Words can’t fully express my gratitude for your joining us on this adventure of caring for feral cats. You have a heart as wide as the wilderness to love these misunderstood kitties, and I’m excited to share the stories of what you’re making possible in their lives each month.
As Tabby’s Place’s Development Director, my labors of love for the cats are primarily centered in writing. I’m the first to admit I am a bumbling idiot when it comes to more hands-on cat wrangling, so it is with honor and awe that I bring you the tales of our brave staff and volunteers who do the actual trapping. 🙂
We are off the ground and running as we lean into spring. March finds Tabby’s Place just concluding a wild and wooly TNR effort at a local farm. We were contacted by the farm’s neighbors when its (human) owner unexpectedly passed away, leaving >20 feral cats. The kind gentleman had been feeding the cats for a long time, but hadn’t had them spayed and neutered.
Making matters more complicated, this would not be a traditional TNR. The property was being sold, and the new owners were not open to letting the cats stay there. So we’d have to get creative when it came to the “R” of TNR – that is, return. Although it’s best if feral kitties can return to the colony where they feel safe and at home, sometimes that’s just not possible.
And so, in the midst of feeding the ferals and getting a handle on just how many there were, we began reaching out to the community for big-hearted cat lovers with safe, sizable properties. I confess we felt a bit overwhelmed: finding a home for a feral or two is one thing… but how would we safely relocate twenty?
We didn’t have long to wring our hands over that, because the cats’ very immediate needs begged our attention. Tabby’s Place is still learning the ropes of targeted TNR, so with each cat we faced an education. How friendly is friendly enough to keep at Tabby’s Place, rather than release? Much as our hearts instinctively wanted to keep them all, this wouldn’t be the best or most loving thing – neither for the true ferals (who are not happy confined indoors) nor for the cats on our waiting list at public shelters, whose spots they would be taking at Tabby’s Place.
Fortunately, the cats were apt teachers. The “friendliness question” answered itself with such snugglers as Sage and Barley – as well as such wild wonders as Stimpy. Stimpy was an easygoing, cool dude outside. But once he was indoors, everything about Stimpy’s being, from his angst-filled eyes to his “get me outta here!” scrambling, made his case abundantly clear. This was a cat who loved the only life he’d ever known, under the sun and stars and away from human touch. He’d gladly accept our offerings of food, but not any efforts to change his feral ways.
Most of the farm’s ferals were equally sure about where they belonged. Their deep “feralness” made it easier for us – marshmallowy humans who want to see every cat curled on a hand-knitted cushion – to accept that the outdoor, colony life was what they craved. The best way to love them well and love them truly was to give them their wildness – only in a controlled, cared-for, cherished way.
The cycle of feeding, trapping and neutering our feral friends continued smoothly – until we reached the wily final few. We’d been told that the last few feral cats in a colony are always the hardest to catch. Something about these special forces makes them especially wise to our intentions. True to form, our final four were amazingly adept at evading our traps.
We were already racing against time to get all the kitties safely re-homed before the bulldozing of the barn – but soon another urgency was forced upon us. One morning, stellar staff member Jane noticed that one of our last few ferals, Winky (pictured above), had some sort of head wound. She did her best to coax him with food and to trap him, but as usual he eluded her.
Then he didn’t show up for dinner. Winky always showed up for dinner.
We feared the worst, making many return trips to the barn to search for our missing, injured boy. Although they didn’t want our hands-on affection, our feral kitties had truly and permanently become part of the Tabby’s Place family, and we all ached with fear and prayed fervently for Winky’s safety. Our vet tech, Denise, was alarmed to see turkey vultures circling over the barn, and even tried to follow them. It was all to no avail: Winky had vanished.
Then, the next morning, there was a vision of grey in our drop trap: Winky!
Um…make that not Winky.
The cat was small and grey, but we’d never seen her before. Winky’s lookalike (and almost certainly his relative) made her first-ever appearance by wandering into our trap. This earned her the name Sneaky (we’ve been somewhat intentional about giving the ferals goofy appearance-based names, to help volunteers identify them and to prepare ourselves for the fact that they won’t be staying at Tabby’s Place). We were glad that she revealed herself before it was too late, and brought her back to be spayed.
The same afternoon, we received the best gift of all: Winky’s return. That mysterious head wound had almost entirely healed, and our vet deemed it a self-injury. The poor guy had probably just scraped himself against something sharp, but fortunately he’d be just fine. We treated him with antibiotics and all the love he could stand (which was, admittedly, not much – but we made sure he knew we adored him :-)).
All along the way, Sanctuary Operations Manager Danielle had been painstakingly lining up safe, loving outdoor homes for our ferals. Amazingly, there was ultimately a place for all twenty. Stimpy and Winky, who had always been best buddies at the barn, even got to stay together – and their new home is an outdoor joyland, where they’ll never need to fear again.
Safely ensconced in their new colonies, our feral farm kitties are blessed by your kindness. The adventure of TNR is ever ongoing, so I look forward to bringing you the latest news in April. With temperatures creeping into tulip territory, that means one thing: kitten season.
Until we meet again, thank you for loving our feral cats so generously!