I live in a small town (under 20,000) in a rural area, with a very small Humane Society and a very large stray cat problem.
Recently there was an article in our local paper about this problem and quoting the operations manager of our Humane Society as saying “if you’ve been feeding a stray cat at your house all summer, it’s yours.” According to this gentleman, the shelter is overrun with cats and he is trying to put out the message that the shelter is not a drop-off centre for strays. He states that people feed stray cats during the summer but want the Humane Society to take the cats in when winter comes and that is not how it works. This is in Canada where a cat left out in the cold could easily freeze to death.
Quite a few people here have been doing just that, feeding stray and abandoned cats all summer long. In some of my earlier blogs, I wrote about how I came to adopt my newest cat Tiger,(lovely boy in photo above) after trying to get the Humane Society to take him in.
This gentleman also went on to blame the lack of spaying and neutering for most of the problems. Of course this is true. What he doesn’t address is the fact that there are no low-cost spay/neuter clinics in this town. They (the Humane Society) don’t offer it, nor do any of the vets here. When you take in the cat you can’t just get him spay/neutered, by law he also had to be vaccinated for rabies, as well as all the other shots and tests. You will be faced with a minimum $500.00 bill. It seems that, in this town, low-income people are not supposed to have pets.
So here we are with winter weather fast approaching; it’s getting colder everyday and there have already been a few flurries. I have been searching all over the web looking at ideas other people have come up with to help the abandoned cats in their area.
The problem is not just giving them shelter, but keeping the snow out, and keeping it warm enough inside. We have an area that can be blocked off with tarps or space blankets to provide some shelter from the wind. The area is not big enough to put in bales of hay, which seems to be the most recommended way of providing warmth and protection. I have seen a product called the self-heating cat bed which I’m seriously considering as it is not too expensive. The most appealing item is a Microwave Disc that is heated and then inserted between blankets and will provide up to 12 hours of heat, depending on conditions. It sounds just about right, but pricey. It’s the best I have seen so far.
Recently there was an article in our local paper about this problem and quoting the operations manager of our Humane Society as saying “if you’ve been feeding a stray cat at your house all summer, it’s yours.” According to this gentleman, the shelter is overrun with cats and he is trying to put out the message that the shelter is not a drop-off centre for strays. He states that people feed stray cats during the summer but want the Humane Society to take the cats in when winter comes and that is not how it works. This is in Canada where a cat left out in the cold could easily freeze to death.
Quite a few people here have been doing just that, feeding stray and abandoned cats all summer long. In some of my earlier blogs, I wrote about how I came to adopt my newest cat Tiger,(lovely boy in photo above) after trying to get the Humane Society to take him in.
This gentleman also went on to blame the lack of spaying and neutering for most of the problems. Of course this is true. What he doesn’t address is the fact that there are no low-cost spay/neuter clinics in this town. They (the Humane Society) don’t offer it, nor do any of the vets here. When you take in the cat you can’t just get him spay/neutered, by law he also had to be vaccinated for rabies, as well as all the other shots and tests. You will be faced with a minimum $500.00 bill. It seems that, in this town, low-income people are not supposed to have pets.
So here we are with winter weather fast approaching; it’s getting colder everyday and there have already been a few flurries. I have been searching all over the web looking at ideas other people have come up with to help the abandoned cats in their area.
The problem is not just giving them shelter, but keeping the snow out, and keeping it warm enough inside. We have an area that can be blocked off with tarps or space blankets to provide some shelter from the wind. The area is not big enough to put in bales of hay, which seems to be the most recommended way of providing warmth and protection. I have seen a product called the self-heating cat bed which I’m seriously considering as it is not too expensive. The most appealing item is a Microwave Disc that is heated and then inserted between blankets and will provide up to 12 hours of heat, depending on conditions. It sounds just about right, but pricey. It’s the best I have seen so far.
