Q: Help! There is a cat in my backyard! She’s not letting me get close and scoots away when I come outside. I am feeding her. What can I do to help her?
A: Congratulations for taking an important first step to help an outdoor cat by providing food and water. If you’re like me, you won’t call animal control to pick up the cat because you know that its chances for adoption are slim. However, it is important to report the cat to your local animal control if the department tracks lost pets.
The cat is lucky to have found you. The minute you see a stray or feral cat, the clock is ticking for you to schedule a spay/neuter appointment. Regardless of an outdoor cat’s sex, it must be neutered (or spayed as it is called for a female cat). Check to see if low-cost or no-cost spay/neuter resources are available in your area.
Female cats are extremely prolific. They mate frequently and can have several litters of kittens a year — even in cold weather. I have even found kittens in icy January here in Washington, D.C. The gestation period for a cat is between 60 and 63 days. And it can be difficult to tell if a cat is pregnant. So, that cat in your yard could give birth in a couple of weeks, maybe under your porch or where you can’t find her and the kittens.
The most important thing you need to do is trap the cat with a humane box trap and take her to a veterinarian for spay surgery and vaccinations. Then, bring the cat back to her outdoor home where she can return to her normal routine while you feed and care for her. This scenario is called trap-neuter-return.
As soon as feral cats are spayed or neutered, they become good neighbors. The fighting and howling that you might have heard outside at night will stop. The male cats won’t spray to mark their territory or fight over mates, and they will be healthier and happier. The females will not endure two or more annual pregnancies and litters of kittens.
To learn more about trap-neuter-return or how to build an inexpensive cat shelter, visit Alley Cat Allies’ website. You also can find tips on how to protect the cats and access Alley Cat Allies’ Feral Friends Network to connect with individuals in your area that can give you hands-on help and advice.
Thanks for taking action to help that cat. Good luck!
Cat from Malaysia doing well at humane shelter, has adoptive home
Posted by Donna J. Miller March 12, 2008 09:19AM
Malli survived a trip across the Pacific Ocean from Malaysia.UPDATE: Malli is recovering at the Cleveland Animal Protective League, which has received dozens of calls from people interested in adopting her. One call came from Italy, APL director Sharon Harvey said.
"Little Malli is giong to live with one of the wonderful people who helped rescue her from the shipping crate," Harvey said. "We're telling everyone else who has voiced interest in adopting her to consider, as a tribute to Malli and her incredible will to live, adopting another cat from a shelter. One who has a special story of its own and who is a survivor in its own right."
"We're really hoping that people who were willing to open their hearts and
homes to Malli will consider falling in love with another ... in her honor!," Harvey wrote in an e-mail.
There are more than 260 homeless cats at the APL; 1729 Willey Road, 216-771-4616, clevelandapl.org.
The March 8 story: A skinny black and white kitten with a crooked mustache poked her head out of a 5,000-pound roll of cable Friday morning at Samsel Supply in the Flats.
Looking back at her were the stunned workers who would bring a happy ending to a long, lonely tale of survival.
The journey began Feb. 4, when the massive roll of cable was loaded into a metal crate in Johor, Malaysia. The crate was placed on a ship that began a transpacific journey on Feb. 7.
The ship docked Feb. 25 in Los Angeles, where a long-distance trucker waited to haul the crate to Cleveland.
When Samsel workers opened the crate, a foul odor greeted them. They found the rotting body of an adult cat. Then they saw the kitten. She was too frightened to leave the cable roll at first. Her litter mates were in there, too. All dead. The 12-week-old kitten had been eating their bodies to survive, said Jed Mignano, a humane officer with the Cleveland Animal Protective League.
Samsel President Kathy Petrick had called Mignano after first talking to officials from U.S. Customs, the Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the local Health Department. All told her it was rare to find a living animal in an overseas shipment.
The kitten -- Mignano named her Malli -- will be quarantined for four weeks to make sure she is healthy, said APL President Sharon Harvey. Malli then will be available for adoption.
"It's just amazing she survived," Mignano said.
Petrick agrees. "She's a fighter. She needs a really good home, after all she's been through," she said.