Ferals & Kittens & Cats, Oh My!

It all started in 2016 when a friend of mine asked me to help trap a mom and three kittens at a restaurant supply warehouse. It was then that I realized there were several feral cats living outside that needed help. This became my first feral colony.

I then began trapping in three different counties for a local rescue group whose main purpose was TNVR. This stands for (trap-neuter-vaccinate-release).I am now on my own and TNVR throughout the City of Rochester at my own managed feral colonies and where the need arises.

With the help of a trapper friend I rescue abandoned cats and kittens. I try to place them at the shelter or with local rescues, if there is room. If not, I will take them into my home and foster them, get them fully vetted and adopt them out.

I also make shelters for the city cat colonies and outdoor cats that are owned but live outside without adequate shelter.  I am an advocate for the city cats and refer city residents to resources to spay/neuter their pets.  We are also colony caregivers

They are the faces of abandoned and homeless cats. At one time some were pets in loving homes. Others are a product of neglect, not of their own fault, but due to human’s lack of spay and neuter.

There are female cats that have been on the streets for years having litter after litter. Some have even populated an entire block! During mating season many unspayed females are attacked by multiple males.

These cats live in abandoned houses, under porches, in bushes or wherever they can find to get away from the city dangers, both humans and animals alike.  They spend their days roaming for food and often times fighting off others for it. They eat out of dumpsters, garbage cans anywhere they can find food. They also have to fight off raccoons, rats and the like for food. Many are emaciated because they cannot find food or are too weak to look.

There are cats that have been shot at, covered in cement and glue, had rocks thrown at them, choked, put in garbage bags and other more horrific stories that I do not want to mention.

There are pregnant cats giving birth in drainage ditches, behind dumpsters and in old tires. Many of these kittens are born with infections, eye problems and other diseases. Mom often times has problems getting food so many kittens do not make it. The ones that do make it often go on to live a horrible existence.

THIS CYCLE NEEDS TO STOP! The answer is spay/neuter, TNVR and colony caretakers.

We need to be an advocate for these cats, without it they do not have a voice.

BUT IF YOU LOOK INTO THEIR EYES YOU CAN SEE PAIN AND SUFFERING!!!!!