A Cat’s Tale - Spring 2021
Donations Needed!
We appreciate donations of any size! All donations go directly to caring for community (stray, homeless, feral) cats. To send a check, please use the enclosed envelope. To donate by credit card, click on the Support link in the top right corner. Please consider making Friends of Feral Felines part of your legacy in your estate planning! All donations are tax-deductible.
FFF Volunteers Needed
Hotline Volunteer – respond to voice mails left by people needing help.
Facebook Volunteer – assist with posting stories and photos and responding to questions/ comments. Must be familiar with the intricacies of Facebook.
Email Volunteer – assist with answering questions, concerns, or comments. Trap, Transport or Recover - assist with TNR efforts.
FFF Wish List
Monetary donations Cat food – both wet and dry Wire crates Towels/flat sheets Barns/land for relocation Humane traps Wish List on Smile.Amazon Gift Cards to PetSmart, Walmart, or Target for food and supplies
Dear Friends,
Welcome to Spring 2021! Our team at Friends of Feral Felines are so sorry that during this harrowing year of COVID-19 to have lost so many loved ones and good citizens. Our hearts go out to each and every family dealing with this loss of life and the sickness suffered as well. At long last, we are now so blessed to see a return to health and an end to this pandemic with the COVID-19 vaccines being administered.
Most fortunately, Friends of Feral Felines was able to continue its TNR (Trap, Neuter/spay, vaccinate and Return) during this troubled time. This was accomplished through the efforts of our excellent veterinary network and their staff, our FFF volunteers, and dedicated caretakers. We did not miss a day. The cost is as low as $20 per community cat for this service along with a left ear tip for identification. Illness and injuries have also been treated at that time.
A FREE Spay/Neuter/Vaccination clinic for community cats (stray and feral) is sponsored by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control for residents of Charlotte-Mecklenburg on the second Saturday of each month. Appointments must be made. Outside residents will need to pay $20.
A Special Note: Our heartiest congratulations and special thanks to Char- lotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control on their great achievement of being named a “No-Kill Shelter” with 90% of their animal intake being spayed, neutered, vaccinated, adopted, or rehomed. We are honored to work at their side.
Please continue to be a vocal voice and support for TNR of community cats. It has reduced the community cat populations tremendously and insured a healthier life for them. Importantly, our contributors have our deep heartfelt thanks for your generous donations that allow our work with these innocent animals possible.
For a Happy and Healthy Spring to you and your families,
Outside Kitty Finds New Home and Best Friend
Late last summer, Jennifer noticed that her dog’s outside kibble was disappearing when the dog had not been outside. She had heard a thump on the deck a few times in the middle of the night and knew it sounded too large to be
a rat but she wasn’t sure what it could be. Finally, in early fall, she noticed a very thin, black cat on the periphery of her yard. It had a scratch on its nose and was missing the end of its’ tail. The cat ran from her when she approached. As she started watching her dog’s food on the deck, she saw the skinny little cat appear for a quick meal.
Jennifer has indoor cats, so as soon as she saw the cat was eating the dog’s food, she left cat kibble in a bowl on the deck the following morning. She watched and waited as the cat came closer and closer but would not allow her to touch it. She posted for advice and help on one of the local Mint Hill Facebook groups and people told her to contact Friends of Feral Felines. Mary Lee with FFF drove to her house, delivered a trap and provided instructions.
Jennifer had been monitoring the coming and goings of the cat with a security camera, so the following morning she set the trap and waited. Within 30 seconds of baiting the trap with tuna, the cat was caught. She got him neutered and kept him in her heated garage temporarily since it was during the freezing cold the first week of December. When she released him in the afternoon, she worried that she would never see him again. However, that very night he came back for his dinner and continued to appear twice a day for his meals.
When it became obvious that he was now her cat, she made a makeshift shelter on the deck – a table covered with a tarp with straw and a heating pad underneath. She also made a cat shelter from a rubber storage container but he would not enter it. Jennifer continued to monitor the cat with a security camera on her deck and one evening while the cat was under the shelter, her hus- band let their dog, Gus, out to go potty. To Jennifer’s surprise, the dog stuck his head
under the shelter and licked the cat’s head. The very next day the cat was lying on his back and playing with the dog on the deck. And so, an “incredible friendship started to unfold”.
Initial shelter
After thinking the cat needed more of a decent, permanent shelter, Jen- nifer ordered a condo from Wayfair, added extra insulation, and painted it
with exterior paint. Her husband added a small hole fitted with a grommet so they could run electric- ity into the condo. By this time, the cat had been called “Outside Kitty” for so long that the name had stuck. Outside Kitty totally approved and started using his new condo and hanging out on the deck with Gus all the time, but he was still nervous around people.
