Oct 162017
Hey guys. Wally here…along with Ernie. We’ve got something special to talk about today. It’s Global Cat Day…or what used to be called National Feral Cat Day. Alley Cat Allies, the group that started Feral Cat Day back in 2001, has changed the name to reflect what this day really means…engaging people WORLDWIDE and sharing information about protecting cats in their communities. It’s a day to educate people about feral cats…or what Alley Cat Allies calls community or outdoor cats…and promote programs like Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR), and recognize the millions of people who care for community cats. Alley Cat Allies is the only advocacy organization that is dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of community cats.
Logo courtesy of Alley Cat Allies
Most of you are familiar with TNR…Trap-Neuter-Release. Community cats are humanely trapped, taken to a veterinarian where they’re spayed or neutered, vaccinated and eartipped (the universal sign that a cat has been neutered and vaccinated), and then returned to their outdoor home. TNR saves cats’ lives, and it’s a proven method of stabilizing and reducing populations of community cats. More and more cities and towns are recognizing that TNR really does work. But more needs to be done until TNR is the only acceptable way to care for community cats. In honor of Global Cat Day, we wanna update you on our TNR success story…Chip and Slim…the garden center cats. We’ve told you before about Chip and Slim…two cats that showed up one day a few years ago at the dad guy’s garden center.
- A stray cat is one that has been around humans at some point and has been socialized, but for some reason lost its home as well as its dependence on humans.
- Over time, a stray can become a feral cat if it continues to have no contact with humans.
- Under the right circumstances, a stray cat can become a pet cat again. It can be re-introduced into a home after being outside for awhile, but may require time to acclimate to living inside.
- A feral cat is one that has either never had any contact with humans or its contact with humans has lessened over time. A feral is fearful of people and survives on its own. A feral cat is not likely to become a lap cat or be able to live indoors. Though we feel that some feral cats, under the right circumstances, can be socialized and learn to live inside. This is particularly true for feral kittens.
Photo courtesy of Alley Cat Allies
If you would like more information about TNR and how you can help community cats, visit globalcatday.org or the Alley Cat Allies website.
43 Responses to “Global Cat Day 2017 – An Update on Chip & Slim, the Garden Center Cats”
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Ooh, I love seeing Chip abd Slim!
Walky and Ernie, you know I am all about TNR too, so this is a great day to tell the world to be nice to ALL cats!
happy Global CD. chip and slim are both very handsome.
So good to see those two again. We are great fans of feral cats. We have a bunch of cats that came from a feral Mom and the miracle of miracles, is that the Feral Mom came in the house on her own. I still can’t touch her but she seems very comfy in the house. Have a great day.
Excellent post. Chip and Slim are cuties, I am glad they are doing so well.
Thank you for the great update on Chip and Slim! They sure do have it made at the garden center! Thank you for taking such excellent care of them!
We are so happy for Chip and Slim they have a great life in the Garden Center.
Those garden center or nursery cats have a great world to live in. Glad to read their story.
WOO HOO!!! Grate bloggie post Ernie an Wally!
Chip an Slim look puirrfectlee cat-tented beein at thee garden centre.
Thee last foto of them iss pawtastick. LadyMum sayss they are hansum mankatss!
**paw patsss** Siddhartha Henry xXx
Chip and Slim are absolutely thriving and loving the life they have and I think I see a itty bitty green thumb too. What a success story on TNR and TLC
Hugs madi and mom
It’s great to see that Chip and Slim are doing so well! Thanks for spreading the word about this important day.
Glad to see they are doing well!
Great post!
Such handsome boys! And we love that they also have each other to hang out with.
They have a great situation thanks to you 🙂
the critters in the cottage xo
Great post ! Paws up for your pawrents for taking such good care of Chip and Slim. Thanks for spreading the word and explaining so well the difference between stray and feral. Purrs
Thank you for helping them all this time.
I love that Chip and Slim are doing so well, and are so well taken care of.
What an important day this is. And it always makes us so happy to see Chip and Slim. They look so happy! Thank you for sharing this!
And thank you for the purrs and prayers for pup Astrid!
We love all the heroes who work to save the kitties day n and day out!
This is a great post! Thank you! xoxo
Well, Chip and Slim, you are two amazing creatures, and so beautiful. How lovely that you were found and loved by such nice people as the Island people!!!
