#Cat Spraying After Spaying

[stavromulabetaaa]

stav's feral cat fund!

hello all! i would typically never ask for donations, but in this case it is not for me or my personal use. it's all for the kitties!

i do feral + community cat TNR (trap neuter return) in my city and although i've helped many cats (i even found two of them forever homes!), they just keep coming. thankfully the spay/neuter program i use does not currently charge a fee, but the supplies i need to care for these furballs is beyond what i can realistically afford. i'm also gearing up in preparation for kitten season, which is right around the corner. i have two humane traps, and a large dog kennel for recovery. i have to keep the cats for 24-72+ hours after surgery, and am currently in need of these supplies:

cat litter, for obvious reasons

extra large towels to cover the trap during transportation, and to cover the recovery kennel. having these enclosures covered reduces stress for the cats and helps protect them on cold nights

warm cat beds, to keep them warm and to have a safe place to hide inside the recovery kennel

feliway spray, a calming spray that works wonders for ferals! i just used up my last bottle

canned wet food. the cheap stuff comes in huge variety packs, cats prefer the taste, and the kitties just need the calories and moisture while they are recovering in my care.

if you would like to donate any of these items to the kitties in my area i have set up an amazon wishlist. this seems like the best option, since you know exactly what your donation is going towards. i tried to find the cheapest options available. if you would prefer to donate a different way, please let me know and we can discuss! i can take PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, and Zelle. and i would be more than happy to send you photos of the cats benefiting from your generosity if you would like! there are also other costs involved when the spay/neuter program finds issues once the cats are under anesthesia, such as worms or injuries and illnesses. i pay for those myself and would appreciate any help with that, but i'm more concerned with the basic necessities right now.

and if you are interested in helping the cats in your area, please google your city + TNR to find local programs! you can also reach out to me and i will answer any questions you have. cat populations are out of control, where i live in the US it is continuously heartbreaking just how many cats need our help. and in many places, like my city, the responsibility of care falls upon people like me doing it in their free time. let's help these often ignored and hidden kitties in need!

credit to @getawayfox for naming most of the cats in the photos above! ❤️

[sprinklethecat]

I'm making this post as I've started a Go fund me for veterinarian assistance for all of the cats we have.

We're working to get the kittens adopted, but we would really appreciate being able to get them spayed and neutered before then. Our first focus is neutering the boys as to avoid any unwanted pregnancies, but after we're going to try to get the girls spayed.

Our main focus with the money is as follows:

Spaying and Neutering

Vaccinations

General appointment fees

Carriers as if we take multiple cats at once they will need separate ones

Rides to and from (if the closest one is unable to take them soon)

Any money left after that will go towards follow up vaccinations and food.

I've looked around and I can get some help with the cost for the spaying and neutering, but it will not cover the whole cost. If you can't donate, I'd appreciate if you reblog this or share the link!

Link is here. I also have pay pal and ven mo under logicalmoose@gmail.com for both. I will try to update the amount we've received on this post periodically! Thank you for all your help 💙

Edit: Put a google document below the read more to share the estimates from the vet I received earlier this morning.

$10/$1000

I put together a google document with the estimates I received from the vet clinic I take Sprinkle to.

Here is the link.

For just the boys, the possible estimates go up to:

Low Total for all three appointments: 237.64 (475.28 for both males)

High Total for all three appointments: 430.64 (861.28 for both males)

It's very pricey, unfortunately, but it'll be easier to get both the boys fixed than try to get all of the girls fixed; and avoid possible spraying. As the age of reproduction can be as low as 3 months, but typically around 4-6 months, we are nearing the age that could be an issue.

[ruthlesslistener]

Ello! Cat advice anon here, just checking in and hoping that i can help a bit more! Holy Moly, from 0 to 4 kit-kats is a LOT. I commend you for taking in so many, personally I've never had more than 2 at a time sharing the same house, so i can only imagine the chaos! An Experience indeed!

For the overly-cuddly Hwanggeum, I'd say it's either bc you're the "head of the house", so to say, or bc you're her favourite and have been till now showering her with most of the attention she's been wanting. Or it could be both. Blue, my oldest, has always presented to my father, but otherwise she always comes to me bc I'm her main source of affection.

I dunno what might stop Hwanggeum from rubbing on everything, since I haven't had this problem with mine (they're actually not very territorial with space as much as with us humans haha!), but maybe having a smell she doesn't like near the places you want to keep her from might help? Smt like sanitary alcohol or another pungent smell, maybe, which might also help with keeping the others from spraying everywhere.

The smell might fade with time, but the stains sure don't as easily 😣 Found that out the hard way when we discovered a hidden spot in the closet where one of them had peed in a while back, but the smell had faded after some time without us managing to find the source of the smell. Then we found some clothes stained and still emitting a slight odor and knew immediately there'd be no saving them 😓

Hopefully the cat you've managed to find a free spot for doesn't go in heat right before it bc otherwise you (or the shelter) might have to wait till after it ends. You might have gotten used to recognising signs of an incoming heat by now, but just in case, watch out for a sudden increase in demands for affection and loud vocalisations. Mine get real cuddly and all meowy about a week before the real thing hits, but it's obvious bc they're usually not super affectionate with us unless it's our nightly or morning cuddle session 😊 Then again, no two cats are the same, one of them is super clingy and the other super bitey 😂

We plan on spaying them soon, but haven't since my mom is (understandably but also frustratingly) overly cautious about the surgery and the aftermath and keeps thinking of worst case scenarios, but my sibling and I finally convinced her.

Anyway, one last piece of advice i have is playing. There's nothing like that hunting instinct activating and putting the hindbrain on the back burner, which is exactly what happens when you play with them with a string or a powered mouse or mini car (the younger one, Odette, loves a tiny truck i got from a kinder egg or something. its back wheels can be dragged back and released and it spins and twists as it goes) for them to chase.

I think that's all I have to offer, sadly, but, once again, hopefully smt does help outta all that rambling of mine. Wishing lots of love to all 4 of the babies and lots of patience to you and your qpp, you guys are doing your best ❤️❤️❤️❤️

From two snakes zero cats to four cats two snakes AND one umbrella cockatoo!! Would it surprise you if I told you that the cockatoo is the easiest of the new animals to deal with?? It's been a learning curve for sure-apart from the heat cycles, the two cats we're keeping both have vomiting issues (one from eating too much too fast, one from being unable to digest the dry food), so it's been a learning curve for sure. And ofc now that Hwanggeum is out of heat, Mochi is going into it, so it's been a domino effect of horny single ladies near me. Someone pissed on my bed just today, which means that I'm gonna have to go back to keeping my room closed off to the cats until it passes, and I feel bad about that bc miss old lady Fiona has taken a soft spot to sleeping on Toast's enclosure + my bed

Hwanggeum- who I've taken to calling Revelry bc she reminds me so much of my friend's DND character + she's silvered out of her golden kitten phase- def. has imprinted onto me, I think. She follows me around everywhere, wails when she can't see me, and tries to make my life as difficult as possible when I need to leave for work via climbing up my leg when she sees me getting ready. So I'm pretty sure that's why she was so clingy when in heat. Thankfully that's ended for now but *man* did it make working on anything difficult bc she turned into a velcro kitty for about a week- I've got minor scratches all up my legs and shoulders from her jumping on my back or climbing me

The problem I've personally found with her rubbing, though, is that these cats rub really aggressively on *everything*, to the point where I'm not sure how get the scent trick working. It's like, they'll rub on any surface they see, but then you make eye contact with them and they start to rub even more aggressively, knocking everything and themselves over in the process. It's fine with minor unbreakeable shit but very difficult when you're in the middle of painting something and they jump up onto your desk and start rubbing their cheeks against your lamp, paint jar, etc. I'm still trying to figure out how to handle that, since Mochi is twice the size of the others and has some real bulldozing power to her. I think we're fine with not missing the shelter spots bc we likely can't get a spot for the spays until mid August anyways, but yeah...I'm eager to get them spayed lol. If cost wasn't so prohibitive then it would have been done right away, but, well...the cheapest we found is 50 per spay, and that's via a mobile vet mobile that is currently unavailiable. And none of us have 150 dollars to get all 3 cats done, so waiting for the two getting adopted out to get their freebies + the clinic to come back for Rev is our only option. Toys ARE a great suggestion, though- I just need to find the ones that they have. They had a whole bunch of them they used to play kitty soccer with that seem to have mysteriously dissapeared, and we haven't the faintest idea where they've gone. I'm already planning on making a stick-and-mouse toy with some cleaned dropped branches and old scraps I've got lying around for sewing practice

