National Feral Cat Day; Thoughts on Ebola

Today is, as I wrote on Tuesday, National Feral Cat Day.  If you care about cats, and wish to help the feral ones, please visit the website for Alley Cat Allies at http://www.alleycat.org  or call and/or visit your local Humane Society for information regarding TNR programs.  You'll feel better for doing it.
    I was not impressed with the response of the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital's to the first visit of Mr Thomas Eric Duncan, sending the man home with antibiotics after he arrived at the Emergency Room for care, and, as this story keeps unraveling, with more victims of poor procedural directives being announced positive for the ebola virus, I find my trust in our medical system failing rapidly.  I worked in a hospital for over eight years - a tertiary care teaching hospital.  I learned early in my job (as a unit secretary) that handling any type of lab work required gloves.  I learned some lower-level infectious disease handling protocols, and how to avoid contamination and cross-contamination.  Luckily, I never had to deal with a patient who was in total isolation - but I remember the seriousness of following set protocols for safety.
   I was speechless when I learned of the second healthcare worker's plane trip to another state to visit her mother and fiance, and then of her return to Texas on another flight, when she was known to be running a fever.  I'm sorry, but speaking as a lay person, even I know that was sheer idiocy.   As these stories unwind, I continue to shake my head in dismay - where the heck is common sense?
   I think the last straw for me, today, was seeing the news headline that there might be a chocolate shortage because much of the world's supply of cocoa beans comes from Western Africa; specifically in the countries hardest hit by this round of the ebola outbreak.  Yes, we all like chocolate - but the lives of human beings are so much more important than the world supply of chocolate!
  I think that every developed country in the world should be rushing to the aid of those countries in West Africa that are being decimated (and more) by the ebola virus.  We, the world, humanity as a whole, need to quash this outbreak of disease.  We need to study it.  We need to learn how to fight it.  We need to find a vaccine against it, or a remedy for it.  We need to wipe this disease out - eradicate it.  The United States of America and other leading countries should be spear-heading a joint health task force to combat and defeat ebola.  I wish it would happen over night...
   When I think about our quest for treatments and remedies for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, every type of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, ALS, MS, MD, and all the other illnesses that strike us down, I feel small - less than gnat-sized.  But, if all of humanity would work together to defeat all of the awful health threats in the world, I believe that we would be triumphant.  I'll do my part - will you?

Thursday Is Feral Cat Day

I loved the twists and turns that were in my three television shows last night... Gotham, Sleepy Hollow, and The Blacklist all had unusual plot deviations that made the shows more intriguing.  And The Blacklist had Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) back for a second week of a guest star role; he's quite good as "Mr Vargas."  I got my laundry done in the breaks between the shows, so I'm all set for another couple of weeks of halfway decent weather.  It was 45 degrees this morning - much warmer than yesterday, and it should be warmer this afternoon, too.
  Thursday, 16 October, is National Feral Cat Day.  If you are interested in helping these "gone wild" kitties, please contact Alley Cat Allies (their web site is at http://www.alleycat.org/), or contact your local humane society and/or veterinarian and ask about any local TNR (Trap, Neuter and Return) Programs.  Feral cats appreciate food, water, and shelter - but they are not lap cats, and don't want to be hugged or handled.  If you provide food water and shelter for a single cat, or a whole clowder, please help by supporting local TNR programs.  The cats will be trapped, spayed or neutered, given a health check-up and shots, and returned to their usual home range.  The cats who have been neutered and spayed will have the tip of one of their ears clipped, so they are easily identified as being non-breeders.  This will prevent the cat population from growing exponentially and also cut down on disease and illness.  If you really dislike cats, but love dogs, then I urge you to donate money and/or time to your local humane society to help unwanted canines...

   Rosie and I had a relaxing day yesterday - we ended up spending the last half of the afternoon in Kathy and Jim's back yard (while the house keeper was at Rosie's running the vacuum, and mopping the floors) and actually fell asleep together in the grass with the sun shining on us.  I hadn't slept lying in the grass for quite a while...  It was a nice, relaxing, almost child-like feeling to be able to do so.  Lovey and Nedi have had a good dose of love this morning - both are now sitting in the sunshine in my back yard.  I admit that I'm looking forward to sleeping with them, again, starting tomorrow night!
 

National Feral Cat Day

Today is National Feral Cat Day.  Support your local Trap, Neuter and Release program, or become a member and help out!
  Intelligence. Responsibility. Compassion. The use of these principles can assure integrity, whether it’s an individual and his choices or decision-makers such as members of a city council.
  On this National Feral Cat Day, consider how to control the population of cats in a community. Intelligence would involve learning about the proven methods to control these cats – trap, neuter, return and feral freedom programs. Responsibility would involve personally getting your pets spayed or neutered and committing to keep them for their lifetime, so you are not contributing to the problem. And if you don’t have the compassion to be a caregiver for feral cats, then be silent and let those who do care for them continue to provide that care.
  Rather than looking at these caregivers as a problem, see them as a part of the solution. Under their management, the population of cats decreases. The benefits of adopting these programs go beyond just decreasing cat numbers by saving your tax money. And don’t you want to live in a community that embraces compassion rather than prosecutes it? Advocate for the solution that works.
     Please visit one of these sites:
http://www.feralcatproject.org/default.aspx

http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=191

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/spayneuter?gclid=CK21koOlnroCFbFDMgodShkAqQ

  Please help spread the word about feral cat colonies and how you can help.  You will be preventing millions of kittens and cats from being killed in the future.  Thank you.