Plight of feral cats improving in AZ

[moosmom]

The TNR Program is a great program. Cats, as you know, become feral because of irresponsible humans. It's one of the great tragedies of this land. I've trapped many feral cats and kittens and socialized them so that they may be rehomed. It is something I've enjoyed doing. The challenge and the final result when you get that wet nosed head bumpie letting you know that you finally got through to them that we all aren't bad. We owe it to these beautiful animals to care for them when humans have let them down.

I wish they had an EAMT program in CT. I'd love to be apart of it.

Poor Precious . At least she is no longer in pain. RIP Sweet Precious. Play hard at the Rainbow Bridge.

[K & L]

What a small world! We also work with AzCATs and have been maintaining a feral colony for 9 years now! Keep up the good work.

[applesmom]

What a small world! We also work with AzCATs and have been maintaining a feral colony for 9 years now! Keep up the good work.

Wow! 9 years! I'll bet you could write a book about your experiences with the feral cats during that time...

It will be three years in April since we became involved and we've sure experienced our share of tragedies and triumphs.

In that nine years, how many trappings have you had to do, and has the size of the colony remained fairly stable?

Our first trapping caught 23 cats for TNR plus a large number of kittens that were able to be adopted out. While we were waiting for the ferals to take the bait and enter the traps, the ladies from AzCats took that opportunity to educate the neighbors at every household where they saw outside cats. As a result of their efforts, many kittens were saved and other pet cats in the neighborhood were taken in to be speutered in the following days.

Our colony is now down to about 12 cats--no new kittens since the TNR.

Littles, (pictured below, and the great grandma of the bunch) is the one that started it all. She had her kittens in an aquarium my neighbor had set outside. We didn't know they were there until she heard Littles crying during a storm. The aquarium had begun to fill with water and 3 of the 5 one week old kittens had already drowned before my neighbor could save them. She raised the other two by hand and still has the scars from the wounds Littles inflicted while trying to protect those kittens. As a result of the trauma of having her kittens taken away, Littles is much more wary of her caregivers. Even at feeding time she maintains a safe distance until there are no humans close by.

To read this you'd never believe that I'm not a cat person would you?

[K & L]

When we first hooked up with AzCATs they trapped around 60 plus cats for us. We've been maintaining it since (on our own), and have done well in the 100's. We have around 40 - 50 cats that have stabilized, and some have been with us since the beginning, which is quite a life span for a feral. We feed and water every evening and watch for any newcomers. Sadly this area people dump off cats frequently so we can never be 100% with our spay/neuters. We now have around 6 newbies we need to trap.

We were in Cat Fancy back in January 2002 and have a few awards from the City. I believe our names are mentioned on AzCATs website. They're a wonderful organization and we couldn't have done it all without them.

I've gotten the program started where I work and AzCATs helps me there. Because of this we received the George award from AzCats. Good luck maintaining your colony and keep up the good work.

[applesmom]

60????? That's a lot of cats and a lot of cat food! You must live in a more rural area than I do.

I just checked AzCats website and was heartbroken to see that even with the sucess of the program; 50,000 unwanted cats a year are still put to death in Maricopa county alone.

It seems that this is a problem that won't be solved without a lot more education and increased awareness on the part of pet owners.

[K & L]

60????? That's a lot of cats and a lot of cat food! You must live in a more rural area than I do.

I just checked AzCats website and was heartbroken to see that even with the sucess of the program; 50,000 unwanted cats a year are still put to death in Maricopa county alone.

It seems that this is a problem that won't be solved without a lot more education and increased awareness on the part of pet owners.

No we live in the heart of the City - Glendale!