Our latest blog from Street Cats Communique with Beth Frank
Written by Amanda Coats _______________________________________________________________
There are a few questions that I answer every time I educate people about TNR, and cats living outside. One of them being......cant they hunt for food? Such a loaded question. You might see them hunting and eating ground moles, mice, or birds, but it's not a meal for them. Not only are these packed full of parasites, when they actually get lucky enough to catch one, it is a snack, and probably the first they have eaten in days.
Feral cats are somewhere in between wild and domestic. They fear people and have wild traits, but through domestication evolution, they have lost some of their natural abilities that enable them to fully survive on their own. It's hard for them to find adequate shelter, and to hunt naturally enough to sustain life. This is true for cats born outside, when they are tossed out, it is far worse.
Yes I will come and perform TNR for cats you feed, but trappers will not come if someone is not willing to feed and provide shelter. It would be irresponsible to waste these resources. If you feed, they will still hunt and keep the rodents at bay. They are still beautiful, even if you cant touch them. They love you, even if they show it in ways you cant understand. After all, love is a feeling.......not a thought process. It takes as little as 15 mins a day to care for a colony under 10.
99% of cats tossed outside are unfixed and unvaccinated. Now you have opened a can of worms that will take years to rectify. Not to mention subjecting that one cat to death and disease. Would you have felt differently if you saw them a few weeks later and they didnt make it? Would you then have changed your mind?
So what exactly does an ear tip mean? It means the circle is complete. It means love, hope, and humility!
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