Sunday, November 25, 2018

THANK HEAVEN FOR

CATS, OUR FUR BABIES


Honeybear has been with us for 5 years.

We guess that she’s about 8.

It turns out a neighbor down the street had her when she was a kitten and responsibly got her treated so she couldn’t have more kittens.

HB did give birth once, to a litter of 3.

The only baby of hers that we know of is a very skittish Tortie that dubbed Cocoa Kitty.

When Honeybear went out in daylight and nighttime, mother and daughter would hunt together, sand bathe together, hug and fight (as HB the queen would smack her grown kitten – just to make it clear who the king of the hill was, is and always will be).

We tried to get Cocoa Kitty to be an indoor cat, but it’s not for her. So we bought a used dogloo and set her up with food and water in the back of our house.

Before long, many cats were visiting. We bought a used small tent and used it for shelter, with a food bowl in it.

We bought cushions and built shelter out of some old benches left behind by the previous owner of our house.

When one of our most beloved visitor couples – a Maine Coon dubbed Big Boy and his lady Squirt – a tiny ginger cat – had 4 kittens, we went into action.

We worked with Miami-Dade County Animal Services (perhaps the best department in the County) to work with the Trap-Neuter-Release program.

A wonderful, soulful worker named Octavio came by long before dawn and set up a half dozen traps.

Repeating this routine over the years, we have helped far more than a dozen cats to be spared from giving birth. You can tell by their clipped single ear.

We don’t want to turn a sweet tale into a lecture.

But people really do need to be responsible and get their cats fixed – and even work with Animal Services to get in the TNR program. It doesn’t cost a penny and at the most, you will move your car out of the driveway to create room for some humane traps.

Cats, after surgery and recovery, are returned to your lot 48 to 72 hours later.


Our all-time beloved baby from TNR is Dusty.


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