by Jackie Dale

Jackie is a part of Cat House On The Kings in Parlier and does a monthly column on the Cat House here at KRL.

This is my final opportunity to remind you that our fabulous Open House Fundraiser is next weekend, November 2. We are really excited and we hope that everyone will come and bring their friends and family. We start the party at 10 a.m. so don’t be late! You know you want to get there early and scope out the best goodies at the auction tables! Don’t forget to buy raffle tickets for prizes. Quilt raffle tickets will still be available also.

National Feral Cat Day

October 16 was National Feral Cat Day. For the second year, the Cat House on the Kings partnered with Alley Cat Allies in this important annual event. Kathy Scheer has been a devoted volunteer foster and adoption coordinator for the past 13 years. Her suggestion was that we offer low-cost and free spays/neuters for local feral or free-roaming cats.

We made arrangements with Dr. Piel of New Village Pets in Selma to schedule the whole day for the Cat House. Since spays and neuters are obviously not really “free”, it was necessary to raise some funds to finance the project. Kathy Scheer donated the first $100 and she challenged other cat lovers to match her donation. Through these individual efforts and Facebook requests, an amazing $3,480.00 was donated for the National Feral Cat Day project.

Tammy Barker with a full load of cats

Twenty-two people showed up for their appointments with feral cats in traps and free-roaming cats in carriers. Kathy Scheer and Mary McKinney joined our awesome Tammy Barker in loading up the 22 cats, transporting them both to and from New Village Pets and assisting in the mounds of paperwork. Tammy said; “We felt it was a very successful day and the only way that we can help cut down on the feline deaths resulting from the over-population of cats in the valley.” There were some leftover funds so the Cat House is planning to hold another mass spay day sometime in December.

Update on the Reedley TNR Project

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that the Reedley TNR project has received a $1,000 donation from the Suzanne Johnson Charitable Trust. I was absolutely floored when I was forwarded a copy of the letter received by the Cat House. I am so grateful to Ms. Johnson for her generous donation. This money will go a long way towards stabilizing this colony by reducing, and hopefully eliminating, the number of kittens born. Any money left over will be used towards other Reedley TNR projects. There are currently several smaller colonies around town that need to be addressed.

A tipped feral at the Reedley colony.

As it now stands, we are about 26 cats into the 40 or so cats in the largest colony. This includes several more cats/kittens that were recently dumped there. Very loving and friendly, you know that they were obviously someone’s pets. These cats would never survive in “feral” world. We were lucky enough to place some of these guys in homes.

Unfortunately we lost a few more cats to the roving pack of Labradors; it was a very grisly scene that day. But as luck would have it, the dogcatcher was there one day when the dogs came through. We are hoping he will be able to locate the owners of the dogs. There is still the problem of people who run their dogs in this area without benefit of a leash. I actually asked one lady, a regular at the park, if she was aware that there was in fact, a town leash law. She rudely replied; “Yes, I am aware of the leash law and why don’t you just get one for yourself?” Since my reply to this is not family-friendly, I will leave it to your imagination.

The city of Reedley has said they are going to order and erect signs indicating that dogs, by law, must be on a leash. I like dogs; I have six of them. I do not, however, allow them to run loose, wreaking havoc in public. The feral colony cats just want to be left alone and the public wants to be able enjoy their park and walk their (leashed) dogs in peace.

Adoptions

My sweet foster boy Mustachio was quickly snapped up and adopted by a wonderful local family. This month I am fostering a very sweet girl that was recently dumped at the feral colony that we are working. “Cissie” is about four months old and is an American Classic Tabby. She is very playful and would be a perfect fit for any family/person. She is an absolute purr machine who has this cute habit of fanning out her paws when you pet her. She will of course, be spayed. Who wants to claim this lovable gal as their very own? I can’t return her to the colony, she is far too friendly and I already have 12 cats. Won’t someone please save me from having a baker’s dozen? Willing to transport a reasonable distance.

This Reedley rescue is up for adoption!!

The Cat House recently had a mother cat and her four kittens tossed over the fence onto the Cat House grounds. The kittens had eye infections so severe that they all have some degree of blindness. I am pleased to say that all four of the blind kittens have been adopted. One family took two of the kittens together. Another family adopted a third kitten. This same family later returned to adopt the fourth kitten saying they couldn’t bear the thought of the last kitten all alone without any of its siblings. It is not easy to adopt a pet with a disability, let alone two of them. Our hearts swell with joy and gratitude to these very special people.

Two of the blind kittens in their furever home

The National Geographic Channel aired the Cat House on the Kings episode of “Let It Ride” on October 23 at 7 p.m. The show features biker/actors who travel around looking for motorcycles to purchase. They then proceed to turn a hunk of junk into a showpiece motorcycle. Actor Cameron is deathly allergic to cats which made for an interesting scenario. Check your local listings for the next airing of the Cat House episode. Get a sneak preview by watching this hilarious clip of the show.

Please consider advertising with Kings River Life and you can designate 10% of the ad fee to be donated to the Cat House on the Kings.

Check out more animal rescue & pet related articles, including more Cat House columns, in our Pet Perspective section.

Jackie Dale is a freelance writer who lives in Reedley with her husband of 21 years, Frank, and their 2 children. Jackie currently writes for Traffic Magazine and for The Cat House on the Kings Feline Rescue. A former ballerina, Jackie now teaches yoga and fitness classes privately and at local area gyms.