I think I was abandoned, not feral. I had better correct that on my blog.
wonderful post! Yay for Chip and Slim staying! Yay Dad!
Chip and Slim have a wonderful story, and look completely content in their garden center home. Thank you for clarifying the difference in stray and feral cats – we really did not know! So many are doing so much good for these cats, and we hope it helps to get things more under control with these populations.
I love seeing Chip and Slim. They are both so adorable, and so lucky to have your family looking out for them! I bet your dad’s customers love having them around too.
Glad that Chip and Slim are doing so well. Every business should have cats!
Happy Global Cats Day! I think your garden cats have an awesome life. We have a TNR system here but it could always be better.
what a wonderful update! so glad to hear they are doing well–they look like great friends!
OMC! Thank you for giving us an update on Chip and Slim! We will be all smiles all week, now. What a great day for celebrating and educating people on ferals and strays. Happy Global Cat Day!
They are adorable. So nice of ya’ to share their updates. Great posty. Big hugs
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
We loved the updated on Chip and Slim! They sure hit the jackpot by picking your dad-guy’s garden center!
We’re very glad that they are well cared for.
Thanks for the update on Chip and Slim. They have a wonderful life in your dad’s garden center. And they must be very comfortable with certain people if they allow tummy rubs!
Loooking great little ones 😀
It’s wonderful to read updates of Chip and Slim. They are very lucky kitties to have great life at garden center. How wonderful they are becoming more accustomed to humans 🙂 I adore the photos of Slim on a cart and Chip in a pot! What cuties!
What a purrfect life for chip and slim.x
Mom thanks you for sharing the difference between a stray & feral kitty, ’cause she wasn’t quite sure. Also, she asks what it means to have kitties’ ears “tipped?” And does it hurt? Chip & Slim sound like they are happy at the garden center. What a fun place that must be for them. There is a furry black kitty named McPhee at the local greenhouse that Mom visits from time to time. He sometimes lounges on the checkout counter & Mom loves to go up & pet him each time she’s there. Mom thinks he may have been a stray that adopted the business much like your Chip & Slim. I bet they keep those places mousie free! Tee hee hee!
I was disgusted last year when it made the news that a local municipality was changing from extermination to TNR. Apparently, extermination of ferals is the norm around here. It just blows my mind. And the comments on the news story made me so angry and sad – most people support extermination. I truly don’t get it. I love your personal touch to the story … Chip and Slim are thriving and shows we should just give these kitties who don’t have a home of their own (by no fault of their own) a chance!
doodz !!!! wavez two ewe chip N slim… itz total lee awesum lee grate ta see ewe both again N we iz buzzed happee yur both doin sew well…. ☺☺♥♥
We have three ex-strays known as The Garage Band. My pawrents set them up with padded beds and blankets and chicken brooder lamps that hang over their heads during winter. When we hosted feral kitties on the porch (we don’t have any this year) the pawrents would tarp the porch against the cold, then set up dog houses on top of tables with the beds, blankets and brooder lamps. It was very popular with the homeless who had a home of sorts to get through the winter. Even the possums and raccoons thought it was nice to warm their paws near a brooder lamp. We had a baby raccoon born kinda late in the year sleep under the lamp every night. Great article, guys!
We support TNR generally. Better than getting the sleepy goodbye shot… But sometimes there are too many of us too. Sometimes it is situational. We think there is no perfect answer.
Loved the story of Chip and Slim, Wally and Ernie. I think that place is a great place for a kitty. I’m a kind of garden cat tooExtra Pawkisses❤
We are so glad Chip and Slim are doing so well. We love how your Mom and Dad Guy saved them, and let them live at the Garden Center. TNR works!
Great blog post! I was unaware that the name of the day had changed until I started seeing tweets for Global Cat Day, so I’ll know for next year. Any advice for trapping a non-stray, non-feral that has escaped its owners? Cali the calico cat has made our block her hunting grounds, and neither I or her owners have been successful in convincing her to go back home. As much as I love seeing her, she’s getting more and more unsociable. 🙁 I worry that she may lose all desire to go back home.
What a great update on Chip and Slim! It sounds like they’re doing very well and enjoying life as garden cats.
I loved seeing Chip and Slim! I like that they also have eachother.
Our Local Farm Bureau now has a couple of strays that have become the ‘resident mascots’ there.