I saved a stray cat this morning!!!
Posted by SnowQueen690 on Jul 25, 2007 · Member since Jun 2005 · 1569 posts
Animal control has a cage set up to catch stray cats and they were dumb enough to set the cage up near my apartment. I saw the cage and thought, no big deal if it doesn't catch anything, it was open last night, empty. I went out to leave for work this morning and wouldn't you know it there is a cute taby cat in there, trapped. Well, I opened the cage and it ran out, poor guy. He he, one less cat to be killed by animal control today, or worse yet, to be sold into animal testing labs.
I just wish that I could save them all.
mutiny!
:D
not on our watch!
I'm glad you saved the cats life. :)
If you can in the future:
It would have been a good idea (only if you had the time, money,etc.) to take it to a local spay/nueter clinic and have it fixed. Then release back to the wild. I have practiced trap/spay/release before with a feral cat colony that was near one of my old homes. It does cut down on more feral cats being born. The majority of feral cats do not even live to be two years old. They breed at a very high rate and the cycle is so hard to stop. We've all seen the chart that shows how many cats can be born from one un-spayed female....
(sad that your local animal control does not choose to practice this more humane method). >:(
I'm glad you saved the cats life. :)
If you can in the future:
It would have been a good idea (only if you had the time, money,etc.) to take it to a local spay/nueter clinic and have it fixed. Then release back to the wild. I have practiced trap/spay/release before with a feral cat colony that was near one of my old homes. It does cut down on more feral cats being born. The majority of feral cats do not even live to be two years old. They breed at a very high rate and the cycle is so hard to stop. We've all seen the chart that shows how many cats can be born from one un-spayed female....
(sad that your local animal control does not choose to practice this more humane method). >:(
Yea, I know you are right and I thought about this as well. I should be ashaimed. Maybe I should have looked to see if it was male or female and released it only if it was male, if it was female perhaps I should have kept it and took it onto get spaded, then released it. There is supposed to be a spay, neuter clinic around here somewhere where they do that for very cheap.
I'm glad you saved the cats life. :)
If you can in the future:
It would have been a good idea (only if you had the time, money,etc.) to take it to a local spay/neuter clinic and have it fixed. Then release back to the wild. I have practiced trap/spay/release before with a feral cat colony that was near one of my old homes. It does cut down on more feral cats being born. The majority of feral cats do not even live to be two years old. They breed at a very high rate and the cycle is so hard to stop. We've all seen the chart that shows how many cats can be born from one un-spayed female....
(sad that your local animal control does not choose to practice this more humane method). >:(
This is what I do. I own my own trap. I catch all the strays in my neighborhood and get them spayed/neutered. I have also had my neighbor's cat "fixed". I wish people had the common sense to understand that animals will breed. Come on people let's be part of the solution, not the problem. :)
I have also had my neighbor's cat "fixed".
what a GREAT idea!!!!!!!! ;)
SHHHHHH....They don't know. :)
what a great idea! it's not the cat's fault s/he copulates - it's just nature. hmm. what are the costs of getting a cat fixed?
I have 3 "Ferals" ...one is Mom and the other 2 were born here. In the past few months I've trapped Mom and her 2 daughters and got them spayed. Lucky enough for me, the 2 daughters that were born here have grown up knowing me and are very tame with me. Mom just "came around" to the "dark side" and started letting me pet her within the past month. ;D
We live in the woods so it's a bit different than a city situation, but the reproduction situation is all the same. They are safe from harm here, and they have their own little "condo" on the porch. They often "hang out" with the chickens, and last winter they were often found curled up in the coops w/ the chickens.
Sometimes the Humane Society or other local animal advocates in our community with spay/neuter for free or for a reduced cost. I've even heard of vets volunteering and doing mobile spay/neuter services. If you don't have these kinds of services in your community then I've heard of people having little vegan potluck fundraisers for a spay/neuter fund. It can be pricey ($60-100), but think about the lives saved.
On a side note, I'm shocked on a regular basis about how many dogs are unfixed in my community.
SHHHHHH....They don't know. :)
Lol DK, that's awesome!! ;) ;D ;D
It costs $50 at my locat vet, but they know me. They know what I am doing so they give me a discount. Normally, it is about $120. I think all the little things add up. If we all do our part, we can make a difference. That was so motivational, huh?
Not to hijack this great thread, but BTW, DK--love your dog! He is so gorgeous! His expression in your avatar pic is kind of Zen... ;)
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o92/misplaceddreamer/Thank%20you/Thanks138-1.gif
You're awesome SnowQueen!
Not to hijack this great thread, but BTW, DK--love your dog! He is so gorgeous! His expression in your avatar pic is kind of Zen... ;)
That's Arson. He actually belongs to a friend who has rescued 7 pits. Despite not knowing their histories, they are all happy and well adjusted. They are the sweetest dogs. Mine are all small. My biggest dog is 16 lbs. ???
For those of you who catch other people's cats and spay .... be careful. There was an incident when I was in high school of a woman who did this. Her neighbor's cat died during the operation. The owner sued. It was not pretty.
So, while obviously spaying is the responsible thing ... just be careful in terms of another person's animal. As you never know what can go wrong during an operation. At which point, you could get in trouble legally. Which is, obviously, never fun.
For those of you who catch other people's cats and spay .... be careful. There was an incident when I was in high school of a woman who did this. Her neighbor's cat died during the operation. The owner sued. It was not pretty.
So, while obviously spaying is the responsible thing ... just be careful in terms of another person's animal. As you never know what can go wrong during an operation. At which point, you could get in trouble legally. Which is, obviously, never fun.
Good point and I agree. I should not advocate this. Most of the cats are stray. My rule is, if they have a tag I will call the owner. None of the cats I have ever have spayed have had a tag. I am not justifying my actions, but.....yeah....I am trying to justify my actions.
I love you guys and I love that you care for your pets -- and any of the old timers here will tell you I adore cats!! -- but please have a moment of consideration for wildlife... "outside" cats (including feral ones) are just murderous to native populations of birds, small mammals, etc. Just $0.02 that never seems to get put in when we're all talking about how great our dogs and cats are...
Cats do not EVER belong outside, because of what they just naturally do. That's nothing against cats. It's just the way it is.
Loving animals isn't always loving domestic animals... for instance, I think many of us would agree that the cow-to-other-stuff ratio needs to drop. Add anything we treat as pets to that list, I think.
Thank you for such a brave, kind act, SnowQueen! I hope my little rant hasn't upset you-- you did a very, very good thing and I admire you for it.