Feral cat. Compassion?

[Midnight]

I currently live in a house where I see a stray cat sitting by a near-by hedge. Am I sure this cat is homeless? No, but he/she is VERY skinny, and I see her sitting late at night by the hedge. And I have put food out on a coffee can plastic lid, and it disappears quite quickly. Probably she is the eater of this food, but I'm not sure because she disappears in a hurry when I open the door.

I can't take her in (over time) because I will be moving to a place where cats aren't allowed.

I meditate every morning for an hour. At the end of my meditation I send out love and light to people I have known, and to people that I don't know who are living in difficult situations. And I send out love and light to our Planet that is ensnared in darkness by negative forces. I state that I wish my loving energy contribute to our transformation from darkness to light. Please, may a miracle happen!

But I also send out love and light to the animals of the world, to the chickens that live their entire life in a ridiculously small cage in order to provide humans with eggs, to the cows that are killed so that we can happily fry hamburgers under the summer sun, to the fish that die from lack of oxygen after they are pulled from the water (even though we know fishing is a benevolent activity well suited to family fun).

And I also feel great sadness for that cat that is probably homeless. I will keep putting out food for her as long as I am here, but when I am gone, then what will be her fate? I feel sad when I think about that cat.

[watchZEITGEISTnow]

Saving life is great karma. Maybe you could find a home for the cat?

The cat is in your world for a lesson - what is that lesson?

You'll do the right thing I bet!

[Hip Hipnotist]

I feel your pain/compassion.

I started with one -- I now have four! They seem to know who to come to. Yes, they are here for a reason. I'm still trying to figure out what it is. :heh:

At different times I've taken two of them, Lily and Sylvester to a (no kill) shelter and both times ended up going back and adopting them! And believe or not, just tonight, yet another stray came to my door. All of mine, however, were not feral. They were all abandoned. I've come to find out that this, because of the economy, lack of jobs (too many more reasons to list) is becoming all to frequent. Folks are just leaving them and moving on. Sad but true.

If you are not able to care for the cat (believe me, I understand) perhaps there is a (no kill) facility near you where you can take her.

I can guarantee you that whatever you do she is better for having you in her life.

[161803398]

Feral cats should be caught and given homes. There used to be a lot of feral cats where I live although not any more because of the coyotes. However, I found homes for some and took in two of them. They can be difficult to catch because they fear people. Probably best to talk to a cat rescue who is not the SPCA if there is one around and there would be people with some experience. Never go to the SPCA.

[jaredkayy]

often times some feral cats cannot be tamed. one of my friends had this adorable little black feral cat he adopted, and he was just a monster, even after being neutered. however some can be the most gentle loving cats ever. my little guy was born to two feral parents and went into a home shortly after his birth, and he has been fantastic.

as far as sensory perception of cats goes, i think we all know that regardless of demeanor cats are far more in tune psychically than humans. Midnight, i hope yours is around more, seems like he knows that you're super rad!

[TelosianEmbrace]

Follow your heart and do what feels right for you.

The Divine Plan knows no boundaries, no limitations. Often I have a puzzle of seemingly incompatible ideals/circumstances and I pass it up to the divine for Him/Her to show me the solution, and so often it comes in a way that is both simple and unforeseen (By me).

I may as well relate the story of my ex partner and I while we were staying in Ubud, Bali. We were walking down the road and came across three or four stray kittens that were yowling, unattended, and scattered along the roadside. She picked them all up, and going against my better judgement, brought them back to our hotel room for the night. The next morning we walked amongst the locals, and she handed them all out, expecting the locals to take good care of them. The locals accepted them with a smile on their faces, and Trish was happy. I just wonder what became of them. This in a country where the local market has puppies in cages, and they aren't sold as pets, if you know what I mean. Oh well. We do what we can with what we have.

[sunflower]

I have had my stray for almost a year now and she has proved to be a delightful, curious, and friendly pet.

My daughter recently moved to a condo in an area of the city known to have a large stray cat population. Cats sleeping on the chairs on the deck, coming to the patio door asking for food.... These cats are mostly strays, not feral. A neighbour and my daughter found homes for five of them. Last winter Christine had cat condos built for the three regulars that had adopted her deck and she was able to get two of them fixed in a "catch and release" program. Momma cat is scheduled for her visit to the vet next Monday. Hope she shows up on time for the appointment!!!

Christine cannot take them inside because she already has two indoor cats.



Last month her condo association passed a by-law forbidding the feeding of stray cats.

[PurpleLama]

Last month her condo association passed a by-law forbidding the feeding of stray cats.

Those bastards. The association, not the cats.

[Lifebringer]

If the cat is ferral, then perhaps a neighbor with a pet's love of heart, can continue to feed the cat and if you are lucky will be able to get aspca to spay her for her freedom to continue to feed, because seriously, if more come, there will be more mouths and homeless kittens to also feed. You can ask the Aspca and tell them you know the cat is homeless but you feed her, and then when it's time to leave, give a caring neighbor with your same concern for pet life, and send about 10 dollars a month or a kitty box of supplies. She gets to live and you can let go of the guilt. Who knows perhaps the cat is picking up on your moving and knows that she can't get attached because, the yearning for permanancy because of your move, and a relationship to the cat, simply isn't there communicating for permanancy.

So like I said the neighbor who has this communication of love for pets that is permanant, may yield a closer relationship, than you yourself can provide. Its sort of a partnership between neighbors on adoptions of a species that may not survive. It will feel good to you, the neighbor, and the cat.

Godspeed.

[Earth Angel]

when I lived in Ireland we moved into my grandmothers house (she had died and the house was empty) there was a feral cat in the back, my dad said they'd been in the back since he was a boy.... she showed up at dinner time each evening and sat on the window sill watching us eat, we always put out any left overs to her and she ate....when it was warm I left the back door open but she never came in and never let us touch her......eventually we found our own home and left the grandmothers house empty but the cat had just had a litter and we were feeding them all by this point.....as soon as we left the house a family member was visiting from England and asked could she stay there, I said sure and left a note with some tins of cat food asking would she mind feeding the cats in the back yard while she was there.......what a mistake, she told the neighbours who had kept quiet while we lived in the house but when they heard we were still feeding them after we left they went mad the next time they saw us.......huge fight.......these people couldn't appreciate that the cats were keeping the rat or mouse population down for them, all they could see were evil creatures......it was ugly.......my dad ended up selling the house because of that........sad but true........I don't trust people who don't like cats :tsk:


.

Last month her condo association passed a by-law forbidding the feeding of stray cats.

Those bastards. The association, not the cats.