Jennifer would go on the deck and be affectionate to Gus. Outside Kitty would observe, opening and closing his eyes slowly as Jennifer was petting the dog. Jennifer would mimic him, slowly open- ing and closing her eyes too. One day Outside Kitty decided he felt safe enough to rub up against her legs. She touched him when he had his eyes closed and he decided to start allowing pets.
Outside Kitty had one little run-in with a neighbor over his cat instinct - hunting birds. Luckily Jennifer’s neighbor (also an animal lover) volunteers with Carolina Waterfowl and had the good sense to suggest a collar with a bell.
Jennifer had concerns about the safety of a collar on an outside cat so she consulted Mary Lee at Friends of Feral Felines. Mary Lee suggested a reflective breakaway collar. So Outside Kitty now has a reflective collar with his very own name tag and bell on it to warn birds of his presence.
Outside Kitty has become very attached to Jennifer’s dog, Gus, and they are the best of friends. Gus is a 107 lb. Rott- weiler, but he never once tried to harm the cat. Now when Jennifer lets Gus off his leash to play ball, Outside Kitty sits and watches. Outside Kitty also sits at Jennifer’s back door and meows to enter. She allows him indoors when her other cats are confined, and he and Gus snuggle on the dog’s bed.
Jennifer can now pick him up and he is warming up to her husband. Once her foster cat leaves, Outside Kitty may like- ly become Inside Kitty. As Jennifer says, “Clearly the cat is now part of the family. We love him very much and we are so glad he is part of our lives!”
Our fiscal year begins on July 1. As of March 31, 2021, through your generosity, we were able to help our community cats as follows:
$ 30,070 in subsidies for spay/neuter
$ 20,191 in subsidies for illness and injuries
$ 4,301 in food subsidies for colony caregivers
Financial information about this organiza- tion and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 919-807-2214. The license is not an endorsement by the State.
Friends of Feral Felines (FFF) exists in order to humanely manage feral and community cats through TNR - Trap, Neuter/spay, vaccinate and Return program and to educate the public about feral cats. FFF is a registered 501(c)(3) charity (in North Carolina and South Carolina), a Gold Participant in the GuideStar Exchange and an all volunteer organization. We appreciate your support!
Community Cat Crisis Fund
By Ann Gross
Introducing Friends of Feral Felines’ Community Cat Crisis Fund! Many of you followed the rescue and recovery of Braveheart, a community cat who was found in Monroe, NC in horrific condition. All four of his paws were injured, and his leg was rotting away from MRSA infection. He had an eye injury, significant hair loss,
a double ear infection, and he was dangerously underweight and dehydrated. Vets later shared that though we will never know what happened to him, the injuries possibly came from contact with fire or from being thrown from a moving vehicle. FFF’s veterinary subsidy made it possible for him to be seen by the vet, but he required extensive vet care that went beyond the cost of their typical veterinary subsidy. Thousands of dollars were raised thanks to compassionate donors like you, and Braveheart’s life was saved. He ended up loving the indoor life, so he is now living happily in his perfect forever home.
Braveheart is a perfect example of what we hope our Community Cat Crisis Fund can achieve for all community cats in critical condition. Whether friendly or feral, community cats deserve a life free of pain and suffering. This fund will al- low us to act quickly, ensuring that community cats in need of advanced medical care can start on the road to recovery right away. We are setting an ambitious goal to raise $5,000 for the Community Cat Crisis Fund, named in honor of sweet Braveheart, by the end of the year. Any and all donations, no matter how small, are truly appreciated from the bottom of our hearts. We know you have plenty of organizations asking for donations, and we thank you for your consideration. Together, we can show community cats that though they may be “unowned,” they are certainly not “unloved.”
In Memory of My Treasured Kitties
Please accept my donation in memory of my treasured kitties whom I lost this past year – Baby Kitty and Bebe Lou.
Baby Kitty was a feral kitty born to a set of parents dumped in my neighbor- hood. She was the only kitten to survive and her parents disappeared when she was a baby. She was always a tiny cat, but lived to be almost 20 years old.
She lived most of her life outdoors and later settled in on my upper deck screened porch. She stayed outside until the last year and a half when she finally decided she had had enough and finally walked through the threshold of the glass door that had always stood between us. It took her yet another 9 months after that before I could even pet her. She enjoyed all of her petting and loving on her terms for 9 months before I lost her to illness. In her final moments, I was able to hold her in my arms the way I had longed to do for all those years.
