I found this picture today and I just loved it. Many of you know that I have a fondness for kitties. I currently have six kitties living with me and all are rescues that found their way to me. My latest addition was Loki almost three years ago now. He’s the only one that didn’t come from our yard! He was about a mile and a half down the road.
Earl was trained to trap and release cats to help control the population when he lived in California. He would catch cats that were feral or that didn’t have homes, get them fixed and release them. It’s an incredibly important program to help control the feral cat population. Did you know that a Mama cat can get pregnant up to five times a year? It’s not good for the cat to get pregnant that times but they can be capable of it. Most litters range in size from three to five. Most Mama cats average three litters a year. You are looking at a potential of up to twenty-five kittens from one Mama Cat. They can get pregnant as early as four months old having kittens by six months old. You can see how this one female cat can become a big problem really quickly. You can also see how having even one person trained to trap and release feral cats getting them fixed can really have a huge impact on the population. His Mom takes in several litters a year, gets them all fixed and finds them homes. Can you imagine how many cats she has helped to control from being out there? It’s baffling when you start looking at the numbers.
It’s not something that’s hard to do. Many shelters will train you and a lot have classes. Almost all states have reduced cost for spay and neuter for feral and if you are lucky they will have funds to do it for free to help with the population. I know our local animal shelter runs classes about every three months. You can also get training to be a foster mom for kittens that may need a place to stay until they can find homes. This is also something that is really rewarding and can be incredibly helpful. Each cat that gets fixed and goes to a home is another cat out of the feral population. It’s something that can be incredibly rewarding if you have a bit of extra time.
One quick point of interest that you should know is that if you see a cat with a tipped ear you should leave it alone. That means that the cat has been fixed an belongs to a feral community. They have been taken care of already. You should also know that while there are kitties outside that can be friendly if they have been dumped by someone or they are incredibly young there are also kitties out there that are not. Never try working with a feral cat on your own. You definitely want to get the training if this is something that you are considering. You want to know how to work with them the right way and to know the signs that you need to watch for with them.
We don’t see a lot of cats out here. I have the Mama cat living with me that was dropping litters before Earl moved out here. She’s an absolute sweetheart. We actually call her Mama. We have four of her kittens from two different litters. She is now fixed and we haven’t seen any in our area in a few years. Loki we found down the road a ways. I know he was with a Mama cat and we told the local cat shelters to be on the lookout. Loki was the only one I was able to get that day. He had a full belly and wasn’t into running. He is the most relaxed cat I think there is out there. Something about those orange male kitties.
With the newly fallen snow in the past couple of weeks we have been noticing footprints in our yard! We investigated on the security camera and we have an orange tabby cat with a double paw that’s been coming through our yard. We think part of the reason is because of our pond in the back. It has fresh water that isn’t frozen. We have him on the camera investigating our Christmas lights and we tracked his prints to our catnip that is still out there! Last night we set a bowl of food out for him and he left with a full tummy after eating the entire thing. He’s been coming by at about 4:30 in the morning. We are hoping to get to know more about him as the weeks go by. We are thinking he doesn’t have a home as he is here for the water. As time goes by if need be we will get him checked for a chip and fixed if he hasn’t been already. It’s kind of exciting seeing a kitty outside though as we haven’t for awhile. I just want to make sure he has everything that he needs for winter as they can get tough here.
I hope that you have a magickal day!
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jasmeine Moonsong
