True Feral Stories

* Home
* About Adoption
* Adoption Room
* Ask Bernadette
* Board of Directors
* CAFs Wish List
* Donate
* Feral Friends
* Grants Received
* Lost and Found
* Spay/Neuter
* Success Stories!
* Upcoming Events
* Volunteer
* Other Local Rescue Groups
* Alley Cat Allies
* McKinleyville Animal Shelter/PetHarbor.com
* Miranda's Rescue
* petfinder.com
* Sequoia Humane Society
* Friends for Life


Old Town Feral Cats

 By Tammy Jarvis-Hamm, CAF Board Secretary


I met my first feral cat about ten years ago. My neighbors told me how they tried to catch this particular cat when he was a kitten. They were unsuccessful and the cat grew very wary of humans. I would see him darting from house to house looking for any scrap of food. Well, it wasn't long before I was putting food out on my porch and working to tame him. The day he finally crawled into my lap and went to sleep I realized feral cats are really not that different from the cats we know and love. Yes, feral cats are always feral; they usually don't come to trust more than one or two people. Still, they are just as deserving of care and compassion as their counterparts who are fortunate enough to be cared for their entire life.
One group of feral cats that I have particular interest in is the feral cats of Old Town. I started working in Old Town in 1998, and it wasn't long before I noticed a large yellow Tom Cat. I soon discovered there were a few feral colonies living on the Waterfront. I joined in the care for the cats along with a handful of other concerned individuals.
I believe it was in 1999 that the old Lazio building burned down and left many of the feral cats displaced. It was at this point that I thought the best thing for the cats would be to trap, neuter and relocate all of the ferals. It was a huge undertaking that I really thought could be accomplished. I began trapping and was thankful to have Miranda's Rescue willing to take so many of the ferals. I was also trying to find other permanent homes, but with little luck. I relocated many of the cats to Miranda's Rescue, but did not want to burden the rescue organization with all of the Old Town Ferals.
Then in 2000, the plans for the Waterfront renovation really started to heat up between C and E Streets. I decided to take in one of the colonies myself, as I knew their home was about to be destroyed. I was able trap all of the cats living under the warehouses. I trapped my last one literally days before the buildings were demolished. I was so relieved to have relocated so many and thought the feral cat "problem" of Old Town was all but over.
It was not long before I realized that with as many cats as I had taken out, there were still new ones arriving. The arrivals came from a variety of sources. A few new litters arrived from yet untrapped cats, other ferals moved in from nearby locations, and worst of all, people "dumped" their house cats. The abandonment of house cats is a whole separate issue, but I will say that people have certainly not done these tame cats any favors by putting them in such a desperate situation.
Well, I have come to the conclusion that there will probably always be feral cats in Old Town. Even as we are going to print, the Waterfront development is continuing on. The development will destroy some of the current feral habitat, but we are striving to find suitable alternative homes in the surrounding areas. The best we can do for these, and all, ferals is to ensure they are fed, sheltered and not producing more litters. The fate of the ferals really relies on compassionate people banding together to manage the colonies rather than abandoning them.
I am thrilled to report that a new coalition, the Feral Friends, was recently organized by three local non profit organizations: Companion Animal Foundation, Bless the Beasts and the Humboldt Spay/Neuter Network. Feral Friends was awarded their first grant from Humboldt Area Foundation. The grant will assist not only the continued neutering of the Old Town cats, but will assist ferals from Trinidad to Rio Dell. Feral Friends is also working on getting the community more involved. If you would be interested in feeding ferals, or if you have the means to take one or two into your own home, or if you would like to help in any way, please contact the Feral Friends (825-PETS) or Companion Animal Foundation (826-PETS).

BRANDIE

By Cheryl Furman, CAF Board Member

The cat was very happy at her home, and was sure everyone else was, too, when she found herself left by the side of the road. Sure it was a mistake and that her owners would come back for her, she waited for them to realize she was missing and come looking for her (after all, it was in the middle of the winter). Dinnertime came and went and no one fed her her dinner the way she was used to. It was starting to get very cold! She decided to look for a warmer place to wait for her family; there was a field by the freeway, maybe there was a warm hole in the ground or a box or something.
She could only find a place wedged between a fallen tree and the ground, but at least it was out of the wind. She stayed there for the night and in the morning, her thirst sent her looking for some water. She found some stagnant water where it had rained last fall. It tasted bad, but she wasn't so thirsty anymore. She was just hungry. By midmorning, she hadn't found anything and decided she better go looking somewhere else, her family had dumped her in the middle of nowhere. They would probably bring something later, but meanwhile she had to eat. There was a paper bag by the side of the road a ways up. Thinking that maybe there was something in it, she went to investigate. It smelled like those hamburgers she used to get pieces of at home, but there were only a few fries left. Oh, well. She was hungry, so fries would have to do.
That evening, she found a big beetle-bug for dinner. She stayed in the same place for a few nights, but eventually, she had to go out to find something to eat and drink. She found a field where it looked like there were a few other cats around. She did see a few mice, but had no idea how to catch them, or what to do with them when she did! When it got cold and dark, she spent the night in a cement pipe she found at the side of the field. She was so hungry and scared and thirsty and lonely!
She spent the next few nights in the same pipe. The sides sure got cold, but it wasn't as cold as it was outside and it was out of the wind. She finally caught a field mouse and tried to eat it, but her stomach rebelled, it had been so long without food. She managed to get a little bit down and put the rest aside for later, not knowing it would be gone when she came back.
She was finally rescued along I-5 by Ann and Herman Dickson, cold and scared, too weak to run away (which is what she wanted to do). She was taken home and started being called "Brandie". She hadn't had a name in a long time, it was sort of nice. Brandie was very skinny; she had lost about 3-4 pounds, which is a lot for a 6-7 pound cat. Her ears were frostbitten, no doubt from all those nights spent in the cold cement pipe. She was scared to death of humans, after all - look what they had left her to!
EPILOGUE
Brandie is now eating like a pig and starting to gain some weight back. The tip of one ear fell off, and both are scarred, but they are healing now. Brandie is approximately 7-8 months old, a calico/tabby. She has the biggest eyes and is very sweet! She is still a little shy, but is quickly coming out of her shell with the love and caring that is now being shown her. She is purring more and more often as time goes by.
This story is from the imagined events of what Brandie must have gone through before her rescue.
Brandie has since been adopted into a forever and loving home and is living happily ever after! A fate all animals should share!