Does Blanco County,Texas Need Animal Control?

Does Blanco County, Texas need animal control? I don't really know, many people think we do, I am not so sure. In the past I have been happy that there was not animal control, because it would give people an easy way to "get rid" of cats. Considering that 70% of cats that enter a shelter are killed and that number goes up to 100% if the cat is a feral, I am not so sure that cats in Blanco County need animal control. What is needed is for people to contact The Blanco County Cat Coalition (BCCC) and get "their" cats fixed and vaccinated. Then let the kitties live out their lives without adding to the overpopulation of cats. Please Spay and Neuter!

Cat Returns From the Dead or The Case of Mistaken Identity

Recently in national news there has been a story of a cat that had died, was buried and dug his way out of his grave. Well here in Blanco County, TX I was told a similar story. The following tale is based loosely upon the truth as told to me by Megan.

Once upon a time a young couple had a cat. This cat was very special to them as it was their first pet together. They named the cat Shelby and they all lived happily together in their very first apartment. Shelby was a rescue cat, that had been found outside lost and scared. Since she had moved in with Megan and Tim, she had shown absolutely no desire to go back outside. For instance when her people had the door open to carry in groceries the cat would only supervise from the safety of the living room.

Then one night somehow the patio door was left open and when the couple woke up Shelby was gone!

The couple frantically looked and called for her, finally giving up only when it was time to go to work. They left some food out on the patio, hoping Shelby would come back on her own. Later that day they continued the search, asking everyone they met it if they had seen Shelby. Finally some folks gave them the bad news that they had seen a cat dead on the road that looked like Shelby. Tim went and looked, he assured Megan that Shelby hadn't suffered, that she had been hit on the head and that it had been a quick death. He then brought the body home and buried it. Days passed and they both mourned, but life tends to go on, bills to be paid and jobs to go to. Then one day Megan got a phone call from the local vet saying that a lady called and they think they had found Shelby. “That couldn't be, Shelby was dead and buried.” Silence, either knew what to say next. Then the caller asked if Shelby had been a torby (markings like a tortoise shell and a tabby) and had been kinda overweight. “Yes.” Well they had the phone number of a lady that had a cat that looked like Shelby. Tim was sent over to the lady's house, while Megan stayed home afraid to hope. I can just imagine how she felt. Losing a beloved animal, grieving for days, then could it be possible? No, couldn't be, Shelby was dead and buried, but what if? The suspense must have been terrible. If the cat was indeed Shelby, then who was buried in the backyard? And if the cat was not Shelby, then who's cat was she?

Tim later admitted that the animal he had buried seemed a little to heavy and a little to long to have been Shelby. Poor guy, I can just imagine the questions Megan must have had for him. Hopefully she was so happy to have Shelby back that she wasn't too hard on Tim.

Shelby is back at home, having spent a few days visiting the neighbors. Whoever is buried in the backyard will forever remain a mystery.

Epilogue; I am very happy that Shelby is back home, but sad for the cat that had been hit by the car. Please spay and neuter your pets and any feral cats you might be feeding. Also, micro-chipping your pets is a good thing. Please share this story.

Sally Sonic

In the past two months I have had several outstanding cat encounters. The first kitty that touched my heart was a little fuzzy calico that I trapped behind the local Sonic. I knew there was something wrong with her 'cause she didn't run away when I first put the traps out. She stayed hunched up next to the dumpster, I have seen that type of behavior before. My little Mia kitty was like that when I first met her. The poor kitties just stay huddled up to conserve energy and also to make themselves a smaller target, less vulnerable to other cats. Cats like these have just given up, they try to stay near the food source and expend as little energy as possible. Unfortunately when food becomes available the other cats get it first, so the weaker kitties get weaker and just get to the point were they are waiting to die.

So I went ahead and put the traps out, very slowly and carefully so as not to scare her away, hoping that the smell of stinky wet cat food would draw her in. She didn’t move, I continued on, setting traps behind and around the local feed store. When I got back to the Sonic she was gone and the trap was empty. What had happened was that someone had come out of the Sonic and put trash into the dumpster and had scared her away. Drat! That happens quite a bit when trapping, someone or something comes by and scares the kitties away. I did not catch her until the next night, by then I had caught 7 other cats from behind the Feed store and the Sonic. Early the next morning I took them all into the Austin Humane Society to be spayed or neutered. All the cats were deemed healthy enough to withstand surgery. Normally I keep the kitties one night after surgery to keep an eye on them and to make sure they are completely out from the anesthesia, then I release them back to were I trapped them. I really did not want to release this kitty, as I knew there was something wrong with her, but I didn’t know what.

Now comes the human interest part of the story, I have a friend (Pi) who knew of someone (Lew) that wanted a calico kitten. He wanted a kitten because he has a small dog (Fate) that he wanted to become accustomed to cats. He wanted a calico because he had had one back when he was younger and it was a really good cat. Now understandably most people that want a kitten want a friendly, healthy, happy kitten. I think that was what he wanted, but what he was willing to take was a scared, feral, kitty that was sick in some unknown way. Remarkable! We set him up with a crate, litter box, food and water and everything else we thought the kitty would need. The next day I get a phone call telling me the kitty is eating, drinking, pooping and peeing but cannot walk. This generated mulitable phone calls to other board members of the Blanco County Cat Coalition to get approval to take the kitty (who is now named Sally Sonic) to the local vet. It takes at least three board members to agree to spending money on medical issues, this is because our funds are limited and need to be spent on our main focus of spay and neuter. Well we all agreed that, because Lew was willing to adopt Sally and we had already invested in her getting spayed that we would approve to spend up to $200 to try and get her healthy. Yea! A trip to the vet, Dr. Philip, determined that Sally could move her head, had feeling in all four paws and her tail. Was eating and eliminating fine, he checked her gums and she did not look anemic, sure she was under weight, but a lot of ferals living out of dumpsters are. But she did not have an awareness of where her paws were. He said that she probably was not born like this or else she would not have lived this long, and that since there was someone that was willing to take care of her it would be worth it to give her a chance. That the next week or two would show either improvement or decline. Lew assured us that if there was any hope at all he would do whatever it would take to make her better. And he did just that, he cleaned her up, brushed her, cut the mats out of her fur. Cuddled her, gave her physical therapy moving her legs around and massaging down her back, cleaned her bottom after she pooped, and petting her. Fate helped, at first Sally was scared of the dog, but soon figured out that Fate was harmless. Fate helped with cleaning Sally, she especially was good at helping clean Sally’s face after she ate. For the next week we all watched for and celebrated every little improvement, hoped for the best, but tried to prepare for the worst. About 10 days later that day came, it seemed that Sally had developed an infection in her incision, and had started to act like she was in pain. So it was back to the vet. Lew could not take her because he had his own doctors appointment that day. He is an older gentleman that served his country in Vietnam and as a result suffers. I took Sally in, on the way she started bleeding from a sore on her bottom and had developed a sore on her mouth. Dr. Philip confirmed and assured that there was no hope for improvement and that she would only suffer if we did not put an end to it. I called Lew and he gave permission, he had said goodbye that morning before he had left for his doctors appointment.

Skip this next part if you don't want to read about Sally’s death. I am including it for various reasons. Such as; death is a reality that most of us do not want to face, none the less, it is a fact of life. Maybe if more people were aware of the harsh facts of life that feral cats face they may be more willing to spay, neuter and vaccinate their pets. After all the feral cat epidemic started with people not being responsible for their cats.

Sally's death was not horrible but it was not easy either. I have watched Dr. Philip euthanize cats in the past and it has not been horrible. But poor Sally, her veins, in her little legs collapsed as Dr. Phil inserted the needle. In the end he had to use a vein in her neck to administer the drug. He explained that using the vein in the neck was no worse than using any other vein, it just is something that might be upsetting to people, so he asked me to stop recording at that point. Maybe it is weird of me me to record a cat being put down, but it was done and posted on facebook in hopes that maybe, just maybe it will prevent suffering in the future.

Rest in Peace Sally Sonic!

What I find remarkable about this story is Lew, that he was willing to allow this kitten into his life knowing that by doing so he was opening himself up to potential heartbreak. Which indeed is exactly what happened. I really admire people like Lew that are willing to do good even if it hurts. He is one of my hero's! His story does not end here.....
To be continued...

Kitten being euthanized, hard to watch but not horrible