I live in a neighborhood that is filled with feral cats. We’ve lived here for seven years now and have names for most of them. The one who seems to be attached to us we call “Crabby.” She apparently is the mother of all the other cats around here. Crabby has been through the mill. She must’ve been a beautiful cat at one time, but her years of living on the streets has taken its toll. In fact, we think she may have inhabited the house we live in before we moved in. We remember seeing a long-haired cat in the bathroom sink when we looked at the house before making an offer. I hate to imagine that someone would leave their pet behind when they move away, but it could well be the case.
Most of the cats around here look well-fed and cared for. We enjoy watching their antics as well as those of the other wildlife outside our window. When the birds come to feed at our feeder, the cats wait, skillfully crafting a way to attack from under the CATarondack chairs. Paul and I find humor in most everything, so we continue brainstorming and have come up with a few different furniture pieces for this purpose. In fact, we may be designing a CATalogue to post online. For those who want a CAT Scan, we would build a long bench out of wood slats for the kitties to stand and wave as you go by. CATamaran chairs would be comfortable at the beach. If you want to set up a play area for the cats, you could install a CAT obstacle course, including a CATapult instead of a zipline. I’m sure there would be a number of ways to set things up for a CAT Amusement Center – such as a solar light beam, they could chase around the yard. Or how about a hammock for them to take a CAT nap? Although if more than one decided to get into the hammock it could lead to a CATastrophe. For those cats that find themselves depressed or anxious there might be a night club called the CATatonic or for those who prefer lots of people, maybe a CATalyst.
I’m continually impressed with their survival skills. They seem to be very fit. Either everyone is leaving snacks out for them, or they’re developing outstanding hunting skills. They’ve kept the mouse population in check and I know there are some good CAT Samaritans out there who make sure they have something to nibble on. So today we salute you, feral cats. You make life interesting and fun for us to behold. Thank you, God for providing for these creatures and for us as well.
atimetoshare.me 
Wow! I missed another major holiday, but then again, our neighborhood does not have feral cats. They belong to the crazy cat lady on our block. Sometimes, it is an adventure getting out through the alley. Oh, wait! Maybe they are alley cats instead.
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There you have the start of a whole new list of characters.
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You have a great idea there. Maybe an episode called, “Who licked the Milkman?”
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LOL
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Very beautiful yet often misunderstood, prejudged and unjustly despised animals, cats are. Yet, one can credit human apathy, and even anti-cat hostility, for stray/feral cat suffering, including starvation.
I grew up around feral cats — a large number of which were tabby — and developed a life-long appreciation and affection for cats. I’ve also found that, along with individual people, society collectively can also be quite cruel towards cats, especially the ‘unwanted’, if not despised, felines.
For example, it was reported a few years ago that neighboring Surrey (B.C.) had an estimated 36,000 feral cats, very many of which suffer severe malnourishment, debilitating injury and/or infection. And I was informed a couple years ago by Surrey Community Cat Foundation that, if anything, their “numbers would have increased, not decreased, in the last 5 years.”
Yet the municipal government, as well as aware yet uncaring residents, did little or nothing to help with the local non-profit trap/neuter/release program, regardless of its (and others’) documented success in reducing the needlessly great suffering. ….
That TNR program is the only charity to which I’ve ever donated, in no small part because of the plentiful human callousness towards the plight of those cats and the countless others elsewhere.
Also, 59 cats and kittens were rescued from a feces-filled Surrey home not that long ago. While the Peace Arch News, to their humane credit, rightfully deemed this worthy of frontpage space, Surrey’s Now-Leader newspaper didn’t give these afflicted animals any newsprint. Were these felines and their suffering worth so little?
I now realize that only when their overpopulations are greatly reduced in number by responsible owners consistently spaying/neutering their felines, might these beautiful animals’ presence be truly appreciated — especially for the symbiotic-like healthy relationships they offer their loving owners — rather than taken for granted or even resented.
Apparently, there is a subconscious yet tragic human-nature propensity to perceive the value of animal life (sometimes even human life in regularly war-torn or overpopulated famine-stricken global regions) in relation to the conditions enjoyed or suffered by that life. With the mindset of feline disposability, it might be: ‘Oh, there’s a lot more whence they came’.
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I empathize with you on this topic. It is a sad commentary that people are the main cause of this problem.
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