Britney Wallesch, Executive Director
How many cats have to die before people change their behavior?
Poppie was abandoned on our doorstep early in the morning. A young female black and white cat with adorable nose freckles and soft, longish fur, Poppie had obviously recently nursed kittens as well. There was no note and no later phone call. We’ll never know where she came from.
Though it may seem callous to some that she was just left here anonymously, the fact is she fared far better than most cats in her situation. At least she got a chance, and she’s lucky she did, because the volume of unwanted cats in this community is overwhelming. It’s an epidemic and no one seems to be talking about it. Just this week, we transferred in 14 cats from the Cheyenne Animal Shelter, and though that number stretched our organization’s capacity to its limits, it was barely a drop in the bucket as we were told that they were currently caring for more than 160 others. That same day, we counted, we received calls or emails for 47 other cats in the community whose owners were either unable or unwilling to keep them, or for found litters of kittens. In case you lost count already, that’s 221 cats total in this community in one day - and those are just the ones we know about.
Cornell School of Veterinary and Shelter Medicine has a tool that animal welfare professionals (or anyone else who cares to look) can use to estimate the population of free-roaming cats in a community. The tool takes into account human populations, square mileage, the annual intake of an open-admission shelter, access to (or not) of low or no cost spay and neuter services, and several other variables to estimate the number. When we plug the information for Laramie County into this tool, we estimate there are 50-60 THOUSAND cats and kittens in our county. Since kitten mortality rate hovers close to 50%, we “only” have to think about 25 thousand or so a year. Only 25,000 cats in our community, every single year.
Granted, there are resources common to other areas which are not readily accessible here. Premier among them is access to low cost spay and neuter services. Yes, there is a program available to help some people on a limited budget, but research shows that access for all to these services drastically helps reduce the number of stray and free roaming cats and kittens brought to community shelters each year. Perhaps helpful - our climate shortens the duration of the typical breeding season, presumably aiding in reducing reproduction rates. Often we refer to the time of year when cats are reproducing as “kitten season” like it’s something cute to be welcomed and celebrated. Trust me, it’s not.
Orphan kittens (or those removed from their nests by well-meaning good Samaritans), are a drain on shelter and rescue resources, not to mention on the morale of those who work to save them. Remember that mortality rate? We are constantly struggling to keep kittens alive, and despite our best efforts, they die a lot of the time. Bottle feeding kittens is onerous, exhausting, time consuming, and emotionally and physically taxing for volunteers. And we have to rely on volunteers because there is no way any of us could afford to pay the number of staff it would take to care for all of the babies.
Stray and feral cats aside, there’s also a problem with ownership practices here.
“We find a low tolerance for normal cat behaviors, unrealistic expectations about the need for and expense of veterinary care, and a general sense that individual cats are both disposable and replaceable.”
Not infrequently, when we adopt a cat out, they come back within a few days because the people paid absolutely zero attention to the guidelines we give them for introducing new cats to a home with other animals or children. And that results is a very stressed and fearful cat who then behaves defensively with tooth, claw, or - most frequently, inappropriate urination. We say it as bluntly as we can - “Do not take this cat home, drop him/her in your living room, and expect that to go well.” We provide written guidelines for help, we offer ourselves as a ready resource if things get rocky. But people don’t call for advice or suggestions. They show up days later angry, defensive, and happy to hand responsibility for the cat back to us.
Remember Poppie? After she stayed with us for a bit to be spayed and get treated for an ear mite infection, she got adopted. The day her adopter walked in and saw her, we had also noted signs that Poppie might be experiencing a urinary tract infection, common among female cats. We spoke to the potential adopter about this at length and offered to have the cat seen by a vet prior to the adoption if they wanted to wait. But we were assured repeatedly that they were willing to use the free office visit voucher we have for local veterinarians so that they could adopt her that day. Fast forward about ten days, and Poppie was brought back to us unexpectedly by someone else. This person claimed that Poppie had urinated on the bed of her adopter and that the behavior could not be tolerated. When pressed for more details about the home life (the better picture we have of a pet’s history, the more we can work to find a more suitable next home), the person became irritated and made it clear they had no time or interest in our questions. When we later contacted the adopter, our staff were subjected to abusive conversation and were told that she had never been to the veterinarian. They had no time, money, or interest in providing that for her. Poppie went to our vet the same day. She did indeed have an infection, which is almost certainly the reason for her eliminating outside the litter box. For less than $100, she was diagnosed and treated. Maybe they really couldn’t afford it, and that’s ok. What is not okay is that they knew she needed treatment, adopted her anyway, and then failed to provide it.
