Cats, Cats and More Cats

When I was asked by Elizabeth Lowell to do a guest blog, I first said "NO," because what did I have to blog about? But after spending an afternoon taking care of the half a dozen or so kittens currently living in my garage -- one of more than several dozen I've helped care for this summer -- it dawned on me that I might just have something to say after all. Of course, not being a writer, I can't dazzle you with information about a new book, but I figured I could write about something near and dear to my heart and show you a few photos that will make you go, "awww."

I've always loved animals, but for a personal pet I never wanted the responsibility of a dog, so cats it's always been. I've never had a pure bred cat of any kind. Over the years I've gotten my pets from friends or rescue society. Right now I have a male Manx who I call Buddy and another cat named Homer who basically decided to live with me and Buddy rather than my brother and sister-in-law (SIL) (who live next door with their own 3 cats and 2 small dogs).

So back to those kittens in the garage. My SIL, who teaches high school, has sponsored a student organization called Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (SETA) since her daughter founded the group about 15 years ago. Because so many people still don't understand the importance of spaying and neutering their pets, SETA provides the needed service in our area of rescuing abandoned animals (usually kittens and sometimes puppies) found by the high school students. From money they raise by selling beef jerky and admittance to a fashion show at the high school (one during the day and one in the evening), the students pay to get the animals neutered or spayed, provide their first shots and find a family to adopt them. Many times the abandoned kittens are too young to be adopted and in those cases, they are brought home by my SIL where we foster them until they are old enough to be fixed and adopted. Sometimes the babies are so young that we have to feed them by hand until they can eat on their own. During each breeding season we've always had a few babies around to care for until we could find them homes, but this summer has been extraordinary. This year we've had more kittens than ever coming though our homes. My SIL hasn't been able to park her car in her own garage all summer because of kittens in there.

Because I'm retired, I pretty much have been delegated as the one to take the kittens to be spayed and/or neutered, to be dewormed and to get their first shots. Once the kittens are old enough to be spayed or neutered, we place an ad in the newspaper with descriptions of the cats we have up for adoption and the fee for each one (an amount that covers the cost their first shots and the spaying or neutering). At any given point this summer we've had as many of 12 kittens to care at one time, for but now we are finally down to 3 kittens (one quite young and 2 "teenagers"). Breeding season is nearing an end, but as long as people refuse to spay or neuter their pets, there will always be abandoned kittens who need homes and care. As hard as we work, not all of the babies we foster make it, and it breaks our hearts when they don't.

Fortunately we work closely with an amazing cat sanctuary in our area called Cat House on the Kings. This sanctuary is a no-kill non-profit organization that has been in business for over 15 years. At present it houses about 700 cats and rescues and adopts out over 1,000 cats every year. Cat House on the Kings is on 12 acres of completely fenced property. We work with Cat House on the Kings and their vet to spay and neuter the SETA kittens and get their shots, etc. Cat House on the Kings is a fantastic organization that does incredible work, and they deserve all the support they can get.

Some exciting news! A few months ago, Animal Planet TV channel began running a contest called "Animal Hero of the Year" and when I heard about it I told my SIL that we had to nominate Cat House on the Kings, which she did. Well, we just found out Cat House on the Kings has made it to the Top 15 nominations out of probably thousands of entries! Voting will start on September 25th (online) and people like you and me will be doing the voting! I'll be sure to have someone here post a link!

It’s been very rewarding working with these kittens (and some puppies) and knowing that they are alive and ultimately going to good homes. I must say, that every now and then one will grab my heart and it’s hard letting it go, but at the same time I know I can’t keep them all. I really hope that someday the job will be mostly unnecessary. Please, please get your pets spayed or neutered because thousands upon thousands of animals are euthanized every year because of uncontrolled breeding. What SETA and Cat House on the Kings does is just a drop in the bucket, but it does help some.

Celeste Faurie