Hey everybuddy! It’s me…Wally! Today’s National Feral Cat Day…a day to think about the outside kitties…y’know…the ones that look like they don’t have homes.
National Feral Cat Day was started back in 2001 by Alley Cat Allies as a way to share information and educate people about feral cats and to promote TNR…Trap-Neuter-Return. Alley Cat Allies is the only national advocacy organization dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of feral cats. Their mission is to end the killing of feral cats and lead the movement for their humane care.
In honor of National Feral Cat Day, we wanna introduce you to our TNR success story…our “feral” kitties…Chip (white/orange) and Slim (gray tabby). These two kitties showed up one day late last year at the dad-guy’s business (some of you may remember that he owns a garden center). No one knows where they came from or how they ended up there. The dad-guy began feeding them and built them a make-shift shelter behind the building. He didn’t mind having them around, but he knew that if they were going to stay, they needed to be “fixed.”
Pictures of the cages set up…ready for trapping…
and Chip and Slim after being trapped.
So the mom borrowed a couple of Have-A-Heart traps from the local rescue group…and one cold night last December, she set them up and managed to trap both kitties at the same time. The dad-guy took them to the low-cost spay/neuter clinic where they were neutered (that’s when we found out they were both boy cats), vaccinated, and ear-tipped to show that they’re outside kitties being taken care of. The next day the dad-guy brought them back to the garden center and let them out of the traps.
Chip and Slim have been living at the garden center ever since. They have access to a back room that, although it’s not heated, the dad-guy and some of the workers made a pretty nice area for them with lots of bales of straw and a heated blanket. They’ve become more friendly, too. They don’t act very feral anymore and, in fact, they like to crawl in the dad-guy’s lap and get lots of pets and scritches.
Chip and Slim may not have all the comforts that us Island Cats have, but they have food, shelter and people who care about them. And they have each other.
If you want to find out more about feral kitties and how you can help them, visit NationalFeralCatDay.org or the Alley Cat Allies website.
42 Responses to “National Feral Cat Day 2014”
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Say a big thank you to your Dad from us for taking Chip and Slim to the vet so they could get neutered and letting them stay at his garden centre. They look such lovely cats and we love the picture of them snuggling together.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
Oh gosh, that is such a great story about feral cats and we are so glad the Dad gave them a nice home and had them fixed and all. We forgot about Feral cat day, darn it all. Silly Mom. Chip and Slim look so happy in their nice home and they are fine as long as they have food and shelter and they sure have that there. We certainly thank the Dad for taking care of those two.
Hurray for doing the right thing for Slim and Chip! Patty O’Malley and Sweetie are my two now-friendly-ferals, and they live on our deck in the backyard. Don’t know how they got to our yard, but they have food, water and shelter, and love, just like Slim and Chip!
We love all feral kitties, especially the ones we care for every single day.
This made mom’s eyes leak. I am so grateful to your mom and dad and to ALL rescuers in the Country who help the helpless and the innocent.
What a sweet story, I am glad your dad helped them.
What a sweet story! I’m so happy that your wonderful peeps have been able to help those sweet little boys.
YAY!!! Your Mom is PAWTASTIC that she did all of that and soooo happy that those babies are now living at the Garden Center! YAY!
Oh I didn’t know about this day! I have 3 indoor kitties plus I take care of 2 feral kitties outside. I feed and water them every day, plus they have an insulated shelter we built when winter comes 🙂
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Hurray for your daddy for making a wonderful home for Chip and Slim at his garden center! This really warms our hearts.
Oh what a glorious TNR story……Slim and Chip have it made….and they have each other and a warm place to live and food to eat….what’s better than that?!
YAY for your Dad……….
