Thursday, July 10. 2008
There Must Be A Sign
...on our house that reads - in Felinese:
This property is a designated "Cat Sanctuary."
Come one, come all and be safe
(and probably fed and eventually adopted, if you so desire).
Several weeks ago I saw a black and white cat outside one of the front windows on the lower level of our house. This in itself is not unusual. The unusual thing was that she was just lying there on her side, very still. The window was open and she was right below it, exactly where Cooper used to come to visit before he moved in. We kept checking on her during the course of the morning. She stayed for several hours, and then she left. I couldn't help but wonder why she just laid there. I guessed that maybe she was pregnant and needed a quiet place to chill out for a while.
She didn't return to the window, so I assumed she was just passing through. End of story.
Or was it?
Well, a couple weeks after that diversion, a dad of one of my daycare children mentioned that he saw a mama cat and three kittens living in our yard. I knew nothing of this, but I guessed again that it was the cat I'd seen lying beneath our window and the kittens she was carrying. But still, I hadn't seen her or any kittens for myself.
Last Tuesday I was bringing trash out to the recycling bin, and out strolled the black and white cat I'd seen beneath the window from behind the can. She walked calmly to the middle of the yard and sat down. I talked to her for a good five minutes, and she just looked at me all the while.
Moments later from inside the house I heard a little commotion at the back lower-level window. She'd walked up to the daycare bedroom window and was conversing with our Abbey. I told Abbey to be sure to let her know that our little kitty inn was full at the present time! Before long, Cooper heard the goings-on and came to see what was up for himself.
The three cats sat at the window - our two on the inside sill and Mama Kitty outside - for the two minutes it took me to get my camera. I snapped this shot just as she was taking her leave. That's Cooper on the left and Abbey on the right saying their "goodbyes" to their new acquaintance.
Mama Cat is not nearly as friendly as Cooper was. It didn't appear that she wanted to live here so much as she needed a temporary haven to raise her family. But thinking about the difficult and dangerous life of an outdoor cat breaks my heart. I wish Mama and her babies luck as they brave the elements on their own.
Why do so many cats come here to our yard? Do they know how much my heart breaks seeing them out there in the cold - or hot - cruel world, uncared for and unloved?
I want to take care of them all because:
Last Tuesday I was bringing trash out to the recycling bin, and out strolled the black and white cat I'd seen beneath the window from behind the can. She walked calmly to the middle of the yard and sat down. I talked to her for a good five minutes, and she just looked at me all the while.
Moments later from inside the house I heard a little commotion at the back lower-level window. She'd walked up to the daycare bedroom window and was conversing with our Abbey. I told Abbey to be sure to let her know that our little kitty inn was full at the present time! Before long, Cooper heard the goings-on and came to see what was up for himself.
The three cats sat at the window - our two on the inside sill and Mama Kitty outside - for the two minutes it took me to get my camera. I snapped this shot just as she was taking her leave. That's Cooper on the left and Abbey on the right saying their "goodbyes" to their new acquaintance.
Mama Cat is not nearly as friendly as Cooper was. It didn't appear that she wanted to live here so much as she needed a temporary haven to raise her family. But thinking about the difficult and dangerous life of an outdoor cat breaks my heart. I wish Mama and her babies luck as they brave the elements on their own.
Why do so many cats come here to our yard? Do they know how much my heart breaks seeing them out there in the cold - or hot - cruel world, uncared for and unloved?
I want to take care of them all because:
- Cats deserve to know the love of a good home and caring people
- The plight of unwanted or uncared-for cats is tragic - and cruelEnough cats are not neutered/spayedMany shelters are full and cannot take more catsI am the crazy cat lady who lives on the cornerAll of the above
Carole