Everything old is new again this summer. We’re having deja vu all over again as we meet new old friends, visit old haunts, and dream of new possibilities for our free-roaming cats.
As you know better than most, there’s a wispy fine line between “feral cats” and “free-roaming cats.” This makes it less than an exact science to choose which cats’ tales to tell you each month. Our newest outdoor acquaintances are as far from feral as Fiji is from Flatbush. But, by no fault of their own, they were most certainly free-roaming.
It wasn’t always that way. Not long ago, eleven-year-old Bud; seventeen-year-old Cashmere; and eighteen-year-old Sunshine would have been the last cats anyone would expect to come to Tabby’s Place through our TNR/free-roaming cat outreach. But what a difference a day can make: one terrible, torturous day.
Sparks turned into flames turned into the three cats’ world crashing down — literally, as their home burned to the ground. The cats’ family was fractured: one of their owners ended up in intensive care, while the other was essentially homeless; a canine companion lost his life; and suddenly, three very old cats were very much alone on the burned-over grounds of their former home.
Dear sponsors, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a story that made me realize so clearly, This is what we’re here for. Happily, our three old new friends made their journey to Tabby’s Place…and astoundingly, immediately, they radiated pure love and joy.
Bud, all broad-faced and candy-colored, was the wariest of the family, initially burrowing under blankets. He’d need surgery for entropion, a fairly common eye condition…but first he’d need to find his way to feeling safe with us. Within a few days, his face emerged — and, when you skritched his back just right, so did his happy heinie, in that classic elevator-butt dance of a happy cat.
Happiness — even now. Even here.
Bud’s elders didn’t waste any time making merry. Cashmere (pictured below), all feather-boa grey glamour and green glorious eyes, became a boneless bundle of rumbling happiness in your arms. Hello, pleasure to meet you! Let’s be soulmates!
Old man Sunshine (pictured at right) was every iota his name, but least of all due to his golden fur. That wizened old face seemed to smile unceasingly, and our super-senior could be hilariously assertive in his push for love. He clearly adored Cashmere, and vice versa, but he’d step right on her head if it meant getting closer to you.
I’m overjoyed to report that “Sunny” and Cashmere have already been scooped up by a Tabby’s Place volunteer as permanent fosters. That means they’ve found their forever home with a smitten family, but they’ll continue to have their medical needs met at Tabby’s Place. Gentle Bud is loving life here with us more each day, and I have a feeling his own adoption isn’t far off.
For three old cats, life is suddenly new and full of possibility all over again. Just when you least expect it, hope and adventures return.
And that brings me to the scenario that might make a stellar movie title: Return To Prison. No, the Tabby’s Place staff hasn’t been hunted down by the feds; we’re talking about the cat colony at the nearby women’s prison.
Several years ago, Tabby’s Place conducted a massive, long-term TNR project on this extremely large cat colony. A dozen of the cats ended up as Tabby’s Place residents; many more were neutered, treated for what ailed them, and placed back on the prison grounds, where they received loving ongoing care. This was really the endeavor that started it all at Tabby’s Place in terms of TNR.
And, it’s an endeavor that’s almost never-ending.
Since the prison grounds are so sizable, and we were never able to access all the nooks and crannies where cats could hide, we had a good idea that we’d not reached every resident of the prison colony. This month, we got confirmation of that, in the form of a worried call about rising cat counts. That’s right: the moms and toms of the prison colony are kitten-ing again.
And so it’s back to jail for Tabby’s Place.
We’re just re-starting this project as of now, but I expect to have more details next month. We fully anticipate that at least some of the cats will be too friendly or sickly to return to the colony, so it’s almost certain we’ll be welcoming some new residents to Tabby’s Place.
And, thanks to you, we’ll be able to do so with open arms and open hearts. Thank you for your faithful generosity to our cats, Team TNR. You are a constant blessing to our neediest felines.