Hugs, Sammy
YAY!!! We are glad Slim and Chip found such a great place to hang out. (and we bet the dad-guy doesn’t have much of a rodent problem at the garden place either – MOL)
Mom is so lame…again she missed the boat on reporting on something super important. We think she is just too old to do anything right, and she agrees with us! (Purrlease tell Mom Sue to see the e-mail she sent her this morning). Chip and Slim are so precious and look at them sleeping together. Dad-guy is so wonderful to take care of these darlings. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty may, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
This is a great story, Wally. Thank you. Your Dad Guy rocks! Chip and Slim are just so precious.
What a lovely story, your Dad is a great guy.
Chip and Slim are two of the lucky ones – they have a good human looking out for them and taking care of them. I am purring for the day even every feral cat has the same care.
Oh, I think that Chip and Slim are living The Life!
That was so nice of your dad to help Chip and Slim.
Well, OK, we dint chase anny ferals out of OUR yard today.
They make the BESTEST kitties EVER!!!!!
Thak you The Dad-Guy for helping them!
dood…high paws N headbonx…ouch…ta yur dad for helpin chip & slim….we rememburr bout them
““ waves…meowloz two ewe chip N slim, hope ya both iz doin veree well…looks like ya 🙂
sa~wheet !!! grate post two day guys !!
happee week oh end two all, heers two dusky grouper ♥
What a great story ! Paws up for your Dad for helping them ! Purrs
What a beautiful story of Chip and Slim….they are exactly where they were meant to be…the place where they felt safe and loved…they truly have a wonderful out of doors existence.
Bravo to your Dad and his employees
Hugs madi your bfff
Glad they found a nice place to hang out!
We wish all feral kitties could have the life and Chip and Slim have. Your dad rocks!
We love the last picture of Chip and Slim, such cuties!!
Moe
Mindy
Cookie
Mike
Your Dad Guy is wonderful! Chip and Slim are gorgeous! They look so happy living a cared for life 🙂 Concats on a successful TSN Feral Kitty story!
Luvs
Marty and Mom
Your Dad-Guy is pawesome! Chip and Slim sure picked the right garden center! We’re glad they’re doing so well thanks to your dad and all the workers and your mom too! Yay! We love happy stories!
Chip and Slim look great! We’re so glad they happened into a location with someone who understood that TNR is a way for feral cats to live happy lives.
I loved reading about Chip and Slim. As you know, TW feeds all the feral cats around here. She talked to the guy who’s house they hang around. He’ll help pay to get them fixed and would love to find them homes.
That is awesome! Thank you to your Mom and Dad for helping out Chip and Slim. They sure are lucky to have such good humans in their corner.
Wow! That hay bale place looks so wonderful for them! Helping to reduce the suffering of homeless kitties is so important. Thank you for what you do.
Debby in Arizona
http://homelesscatcare.blogspot.com/
Looks like Chip and Slim have a pretty good life and they don’t need to worry about making any kittens.
It’s great that your dad-guy is helping to take care of these sweet babies.
What a sweet story <3
Both me and my mom-person is glad your dad helped them !
XOXO
Your two ferals are so lucky you care for them. Kudos to you. Love their bale house!
What a great story and what lucky kitties. Blessings to you all for what you have done and do for them. Hugs and nose kisses
**wipez teerz frum eyez**
Oh Wally what an inspirashunal storey!!
Chip n Slim landed on dere pawz when dey found yer Dad-Guy…
We doez our bit fer da feralz in town here n fer Greyboy who we nose haz NO home n fer Breaveheart what mite have a home butt no lub or snackz…
Dere are so many kittehz n so little time…
Lub Nylablue n Sherriellen Mum x0x0x0x0
Oh Wally what a pawsum posty. And those awe sum gawjus kitties. Weez purrayin’ fur all da fewals.
Luv ya’
Dezi
Chip and Slim found a good friend in your dad-guy. They probably have it better now than they have in a long, long time. Good going!
What a wonderful story! Thank you for taking care of those sweet boys. They look very happy 🙂
That is such a fantastic story, love the photos of them! Bless you Island Mom & Dad for taking care of them, you rock!