The Lit Maven

Last November, Prancer came into our lives from Petsmart Charities, an in-store adoption program with the vision to find “a lifelong, loving home for every pet”. Prancer turned out to be the perfect kitty for our home. He was found two years before in Delaware roaming in someone’s backyard and spent a year and a half in a foster home with 19 other cats. I had not seen him before my son and I went to pick him up at our local Petsmart store. We had duly filled out all of the paperwork complete with decades long cat histories and veterinarians’ contact information. It took three weeks, but we got our kitty. I opted to adopt an adult cat; Kittens are cute, but prove to be a lot of work to train. I’ve always raised kittens, so this adoption of a mature cat was an adventure. At Petsmart, we took our first look at him through the bars of cat carrier. He is a big tabby male, white paws, white bib and a very distinctive white stripe down his nose. When we transfered him from the foster carrier to ours, I noticed his clipped ear right away. Rather than looking at it in horror, I found that it gave him a roguish, slightly off-balanced look that is adorable. I had assumed that his ear tip went missing during a fight or some other catastrophe that he survived in the Delaware wilds. Wrong! Clipped ears may mean that this cat was a member of the TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) Club. Also known as TTVAR (Trap-Test-Vaccinate-Alter-Release), this practice has advocates and opponents alike. Advocates say that neutering feral cats keeps down the stray animal population in urban areas and minimizes the risk of diseases including rabies, herpes and feline leukemia (which could effect healthy pets); Opponents say that stray cats are a natural predator of endangered species of birds and other small animals and should not be allowed to stay in the wild. In addition, they can spread parasitic diseases like ringworm and roundworm to healthy pets and humans. Since outdoor cats’ lifespans average 6-10 years, a single feral cat can potentially kill hundreds of birds, amphibians and rodents in its lifetime. Until I started reading articles and posts about TNR, I thought I was an advocate since the alternative is euthanasia. However, these feral cats more often than not lead miserable lives – out in the scorching heat of summer as well as the dismal cold of winter. Unless a cat finds a good hearted soul who will feed and care for him from afar, he may experience hunger on a regular basis. Feral cats are difficult, often impossible, to domesticate, so chances are they will never be adopted. Our Prancer is a lucky guy. He was young enough to be brought into foster care and grew into a healthy (albeit overweight) adult cat. He is friendly and lovable. He adapted well to our established cat, Todd. Todd has a story of his own. We got him from Rutgers University. A farming family set up a booth at Rutgers Days and gave a litter of kittens to college students who happened by. Although we are happy to have Todd in our midst, I wonder what happened to his littermates. There are hundreds of stray cats in and around the New Brunswick area surrounding the university. These cats are victims of pet owners not neutering their animals then giving away litters to college kids who cannot afford to care for these kittens (sure, anyone can set up a litter box and buy a few cans of food, but what about the hundreds of dollars for the vet?). The students go home for the summer, the parents don’t want the cats and so the poor animals are left behind on the street. The pros and cons of TNR will continue to be debated, but the bottom line is that humans have to take a stand. Don’t take a cat from anybody if you can’t care for it yourself; Do adopt from the ASPCA, a local shelter or a pet adoption agency. If you are lucky, you will find your own Prancer!