acceptance of each other has always nagged at me. Could they be littermates -- or at least former housemates -- that were lost or abandoned together? If so, they could have separated and been found individually -- with Croswell reaching the shelter a few months before Onyx. Unlike dogs who run loose when they’re lost, cats first hunker down in a safe hiding place – often close to where they were lost -- leaving only when darkness makes them invisible to people – and then only to hunt for food – or until they’re brave enough to search for their old home. Their hiding creates a lag time – often months -- before someone figures out they’re homeless and takes them to a shelter.

If you’ve ever tried to introduce one cat to another you know how unusual it is for unrelated cats to immediately mingle like Coswell and Onyx did. Even the most tolerant and sociable cats feel obligated to throw at least a few hissy fits before they’ll accept a new cat. Doing something as familial as sitting on a couch together often takes months or years to accomplish. That’s part of the reason why people used to think cats were solitary animals. We know from our retirement cats that most cats do relish feline companionship – so long as they all have their own turf and there’s plenty of food and litter box access for all. Rarely do we have one cat living separately from others -- and most of them enjoy sleeping and eating with or near others – in groups of 4 or 5. And these cats for the most part lived alone as house pets until they were well into middle age.

Whether or not Coswell and Onyx knew each other before we got them will always remain a mystery. Neither one is talking. But if they weren’t housemates in a previous life, they’re definitely soulmates now -- giving each other continual love and companionship – as well as a few friendly head butts – whenever they pass by.

My Feral Cats Bring Me Dead Mice -- How Can I Stop This?

2009-08-04T14:59:00.004-06:00

“I am currently caring for two feral cats in rural Michigan. I have a couple of questions that I thought you might be able to answer."

"First, I have cared for these cats for almost two years, yet it is only in the last few months that one has taken to bringing dead animals (mice and other rodents) back to the feeding/shelter station. Is there a reason for this change in behavior and is there any way to stop it?""

"Second, I believe both have developed tape worms. I cannot take them to a vet – since they were trapped to be fixed, neither will go near a trap no matter how disguised it is! Will non-prescription tape worm tabs help them, and given that they are likely to continue eating raw meat (like the mice they catch) is there any way I can prevent future outbreaks?”

Someone once said that: “People treat cats like people but cats treat people like cats.” You show how much you appreciate the cats by feeding and sheltering them. They reciprocate by sharing their prey with you. Although it may not feel like a compliment, it is. Possibly the reason they didn’t bring you mice earlier is that it takes time for feral cats to trust you. Sharing mice isn’t something you do with just anyone. I don’t know of any way to stop the cats from showing you their prey. If it were me, I’d be a gracious friend, praise the cat for her prowess and then quietly dispose of the remains when they aren’t looking. As time passes you may get fewer mice – as the cats age and become less ambitious hunters -- or when the novelty of sharing wears off. Just be patient.

If you suspect your cats have tapeworms you probably found rice-like segments in their feces or attached to their anus. That’s usually the first sign. There are two common tapeworms that infect outdoor cats. T. taeniaefirnus (commonly called a “cat tapeworm” ) comes from eating dead rodents and Dipylidium canimum (commonly called “dog tapeworm”) comes from ingesting fleas or lice bearing the larval stages of tapeworms. The only sure way to diagnose which kind they are is through a microscope examination of tapeworm eggs in the cat’s feces. Over the counter medication may work but as a rule the ones prescribed by veterinarians are more advanced, work quicker and are generally safer for the cats.

The only sure way to protect cats from various parasites -- including tapeworms -- is to move them indoors. For outdoor cats, it’s a given that they’ll have parasites – fleas, worms, etc. The best you can hope is to minimize them. Make sure that your grass is kept mowed to control fleas as keeping grass short lets the sun warm the soil to kill flea larvae. Use a broad-spectrum product like Revolution to kill adult fleas, prevent heartworm, and treat ear mites and control roundworms and hookworms. Unfortunately, these products are applied topically to the back of the neck so they usually don’t work with feral cats who won’t allow you to handle them. In those situations, ask your vet to recommend a good dewormer that can be mixed in their food periodically. Finally use a product like Droncit to treat tapeworm. The vet can inject it or you can give it as a pill orally or crumbled in food.

Fortunately parasites are very symbiotic with their adult cat hosts and normally don’t harm or discomfort for them – although a heavy infestation can cause problems including anemia, weight loss, and mild diarrhea. Kittens may have more problems because of their immature immune systems – but it’s a good idea to bring kittens indoors to socialize and adopt out as house cats – and when you do, work with your vet on removing their parasites. Some parasites can pass from cats to people so always make sure to use good hygiene and wash your hands after handling outdoor cats.

