A happy November to you. As the mercury drops and icicles frame our windshields each morning, I am especially conscious of what our feral cats’ lives might be like without love like yours. The combination of Thanksgiving-y pensiveness and wintry weather has me marveling at the warm, wondrous life you’re giving our feral kitties every day.
But before I descend into complete mushiness, let’s get to those cats and their tales.
This month, Tabby’s Place conducted a small TNR operation on a feral colony in East Amwell — part of our target area (more on that in a moment). One member of this “micro-colony” bore a striking resemblance to Tabby’s Place’s own Mr. Grey.
As it happens, it’s a very good thing we got to this dear fellow when we did, as he was suffering from a condition called plasma cell pododermatitis, or “pillow foot.” This inflammatory condition would have caused this gentle soul terrible pain in the wild. In advanced cases, pillow foot can lead to a cat’s losing his toes, so we’re very thankful we were able to nip it in the bud in his case.
Mr. Grey II wasn’t the only ailing member of his colony. One of our grey guy’s female friends reached us with a raging upper respiratory infection (URI). While this is no big deal in a healthy indoor cat, a URI left unchecked in the wild can become life-threatening, while spreading to a cat’s feline friends and neighbors. Happily, we caught this lovely calico before that had time to happen, and we treated her with a long-acting antibiotic.
As of this writing, Mr. Grey II and his crew are living it up back at their colony, now with the bonus of good health, ongoing monitoring and loving (on their own terms, of course), and no more kittens in their future. You can see the crew’s homecoming in the photo below left, and a close-up of its handsome marmalade member above. It’s all in a day’s work with feral cats…but we know it’s only the beginning.
With our official announcement about Tabby’s Place’s expanded mission, the age of Targeted TNR has officially begun. As we continue raising funds to expand our medical facility and reach the 1,000 cats in our target area, I can’t help but muse on the fact that you have been the pioneers of love for these kitties.
In many ways, feral cats are the “hard sell” of the feline family. They’re not lap-lovers. They don’t swoon for belly rubs. As often as not, they’d rather not be seen by humans at all.
But you’ve seen them. You’ve loved them. And you’ve never let them go. Because of you, we’re not alone in this labor of love…and the cats are not alone, ever again.
Whether it’s Thanksgiving or Take Your Plants for a Walk Day, my heart overflows with gratitude to you. Love-pioneers, may your holidays be blessed with joy beyond description. I thank God for you.