Appreciate all your help and well wishes! Both of us are a little overwhelmed, but we're trying our best and making sure we communicate solutions to the problems. I'm going to try my best to get the piss outta my sheets but I appreciate the heads up about the staining lol

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

On Rusty's owners and the human world of WCR.

These people were kind. Genuinely loving towards Rusty. They made sure he was always fed, they called him in at night when they wanted a nighttime cuddle with him, and as we can see hinted at in A Thief in Thunderclan, they looked for him. These people GENUINELY loved and missed him and wanted him to come home.

The world of WCR is a more pleasant one. Shelters are not packed full of homeless cats in this world, spaying/neutering is a choice that you can make if you want to, not one that separates you from a responsible owner vs a risky irresponsible one. (This does not apply to our world, get your pets fixed please). Cancer risks from these things (or not doing them) no longer exist. In WCR it's just there if you want it.

Smudge's owner got him neutered because they didn't want him spraying. Nutmeg was spayed because they didn't want her having more kittens. Quince wasn't spayed, but never had more kits. Sasha was never spayed, but Pickle was neutered. Jessie, Minty, Benny and Frankie, none of them were fixed. Many kittypets are not.

Rusty's owners didn't really want to get him neutered, but the rumors that are passed around by clan cats are that they absolutely will and it will destroy your life. Just like kittypets thinking that clan cats gnaw bones.

But they missed him so much, that they took in a young kitten named Hattie who was a little scatterbrained and needed a home because her current one could not afford her surgery because Hattie was incredibly sick. Her spaying was medically necessary. She survived that sickness with the help it gave her. Later, the family picked up and moved. They moved into a small town near a Nature Reserve and settled there with Hattie, and adopted a beautiful kitten that they named Velvet, giving her lovely toys. Hattie acted as her big sister and the two are incredibly close, though Hattie doesn't like the outside anymore. Too many critters bothering her and they are scary! She's old, and just wants to cuddle and scratch her scratching post.

Alderheart secretly meets with Velvet after she leaves. They have no kits, they just play and she catches a mouse for them to share. When Alderheart is exiled by Bramblestar's Imposter, he is done with being a clan cat. He is offered shelter in Skyclan's old temporary camp, but just like in canon, he turns down the offer. He knows where to go.

He walks to Velvet's home, and is welcomed inside. The twolegs see him, and even though they know Rusty couldn't be that young anymore, and he doesn't look like him exactly, but there is a resemblance they can't deny, and it gives them a sense of closure.

Alderheart is given the name of Rudy, but Velvet and every other kittypet in the area still call him Alderheart. He never has to hunt, or worry about sickness, and while he wishes the others the best, he is happy as a kittypet. He no longer feels the need to be right all the time, to be better.

The people who take him in love him deeply, and take wonderful care of him, and Velvet, and old Hattie.

[cakemagemaeve]

So mama-cat October Daye and her eldest daughter Little Soot are both currently in heat, so that's fun. I'm having a tough time getting them in with the low-cost spay/neuter clinic. Can't happen soon enough! O_o Still, at least they're both inside cats now, and all my boys are neutered.

Since Soot is still semi-feral (though for the most part she's adjusted quite well to living inside and has really bonded with me in particular) and since Toby is such a stabilizing force for her, my family and I have come to the conclusion that rehoming either of them probably isn't going to be possible, so they're sticking around. And since Little Soot was always meant as a placeholder name because I was initially working under the assumption that she'd find a new home, I have changed her name to Marceline the Vampire Queen.

Also, I gotta tell ya, all three of us are more than half-tempted to keep Sir Cheeto the Cheez Doodl of the Marmalade Order, too. He's an absolute treasure of an orange idiot, and I love him so so much.

