5th Colony - This kitten is the girl Heidi posted last night. No disrespect to Dapple or Tabby, but shes much cuter than any of the cats that have ever been born in this yard. What happened to her in that barn made me watch the colonists at breakfast this morning. Each starts out it his/her own plate. No living creature can eat as fast as Dapple, who gobbles what he considers the delicacies from his plate and then sticks his face into Tabbys dish. She doesnt seem to care. She will either come over to be petted, pick morsels from his plate, or go into the driveway and bat rocks into the neighbors yard. (Thats where they came from. Shes just returning them.) They will change positions several times during their meal. While it is probably impossible to prevent injuries like this kittens, I think that there is much that can be done to prevent them. TNR is always first. Disease prevention is next. But feeding practices figure into this too. Ive seen colonies where 2 or 3 dishes are put out for a large group of cats. There is often no provision for kitten food, or a small amount of canned food is offered. Of course there is fighting. I have heard farmers say that they do not feed their barn cats a cat food diet because they should catch mice, or eat table scraps. Not all do this, but there are enough to make it a concern. This doesnt happen because people are evil. It happens because of lack of knowledge or simply habit. What can you do? Step in, speak out, and help if you can. Offer supplies, extra food, and show interest. The people might need help just as much as their cats. And dont be afraid to be an unpopular pest. Its probably too late to be the prom queen anyway. Offer to trap, and learn about organizations in your area who can help. See the other picture? Food, including that expensive stuff from the cool pet store, that my cats dont like. (Even Dapple!!) Its headed up to another colony today. I just leave it on their porch and go my merry way. We cant make people do what is right for their animals. But there are definitely little things we can do to set the stage for right to happen. We shouldnt be seeing pictures of blinded kittens as much as we do.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 13:13:42 +0000
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