Feral Cats and Photographs

Hi there.  I am starting this blog to share my photos of the feral cats in our garden.  I love to look at other people's cat snaps so I hope others will love to look at mine. The first photos I want to share are at the end of this post.

I also want to raise awareness about the plight of feral cats. When we moved into our house four years ago, there were quite a few ferals in the neighbourhood.  I fed them and made sure they had shelter in our shed but some of the neighbours didn't like them and had some of the cats taken away. I found this very upsetting as I had become attached to them.

This inspired me to take proper action to curb the feral cat population and to take better care of the remaining cats.  With the help of my next door neighbour, and after borrowing a cat trap from one of my petsitting customers, we set to work.  So far we have had two females, Bubbles and Molly and one male, Scribbles, spayed, dewormed and deflead. The local vet http://anicare.ie/our-locations/clontarf-veterinary-hospital/ has agreed to charge us the charity prices for the procedures.

Next, we hope to get Dolly done as she has produced four kittens this summer, then Boris, a male and then the four kittens.  Hopefully, once this has been done, we can keep the population confined to what it now is. If we cannot home the kittens we will have 9 cats and 3 visiting cats to take care of. Hopefully, the other neighbours will realise that the cats are spayed and cannot reproduce and are being looked after. Thankfully, they spend most of their time in mine or my neighbours garden because I live in fear that someone will take it upon themselves, without discussion, as before, to have them removed.  I know that some people don't like them hanging about in their gardens and doing what cats do.  I am aiming to keep everyone happy along with the cats! We have asked the vet to put collars on the cats while they are under sedation but so far, only one cat, Bubbles has been obliging enough to keep her collar on! I would love to get them micro chipped but at the moment all funds are needed for spaying and deworming etc

The cats have had shelter up until now in our garden shed.  The door of the shed is so old that the bottom fell off, leaving a convenient space for the cats to go in and out! However, as we will soon be doing renovations and building an extension, the shed will no longer exist.

Today, we went to the local petshop http://www.petworlddirect.ie/section/PetworldDublin to buy a kennel so that they will continue to be comfortable.  We managed to purchase a very large kennel with front and top opening for easy cleaning.

Thankfully, my four year old son is following in my footsteps when it comes to the cats as my non cat loving husband thinks we are completely crazy!  My mother also thinks we are mad as she wouldn't dream of spending money on feral cats. I, however, feeling completely sane, think the cats have as much right to live as we have.  I don't smoke, I rarely go out at night and I don't buy lots of unneccessary things so, it's up to me, if I choose to save the cats. Don't you agree?

Interesting site to check out on this subject at http://feralcatsireland.org/Feral_Cats/National_Feral_Cat_Awareness_Week.html

Bubbles and Scribbles, brother and sister

Beautiful Boris

Bubbles in her favourite spot, the flower basket which she thinks hubby put up especially for her!

Don't Worry, Be Happy.  My motto not very appropriate here as this cat was taken away