Anyway, have some more pictures!

Here's Marcy from a few days before we managed to get her inside. She was already letting me pet her at that point and had let me pick her up once without a problem (every other time she's been picked up Did Not Go Well, so I'm slowly building back up to it). She was still so timid and afraid to trust me, but it was clear that she badly wanted to. I started by leaving treats and toys out for her (her mother ate most of the treats, lol), slow-blinking at her when we'd make eye contact, spraying myself and the porch with feline calming spray every time I went outside, and very pointedly not approaching her. Once she realized I wasn't going to chase her, she calmed down considerably. Eventually, she got comfortable being within 6 feet of me, so I started using feather wands as well, which got her curious enough to get closer and closer, until one day I held out my hand and turned my head away (HTTYD-style), and she sniffed my fingers and rubbed her face against them. It wasn't long before she let me pet her, which she's come to really enjoy and is seeking out more and more frequently. She's even tried to get in my lap a couple of times, though she panicked at the last second each time and instead hid underneath the chair. Baby steps. <333

And here she is three days after moving into the guestroom (she and the kittens pretty much have the run of the house these days, and she has been very well-behaved and is responsible for almost none of the daily chaos and nonsense that goes on in this house).

Family photos!

Is there anything cuter than a kitten pile? <333 Damn, they had so much personality even back then.

I've got so many more recent photos of them, but before I can post 'em I have to resize/brighten them in PhotoPea and then I have to convert them from .psds to .pngs.

[hyperdemona]

I actually started carrying pepperspray not because of men, but because a dog bit me and I want to be safe if I were to get attacked again.

Getting bit by this dog (puncture wounds bleeding down my leg, assumed he was running after me to ne friendly till he got close, I was young and oh my bike. Like he literally bolted down an street while I was biking, bit my ankle hard. Flat out aggressive targeted behavior I was biking around a park and he came out of nowhere .) It taught me to start yelling “hey! HEY! NO! Back up!” Dogs can sense anger, dogs can sense territorial animal behavior which is exactly what I’m doing, defending myself territory Aka body. I had this dumb territory try and go after my ankle while biking, I kept yelling “hey, hey, hey, hey,” everyrime I saw him going for my ankle… he stopped and barked all mad and fucked off. Scared the shit out of me when I saw a stuffy loose, held just pepper spray and told him to back up (insecure nervous dog bit thar is also a type that might bite if feeling threatened, he backed off.)

It’s kinda like men; get angry and scream like a bitch and they freak out from that energy.

(Ofc this won’t always work and I don’t blame kids just dumping in your inbox that I get your hate for dogs… I’m grown, not a child, child can’t defend themselves. I was still a girl when I

got bit and I love dogs I’m like wtf 😭😭 I don’t hate dogs, But don’t love them so ouch anymore and don’t blame you for hating dogs…

I don’t get the cat hate from folks, truly; when has a stray cat or a cat that gets out go around attacking folks? I’d trust a cat around a kid before I trusted a dog.

Wondering if so often they say “men are like dogs, women are like cats” cause cats have good boundaries and are “selfish” while dogs are dumb and bark at anything that moves?

I genuinely dislike dogs. Puppies are cute but it's HARD to like dogs these days if ur in Keralam these days. It's sooo bad here. Spaying and neutering have completely failed. It works in western countries because stray populations are low in the first place because of harsh weather, so many do not survive the winter. You only need to spay/neuter/vaxx the rest and have them be adopted. Doesn't work here because these things don't die off naturally and when there's enough of them to form literal wolf-packs, they LITERALLY just start hunting kids for food. Man that poor autistic boy, the villagers are still in shock.

Who tf is going to adopt murder dogs? We don't even allow dogs indoors or consider animals family the way they do in white western countries, it is not our culture. Animals get treated like animals, not people. In fact, dog lovers adopting fancy breeds to raise and then letting them loose in the streets when they get sick and difficult to look after (apparently long-haired western breeds don't do well in the tropics and get sick, WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT 🙄) are the ones that caused this in the first place.

Dogs regularly break into daycares and playschools and attack kids. It's happened multiple times over the last decade. I've seen idiot animal activists even call for an end to spaying/neutering because "dogs have a right to natural reproduction like people do". This is who you're arguing with.

[sabik-sphinx]

Ermm just another callout post

scroll past if you don’t want drama teehee

Callout on Amore_Torre aka Isnezzed a popular NSR/Overwatch artist well known for his Ramyatta artwork. Is accusing me of general abuse and animal abuse. Making this callout because he is practically dragging my name thru the mud and hurting my reputation. So I want clear up the accusations and explain his narcissistic behavior.

accusation #1 - I abuse animals including his rabbit

Just want to start out on the animal abuse accusation. Claiming that I abuse his rabbit and kick it for fun. Getting this out of the way, it is false, shocker. 

He gets irrationally angry if I even touch his rabbit. He would catch me doing this and physically attack me, and say shit like ‘how would you like it if i kicked your cat?’ or ‘i’m going to kill your cat!’. One instance he sprayed me with cleaning chemicals and my skin had a burning sensation for the rest of the day.

For context, he lets his rabbit roam around our house unsupervised. I’ve seen this rabbit hop onto my bed, which I find unsanitary. As well as my cats litterbox. It even used to hop onto the kitchen countertop and knock over the trashcan, yuck. which he doesn’t care if it gets into these things. I take it upon myself to keep the rabbit out of places it’s not supposed to be. I gently nudge it with a stick or rod. This does not hurt the animal at all. I guide it out of these areas, like the litterbox or my bed. You can’t just tell it to get out. Reason why he claims I kick it because sometimes when I don’t have an object to guide the rabbit, I use my feet.

Ironically, I was the one spending a good chunk of my day with this rabbit, teaching it tricks when we brought it home. Because it was in another room and wasn’t receiving attention from him. Also, accusing me of abusing animals when THIS is how he houses the rabbit now.

EDIT: this is another argument he uses to convince people that I abuse animals, is that I collect animal hides and skulls. While yes, I do collect these things, they're done ethically. Most of the skulls I have are natural finds or waste from hunters. The hides I just buy online. Sometimes I do hunt and process my own animals. God forbid, I know. Say what you want about hunting. As long as it's within the law and the kill is ethical, it is not animal abuse. I am against trophy hunting and poaching.

she’s even in the photo for proof lol. But yeah, guess i’m the one who’s abusing animals...

Note: the rabbit isn’t spayed nor does he plan to spay her. He wants to buy another rabbit to breed with his, HELLLL NO. I got kicked from his lil friend group when he brought this up. I told him ‘no more animals’. Bro already abandoned 2 dogs and a cat because he got bored of them after a year. Not to mention his previous dog was sent to a rescue for animal neglect.

Accusation #2- I physically and verbally abuse him.

Uno reverse on this accusation as well. I only hit him if he throws the first punch, I go by eye for an eye. lol anyways, he would start physical fights with me over minor inconveniences, like me being in the kitchen for too long or taking too long in the bathroom. He is physically weak so I hit him back and tell him to knock it off. This works for getting him to stop attacking me. He’ll go back to his room, cry to his friends, and tell them that I abused him. Average child behavior. he’s an adult 

That is how this rumor started.

On verbal abuse, i don’t know how this one came to be since I haven’t spoken or texted him in months aside from a couple short sentences here and there. Yeah Uno reverse on this too, he’s been EXTREMLY verbally abusive towards me. Whenever he sees me he calls me a ‘nasty bitch’ or ‘retarded’ etc etc. And it’s every. single day. Again, I don’t speak to him in person. Although I used to stream on discord and he would come in when no-one else is there and say shit like ‘nobody in the server likes you or wants you there’ ‘you’re an animal abuser and everybody knows it!’. Very passive aggressive in real life as well.

Generic spamming me in DM’s. I have nothing to add here.

Again flooding my DM’s. For context, I don’t have him blocked on discord because he’s not able to use his phone anymore so discord is the only communication he has with me incase of an emergency. 

‘and you weren’t banned from the server you left on your own they already told me, so why you gotta be mad bout it’ OKay, I left one server because he was abusing his mod power on me. (Average discord mod) And the admin didn’t give a shit. BUT I was banned from another server he was in. And i’m not mad about it.

‘stop dragging people into drama’ This is the only time i’m bringing this up. How tf am I supposed to stay silent when there’s a smear campaign against me.

He posted this yesterday for sympathy for i’m going to break it down. He’s the type of person who likes to play victim for everything. Like I stated before, he starts a fight, you hit him back, you’re the abuser, he’s the victim. 

I can explain the ‘low blood sugar moment’ because I was there, wow. It was 4am and everyone’s trying to sleep, he starts complaining that he has low blood sugar and didn’t grab anything while he was in the kitchen. He woke my mother up and begged her to give him something to eat, she refused and told him to get food himself since his room is right outside the kitchen. And so, he started complaining that we didn’t care if he died and whatnot.

‘they want to get rid of me’ He’s insufferable to be around. Honestly, you could just breath and he would call you names. tho i wouldn’t breath around him since he only ever showers once a month.

‘my rabbit being harmed, being physically hurt’ already went over this so I have nothing to add here.

‘fam knows my socials’ No they don’t, only I do. He got upset when he found out our mother made a twitter account because she finds the memes on there to be funnier than facebook. He complained to her that she only made an account to ‘stalk him’. He begged that she’d give him her account name so he can block her. Of course, she refused. So now he thinks his family is stalking him lol

That’s my side of the story since he went around to all his friends who also used to friends with me to mass unfollow and accuse me of doing all these horrible things. No one questioned him and just went along with it. ‘A narcissist will show you who your true friends are’, and clearly these people were not my friends.

the rest is for sympathy. 

I also want to add one more thing. He received 3 gifts during Christmas. 2 sweatpants and a hoodie from his mother. I received one more gift than he did. He got extremely upset by this, that he returned both sweatpants to his mother and remained in his room for the rest of the holiday. Just a couple days ago he took the hoodie mother gifted him and tore it up in front of her and threw it in the trash. I don’t know what prompted this or why he did it, but it goes to show how ungrateful he truly is. 

That is all i’m going to put. There is much much more like him stalking minor for 4 years- that I won’t write down otherwise this would end up being a novel. I’ll save that for another day, who knows.

[just-a-queer-fanboy]

Don't use a laser pointer too much! If they don't catch the thing too many times hey start to get insecure and depressed.

Although cats tend to be solitary hunters, most cats love social interaction, especially with other cats (although if you don't have the means to own multiple, that's alright too). Also, the "pspsps" thing is real.

For some cats, a wagging tail can actually mean play time. Throw a toy in front of them to test this.

Get a spray intended for cats (ex:catnip spray). If you need to get them somewhere like a crate or car, or if you need them to stop doing one thing and do the other (scratching post instead of couch), spray some. It will either chill them out or turn them into tiny fur demons with eternal zoomies. So either way, it'll make them enjoy the thing rather than not wanna do it.

Catnip effects, from what I've seen in my own cats, usually last for around an hour after they come into contact. However, with catnip toys, they'll keep playing with it for hours until it stops working. Prepare for a buzzed little guy.

Do NOT pet the base of their tail. It sexually arouses them and can lead to behavioral problems.

General pet advice, even if they're your only cat or all cats are the same sex, spaying/neutering prevents certain cancers and diseases. Most shelters will neuter before they get adopted, but keep an eye out. Neutering is also cheaper than spaying, as it's less invasive and (I believe) only requires local anesthesia.

Cat owners, can someone give me a “owning a cat for the first time” handbook for dummies run down? My housemate adopted a cutie yesterday and I love her already but I know nothing about cats and he’s at work a fair bit while I’m home.

Just wanna do the best for her 💕

[alleycatallies]

Waconia, Minnesota: Reject Amendments That Place Cats in Danger

Alley Cat Allies sent the following letter to the city council of Waconia, Minnesota, to protect indoor and community cats from dangerous amendments to the local city code. Right now, Waconia is proposing adding cats into laws crafted for dog-related issues, which leaves cats open to dangerous requirements that don’t acknowledge their nature and place in our communities.