For the past year, both local animal adoption agencies have been adopting out adult cats for free. Why? Because it is cheaper to give them away than it is to house them long term and ultimately euthanize and dispose of them. I know that’s gross, and harsh, but it’s the reality. We have to compete with all of the free cats and kittens being rehomed all over town at any minute. The benefit to our free cats is that they come already spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and with the aforementioned free first veterinary visit. Despite this, there’s no keeping up. We have had our most successful year for cat adoptions ever with this fee-waived approach. And we’ve adopted out exactly 149 cats this year. That’s 10 months of adoptions, and it isn’t even enough to match the volume of incoming cats in a single day.
Our agencies are doing the best they can in the face of a huge problem. I don’t know why the problem isn’t being spoken about more plainly. Maybe it’s because as a society we value cats less than dogs. But guaranteed, if this were happening with dogs, there would be a huge outcry. People need to change their behavior, and others need to hold them accountable for it. Cats are amazing companions. They are intuitive, affectionate, and loyal. When they are surrendered, even confident, social cats spend days hiding and can prove hard to handle. They get sick, they don’t show themselves well, they are anonymous and faceless in a sea of others. The only way to affect change for these animals is for the community to change its habits. Here are some suggestions:
Spay and neuter your cats. There is no reason not to do this. If you can’t afford to have it done but want a cat, get a free one from any local adoption agency.
Do not take kittens from Facebook posts, craigslist, your co-worker, neighbors, etc. Often, people think that as long as their kittens find homes, they aren’t contributing to the problem. They are. And you are helping them contribute by making it easy for them.
Do not allow your cats to roam outside if they aren’t fixed. If you have a female, she is guaranteed to get pregnant. If you have a male, he’s making new babies all over your neighborhood. Just stop it, please.
Do not pick up and remove seemingly stray cats from their home territory. Cats who are social enough to allow you to approach and pick them up are used to people and therefore likely to have a nearby caregiver. Nationally, reclaim rates (meaning the percentage of cats who are picked up by their owners after they go the shelter), are less than 10%. There are many reasons for this, but it’s safe to say that those cats are better off left where they are.
Do not remove young kittens from a nest. Mother cats often leave their young to hunt and forage for food. If you find a group of young kittens (eyes closed or only just beginning to open, not really walking around or exploring, still largely scooting on their bellies), observe from a nearby and out of site location for several hours. It is always best to leave the babies for their mom to care for. Once the kittens begin to walk around and explore the area outside of their nest, you can then attempt to trap or capture them. Kittens who are at least four weeks old are more likely to survive without their mother and can still be habituated to people well enough to be adopted later.
Keep the cats you have. When you brought that cat home you made a commitment, and that commitment is now your life-long responsibility. If you surrender that cat or abandon it outside and it dies somewhere else down the line, that’s on you and no one else.
If you are having trouble with behavior problems, consult a veterinarian. Most feline behavior problems are a result of treatable medical conditions.
Donate money to help care for unwanted and homeless cats, and to help provide for needed additional community services. Not sure you trust what will happen with that money? Offer to pay to have your friend’s, or neighbor’s, or co-worker’s cat fixed instead.
Volunteer to foster young kittens. Be prepared for a lot of heartache and a lot of reward.
There are many ways to help, and a lot of simple but intentional things we can do to resolve this crisis. But no one can do it alone and there has to be an ongoing conversation about it. I can acknowledge that sometimes there are legitimate reasons to surrender a cat. I don’t believe that abandoning one to fend for itself is ever necessary, but surrendering can be. A new baby with extreme allergies? Ok. You lost your job and your home? Ok. You’re caring for your elderly friend's cats but can’t continue indefinitely? Ok. We get it, life happens even with the best of intentions. If the only cats we had to worry about were these - there’d be more than enough hope and options for all of them.
In the meantime, all we can do is continue to educate, and hustle for the ones we can help. We’ll turn away 100 for every one we can find space for, but we have to believe it’s worth it to keep trying. Come down and visit our adoptable cats. They’ll enjoy the company and so will you. Who knows, you may even decide to adopt one. Did I mention they’re free?