My Bebe Lou was an Alabama girl. She was absolutely beautiful with her multi-colors and long hair. My husband picked her up at a convenience store in Alabama and fell in love with her. Though it took Bebe a while to accept “the other woman”, she finally did after losing my husband in late 2006. She then snug- gled with me as much as she had with him (maybe even more). She was my love and my life – my little snuggle bunny girl. Bebe was 18 1⁄2 when she succumbed to kidney disease.
I have two kitties remaining – Dixie Bell was Baby Kitty’s kitten almost 19 now and also Penny Lane who is a Friends of Feral Felines cat who found her way to my house after my husband passed. These kitties bring me great pleasure even among my great losses this past year.
I am so thankful for Friends of Feral Felines. You have been a true blessing for these feral kitty cats that some of us get to love, even if it is through a pane of glass.
Last year Friends of Feral Felines helped subsidize the following:
Male cats neutered - 648
Female cats spayed - 899
One female cat can easily produce 12 kittens a year (three litters of four kittens each). Given this estimate, the 899 female community cats spayed through Friends of Feral Felines, could have produced as many as 10,788 kittens in only one year!
The Humane Society of the United States estimates that 3-4 million community (stray, lost and abandoned and unso- cialized feral cats) and owned cats allowed to roam freely enter shelters each year. At least half of those cats are euthanized. While the number has declined significantly since the 1970s, even socialized lap cats often face slim chances for adoption because there are too many and too few resources. Through TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) Friends of Feral Felines helps reduce the overpopulation of community cats and subsequently lower the rates of euthanasia at shelters.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the many volunteers who tirelessly trap and compassionately care for so
many community cats. We also thank our many financial supporters who provide the monetary resources to make our efforts possible.
Many of you may have read our story in the Fall 2019 Newsletter about volunteer, Jane, who helped a momma feral cat and her seven babies born under her backyard shed. Below see Jane’s words of wisdom in socializing those seven feral kittens. Not only did Jane successfully socialize all kittens after she trapped them, but she and her husband welcomed all seven kittens into their family as permanent indoor residents. (Jane trapped Momma cat and returned her to their yard).
Kitten-proof the area where you will be working with the kittens. They will get behind almost anything to hide from you.
Put just trapped kittens in something high off the floor. Otherwise, you loom over them – big and scary. I secured my
rescues in the shower stall with a tall four-tier cat condo. The little ones migrated right to the top, so I was eye level with
them.
Gently touch sleeping kittens while they are in that high spot. Looming over frightened kittens while they are on the floor
and you are standing up does not work.
Dampen two fingers and gently stroke behind sleeping kitten’s ears. Feels almost like mom. Continue when they are
awake, and they finally will let you touch them.
Listen to your inner Yoda. Patience. Patience. And a bit more. It will work.
Keep just trapped kittens together. Makes socialization harder for you but it is better for them.
Dish of food on your lap or near a leg as you sit on the floor will eventually lure a hungry kitten to you.
Play with the kittens even if they won’t let you touch them or hold them. Cat Dancer and feather toys on a long stick work
really well. Kittens forget you are at the other end of the toy and just enjoy being a kitten.
Invite friends over to play with the kittens early in the process. This helps kittens get used to strangers and who doesn’t
like to play with kittens.
If you have a loose feral kitten in the house who is hiding under the sofa, try putting a small portion of dry food on the
foot of your bed at night. Move it closer to you each night. During the day sit on the floor near the food bowl getting closer each day. Sit quietly until kitten is comfortable eating next to you. Try the dampened finger trick while kitten is eating. Might just work.
Whats going on Here?
In January, the Humane Society of Charlotte took care of a Rattler, Cobra, and Viper with no trouble and no injury to the personnel. In December, they had seen, believe it or not, Santa, Scrooge, Rudolph, an Elf, an Angel, Tinsel and Bells. It has been busy there with characters from the Batman Comics like: Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, Penguin, James Gordon, Alfred, as well as Batman himself (Bruce Wayne). With a little Faith, Hope, Grace and Prayer they managed well. Dr. Kimberly Ackerman, DVM, had suggested giving the feral cats brought in once a week by Ray Jordan, theme names which would make the job more interesting. So, Ray complied by giving the cats names of Snakes, Christmas and Religious terms, Batman comic characters, as well as those of Rivers, States, and Flowers, so far. The TNR work is more fun now, wondering what the category of next weeks’ feral cats might be?