We are offering our expertise and support in establishing lifesaving Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in Waconia and crafting an ordinance that protects community cats, caregivers, and TNR.

Dear Mayor Waldron and Waconia City Council:

On behalf of Alley Cat Allies and our supporters in and around Waconia, I am writing to ask for the immediate rejection of dangerous proposed requirements for cats in amendments to Chapter 560 of the Waconia City Code. These include requiring cats to be leashed or licensed, which is impossible to enforce and fails to acknowledge community cats, or unowned cats who live outdoors. Alley Cat Allies asks that the City of Waconia instead enacts effective, lifesaving policies like Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).

Alley Cat Allies is the leader of the global movement to protect cats and kittens. Founded in 1990, we work toward a world where every cat is valued, and every community has policies and programs to defend them. Alley Cat Allies regularly educates and acts with lawmakers, animal shelters, and the public to change attitudes and advance laws and policies that best serve the interests of cats.

We want Waconia to know that dogs and cats are very different animals with very different relationships to people and our communities. Cats cannot be slapdash inserted into laws tailored to dog-related concerns.

Laws requiring cats to be leashed are ineffective, impossible to enforce, and incompatible with TNR, the only humane and effective approach to community cats. If Waconia agrees to a leash requirement for cats, it will only result in cats being impounded and killed and/or the penalization of compassionate Waconia residents spending their own time, energy, and money to care for community cats.

Under a leash law, any cat not wearing a leash outdoors is a visible target. There is no reliable way to distinguish between a community cat, an owned cat allowed outdoors, and an indoor-only cat who is unintentionally outdoors. All of these cats will therefore be at risk, along with the people who care for them.

Similarly, community cats do not have owners to provide them with licenses or tags or to clean up after them if they defecate on public or private properties. However, the proposed amendments will include cats in laws regulating these matters for dogs. The penalty could only fall on caregivers of community cats, who are not the cats’ owners but good Samaritans providing a community service.

If Waconia’s goal is to address community complaints or disputes, that is better accomplished through facilitating discussions in pursuit of positive outcomes for the cats and people involved. If the goal is to address populations of cats outside, The City of Waconia needs to know that community cats are at home outdoors, and it is their natural environment. They have no owner to leash them, and they generally cannot be adopted into indoor homes.

Instead, the city is best served by supporting TNR and low- and no-cost spay and neuter.

Through TNR, community cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, eartipped for identification, and returned to their outdoor homes. TNR stops the breeding cycle so no new kittens are born, improves cats’ health, and eliminates mating behaviors such as yowling, spraying, roaming, and fighting. TNR also reduces shelter intake and calls to animal services, providing immediate community benefits and saving taxpayer dollars.

For all the reasons above, Alley Cat Allies again urges the City of Waconia to reject the proposed amendments and offers our support to draft new language that protects community cats, community cat caregivers, and TNR. We also offer our support to help Waconia establish an effective TNR program and further humane policies. Thank you for your consideration.

Content source: https://www.alleycat.org/waconia-minnesota-reject-amendments-that-place-cats-in-danger/

[air3d3lalm3na]

We always had irrational daydreams about not getting him neutered and having himself and a female cat have kittens.

Welp. That's not happening now. What with the spraying, we had already resolved not to keep that dream going. Now, with moving to a new place, with new people, new smells, where he'll be disoriented and probably overwhelmed at first, territorial over not just his space but ME (he has sprayed on my bed or near me after I go out...kind of possessive).... It absolutely has to happen.

Still sad for me. We had those silly conversations about it as a sort of loving family thing. Imagining keeping as many of the kittens as possible. (Neutering/spaying them obviously.)

And of course because he's such a unique cat, both in looks and behavior. She always said that she had never known a cat who was so talkative. Everythng he does. Jumping up from something, jumping down. Chatting to us throughout the day.

We don't have any sort of proof that he's a Turkish Angora but he's identical to them. My plan was to get a Turkish Angora girl, maybe just go to Turkey and find one on the street, help her vaccinate/medically get tested for stuff.... Daydreams that were always kind of unrealistic.

Just... feelings. Letting go of this.