We shall be celebrating of course, we have four of them! My sister will be celebrating even more than us as they have about thirteen at the moment, with the latest one Beckett, slowly moving in. He has progressed from hiding near the shed and slinking away as soon as he sees movement, to sitting on the patio chairs and spending the odd night on the computer chair! Next stop, on the bed with all the others! Phez (remember the kitten in the coffee mug?) has welcomed him with open paws and has probably told him about the plusses of being an inside cat! In a cushy household!
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| Daffy and Dopey trying out the couch! Alfie on the cushion above! |
My daughter is still hard at work in Dubai, trapping, neutering and releasing or homing as many as she can and thank goodness that there are people like her and my sister around. St Gertrude will be smiling down on them and keeping a tally of their kindness. I am not sure of the number of cats that my sister has rescued over the years, but Catherine has trapped and neutered 72 cats and 1 dog, and she was happy to tell me that on Saturday 14 cats were adopted at their Adoption Day. Their own four cats are all rescued from the streets of Johannesburg, and moved with them to the desert!
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| Dilbert, pretending to be a plum! |
Here are some statistics presented by Dr. Neils Petersen in his presentation entitled 'What You Should Know About Cats' at the 2013 American Animal Hospital Association conference.
–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 neighbour 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 favour leaving the cats alone. Only 14% are in favour of trapping and killing these cats.
Where do our 'free roaming' cats come from? We have a few that are resident in the village but we also have many family cats who simply have 'feralness' thrust upon them. Just a few weeks ago a family here in our village moved out and simply left their animals behind. The two dogs have been homed, but what hope do the cats have?
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| Basil the Handsome, home and happy! |
According to the official website of 'Alley Cat Allies':
'More and more people celebrate National Feral Cat Day® each year. In 2012, 450 events were held nationally, with some held internationally. The year before that, in 2011, there were 351 events, which was almost twice as many as in 2010. We can’t wait to see how many people National Feral Cat Day® reaches this year!'
As my friend Isabel said, 'Open the pilchards!'
4 comments:
Haha Ma we actually only brought 3 cats with us - we have acquired another 4 that live in the garage since then! Don't worry I also lose track some days. x
Oops!! It's age and wine that does it!!
Yes Becket was in last night as it was raining, by xmas he will be sharing the turkey!!Love them all!!
You will need an enormous turkey to go round!!
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