Happy true, triumphant spring to you. It’s here — it’s really here!
And so, as you know so well, is that time that sends squeals and sighs across the land…Kitten Season.
Ah, yes. Between the tulips and daffodils are tiny hamster-sized fuzzbabies, nestled like so many Easter eggs in the great outdoors. As serene as this scene sounds, the wild world is no place to be a newborn kitten. That, after all, is why we do TNR: to prevent little ones from being born into hopeless, homeless situations.
But until we neuter every cat everywhere, there are babies to be bundled up in love — and that’s where this spring finds us.
Kitten Season 2016 began with a beautiful, brown-sugar-colored mama cat named Chloe. She came our way with a veritable garden of goodies, a kitten quartet we named Gardenia, Orchid, Cosmos and Heath. (The whole family is pictured below, moments after we first trapped them. At right, you can see the kittens from a few weeks later. As you can see, Chloe’s done a fine job!)
Chloe’s kids were young enough to be convinced that humans = happiness. Chloe, however, was not buying it. According to neighbors, lovely Chloe has been raising babies for over six years now, and there’s reason to believe she’s a good deal older than that. Weary from all her labors of love, the last thing Chloe wanted was to entrust herself to strange people.
But even after all those years of hunger and hardship, Chloe gave her all to her kittens. She was a simply phenomenal mom to her latest litter, and it was an honor to behold such self-sacrificing love. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know that two of Chloe’s kids are already on hold to be adopted, and we don’t imagine the others will wait long.
But what about our stoic mama cat?
Once we realized Chloe was “truly feral” and fully planning to stay that way, we determined that the most loving thing would be to re-release her to a safe colony — spayed and healthy, of course.
The folks in Chloe’s neighborhood truly loved her, and pledged to feed and keep close tabs on her in the years ahead. Since Chloe was now a Tabby’s Place TNR cat, she’d also have the lifelong promise of our care if ever she should have any health issues.
As it happened, she phoned in on that promise sooner than later.
When preparing to spay Chloe, our vet discovered that the marmalade mama had heart disease…extremely severe, significant, life-threatening heart disease. In addition to an enlarged heart, Chloe has pulmonary edema. There’s no statistical evidence that medication would help in any way…but it could.
Suddenly, we had a dilemma.
Would we return Chloe to the outdoor life she loved, knowing that her life might be a bit shorter? Would we keep her at Tabby’s Place and force her through daily medications, inflicting daily misery and additional stress on her heart?
With fear and trembling, we let love lead the way.
To make a major understatement, Chloe hates being indoors. She abhors, detests and loathes contact with our species. Even attempting to pet Chloe causes her so much stress, she flies into a frenzy. Daily medication would be out of the question.
We carefully described the situation to Chloe’s caretakers. Saddened though they were by Chloe’s diagnosis, they pledged to monitor her vigilantly and let us know of the first signs of trouble. Although Chloe’s condition is serious, many cats with serious heart disease have gone on to beat the odds by years (exhibit A: Morgan). We pray the best for Chloe.
And we believe we’ve given her the best chance at a full, joyful life.
Dear Team TNR, loving feral cats isn’t always easy. Loving Chloe has meant letting her be who she is, potentially sacrificing time for joy. But in each day she lives to the full — and each year her kittens grow up strong and cherished — you’ll be there through your generosity, cheering her on.
I can’t thank you enough for making such labors of love possible. Have a beautiful month.