Lost cats - important info
 

I was at my feral support group meeting last night. The vet that runs it is the same vet who has the unpleasant job of euthanizing the cats/kittens/dogs from the HS in that area. Some of the information on numbers was chilling. Out of 7900 cats turned in last year 120 were returned to their families. 120!!! :sad: That is beyond sadness. It is devastating. I am sure in larger centers the numbers are very much larger.

The important info she passed on....... When your cat is lost and you go to the shelter looking for it please, please ask if they have any cats in the [B]sick[/B] room or if you can also look in their [B]feral[/B] room. Your cat could have come in sick from being outside. It could have also acted feral because of stress and so would have been placed in the feral room. Please do not assume just because your cat is not in general population that it isn't there. Maybe, just maybe, this info will bring a few more kitties home. :fingerscr

There is an interesting book out there. I have not been fortunate enough to read it yet but it is on my wish list. Maybe an early birthday gift to myself. If you get a chance to read it please do. Redemption by Nathan Winograd. He believes we can achieve 100% no kill nation. :thumbs up I know this is in the States. There is no reason we can't achieve it here either.

[url]http://www.nathanwinograd.com/[/url]

Great advice. Here in Kingston the numbers are not as high as where you are, but they are still much too high :sad:.

IMO, microchipping should be as routine as vaccines.

To be a tad negative, I don't think a lot of people try all that hard to find their kitties, or a whole lot more than 120 would have been returned to their owners. Loads of people just turn them loose when they move or are tired of them.

clm

So right, clm, there are still a lot of people who think cats are disposible. :mad: :sad:

But there are some very strange mysteries about found cats that just perplex me, such as Jasper. He was a found in a backyard and was severly injured by a dog. He is more than likely a purebred and the sweetest, gentlest soul ever, why wouldn't owners be looking for him? He was at the SPCA in a small city for over 6 weeks before I adopted him. They did have him listed as a Himalayan, but he is actually a Ragdoll. If somebody called the shelter looking for their sweet Ragdoll, they were probably told there wasn't any there.

That is why 14+'s post is so important, go to the shelter and look in all the rooms for your kitty.

[QUOTE=clm;812743] Loads of people just turn them loose when they move or are tired of them. [/QUOTE]

Thats how i got a couple of my cats, and he was a preacher. :frustrated:

Those stats are absolutely horrible 14+K! Where I presently live there are so many cats that have been left to fend for themselves. One by one, I am getting them into rescue and getting them adopted. I have also people around me that are feeding them and caring for them while I get an empty spot. It's just devastating!:sad:

[QUOTE=clm;812743]To be a tad negative, I don't think a lot of people try all that hard to find their kitties, or a whole lot more than 120 would have been returned to their owners. Loads of people just turn them loose when they move or are tired of them.
clm[/QUOTE]


I [B]totally[/B] agree. I also know from this site and knowing people who have unsuccessfully looked for their cats that people DO look.

There were more stats than what I gave. Of that 7900 almost 5000 were PTS. Approx 1/3 of those were owners request. Either because they no longer wanted the cat or because their cat had been turned in but it had been injured too severly to help it. :sad: Now [B]that[/B] is a stat I find disturbing. The rest that were put down were because they were deemed unadoptable or feral. That is within 3 days of coming into the system. So please, pass the word. Check the other rooms. You just never know.

And people wonder why I find it hard to find homes for my guys with stats like this. :sad:

!4+,I know for a fact that renters in the town-houses across from me often leave their cats behind when they leave.:yell:
It is really hard to understand how anyone could do this,but our Oakville HS,can attest to people not looking very hard for their cats,there are I am sure a couple of hundreds there,luckily a no-kill HS.

I tell you,if any of mine went missing,I would never,ever give up searching,I love my cats,but often times,unfortunately not all cat-owners feel that way:sad:

I wish my poor little stray,with the funny face,would let me touch him and love him,but so far all I can do is feed him:sad:

Those stats are just are just heartbreaking.:sad:

And then there are kitty angels like you (and doggieangels too) who do their darndest to make sure they get a life and don't become a statistic.

I don't understand how someone could lose a pet and not go looking for them. I know I would be searching high and low until I was dead in a gutter if one of my crew went missing.

And about the sick and feral rooms, I just learnt about that this spring. A woman was looking for someone to drive her to the HS to see if her cat was there. She had no vehicle, and our HS is a bit on the "no man's land". So I answered her reply and took her. She was the one who said to check the sick and feral rooms, I said "what??" and she explained to me about the other rooms they keep strays in. Why doesn't the HS make this bit of knowledge known to people looking for their animals? I know in my few trips to the HS I have seen people looking and looking at the three cat rooms, and then leaving dissapointed. They may have been looking for their cat but didn't know about the other rooms. And I don't mean this to be rude, but the front desk at my HS doesn't have the most friendly approachable staff. I remember when my cat Peanut died from a stroke. I went looking for a new friend for Amos and I got picked by Phoebe. I had her in my arms, cuddling her and the lady asked how old my other cat was and what happened to her....I said she was just one year old and died......and the woman ripped Pheobe out of my arms........then I added because I was so rudely cut off....she died of a stroke, vet said she was lucky at how good I must have taken care of her because she shouldn't have lived that long. With that the lady was clearly embarrassed.....and went through the adoption process quickly.

Sorry for the bit off tangent.....but so many people don't know....I was one of them. Thanks for the info!!

Strangely enough the dog stats are wonderful at this HS. The euthanization numbers are amazingly low for them. :thumbs up It's just the cat numbers. I hate to say it but it seems there is such a "farmers mentality" in this area. Just don't worry about cats procreating. They can look after themselves. :wall:
We have a lot of work to do.

14+ that info just breaks my heart. :cry: It is so sad that people don't realize that cats love us as much as dogs do, but a person has to be more intuned with cats to know this. All my cats love me, but they all show it in a different way.

I have had no call about Darby and it is almost a month! :( I don't know why they aren't looking for her! She is such a sweetheart!

Debbie

[QUOTE=14+kitties;812893]Strangely enough the dog stats are wonderful at this HS. The euthanization numbers are amazingly low for them. :thumbs up It's just the cat numbers. I hate to say it but it seems there is such a "farmers mentality" in this area. Just don't worry about cats procreating. [B]They can look after themselves[/B]. :wall:
We have a lot of work to do.[/QUOTE]

I think that's the main problem. So many people think that cats can fend for themselves. These people need to see what happens to a cat that's left to fend for itself. See all the strays that appear cold, skinny, beat up and matted at our doorsteps for food because someone left it because it can fend for itself. :wall:

clm

That's just too high a number. The irresponsibility and just plain nonchalant attitude many people have for their cats and pets in general just amazes me.

Great info 14+, thanks for sharing. I never thought to check the feral/sick room when my boy was missing :sad: