Conference misery::feline_v1

    Kim, 
    
    I'm a little confused by what you mean and I'm not really sure
    what you're alluding to.  What is it that you think 'is going
    on'?
    
    Donna  

    
    
    	Kim-
    
    	Like .1 I'm a little confused.
    
    	Are you implying that someone is dropping the cats off, since
    	they know you'll give them a good home or find one for them?
    	
    	-Dee
      

    
    
         Sorry I wrote it so quickly cuz I knew it would be long that
    I didn't reread it to see how it sounded.  And then its the normal
    deal of you know what your saying so you sometimes don't get it
    across that well.  
    
          In a nutshell I don't consider myself niave.  A matter of
    fact far from it.  But I guess even though I find animals used for
    any type of experimentation or testing abhorent I never even thought
    for once that it goes on right around us with of course the public
    never knowing.  I guess that's where my nagging feeling comes in.
    If no owner claims any of these cats could it be the owner has no
    idea where they are?  Are they somewhere there not supposed to be?
    If so are they getting out somehow or little by little being let
    out by a compassionate soul?  So no I don't think someone is dropping
    them off.  Most people don't know where I live and we're not known
    to any other of the neighbors.  And I don't think someone 
    would drop off a cat with the cats name still on her and a lot#
    meaning what I haven't figured out yet. 
    
          I just think the cats are coming from somewhere.....  Its
    the somewhere thats the question mark.  Yup by all means they could
    be normal strays but as the numbers increase its just starting to
    make me wonder more and more.
                                                  kim :^(
    
    p.s.  sorry for the confusion........ 
    

    Hi Kim,
    
    I think one of the reasons this is happening is a person(s) that
    doesn't like cats is stealing them from their owners and dropping
    them off far away so the owners never see the add to reclaim them.
    
    scenario #2: My father's cat loves to ride in cars. Thank goodness
    for his ID tags. That cat's traveled I'll tell you! It's even possible
    that the owner inadvertantly takes the cat for a joy ride not even
    knowing it.
    
    scenario #3: Then you have the owners that dump unwanted pets off
    in populated residences because they just "know" they'll find a
    good home. Unfortunately this is not the case in many abandonments.
    
    Yes, there are cruel people out there who just don't care! I could
    just shoot them!
    
    Tina
    

    Hi Kim,                   
    
    I don't have the answer but I can tell you only of my experience
    and beliefs.
    
    Until two weeks ago I had 7 cats (one unfortunately had to be put
    to sleep). But 6 of my cats were strays and the 7th was a dump-off.
    ALL of them prefered to be indoors - leading me to believe they were
    once pets of other people. What happened - who knows -
    I believe they were either let out accidentally, or decided to see
    the great out of doors on their own which would be natural when
    it came to be mating time- none by the way were neutered prior to 
    their finding me. Between myself and the Humane Society all efforts
    to find their owners were unsuccessful.  I think the owners
    probably weren't cruel so much as ignorant- especially in not
    getting the cats neutered. 
    
    I think some cats travelled very far from their homes, i.e. couldn't
    find their owner. (The Fram. Humane Society once found a cat with
    Torrance, CA tags and went to alot of trouble to contact the owners
    in CA. Turned out the cat had been given to new owners in CA and the tags
    never removed by the second owner and the second owner moved to
    MA. The cat accidentally escaped from the apt when an elderly
    person opened the door. No cruelty here- just an unfortunate
    accident. Happy ending however.    
     
    Another example- is my cousin travelled from a horseshow in western
    N.Y. to her home on the Cape and when she got home found a cat curled
    up in her horse trailer. No tags tho. She couldn't find the owner and 
    the cat lived happily for years with her afterwards.
                                          
    I think they wander and then some can't get back. I used to live
    along a railroad track and cats were always coming up from there.
    I think they travelled along the tracks because there were always
    mice to be found and because in the winter the tracks
    were cleared of snow making travelling easier. And then they went
    too far! There had to have been at least a dozen cats come to
    my door the first winter on the tracks and NONE of them were from
    the neighborhood. If they weren't from my neighborhood, and
    they hung around for a week or so, I'd turn them over to the Humane
    Society who would try looking for their owners.
    
    I think cats are very smart when it comes to finding a "softy" -
    someone to give them food and shelter. The word goes around somehow
    (among the cats) and cats start showing up on the doorstep of that
    person, and it gets worse in the winter. 
    
    I think you are doing the best you can. Just try to find the owner
    and if that isn't possible, then find it a good home. Remember
    the responsibility of finding the original owner does not
    rest solely with you. The owner shares a great piece of finding
    his/her lost cat. But it's not always successful. I think the fact 
    that a cat has a collar or tag means it was a pet but it could be that 
    it travelled too far, jumped out of a car, been with a human who was 
    visiting someone and it became confused and ran away - any number of 
    reasons - not necessarily cruel or devious, and they came to your
    house for shelter -
    cats sense a person who likes cats.
                        
    Sorry for rambling on. I think you are very kind to take an interest
    in - and care for -  these lost animals. 
    
          

    I agree with #5, the owners do share a responsibility in finding THEIR
    lost cat. When you think of all the lost cats posted here and see
    the few notices posted in the paper or with vets/humane society etc.,
    you get the feeling that a lot of people just don't care.
    
    We (people in Nashua) live in a money area and sometimes I think people
    buy these animals and find out they are more trouble/work than they
    originally thought and out the door they go, or people take them for
    rides and drop them off.
    
    Ignorance plays a big part in all of this also. We had stupid neighbors
    who had a lovely chinchilla and they let this poor cat out in all kinds
    of weather. We took this gorgeous cat in more than once. He was with us
    for days sometimes. Once when we were going away, Tim took him back up
    to his owners, (it was 10 degrees below 0) and said he had been with
    us for 3 days and we were going away to the mountains so didn't want
    to keep him in all that time we were gone. (Their hall way was covered
    with dog doo, and cat doo, and animal hair.) Tim said, "If you ever
    want to get rid of this cat we would buy him from you, we love him
    to pieces." She just smiled and threw him into the hall way and closed
    the door. Misty continued to come to us for almost a year, then the
    people moved and took the dog and cat with them. If we had known they
    were moving we would have gone and made the offer to buy Misty again.
    I always wonder what happened to that beautiful animal. He looked
    exactly like the cat in the Amoire cat food commercial.
    
    As animal lovers I think it is hard for us to close our eyes and heart
    to their plight, but then our conscience is clear also.
    
    I hope this is not too long, but wanted to get my feelings out also.
    
    Barbara

    I am still confused about what could be going on in your area. 
    But, I am not suprised that the cats all prefer to be indoors with
    you.  What with the temperature there now, the fact that you are
    providing love, food, shelter, water, and anything else they need,
    it seems to be obvious that they would want to be in.  
    
    I once rescued a cat that I was sure had been somebody's beloved
    indoor pet.  A few years later I found out from a neighbor that
    Jesse had been a stray in our neighborhood for years and I just
    didn't know it, since I had only been living there a short while
    before I rescued him.  He was no dummy.  He has been an indoor cat
    ever seen, that is how he wanted it to be.  I guess he was tired
    of fending for himself.  
    
    Jo