A Cat Rescuer Rants

Free to a good home!

Moving - must find home for cat!

Hair and fur balls too much. Come take my family member!

Didn't bother to get my cat fixed. Free kittens!

My partner and I rescue cats - old cats, sick cats, feral cats, abused cats, and cats with complex health needs. We see each and every day the impact of irresponsible people, so perhaps the all too common pleas to rid of one's cat makes me a bit bitter.

My partner and I spend hours each day tending to our fur children - cleaning more litter boxes than you could even imagine, putting down paper (after all, not all kitties like litter!), socializing ferals, feeding wet food in the morning and evenings, topping up dry food and water, giving medications and subcutaneous fluids, cleaning up fur balls, searching out hidden poo and pee, running tap water for those cats who insist this is how they like their fluids, sweeping and scrubbing the floors, clipping nails, intercepting love triangles, going to our regular vet and the emergency vet clinic, grooming and shaving, handing out treats so we can try and make a tiny bit of room for ourselves on the bed, arranging steps so that older cats can climb onto favourite sleeping spots, and giving baths.

We do this on top of our regular full time paid employment (since our vet doesn't seem to accept fur balls as payment) plus other commitments.

But this is not a pity party. We chose to do what we do because it's needed. People neglect animals, abandon them, and physically abuse them. (In the case of Chocos who we thankfully rescued via a wonderful rescuer woman who now lives in the Lower Mainland, some people choose to kill their healthy cat because they are moving. So much for a forever home!)

We offer forever homes, and specialize in cats that wouldn't otherwise be adopted. This means we accept cats from other rescuers, period. Sure, some people would love to give us their cat to alleviate their guilt (and having to confess why they are abandoning their cat to a shelter: "I don't have time!" "I'm moving" "We are trying to get pregnant" ). This would be easy. And nothing about rescue is easy.

We currently have 14 cats. We have had as many as 21.

In the past 5 years we have had to euthanize 9 cats (Chance, Chocos, Christmas, Jaylo, Jinx, Roxy, Shadow, Spunky and Vinnie) due to kidney failure or cancer. Each time we make the decision to euthanize them a part of my heart is torn out, never to be replaced.


On Friday October 7, 2011, at 5 a.m., I woke up to find Chance listless on the bathroom floor. Chance had advanced liver failure and up until then, had shown no signs. (After all, her vegan mom and dad were cooking her bacon, hamburger and salmon; based upon similar methods we have tried with terminal cats, it has always been successful.) On October 7th, Chance didn't acknowledge me, nor could she move. I brought her into bed with us until 8 a.m. when the vet opened, so that she could be euthanized at a place that did not previously appear to frighten her. I stroked her and tried not to cry as she stopped breathing when the euthanasia was administered. I could hear my partner's heart breaking.

Unlike other cats I have sat beside or cuddled as they died, she did not defecate, urinate, or shudder post-mordem. She did not gasp for air. As one cat died in my arms, she peed all over my jacket. It took me a long time to be able to wash and wear it again. A terrible memory, but a memory of a loved one all the same.

This is what people who abandon their animals leave to others to witness and experience.

We didn't wake up one day and think "Hey, let's add a ton of work and heart break to our lives". There was a cat (Dee Dee) who had been abused, and a rescuer, after carefully screening us, allowed this wonderful cat into out lives. Quite quickly, cats with awful histories and high needs ended up in our forever home. We knew that was what was needed.

So we have trapped and rescued three ferals so far (who didn't have a colony and thus would not have survived on their own), taken in a wandering neighbourhood cat with inverted eye lids causing excruciating pain and infection and paid for his eye surgery and neutering, rescued two cats kept in cages (one cat didn't even have enough room to groom her back, so she had extensive mats), taken in cats who needed daily medication (thus decreasing their likelihood of adoption), nursed a seizuring cat back to health, and even rescued a cat who spent a year at a shelter because he had two different coloured eyes. (Seriously? Does that not make him even more awesome?) With each cat comes a story, a personality, and a place in our hearts.

So before you hesitate to spay/neuter your cat (or want your cat to experience the joys of motherhood - because part of that "joy" is ensuring other already existing cats don't have homes), choose to abandon your fur companion in a midnight move or because you can't deal with fur balls, or otherwise break your promise of a loving, forever home, know this: Just like humans, cats can carry around life long trauma. They are triggered, just like traumatized people, and react with fear - to loud voices, persons of the same gender who abused them, etc. They are traumatized by losing their human companions, and they grieve.

And if you want to "dump" your cat on me or any other rescuer or shelter, think about this. Most of our cats (who are 15 years old +) have had between $2000-$4000 worth of dental work, need to see the vet 2-4 times a year at $100-$300 a pop (yearly and bi-yearly geriatric blood panels are necessary and cost around $250), may need life long medication and vitamins (much like many other humans do) and this all costs money.

My partner and I (and other rescuers) do this as a labour of love. Neither of us have well-paying jobs, and my experience is is that this is true of other rescuers.

So give your fur family member a cuddle, promise you will always be there for her/him, keep him/her indoors, and make sure she/he is SPAYED OR NEUTERED.

Cats are more work than one might think, and while they are worth every moment and every dollar, please do not adopt an animal unless you can promise a forever home.

***Important footnote:

The situations described in this rant do not encompass all situations.

As a feminist, anti-violence and animal liberation activist, I have seen women flee abusive relationships only to be treated poorly by animal shelters/rescuers (e.g. who won't offer temporary foster care - EVEN WHEN I OFFERED TO PAY FOR IT - because 'these' women are considered too "unreliable" or "incapable" of caring for their fur companions); as well, most domestic violence shelters cannot or will not offer animal accommodations.

There are also situations where people are incarcerated. Once again, without community (including familial supports) these persons are left without the resources to place their beloved fur family members in a temporary loving home.

This rant is NOT meant for those whose situations seperate them from (sometimes) the most important being in their lives. This rant is NOT meant to hurt or denigrate these persons.

Rather, I argue that most people who are not in these positions treat their fur companions like throw aways, and don't think or care about the long term relationship. THIS is who I am directing this rant at.