And, if you occasionally find a dead mouse at your doorstep -- accept it as the gift it is -- and know that your cat(s) are simply telling you how much they appreciate your ongoing care.

Fixing Half A Cat Colony Is Like Being a "Little" Pregnant

2009-07-31T08:50:00.006-06:00

“We have been so pleased with the results from the TNR program. It has been a healthy year with only adults present. Often the kittens (before TNR) were sickly and too wild to provide care, resulting in terminal disease. The population has stabilized now with individuals staying around instead of roaming and getting hit in the road. We have two new additions to our colony that need spay/neuter vouchers. The new arrivals have been eating here consistently for the last three weeks.“

Feedback like this on our Managed Feral Colony Assistance Program is music to our ears. This Ann Arbor caregiver followed through and fixed her entire barn colony of 16 cats late last fall, and has been reaping the benefits ever since. It’s relatively simple to achieve 100% sterilization if you train the cats to show at the same time each day and be hungry when they do – by meal-feeding and not leaving food out for extended time periods. That way you see all the cats most of the time – and even the most feral cats will be more trusting -- you become their “mom cat” --- providing their food like she did.

We’re delighted to pay to sterilize cats where the colony caregiver – who is also the property owner – is committed to maintaining their land as a kitten-free zone – by humanely caring for the adults and ensuring the entire group gets fixed quickly – even when it involves live-trapping feral cats. It’s a two-stage process: first fixing the existing colony and second monitoring the group at meal time. Most of the time the existing colony will keep newcomers from settling in but occasionally a new cat will come by that they accept. When they do, identify the newcomer(s)and fix them before they reproduce.

As this caregiver points out – colonies of sterilized outdoor cats tend to be healthier – males no longer getting infections from scratches and bite wounds -- caused from fighting with other unsterilized male cats -- and females are stronger -- no longer diverting their energy to one or more litters of kittens each year. Kittens born outdoors before a colony is fixed can often be socialized and placed in good indoor homes – but only if the mother lets you handle them before they turn 8 weeks old. If not – as the caregiver points out – they stay feral and their best option is to live in their outdoor colony. Although adult cats do as well as other wildlife living outdoors, kittens have a 50% mortality rate. Their immature immune systems can turn even routine health problems into life-threatening events – especially if they’re too feral to be treated.

Sadly, we sometimes provide spay/neuter funding to caregivers that for whatever reason can’t or won’t follow through to get their entire group of cats fixed. When they only partially fix their cats -- often the kittens but not the adults -- their efforts (and ours) are foiled. As this unfortunate caregiver points out:

“I had no cats until about a year ago, and then I found a female feral cat living in my wood shed with two kittens. I was able to catch them, but not her. Now she has had two more kittens. They desperately need to be fixed. Thank you for your help.”

Situations like this won’t get under control until the caregiver recognizes the futility of fixing only part of her group. She needs to go back to basics -- provide daily meals at the same time and place every day and then live-trap the adult(s) for her veterinary appointments. Her number of cats will grow and the situation will continue to spiral out of control until she does.

One Cat's Cage Is Another Cat's Oasis

2009-07-30T12:41:00.003-06:00

When we first introduced you to Tasha last April she was managing her chronic health issues better – and longer – than anyone thought possible. She entered our Older Cat Program in 2001 when she was ten years old. At the time she looked reasonably healthy, but her blood work pointed to renal failure -- with a creatinine level of 6.2 (normal being 0.6-2.4) and a BUN of 80 (normal being 14-36). Because she was relatively young to have that level of renal failure -- and because her kidneys also felt bumpy -- we ran another test and confirmed that she had polycystic kidney disease (PKD) -- a congenital disease that displaces normal kidney tissue with cysts.

Unlike the chronic renal failure that often afflicts older cats, the progression of PKD is very gradual. This gave Tasha time to adapt to her loss of kidney function – and adapt she did -- becoming a master at making the most of the little kidney tissue she had left. Once we understood the problem, we began giving her SQ fluids several times a week to take some of the load off her kidneys. This worked and her kidney values went back in the normal range staying there for most of the last 8 years. Unfortunately as she continues to age she’s picked up some of the other geriatric problems cats get – including hyperthyroidism, high blood pressure and anemia. Tasha is a very willing patient and responds pretty well to treatment so even with the number of illnesses she has, she’s done pretty well.

Recently, though, we’ve sensed a decline in her health. She began sleeping under a chair – where before she would have slept on the chair--hiding is never a good sign. And, I noticed a sour odor coming from her mouth when I give her pills. Since mouth odor is often a sign of end-stage kidney disease I took her to the vet for evaluation. We did new blood work and confirmed her kidney disease is worse and so is her anemia. We’re trying to get them both under control by giving new medications and increased fluid therapy. The mouth odor doesn’t appear to be kidney-related because the values weren’t extreme enough to cause it. But, during the exam we found two growths – one in her abdomen and another on her backbone. If they’re cancerous, they could relate to the odor. Neither are painful to the touch, but diagnosis is difficult given Tasha’s other health problems. And treatment – if they’re cancerous -- would be futile given the state of her overall health. Because of this we’ve decided not to put Tasha through the discomfort of biopsies and further diagnostics.

We’ve pulled a cat condo out of storage and put it in our living room in the area where Tasha spends most of her time. She has her food, water, litter box and bed within a confined area – saving her from exerting herself more than necessary. We keep the condo door ajar when we’re around so she can come out if she wants – but when she does, it’s typically just to sleep on the bed on top of her condo. After awhile she returns to the inside alternating between the beds. When we’re away or sleeping, we confine her to the condo to prevent unintended litter box lapses. She sleeps a lot, eats a little and looks generally comfortable in her own private home. We hope she continues to rest and enjoy the remainder of her time.

It took me almost two weeks to set the condo up – intellectually I know the condo is a comfort for her but emotionally I feel like I’m caging her – restricting her freedom. Now seeing how comfortable she is in her there, I wish I would have set it up sooner – to me it may be a “cage”, but to an elderly, ill cat, it’s an oasis.

A Computer Catastrophe Interrupts Our Paperless Office

2009-07-27T08:36:00.006-06:00

It feels like a week but it’s really been two weeks since my last posting. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to write about – I just got waylaid by a computer catastrophe beyond any I’ve ever had before.

Shortly after the last post, the hard drive in my desktop computer died. I spent two days in denial -- trying every trick I knew on getting a computer to respond -- but finally gave in and bought a new one. Being an optimist, I was pleased that the interruption was minor compared to what it could have been. I had run a complete back up of my files on an external hard-drive the day before the failure. All I needed to do was turn on the new computer and load up my software and files – not a major crisis. Well it shouldn’t have been a crisis, but then I pushed the envelope a bit too far.

Once everything including my data files were loaded, I purchased a software upgrade for Vista so I could run Vista Business and continue using my computer as my paperless fax. When I went to run it, the software notified me that a straight upgrade was not possible because the software was 32-bit and the underlying software was 64-bit. I would have to run a clean copy of Vista Business and in the process anything on my computer -- software and data files -- would be irrevocably lost. I didn’t see a problem because my software was still sitting on my desk and my back-up hard drive had my data files – I hadn’t done any work on the new computer yet. I didn’t understand that their reference to “software” included some that came factory-installed from the manufacturer.

I installed the Vista Business operating system successfully – or so the message on my screen said. So the next morning I reloaded everything I needed on the computer but found I couldn’t hook up to the Internet. Back in my denial mode I started thinking I could fix the problem by rebooting or seeing if our wireless router had installation software that would put me back in our private network. Nothing worked. This was Friday and I had been out of commission since the previous Sunday. My work was backing up on me and I felt a twinge of desperation seeping into my spirit. What to do?

I picked up the phone and called Microsoft for help. The first 4 people I explained my problem to were very sympathetic but all they could do was hand me off to the next level of technical expertise. Finally a very nice man explained to me that the problem was that I needed Sony to give me replacement drivers for 32-bit software – these are not part of Vista but software provided by the computer manufacturer. I called Sony to learn the bad news – there were no 32-bit drivers for my model of computer. Containing my frustration as best I could, I asked how I get the computer back to its original condition. They had recovery disks I could purchase so I ordered them and had to wait until Monday to receive them.

Having had two massive computer failures in one week was not to be the end of my problems. Once I got the computer set up again, I went to load my data files from my back-up drive. They had loaded earlier without a hitch but now my computer couldn’t sense the drive was there at all. Against all odds, I now had a failure in my back-up drive so my files were lost. Fortunately I had an earlier back-up on my laptop so at least I’ve only lost about 6 weeks of data.

