Friday, March 29, 2013

Random Fridays.....

Quick note: we gotted an email from the head rescue lady and she said one of the volunteers from the rescue is driving right through Charlotte next week and will be picking up DW. We will try to get a picture of him once he gets back to Ohio. thanks for all of you for suggestions and offers to help!!
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Today isn't going to be so random....

As part of what we do here on the blog, education will always have to be part of it. We can tell people to adopt from shelter, we can foster, we (ok, mom) can drive transports, but without education, nothing will change....

Today - more TNR.

A few weeks ago, mom was at the adoption center for the rescue. She was picking up kittens for the Petco. Anyhow, there was a nice young brown tabby male at the adoption center - super sweet and very curious and named Uncle. This young couple came in and had been approved but hadn't decided on the right cat yet. As mom was talking to Miss Mona, the couple came up with Uncle in the man's arms. Miss Mona asked if they had decided on Uncle...the young man said they had but wanted to know if he had any "other congenital medical conditions". Mom doesn't know all the cats at the adoption center, she had run into Uncle before. Mom looked at Miss Mona and reaffirmed that Uncle didn't have ANY medical issues. Mom turned to the young couple and asked about their concerns. The young man looked down at Uncle and pointed to his ear. See - Uncle is ear tipped since he was caught in a feral colony. Mom glanced at Miss Mona who by now was holding her breath not to laugh. So, mom explained the ear tip wasn't a "medical condition" but showing how he was trapped. You could see the couple nod and realize what mom was talking about as she explained about the feral cat population as well as strays being trapped with ferals.  It makes us smile though - we have never heard of an ear tip being termed "congenital medical condition".  :)

Allie in the trap before being spayed

Mom was reading this article too on Pet Health Care Gazette:
Here are some of the myths that are commonly circulated about free-roaming cats:

  • Free-roaming cats lead a cruel existence riddled by disease and other dangers, suffering greatly and dying young.
  • Most cats come from shelters and shelters play a an important role in reuniting lost pet cats with their owners.
  • Free-roaming cats suffer from poor immune systems and are much more prone to infectious disease.
Here are the actual truths (according to Dr. Pedersen):

  • 30% of cats adopted from shelters will become free-roaming.
  • The survival rate of community cats located in urban areas is 90% per year.
  • Only 2% of cats placed in shelters are actually reunited with their owners.
  • 66% of lost cats are found because they return home on their own. Only 7% are found via a call or a visit to a shelter.
  • Lost cats are 3 times more likely to be returned to their home via non-shelter means (such as a neighbor locating the cat and returning it) than via a shelter.
  • When asked what should be done about free-roaming cats, the majority of people (81%) say they favor leaving the cats alone. Only 14% are in favor of trapping and killing these cats.

Our Allie - stretching it out on the wood being used to replace a balcony across from us. 
Mom sees her most days....and worries when she doesn't.

14 comments:

  1. That was cute, congenital medical condition. Well, we can understand how a human would think that, when they have no prior knowledge. Before she knew about TNR, our human probably thought the missing bit of ear was due to a cat fight. :-)

    As for free-roaming cats, we all were! Well, we're not sure about Chumley, he was listed as "abandoned." But Annie was a stray and Nicki was found feral at a young age, between 8 and 10 weeks, and Derry and his siblings were found at half that age, on their own.

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  2. Awww is Uncle home with this couple now? Hope so!!

    Hope Allie is doing ok for herself! Take care
    x

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  3. That was nice they were going to adopt him even with his "condition."

    Have a great weekend.

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  4. Thank you for your kind words on the passing of our dear boy Eric. The messages of condolence from so many are helping us a lot.

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  5. Awww. Cute story about the couple -- I imagine many people aren't familiar with ear tipping, and so they naturally wonder what that is.

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  6. I wish I knew where Dr. Pederson got his statistics - they sound correct, but I always try to trace things back to the source so when my human quotes them, she is not merely shrugged off as a "crazy cat person" (she is crazy, but being a cat person has nothing to do with it - in fact, the cat person part is probably her sanest characteristic).

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  7. That is so awesome! WE love that the couple planned to adopt him all along. :)

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  8. How funny that they thought an ear tipping was from a medical condition! I would guess fight first myself if I didn't know..
    Yay for DW getting a ride!

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  9. Allie looks like she might be one of Oliver's clan!

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  10. Well, that couple learned something that day. And we hope Uncle has a new home now! :)

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  11. We hope the couple took Uncle home right away after you helped them understand the real story!

    So much of rescue is education to so many different audiences. Thanks for being there to honestly and knowledgably answer questions and debunk junk!

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  12. Wonderful story, and so wonderful for an opportunity to educate someone in a positive way! And that a neat kitty got a good home!

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  13. Well, you edumucated our mom too! In our part of the world, missing ear tips probably mean the kitty had frozen ears.

    We don't knows about a cat community in our city but we knows mom gets mad at the people who lets their kitties roam. It makes her sad when she sees a kitty dead on the road 'cuz someone hit it.

    Sami is our only feral and she was found at five weeks eating out of a garbage can. She is happy to have found her furever home. (Saku and I think she's a pest but we put up with her, MOL).

    We and mom are so happy your mom does the work she does to teach peoples about kitties.

    Sasha, Saku, & Sami

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  14. Great story.

    And we wish Allie with her "congenital medical condition" great luck.

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