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.

No Snow...

The wind was bitterly cold last night just before 10; I watched the News to see what was holding up the arrival of the predicted snow, and heard that our "snow event" was over. Boulder got NO snow at all. Luckily several inches fell on the Fern Lake fire up in RMNP - the fire is now 45% contained, but is expected to smolder for at least another month. I had a great time with my friend Bea yesterday evening - we had an early dinner at Ted's and then sat and talked for a couple of hours. I think the most surprising thing was learning that Bea was the first black cheerleader for the Broncos - back when, as she says, "they wore clothes and actually cheered" not the teeny costumes and sexual gyrations the "cheerleaders" seem to do these days.... We decided late last night, that, with our shared interests, we need to incorporate ourselves as "The Bodacious Bs."

  It's all of 17 degrees outside, and, as usual, I have the patio door open so the kits can run in and out (but my legs and feet are getting cold, so the next time Nedi comes inside, the door gets closed). I fed and walked Aiko and Yoshi earlier this morning, and have been home catching up on my e-mail and the news for the past hour. Lovey is purring away, but is determinedly sitting between me and the keyboard - my attention should be hers, she feels. - OK, the patio door is now closed, so maybe the heat will begin to feel like it's kicking in...

  Today, The Denver Post published an article about the number of feral cats wandering in the city. It is estimated that more than 100,000 feral cats are living free in Denver. The bird folks don't like them, or the people who feed them. I'm going to urge all of you, who can afford to, to send a tax-free contribution to The Feline Fix, a program of the Rocky Mountain Alley Cat Alliance. You can read about the program and what it does at http://www.thefelinefix.org/ This is a trap, neuter, and return program for feral cats. The captured wild cats are neutered or spayed at the low program cost of $20 apiece. Once the cats have been altered, and given their shots, they are released back into their original range. This way the cats cannot reproduce, are vaccinated, and are back in familiar territory. With the economy tanking and folks losing their jobs and their housing, most people seem to just turn their cats loose rather than take them to an adoption agency. It's a sad but true fact. Please help support and/or sponsor a TNR program, if you can. Thank you.