In 2007 I set up a paperless office so losing data files is particularly difficult. There are no hard-copies for any of them -- which is why I keep multiple back-ups on different devices – to protect against a catastrophic data loss.
I’m up and running again but still haven’t solved my fax problem. Most of my work comes in through the fax and I hate the thought of wasting paper by going back to a standard fax machine. Right now I receive faxes through my laptop which has an earlier version of Windows on it. Then I use our network to transfer the faxes to my desktop. That’s awkward but functional for the time being. I certainly won’t try to upgrade my operating system again just to get a fax but I do miss the convenience of the faxes coming directly to my desktop.

A paperless office is wonderful once you get used to reading files on your display. I would never go back to a conventional office with filing cabinets again. But I will be more diligent in double-backing up my data. But, if the truth were known, I’d probably be in worse shape had I not been paperless. I may have run fewer back-ups -- knowing I could reconstruct my files from paper records.

We take technology so much for granted – it’s nice to have a reality check once in awhile to remind us how integrated our work and lives are with our computers. The computer and software manufacturers do so much to protect us from ourselves we rarely get into trouble. But when we do … it can be a real nightmare that can result in a lot of sleepless nights.

Managing Outdoor Cats Is A Better Strategy Than Removing Them

2009-07-12T14:37:00.005-06:00

“I have a number of feral cats living in my yard. A couple of years ago there were only 2; now there are 3 and 3 new kittens and a really mean male cat. I really need to relocate the cats in hopes the mean male cat will go away.”

“I have 3 cats and can no longer let them outside because the mean male cat keeps attacking them. He seems to hide and then ambush them. Do you have any place that these cats less the mean male cat can be relocated to? I will be happy to pay or make a contribution to your organization. I just don’t know what to do."

“Do not have time to manage this group and do not have a garage that could keep the cats in overnight prior to taking them to get fixed. Can you provide any help or guidance? The other cats are nice cats and the kittens are adorable and would be nice to find them a good home.”

Managing a backyard cat colony does involve some focused front-end work, but in the long run it’s less work than dealing with unplanned litters of kittens and “mean male cats” attracted by the scent of in-heat females. We detail the process on our web site: Managing A Feral Cat Colony: A Handbook For Residential Property Owners but here’s the basics:

• Establish a feeding location that’s convenient year-round for both you and the cats.

• Feed meals (don’t free feed) at the same time every day – removing leftovers as soon as the cats walk away. Observe the cats (at a distance) while they’re eating to ensure you know how many there are so you can get the entire group fixed quickly – males, female, friendly and feral. It may take awhile to get the shyest cats to come out while you’re there, but once they learn to associate you with food, they will.

• Coordinate a spay/neuter schedule with the clinic whose doing your sterilizations.

• Live-trap the cats – to your agreed-upon clinic schedule – and take them to/from their appointments. You don’t need a garage to hold them in – just a safe area where the live traps won’t be disturbed – or, possibly for a minor fee, the clinic will hold them the night before and after surgery.

Once you’ve completed the sterilization, all that’s left to do is maintain your feeding schedule and enjoy the cats in your yard. If you get an occasional newcomer, make sure you live trap and fix the cat quickly to prevent undermining your earlier efforts.

If you have kittens (before you complete the sterilization process), simply bring them indoors when they’re old enough to eat on their own – about 4 weeks old – and socialize them while you network to find them permanent indoor homes. See Appendix C of our Handbook. If they don't adopt out return them to their colony. Fix them when they're about 12 weeks old -- they can reproduce as early as 16 weeks.

If any of the cats are particularly aggressive toward other cats, consider confining them after their surgery in a large dog crate with food, water and litter for 3 weeks. Place the crate in a safe, dry area – near where the other cats frequent. They’ll work out any aggressions while they’re confined without making physical contact. The neutering itself should stop aggression, but this added measure will help ensure it.

Managing cats is a better strategy than removing them. This is because the cats already living in your yard keep other roaming cats away. If they’re no longer there, new cats may move in and take over their territory bringing with them the same problems your original group had. Outdoor-only cats comprise about half of the total cat population. Working with the cats you already know gives you a stable group of cats to feed– now sterilized – they’ll mellow out, grow older and no longer engage in the unsavory cat behaviors you find objectionable – fighting, spraying and kittening.

As far as letting your house cats go outdoors – an aggressive male cat is only one of the many equally risky dangers – others include loose dogs, cars, people who dislike cats, coyote -- they’ll encounter. And these other dangers will also act like “an ambush” – appearing suddenly without warning. To keep your cats absolutely safe, keep them indoors – or take them out with you (on leashes) – or provide them with a safe outdoor enclosure in your yard.