Savannah's Paw Tracks

SNIP, SNAP, Snippity Snappity

HIYA!!  SAVANNAH HERE!!!

Well Mom L and Dad P spent another day at the quarterly SNIP clinic. I have posted so many times about this totally awesome community cat spay/neuter clinic that I fear my loyal readers are tiring of it. BUT—we do not tire of this 4 times a year PAW IT FORWARD opportunity.

Ummm…is this gonna hurt??

I want to make this post about the “special cats” we experience when Mom L and Dad P volunteer. First, and thankfully I have not photos, one kitty, a very “feral” kitty, was found to have a possible broken femur and tail. She had her tail amputated, and she was to be returned to her caretaker/feeder with the broken leg hoping for some recovery. The important learning is that the caretaker asked that she not be euthanized. The caretaker wanted this kitty back and is willing to keep her in “recovery” inside her home until the kitty can manage on her own outside where the kitty knows best.

The injuries were likely the result of being hit by a car. So what do you think my readers? Good decision? Questionable decision?

It is so difficult for event the volunteer veterinarians to make these judgement calls.

And then there are the incredible, clearly purebred cats that come through Mom L’s “admission table”. Thankfully, the humans who brought this purebred Ocicat in were more than willing to care for him after his neuter.

Why am I here?

What? You think I am special

Yes, I am an Ocicat

The last photo simply shows this incredible kitty after being sedated. Mom L followed him from admission all the way through being discharged to his rescue family. And yes, this male cat is purebred, Ocicat, who just showed up in the backyard of his rescue humans. Such is the reality of community cat rescue.

Another incredible cat group represented today were Lynx Point Siamese.

We had youngsters and adults. Amazing community cats, abandoned either as adults, not spayed/neutered or even as juveniles, not spayed/neutered. The end result is the same. The cats are left to reproduce, not cared for and well—just abandoned. These cats are not “feral”. They are afraid, don’t trust humans, but if they do not “run”…then likely they are willing to try just one more time to trust humans. Meaning, they are not “feral”.

Feral: Feral cats are the result of a domestic cat being abandoned or lost and left to fend for itself. The offspring of the domestic (now considered feral) cat are usually never handled by people and become terrified. Many times, when approached by people, they will hiss out of fright.

So many of the cats coming through our SNIP clinic are not “feral”. They are simply terrified after having been abandoned by humans. And because all community cat rescues do not have sufficient numbers of “fosters” for these adult abandoned cats, we can only “return them to where they are being fed”.

Please, do not abandon a cat. They are not able to live “off the land”. Please do not “shoo away a community cat looking for some love and a meal”. Please, call a local community cat rescue and ask for help. Every cat deserves love, kindness and a safe, warm place to live out its life with good food and understanding that the kitty did not make a decision to live without human caring.

Thanks lots for reading my post,

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH