#TNR Programs Near Me

[randomtheidiot]

Warriors rewrite AU shit.

An AU where I take all the bad stuff in Warriors and make it good.

-Firestar is now a sassy bitch with anxiety-related anger issues. I remember rereading the first series and seeing how sarcastic and Fucking Done he was with everything and… I’m keeping that. He’s a snarky, funny guy now and the reason Bluestar doesn’t listen to him is because he’s blunt and abrasive. Let the man say Fuck.

-Sandstorm is no longer a generic hot girl. She is a grown ass woman with her own character and she Does Shit. She doesn’t immediately fall for Fire after he saves her and their relationship feels real. She is also three times the size of her husband. This is important to her character, trust me.

-Graystripe’s shit gets called out and he and Fireheart are Divorced by the end of Forest Of Secrets, with Longtail becoming the deputy after Whitestorm’s death. Instead of the subplot in Firestar’s Quest being about the ghost romance bullshit, it’s about Gray trying to rekindle his relationship with Fire.

-Tigerclaw is no longer pure chaotic evil. He has a motive beyond “get power” and it’s actually pointed out in the story that Bluestar sometimes makes questionable decisions, like making Fire and Gray warriors three moons early, apprenticing Cinder and Bracken to said underage warriors and generally not listening when she’s called out for something. Also, he kills Lionheart, who dies in the second book instead of the first.

-Smudge is actually upset about Rusty leaving and he tells all the other kittypets that Rusty got kidnapped by wildcats, which makes tensions between kittypets and clan cats even worse. Fireheart rarely goes near twolegplace anymore.

-BloodClan has been changed significantly and Scourge has received a complete overhaul. He’s brought into the story much earlier and his relationship with Tigerclaw is much more complicated. The reason he wants the forest territories is because among other things, there’s a TNR program in the city and his wife got spayed. He’s also a much better leader now, and the reason Barley left is because of how badly BloodClan was being affected by twolegs. Scourge is also really fluffy. Like, Cloudtail fluffy. This is important to his character.

-Bluestar is a flawed character. That is okay. Flawed female characters are a good thing, Warriors Fandom. There is nuance to her situation and she isn’t just some pure evil bitch. She is also gay for Yellowfang.

-Yellowfang is roughly the same, but her relationship with Raggedstar is actually called out as abusive. She also has a found family dynamic with Blue, Fire and Cinder.

-Cinderpelt actively chooses to be a medicine cat because she saw how Yellowfang treated her broken leg and began to look up to her as a role model. No more ableism. :)

-The Spottedfire crush thing is dead and buried and the Thistleclaw situation is handled much more delicately. Also, because Spottedleaf’s Heart ruined Thistleclaw’s character and his dynamic with Snowfur, I am swapping him out for a different character, probably an OC. You’re welcome.

-Snowkit lives but Speckletail dies. Neither of them can exist at once, it would damage the timeline irreparably.

[fiveminuterice]

since we’re going to be coming into the warmer months soon, now is a good time to remind people how they can help feral cat colonies in a very meaningful way.

TNR (Trap, Neuter/Spay, Release) is a way for people to help address feral cat populations in the most realistic way. The way this works is people, usually citizens in the area or volunteers, use humane traps to capture cats and kittens. After trapping, they bring them to a clinic for the cats to be neutered/spayed and vaccinated, then the cats are released back into their colonies.

While I fully support indoor cats, this is a way for people, who are reasonably uninterested in keeping feral cats, help control their populations . Typically TNR cats are eartipped (humanely under anesthesia) and get a small tattoo near the surgical site. This is so they know the cats have been altered.

If you live in Western Washington, the Feral Cat Project does TNR for free and will let you borrow a trap for a $85 deposit that you get back after you return it. I encourage people who are interested to do their own research to find clinics in their own area, as many will perform TNR for free or low-cost.

Additionally, if you have your own cat who needs to be spayed/neutered I suggest looking into low-income clinics as well if they apply to you. My vet quoted my cat’s spay to be $500, while a low-income spay clinic charged me $90. Some programs also offer free neuter/spay vouchers as well for those who qualify.

[skittyposting]

Here's a cutie caught for our tnr program ♡ he seems to be claiming my furniture, won't let me or my team near him though!

[ryaska]

Виставка у вереті на моїй голові

Персональна виставка Петра Ряски

TNR адвізор-кураторка:  Марія Ланько

Петро Ряска, учасник MAXXI Fontecchio резиденційної програми. MAXXI Fontecchio резиденційна програма – це проект, реалізований у співпраці з муніципалітетом Фонтеккіо та Fondazione Imago Mundi за підтримки Міністерства культури Італії.

У експонуванні виставки на голові взяли участь: Петро Ряска, Єгор Анцигін.

16.00, 1 березня, 2023 року, с.Фонтеккьо. Виставка розпочалась біля будинку в котрому жила леді Джованіна.

Є персональна виставка-подія котра ві��бувалась у вереті на моїй голові. Експонованими у вереті на голові були «полотна-діяння» та деякі об’єкти. Місце де відбулась «Виставка у вереті на моїй голові» було місце-простір над моєю головою котрий рухався разом зі мною у громадському місці села Фонтеккьо, на вулиці. Тривала виставка допоки зав`язка з творами мистецтва була експонована у мене на голові. Розпочалась виставка від мого будинку-резиденції в котрому жила маленька леді Джованінна. Зокрема я ніс на голові свої картини-діяння замотані у велику тканину-верету з мого будинку-резиденції до місця наступної події «З правом експозиції вздовж доріг овечих стежок». На «Виставку у вереті на моїй голові» мене надихнуло життя леді Джованніни котра була фермеркою та практикувала, як і більшість жінок Абруццо носити господарські речі на голові йдучи вулицею. 

Під час експозиції долучився допомогти мені експонувати виставку мій друг Єгор Анцигін. Котрий прокладав маршрут. Таким чином “Виставка у вереті на моїй голові” мала етап коли вона відбувалась на моїй голові та на голові Єгора Анцигіна разом.

Світлини: Debora Panaccione

(it)

Esposizione nel sacco/canovaccio sulla mia testa

Mostra personale di Petro Ryaska

TNR Advisor curator: Maria Lanko - The Naked Room Gallery

Petro Ryaska participant MAXXI Fontecchio Residence Program. MAXXI Fontecchio Residency Program è un progetto realizzato in collaborazione con il Comune di Fontecchio e la Fondazione Imago Mundi con il sostegno del Ministero dei Beni Culturali

16.00, 1 marzo 2023, borgo di Fontecchio

(eng)

Exhibition in the fabric on my head

Personal exhibition of Petro Ryaska

TNR advisor curator: Maria Lanko

Petro Ryaska participant MAXXI Fontecchio Residence Program. MAXXI Fontecchio Residency Program is a project realized in cooperation with the Municipality of Fontecchio and Fondazione Imago Mundi with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

In exhibiting the exhibition on the head participated: Petro Ryaska, Yehor Antsygin.

16.00, March 1, 2023, Fontecchio village. The exhibition started near the house where Lady Giovanina lived.

Is a personal exhibition-event that took place in the fabric on my head. Exhibited in the fabric on the head were “canvas-performance” and some objects. The place where the “Exhibition in the fabric on my head” was a place-space above my head that was move with me in the public place of the village of Fontecchio, on the street. The exhibition was lasted until the tie with works of art was exhibited on my head. The exhibition was start from my house-residence, where the little lady Giovanina lived. In particular, I was carry my performance-paintings wrapped in a large burlap cloth on my head from my house-residence to the place of the next event “With the right of exposition along the roads of sheep paths”. For the “Exhibition in the fabric on my head” I was inspired by the life of Lady Giovannina, who was a farmer and practiced, like most women in Abruzzo, to carry household items on her head when walking down the street.

During the exhibition, my friend Yehor Antsygin helped me to exhibit the exhibition. Who paved the route. Thus, the "Exhibition in a sack on my head" had a stage when it took place on my head and Yehor Antsygin's head together.

Photo credit Debora Panaccione

[bylightofdawn]

So I have a small feral cat colony living in my backyard that I've been feeding the past few years. Most of them are TNR males though there's one female who I cannot ever seem to capture or lure into a trap who is the bane of my existence.

Anyway, about 9 months ago I'd say a solid orange male joined the colony and has been hanging around and has formed a sorta trio with a couple of other ginger cats. One is an orange and white male who I named Love Bug because he's a super sweet and affectionate and he's been around for years. Then there's one of the feral kittens who showed up on my doorstep and is still a kitten who is now semiferal and will let me pet him etc. If I had a reputable no-kill shelter near me I would have taken him in a month ago since he's now old and completely weaned. I think he could be converted to an indoor pet if I could find a way to get him into a local foster program but all I have is my local kill shelter. Which sucks but beside the point.

This adult orange cat who showed up randomly will also let me pet him but he also plays a little rough. So I've been mentally calling him that dumb one-brain cell orange tabby because as we all know, orange tabbies have one brain cell and he's sharing it with two other orange tabbies. And it occurred to me that since he's a one-brain celled orange tabby who's a bit of a goofball brute who doesn't know his own strength then obviously he should be named Scortch after the RepComm character, right?

I amuse myself if nothing else. So yeah I'm thinking I"m going to call him that.

[evitcani-writes]

Don’t keep your cat outdoors.

If you let your cat outdoors unsupervised I will think you are a wildly irresponsible person who should not own a cat until you stop letting your cat be outdoors unsupervised.

in b4 “what about farm cats?”

Cats are an invasive species in most areas of the world. Dogs are far better at catching rodents and better trained to be around livestock. There are better solutions than animal neglect and environmental destruction to control rodent populations on farmlands.

Environmental destruction?

A study from 2013 shows that cats kill around 12.3 billion mammals and 2.4 billion birds annually in the US alone. That means they are the single greatest cause of anthropogenic (that means originating from human activity) mortality to wild animals.

89% of these mortality rates are from unowned cat populations. However, 50-80% of owned cats allowed outside for any period of time will hunt and kill wildlife. Prey will only be brought to the owner around 10% of the time.

Cats also kill animals indirectly through prey fear responses. The stress of a cat’s presence is too much for some animals. Studies found placing a cat near a nest only once reduced the amount the parents would feed young birds to 1/3rd of their previous levels. Furthermore, cats are vectors for animal hopping diseases from rabies to feline leukemia. And every mouse a cat kills is a mouse a hawk cannot eat.

Cats have directly or indirectly contributed to 26% (63 species) of all known contemporary extinctions of mammals, birds and reptiles and directly endanger 367 species at risk for extinction as of February 2020.

Well my cat is neutered so…

Trap Neuter Release (TNR) programs have been shown to have no effect on the mortality rate to native wildlife. The effects of reducing free-ranging cat populations over time with TNR is considered a net negative as it drives cats farther away from humans to invade other environments.

The most humane method is to trap, neuter and protect free-ranging cats. Ones who can live with humans should be rehomed and ones who cannot should go to indoor, artificial cat colonies. These latter ones are scarce in the US as not many people realize that maintaining indoor or contained cat colonies is an effective management program.

Science further shows lethal methods of control are net negative for the same reason as TNR. The fact is that cats will investigate other cats. And areas with contained but partially outdoor cat colonies will attract other cats and make them easier to protect.

Okay. What do you want me to do about it?

Keep! Your cat! Inside!

If you have been letting your cat outside unsupervised then stop doing that. They’ll whine to go out, but don’t let them out. If your cat is fully outdoors then either bring them in or rehome them if you are unable to afford the cost of their care.

Find and support your local indoor cat colonies (if you are lucky enough to have one). They’re doing SO much thankless work that no one ever sees. They’re giving “feral” cats a healthy environment to live out their natural lives free from threats they’d face in the wild without imposing domestication on them. These cats will never like humans and they still care for and check on each one every day.

Citations

Domestic cats and their impacts on biodiversity: A blind spot in the application of nature conservation law by Arie Trouwborst, Phillipa C. McCormack, Elvira Martínez Camacho

Fearing the feline: domestic cats reduce avian fecundity through trait-mediated indirect effects that increase nest predation by other species by Colin Bonnington, Kevin J. Gaston, Karl L. Evans

The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States by Scott R. Loss, Tom Will, Peter P. Marra

[jaskierslastbraincell]

that damn fluffy kitten AU premise

You know what it’s going to be a while before I’m ready to write the next chapter for Damn what the stars own, so why not finally share some points for my next fluffy excuse to infodump AU ?

Ladies and gentlefolks, please bear with me while I ramble about FOSTER KITTEN DAD GERALT OF RIVIA.

So we have Geralt, who is originally a part of the Kaer Morhen wildlife sanctuary and , run by the nonprofit managing the biggest portion of protected forests in Kaedwen.

Contrary to popular belief they are NOT a wolf-dog hybrid rescue (because I know nothing about wolf dogs and don’t want to accidentally spread misinformation in a fanfic lol)

But they have built a strong network with those rescues and sanctuaries because some assholes keep thinking “hey let’s dump the dog I didn’t think twice about breeding near the facility that is advocating for wild wolves protection right ??” 

No matter how much work they try to do, abandoned dogs (and even some that are absolutely not wolf mix but people are both assholes AND idiots) keep showing up like cockroaches and that’s why Geralt affectionately nickname them Roach.

Joke’s on him when he ends up keeping one and can’t bring himself to change her name.

Later, Geralt ends up the guardian of a tiny little Ciri whom he loves so very much, and moves into a better neighborhood to care for.

Tiny Ciri very much loves a stray cat that looks like hell and comes everyday asking for food and scritches and Geralt tries to say no, they’re not keeping the cat.

“Dad I think the cat is pregnant.”

“She’s just getting fat from all the treats you keep giving her.”

“Ciri, did you let the cat in this night when I told you not to ?”

“But dad there was a storm outside !!”

“Well now Roach is sad because there are kittens in her doggy bed.”

“!!! KITTENS !!!”

Geralt is fucked.

Geralt goes to the vet because he’s responsible but he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do with four blind and deaf fuzzballs and their mother.

Vet gives him the contact info for a few local rescues but tells him that at this period of the year they’re overrun with kittens and may not be able to get the kittens out of his hands.

(Geralt doesn’t want the kittens out his his hands at the moment because Ciri would kill him and he’s grown fond of the tiny babies)

(Geralt doesn’t call the rescue)

Vet gives plenty advices for how to care for the mama and babies until they’re fully weaned and adoptable. Also dewormer for everyone.

The four babies grow up well and poor Roach gets a new doggy bed.

The babies and the mama take over the new doggy bed as well.

Once the babies are of age (and vaccinated, chipped and neutered) Geralt manages to get them adopted on his own.

Surprisingly, Ciri doesn’t want to keep one of the tiny cute baby kittens, but instead is dead set on keeping the mama, who even now all fully pampered and loved still looks like an alley cat from a horror movie)

Ciri calls the mama “Roach” and Geralt is offended that HIS Roach is now “Dog Roach”.

It’s been a week since the babies are gone. Roach has been spayed and is a very happy lazy indoor cat who steals Dog Roach’s stuff from under her nose.

It’s quiet.

Very quiet.

Too quiet.

Ciri is very happy with Roach and was very understanding that they couldn’t keep the kittens. Doesn’t miss them too much, but asks Geralt to text their new families every two days to know how they’re doing.

But GERALT misses them.

Geralt remembers what the vet told him about rescues being at full capacity this time of the year.

Geralt calls a local rescue.

“Hum, hello, I hear you’re looking for foster families ?”

On the other side of the phone, a very, very sleep deprived Aiden can only answer with a “YES !!! THANK FUCK.”

(Renfri will never forgive Geralt for betraying them for the cat side)

(Eskel reminds her she adopted a kitten from Roach’s litter)

("Shrike is different okay !!”)

Many years later, Ciri has to move out for uni and Geralt keeps fostering.

Ciri is still very involved with cats though, and now that fostering is not possible due to housing rules that leaves time to do some trapping for the TNR program !

One weekend while visiting Geralt Ciri sees a cat in terrible shape in the garden of a house across the street.

The house has been sitting in good shape but uninhabited for years so Ciri doesn’t really think twice and doesn’t ring before pulling a trap cage from storage and crossing the street to look for the cat.

“Yennefer, why is there a teen who looks cooler than me on our porch and why do they appear to have a cage ??”

“I don’t know Julian it’s not my family’s house, now are you going to help me with those boxes or not ?”

[stinky-fussy-semi-ferals]

I've noticed a lot of comments on this post about these cats. I'm no expert on feral cats but I have my four dumb dumbs, so I have had experience. Feral cats aren't like a typical house cat, and none of them are the same in terms of socialization. Some outdoor cats will do just fine when introduced into a home like my other two cats who were always left outside by their last owner. However, other cats like my semi-ferals don't adjust as easy. Macca, Lenny and George have probably been feral all their lives, and because of that they were more hesitant around me at first. I wasn't able to decide to bring them indoors and let them be free because they really didn't want to be inside. I tried actually keeping Macca in the garage, and I think it's crueler to let a poor cat slam himself against the window where he could very well hurt himself than let him be outside where he's comfortable. He wasn't kept inside more than two minutes before I realized it wasn't going to work, although he is willing to come inside if a window or door is open, and I hope someday all my ferals will be content indoor cats. Back when the colony first appeared they wouldn't come close at all, but after sitting outside for countless hours they came near and I can even pet Lenny, and the outsider of the colony, Elton (who is an entirely different case, I believe he's a long abandoned stray because he doesn't get along well with the colony and he is the most talkative cat I have ever seen and as soon as I can I'm going to bring him in the garage and see how he acts). It takes lots of time to get feral cats used to being around humans. My cats went through a TNR program (trap, neuter release). It is much easier to catch a cat in a humane trap when the cats are used to the people who are feeding them. That very well could be what the situation above was. A feral cat association in the area may have heard about a large colony and brought loads of food out to try to get the cats used to being around people, and that's a good thing. However, using a whole cooked fish like that doesn't provide a ton of nutritional value and the bones are a choking hazard. A wet food/dry food mix would be best because then the cats will get all their nutrients and be hydrated. Some of the cats do look quite young. It is definitely easier to socialize a kitten because just like humans and almost every other animal I can think of, important things on how to survive are learned at a young age. I'm talking things like who to trust and communication skills. Older ferals have a harder time learning those skills, because they already survive just fine on their own, but some can change after time and patience and kindness. I do see that those cats are on pavement, so I assume they're in a city. In my personal opinion, it would be best for them to be relocated to a more rural area so they can be barn cats or easily domesticated. Barn cats are a good thing because they tend to keep mice and snakes away, which over all help farmers or anyone who lives in the woods and has had the unpleasant feeling of discovering a snake in your house or a rat in the place you want it least.

Though, all cats deserve love, and it really is our fault as humans for throwing them out, not getting them fixed and leaving them for dead. And while a shelter may not be the best place for a feral cat (they get euthanized because they're not very popular), there are other places like animal ranches or some farmers who need help with pest control that would gladly accept a TNRed feral. And TNR is simple and in some cases, such as my own, free. Google the area you live in and type in feral cat society or association after it. Resources should appear and there will be help. Also after a cat is fixed they're a whole lot easier to socialize, and the less kittens there are in the world, the less socialization will need to be done.

[alleycatallies]

Alley Cat Allies Helps Granite Shoals Adopt Lifesaving Trap-Neuter-Return Ordinance

This week, Granite Shoals, Texas, approved an update to its animal ordinance with heavy input from Alley Cat Allies that protects Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) and community cats throughout the city. This victory is the result of months of our guidance and hard work with the Granite Shoals community, sparked by horrific comments about killing the city’s cats in late 2023.

Now the groundwork is laid for a strong TNR program, and the city is enthusiastic to get started. Alley Cat Allies will continue to offer our expertise and support for TNR and help Granite Shoals become a model for Texas communities.

In December 2023, audio from a meeting of the city’s Wildlife Advisory Committee revealed a disturbing discussion, with the former City Manager present, about “mass euthanasia” and shooting and poisoning of community cats.

The audio included these disturbing quotes: “Poison food, could you somehow round them up in a mass cage or something,” “I would be in favor of euthanizing and euthanizing as many as quickly as possible,” “The only authorized legal process for euthanizing is a 22 round in the back of the head. We have a location on this property that’s called Deer Heaven that I’m sure could be kitty cat Heaven, too…”

Alley Cat Allies immediately sent a letter to the Granite Shoals City Council condemning the comments and offering our support in establishing a TNR program. In doing so, we stood in solidarity with the Granite Shoals Police Department, the Hill Country Humane Society, and the people of Granite Shoals—all of whom shared our outrage.

We attended several Granite Shoals City Council meetings in the following months, helping the city shape the future of its approach to community cats. Alley Cat Allies provided extensive improvements to Granite Shoals’ animal control ordinance, all geared toward creating protections for community cats, legalizing TNR, and defending community cat caregivers.

This incredible step forward is a testament to the compassion the Granite Shoals community has for its cats and its commitment to positive, lifesaving programs that benefit cats and the city as a whole. Granite Shoals’ new ordinance can serve as a blueprint for surrounding communities, setting a standard for the humane treatment of community cats.

We’ll continue to work with Granite Shoals to get its TNR program running smoothly and keep our supporters updated.

Content source: https://www.alleycat.org/alley-cat-allies-helps-granite-shoals-adopts-lifesaving-trap-neuter-return-ordinance/

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Kitty at the Garrison

Ok so cross your fingers for me to actually catch up with the other prompts. And yes this is inspired from that one post on tumblr that starts with the same lines. Garrison

“I know what you’re up to and you won’t get away with it.”

“Oh god. I know I’m not supposed to have it in here but it’s so cold outside and I panicked –”

“Wait, what?”

This wasn’t at all what he expected. He was coming back from his tutoring session with Adam, who seemed like the only person who believed that he had a chance of getting into the fighter pilot program, when he saw Keith sneaking around. Keith was the best student at the Garrison and everyone knew it. His test scores were perfect, his flight simulations always passed and he was Shiro’s favourite. He was also stuck up, arrogant and an asshole, at least in Lance’s eyes. He’d tried being nice to him when he first met him and got it thrown in his face. Lance was hurt and tired of getting compared and told how he wouldn’t compare. Some dark part of Lance just wanted to get Keith into trouble. He got into enough of that by himself and was getting in constant trouble for it but he always seemed to get chances. So he went to scare him, maybe get a provocation out of him, but he hadn’t been expecting that response.

He watched Keith undo the top few buttons of his orange uniform shirt and saw a small ginger head poke their head out. It was a kitten.

“Did you see it’s mom?” Lance asked, jumping into fostering mood. His family fostered a lot of cats. The lived near a large colony and would help with TNR a lot of the times. Only when the moms weren’t around or they snuck in the house to give birth there did they take human action and help raise them before adopting them out. “Tell me you didn’t just pick up a kitten without checking to see if it’s mom was there.”

“No, I was outside for hours and I kept my distance. She wasn’t even well hidden so I was sure she was alone but I double checked.”

“Ok, I need to get a better look at her to find out how old she is but we need to get her warm first.” Lance started listing off.

“Wait, we?”

“Yes we. There is no way that kitten has a chance if you’re the one raising it. I’m helping you. Now, do you have a heating pad or something?”

“No?”

“Ok fine. I’ll do it the old fashion way. Come on, my room is empty now. Hunk still has class.” Without even waiting for an answer, Lance grabbed Keith by his arm and pulled him to the dorms. He opened the door to his room, revealing the messy yet well lived in room. The loft beds weren’t made and the desks that were under them were almost just as messy. One loft bed had posters and pictures all around it while the other seemed to be covered in gadgets and cook books.

Lance threw his bag on the desk with the photos and opened one of the drawers to pull out a bag of rice. He also pulled out a can of KMR, kitten substitute, a bottle and a small can have wet food. He also pulled out a package of sock and pulled out one side, pouring some of the rice in the sock and stuck it in microwave. He saw Keith was still standing in the middle of the room, the kitten still curled up.

“Off.” He ordered.

“Huh?”

“Take your jacket off.”

“What?” Keith asked scandalized.

“So I can see the kitten idiot. I need to know how old she is and check if it even is a she.”

“Oh.” Keith undid the rest of his shirt and let Lance take the kitten from him. She felt thin and cold, no doubt from the sudden chill the area was experiencing. She was wiggling in his hands a lot. He didn’t have a scale to measure her she he gently opened her mouth and peeked inside. Her incisors were poking out and he saw the beginnings of canines, so she was 3-4 weeks. A quick peek under the tail proved she was a girl. “Go into the closet and on the floor there’s a tub. Grab one of the blankets in there so she can get warm with the heating pad.”

“What heating pad?”

“The rice filled sock? It’s gonna act as a heat source for her. Luckily, whoever her mom was didn’t leave her really young. She still needs to be bottle fed and there’s a chance she might already go to the bathroom by herself already but we’ll have to wait to find that out.”

“How do you know all this stuff?” Keith asked pulling a blue blanket out of the bin.

“My family fosters kittens. Animals aren’t allowed in the buildings unless service animals but I always have the items ready just in case.” Lance noticed Keith staring at him. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just…you usually seem to have nothing better to do than poke and prod at me so I didn’t realise you’d care about this sort of stuff.”

Lance bristled at that. “It might not accrue to you in the mullet head of yours, but I have other things I focus on and knocking you off your high horse is one of them. And another thing, even if I didn’t know how to properly take care of a young kitten, that wouldn’t stop me from trying. So how about you stop judging me and help me.”

Keith looked slightly apologetic and handed Lance the blanket, which Lance wrapped the kitten in and pulled the rice filled sock out of the microwave.

“Now start the kettle, I’ll teach you how to make a bottle. Once she gets warms, she’ll realise how hungry she is.”

Keith listened to Lance’s orders and watched as the hungry kitten downed the bottle of milk.

“Good girl, you were really hungry, weren’t you? Now the question is where the heck are we gonna keep you? Hunk is gonna be back in two hours, 3 if he decides to go sneak into the kitchen and cook something seeing how tonight is taco night. I swear, my family is Cuban, doesn’t really like tacos and can do better tacos than this place. She can’t stay here.”

“Well actually, I have a room all to myself.” Keith said.

Lance rolled his eyes, “Of course you do.”

“For your information, my roommate dropped out of the Garrison. All the other rooms were filled and no new students came in so I have the room all to myself. We can keep her in there.”

Lance thought for a second. “Fine. But I’m still helping to take care of her. I still don’t trust you to do this correctly. And you can’t tell Shiro, he’ll just go and tell Iverson.” Lance demanded.

“I can keep a secret.”

“But you can’t control your hair.” Lance muttered loud enough.

“Excuse me?”

“Pay attention, will you? She still has to be stimulated to go to the bathroom, unless she can do it herself, which in that case, you’ll be doing laundry a lot more. It’s gonna be kinda hard to hide a litter box.”

Keith sighed, like he was wondering what the hell he got himself into.

Keith flicked a wad of paper and watched the 5 week old kitten dash after it. She might just be at the age of wanting to start play but she was catching on pretty quick. Still a bit wobbly though. He still couldn’t believe he was keeping a cat in his dorm. It was a hassle having to rush back and forth between classes and his room to feed her, even with Lance’s help, but he was enjoying it. Even the extra time with Lance. He wasn’t sure if they’d ever truly consider themselves friends but they were pretty close. After the kettle in Lance’s room broke, they had to sneak into the kitchen to get hot water. Which meant Lance having to go and make some sort of fool of himself to distract everyone so Keith could fill a thermos of it. They worked well together surprisingly. Lance was still in charge of taking care of the kitten and he made it pretty well known. Keith just put up with it but Lance did know best. He’d watch Lance play with the cat and cuddle her, gently stroking her sleeping body with the pleasant smile on his face.

Speaking of which, Lance was late. His tutoring session with Adam had apparently been cancelled so Keith thought he’d be over once his classes ended.

There was pounding at his door, which startled the kitten.

“What?”

“There’s surprise inspections going on, they’re heading to our section next. I’d hide your things.” A cadet yelled from outside the door.

Shit. Fuck. Damn it.

Surprise inspections were just how they sounded. Different members of the staff would each take a section of the dorms and search all the rooms to make sure the students didn’t have anything they weren’t supposed to. They’d almost taken his mother’s dagger one time, but let it go when he mentioned it was a family heirloom. However that wasn’t going to fly with the kitten. He scooped up the kitten and hide her under one of the blankets at the end of the bed before shoving all the obvious cat stuff into his bag. The kitten started mewing in confusion but Keith quickly shushed her. Shiro had left a week ago on the Kerberos mission and even though he knew Adam and Shiro left on bad terms, Adam was still nice to him. He was hoping Adam would search his room, he’d understand.

“Inspection!”

Shit. It was Iverson.

With one last shush to the kitten, Keith opened the door, standing out of the commander. The man’s single eye took in the room.

“I should hope I don’t find anything in here.”

“No sir. Nothing at all.”

“Cadet, do you not have access to a broom? The floor is covered in paper.”

That it was. It was the simplest toy for the kitten to start playing with so pages had been ripped from his note books and made into balls. Most of them would end up in places the kitten didn’t want to reach so Keith would just make more.

“I was writing an essay sir. Wasn’t happy with what I was been writing so I tore it from my book.”

“Try not to kill the planet more.” Iverson ordered.

“Yes sir.”

The man walked around the room, Keith following him, hoping there weren’t anymore opportunities for him to get caught. He opened the closet, drawers from his desk and the extra storage containers. Keith glanced up to where the kitten was hiding, glad the blanket wasn’t moving. He might just get out of this. Then of course, Iverson lifted the mattress and the kitten made her displeasure known, loudly.

“What the?” ripping the blanket away, the kitten meowed even louder. Iverson turned to Keith, who looked away.

Shit. Fuck. Damn it.

Lance stood by the door that lead out to the parking lot and watched as a Garrison Jeep pulled in and Adam got out. He didn’t bother waiting for him to come into the building, Lance ran out to meet him instead.

“Is it true? Did they expel Keith?”

“No thankfully not. Luckily your sister pointed out everything that Keith had was to help raise the kitten, so most of the board couldn’t find fault in Keith taking in a kitten to take care of it, especially after the cold front.”

“Did he say who helped him?”

Adam looked confused. “What are you talking about? Keith said he found and raised the kitten himself. Apparently, he fostered kittens before so had the stuff needed.”

Lance was surprised. Keith never told the board he was involved.

“Where’s the kitten now?”

“With your sister. Why?”

“I need you to do me a favour and take me to where Keith is.”

“Why?”

“I’ll explain later. Just wait for me ok?”

Lance ran back inside and tracked Veronica down, where he found her feeding the kitten. She pulled away from the bottle when she saw her other owner though.

“Hey sweetie.” Lance greeted.

“’Sweetie’? Lance how do…wait.”

“I might have been the one to help Keith, but I guess he didn’t give me up for some strange reason.” Lance still didn’t understand why. Ok yeah, they bonded over taking care of the kitten. It’d had might of only been 2 weeks of taking care of the kitten together, but Lance found didn’t hate Keith as much as he did before. They had a few things in common and could actually have a conversation. He still didn’t think it would not be enough for Keith not to give him up.

“Keith said he was the only one involved. He never mentioned you.”

“Yeah, I know. Look, can you help me? I want to take her to Keith. I need to talk to him anyway.”

Veronica looked like she had questions but agreed to help. She signed a pass for Lance to be let off the grounds and packed up the kitten’s things, making sure Lance wasn’t caught as he rushed back out to meet Adam.

“So…last time I checked, you didn’t exactly get along with Keith. How did that change?” Adam asked.

“Well, I found him sneaking back in and after getting yelled at by Iverson that day, I just wanted to get him in trouble. Then I found out he’s snuck this girl in and I knew he’d have no clue how to take care of her. So I told him I’d help and we bonded I guess.”

“I’m proud of you.” Adam said, Lance looking at him in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I know how much you don’t like Keith, even if I do. You could have gotten him expelled but you didn’t because you wanted to take care of the kitten and the fact that you were worried about him tells me you actually care about him.”

Lance shrugged. “I guess so. I mean, he’s not that bad.”

“I’m glad you think so. I think he could benefit from having a friend like you.”

Keith was on the porch of the wooden cabin Adam pulled up. He seemed extremely confused until he saw what Lance was carrying.

“How did you get her back?” He asked, meeting Lance halfway.

“My sister was looking after her.” Keith looked confused. “Communication Specialist McClain? That’s my older sister.”

“Oh. Um, can I?”

Lance let Keith take the kitten out of the bundle he’s kept her in so she wouldn’t squirm during the ride. She quickly made herself at home on Keith’s chest, her claws hooking to his shirt.

“Can I ask you something? You could have told the board that I was also involved, why didn’t you?”

Keith was pretty quiet before he answered. “I didn’t think you deserved to get in trouble. Besides, it would have pushed back your chances in getting into the Fighter Pilot program.”

Lance didn’t think Keith actually had been paying attention when he mentioned that. “But what about you?”

“I get in trouble all the time, this is nothing new.”

“Well, thanks. I thought that since you got suspended for a month, you could take care of her. Usually cats are adopted out at at least 8 weeks and I thought she would benefit staying with someone she knows. I can come by as much as I can.”

“You could get in trouble.” Keith pointed out.

“You’re not the only one who can break a few rules.” Lance answered, a confident smirk on his face.

“I’m sure.” Keith said, a teasing smirk on his face.

Adam couldn’t help but laugh at the scene. Those two, they were like him and Takashi. Maybe when he got back, he could talk things out with him.

[happyhealthycats]

We have a stray cat that comes and eats my cat's food (my cats: 1m, 1f, desexed, indoor/outdoor). They seem cautious of the stray cat - will hiss and what I feel is defensive ("pretend to be tough"). But will also let him eat. The stray cat will watch us if we are near but will still eat in our presence as long as we don't get too close. Thoughts on what's happening and if it's offensive to our cats if we give the stray food - I do this sometimes if I'm able to.

So this may be succinct, because I’ve always been vocal about my opinion of indoor/outdoor cats (a brief summary: don’t). 

Do not feed stray cats, regardless of how your own cats interact with them. Certain places have laws about ownership of cats, and feeding a stray cat may LEGALLY make you responsible. Meaning, this cat gets hurt, you have to take them to the vet or you may be charged with animal neglect. 

If you are concerned about a stray cat in your area, contact your local shelter. Local colonies need to be documented and cared for by professionals. They may use volunteers, but those volunteers have a lot of legal protection that the average person may not.

Like I said, I’m only aware of the laws where I live (and where I live is very strict about the “you feed it you own it” mentality), so you have to do your own research. Reach out to your local shelter and see what your options are. See if the cat can be identified by a TNR program and in a known colony, if not, get that cat to a shelter immediately.

(Also, as an aside, not using this post to go off on TNR programs. I’ve dealt with enough controversy on this blog and if y’all want to deal with it it’s on y’all. If you want a private opinion you can DM me).

[daughterofbastet]

Deity Diaries: Bastet

(Fun little side project i’ve decided to do for this blog. These will simply be pages with my UPG and other things related to deities I work with.)

Name/Nicknames found acceptable: Bast, Bastet, Cat Mom, (She jokingly suggested Dancing Queen to be added here)

Favorite Offerings: Me dancing with my dog while laughing uncontrollably in her honor, helping TNR programs near me, donating to shelters either via money, resources, or my own time, devoting taking my antidepressants to her, Incense burnt at her altar, clean water left out for her, any meal i’ve made for myself especially if it took a good deal of time and effort or is especially made in her honor, milk particularly that from my cereal which is sweeter, jewelry with copper, silver, and turquoise coloration, a large fish shaped piggy bank which i fill with all the pennies I find while walking and save for her, shiny dangly things to hang up on her altar, soft naturally scented perfumes and smell good items like candles and air freshener. 

What she helps me with: Self-acceptance, healthy coping, positive thinking, making and keeping healthy relationships, accepting my more feminine aligned traits and habits, self-care, confidence, finding my relationship to the earth/nature, finding more joy and happiness in my life, understanding when it’s okay to do things for myself and when it’s more important to do things for others

Deities I have found she works well with: Anubis, Sekhmet, Loki, Artemis, Apollo, Hera, Persephone, Hel, Frigg, Freya, Aphrodite, and Sigyn

Deities I have she has conflicts with: None so far, though mostly I have found she is mostly indifferent to others

Signs/Symbols she has sent: Cats randomly showing up and meowing under my window for nights until i do the thing she wants, Random perfume/incense scents reminding me what she prefers or that she wants me to make an offering for her, things she likes/wants for her altar falling off my shelves, articles she wants me to read randomly popping up along with her image or images of cats nearby multiple times, the sound of purring when there are no cats around, seeing the shadow of a cat or feline shape out of the corner of your eye when there are no cats around

Other things I want to mention about her:  She has taken a very motherly role for me and was the first deity to reach back out to me when I tried to contact them. She has been very understanding and kind and taught me a lot about my relationship with the divine and how to communicate and what to look for when working with other deities. She has been the most vocal and easy to communicate with out of all the deities I work with and I can not say enough how grateful I am to her and how much I love her. She is a very positive and bright energy in my life and I am honored to have her be a part of who I am now. Dua Bastet!

[arrow-dodger]

So my neighbor has these kittens.

Well, more specifically, they have a couple of cats, and one of them is a girl cat, and she got pregnant. She had four kittens, but one of them went mysteriously missing, leaving three.

The neighbors (a couple probably in their 50s-60s) do not want any cats, much less five fucking cats. The original cats apparently belonged to their daughter, who is addicted to meth or something and who they kicked out of their house, leaving the cats with them. They decided it wasn’t their responsibility to get the cats fixed, and so not only did the one cat have the three existing kittens, but she’s pregnant again. As a big advocate of spaying/neutering your animals and TNR programs, and also a person who has extreme childhood trauma surrounding this subject that I still have nightmares about on the daily, this is fucking infuriating for me. 

But anyway. Three kittens. They’re around four months old, I would say.

I’ve started befriending them. Because of course I have.

There is a tortoiseshell girl, a ginger tabby boy, and a gray tabby girl. I’ve been hanging out with them (they mostly come out at night -- I think the people keep them in their garage or something??) and feeding them both cat food and leftovers from our dinners when appropriate. The only one still super afraid of me is the tortie girl, who I’ve dubbed Mipha, and I haven’t gotten to pet her at all. The tabby girl, who Cody named Gwyn, will come near and let me touch her, but is still a bit wary of being offered food. The ginger boy, still nameless, is the opposite -- super keen to accept food, but a bit more nervous with the petting.

I don’t know exactly what I’m getting myself into here, considering I already have a cat, but hey, we’ll see what happens. I at least want to try and get them fixed, because we don’t need any more kittens running about in the wild here on Earth. Wish me luck with my latest endeavor here, friends.

[joyyywd]

Reposted from @arastharescue Two stray female cats that I feed near my house, I have secured to be spayed. Even though there is no donation for their sterile costs, I decided to sterilize them immediately, because in my opinion this is urgent because they are female cats who live outside, if it takes too long to spay them, they can get pregnant. Fur friends, let's help the TNR program @arastharescue, TNR is also very important! #spayedandneuteredyourpets *** 2 kucing betina liar yang saya beri makan dekat rumah saya, sudah saya amankan untuk steril. Walaupun donasi belum ada untuk biaya steril mereka, tapi saya me memutuskan untuk segera steril mereka, karena menurut saya ini urgent karena mereka adalah kucing betina yang dihidup diluar, jika kelamaan untuk steril mereka, mereka bisa hamil. Temen-temen bulu yuk bantu program TNR @arastharescue, TNR juga sangat penting! #spayedandneuteredyourpets *** I female cat : $45USD / Rp. 550.000 Donations can be sent to PayPal or Local Bank (in bio) #tnr #spayedandneuteredyourpets #donationAR #donate #donatefortnr #arastharescue #pasukanarastharescue #anabulsarastharescue #arastharescue #catrescue #catrescueindonesia #catsofinstagram #lovecats #catpictures #catsoftoday #catsofthedays #catmoments #catlover #familycat #ilovemycat #funnycatvideos #cutecat #beautifulcat #adorablecat #malecat #adultcat #handsomecat #beautifulcats #stylecat (ที่ Medan, Indonesia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMrD6drhLVz/?igshid=1vzv10e3zbrc3

[ryaska]

Esposizione nel sacco/canovaccio sulla mia testa

Mostra personale di Petro Ryaska

Advisor curator: Maria Lanko - The Naked Room Gallery

Petro Ryaska participant MAXXI Fontecchio Residence Program. MAXXI Fontecchio Residency Program è un progetto realizzato in collaborazione con il Comune di Fontecchio e la Fondazione Imago Mundi con il sostegno del Ministero dei Beni Culturali

ore 16.00, 1 marzo 2023, borgo di Fontecchio

La mostra inizierà nei pressi della casa in cui visse la signora Giovannina

È un’esposizione-evento personale che sarà contenuta in un grande sacco/canovaccio sulla mia testa. Esposti nel sacco sulla testa ci saranno le "tele-azioni", disegni e alcuni oggetti. Il luogo dove si svolgerà l’Esposizione nel sacco/canovaccio sulla mia testa è un luogo-spazio sopra la mia testa che si muoverà con me nei luoghi pubblici del borgo di Fontecchio, sulle strade. L’esposizione continuerà fino a quando il nodo e le opere d'arte saranno esposte sulla mia testa. La mostra partirà dalla mia casa-residenza, dove abitava la signora Giovannina. In particolare, porterò le mie opere e quadri sulla mia testa avvolti in un grande sacco/canovaccio di juta a partire dalla mia casa-residenza fino al luogo del prossimo evento Con diritto di esposizione lungo le strade dei tratturi. Per l’Esposizione nel sacco/canovaccio sulla mia testa mi sono ispirata alla vita della signora Giovannina, che era una contadina e, come la maggior parte delle donne abruzzesi, portava sulla testa vari oggetti casalinghi quando camminava per la strada.

Traduzione in italiano Patryck Kalinski

(укр)

Виставка у вереті на моїй голові

Персональна виставка Петра Ряски

TNR advisor curator: Марія Ланько

Petro Ryaska participant MAXXI Fontecchio Residence Program. MAXXI Fontecchio Residency Program is a project realized in cooperation with the Municipality of Fontecchio and Fondazione Imago Mundi with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

16.00, 1 березня, 2023 року, с.Фонтеккьо. Виставка розпочнеться біля будинку в котрому жила леді Джованіна.

Є персональна виставка-подія котра відбуватиметься у вереті на моїй голові. Експонованими у вереті на голові будуть «полотна-діяння», малюнки та деякі об’єкти. Місце де відбуватиметься «Виставка у вереті на моїй голові» є місце-простір над моєю головою котрий рухатиметься разом зі мною у громадському місці села Фонтеккьо, на вулиці. Триватиме виставка допоки зав`язка з творами мистецтва буде експонована у мене на голові. Розпочнеться виставка від мого будинку-резиденції в котрому жила маленька леді Джованінна. Зокрема я нестиму на голові свої твори та картини замотані у велику тканину-верету з мого будинку-резиденції до місця наступної події «З правом експозиції вздовж доріг овечих стежок». На «Виставку у вереті на моїй голові» мене надихнуло життя леді Джованніни котра була фермеркою та практикувала, як і більшість жінок Абруццо носити господарські речі на голові йдучи вулицею.

(eng)

Exhibition in the fabric on my head

Personal exhibition of Petro Ryaska

TNR advisor curator: Maria Lanko

Petro Ryaska participant MAXXI Fontecchio Residence Program. MAXXI Fontecchio Residency Program is a project realized in cooperation with the Municipality of Fontecchio and Fondazione Imago Mundi with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

16.00, March 1, 2023, Fontecchio village. The exhibition will begin near the house where Lady Giovanina lived.

Is a personal exhibition-event that will take place in the fabric on my head. Exhibited in the fabric on the head will be "canvas-action", drawings and some objects. The place where the "Exhibition in the fabric on my head" will take place is a place-space above my head that will move with me in the public place of the village of Fontecchio, on the street. The exhibition will continue until the tie with works of art is exhibited on my head. The exhibition will start from my house-residence, where the little lady Giovanina lived. In particular, I will carry my works and paintings wrapped in a large burlap cloth on my head from my house-residence to the place of the next event "With the right of exposition along the roads of sheep paths". For the "Exhibition in the fabric on my head" I was inspired by the life of Lady Giovannina, who was a farmer and practiced, like most women in Abruzzo, to carry household items on her head when walking down the street.

[naturecpw]

The Moral Cost of Cats

A bird-loving scientist calls for an end to outdoor cats “once and for all.”

Smithsonian Magazine - Rachel E. Gross

Do outdoor cats need to die? 

Pete Marra is haunted by cats. He sees them everywhere: slinking down alleys, crouched under porches, glaring at him out of wild, starved eyes.        

People assume that Marra, head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and author of the book Cat Wars, hates cats. This is not the case. “I love cats,” he says, calling them “fascinating, magnificent animals,” that seem to have a “freakish love for me.” He’s even considered a pet cat, despite being mildly allergic. “This is the thing people don’t realize,” Marra told me at a café near his office in Washington, D.C. “I’m both a wild animal advocate and a domestic animal advocate. If my mother thought I wasn’t supporting cats, she’d be flipping in her grave.”        

It’s an understandable mistake. After all, Marra has made himself the public face of what sounds a lot like an anti-cat crusade. For years, the wildlife ecologist has been investigating the lethal implications of cats and urging that pet owners keep them indoors. He argues in Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer, co-authored with freelance writer Chris Santella, the time has come for more drastic action: a concerted, nationwide effort to rid the landscape of cats. (The book is based on Marra’s personal and scientific research, and the views and conclusion are expressly his own and do not represent those of the Smithsonian Institution.)        

That effort will require an ugly reality: the targeted killing of felines. “No one likes the idea of killing cats," Marra concludes in his book. "But sometimes, it is necessary."        

Marra might like cats. But he also sees a bigger picture. In his day job, he and his team at the migratory bird center track the global movements of birds and tease apart threats to their existence. He knows that birds don’t just twit around pointlessly. They pollinate plants, spread seeds, control insects and protect environments from the effects of climate change; they are the glue that binds healthy ecosystems together. “Birds are critical,” he says. And outdoor cats, he and other ecologists have determined, are the leading human-influenced cause of dead birds.        

  In 1962, biologist Rachel Carson wrote that “in nature nothing exists alone.” Marra couldn’t agree more. Like Carson, he thinks of life on Earth as a complex tapestry in which each species represents a single thread. Outdoor cats threaten that tapestry. Their crimes include contributing to 33 extinctions around the world and counting, to say nothing of their potential to spread deadly diseases like rabies and Toxoplasmosis. They hold in tooth and claw the power to destroy that delicate web—like, well, a cat unraveling a ball of string.        

Americans own about 86 million cats, or one cat for every three households. That makes cats more popular, petwise, than dogs, and we haven’t even gotten to Internet memes yet. But not all pet cats are created equal. The majority of them—about two-thirds to three-fourths, surveys say—are your sweet, harmless, cuddly housecats, which seldom set foot outside. Marra takes no issue with these lap cats. Their instincts may be lethal, but they rarely get the chance to harm more than a house mouse. 

The other one-quarter to one-third, though, aren’t so harmless. These are outdoor pet cats, and they are murderers. Equipped with laser-quick paws and razor-tipped claws, these natural born killers are the stuff of every bird and small mammal’s nightmare. Often we love them for just this quality; the hard-working barn cat has nipped many a country mouse infestation in the bud. But sometimes their deadly instincts spell trouble for animals and ecosystems we value—and often, Marra argues, desperately need.        

Marra tells the story of Tibbles the cat, who traveled with her owner to an untouched island south of New Zealand in 1894. There, she single-pawedly caused the extinction of the Stephens Island wren, a small, flightless bird found only in that part of the world. Most cats aren’t as deadly as Tibbles, but your average outdoor pet cat still kills around two animals per week, according to the Wildlife Society and the American Bird Conservancy. The solution for these cats is simple, says Marra: Bring them indoors. The Humane Society of the United States agrees.        

 So far, so good. Now comes the real problem: unowned cats, which include strays and ferals. Born in the wild or abandoned, feral cats spend almost no time with humans; they’re basically wild animals. Stray cats, by contrast, often have a working relationship with humans. They might live in managed communities, where a human caretaker regular feeds and watches over them—“subsidizing” them, in Marra’s words—meaning their numbers can soar to rates they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Whether stray or feral, these cats kill on average three times as many animals as owned cats, according to Marra.        

No one knows exactly how many stray and feral cats stalk the U.S. They are, by nature, elusive and transient. In a 2012 study, Marra used an estimate of 30 to 80 million; the Humane Society estimates a more conservative 30 to 40 million. Adithya Sambamurthy from the Center for Investigative Reporting’s The Reveal recently reported that unowned cats may rival the number of pet cats, placing them at about 80 million. That means, for every lap cat hunkering over his dish of Fancy Feast, there is another one prowling around for his dinner—like an evil twin, or a particle of antimatter.        

For these cats, there is no easy solution. This is where Marra’s unorthodox plan comes into play. As he writes: 

In high-priority areas there must be zero tolerance for free-ranging cats. If the animals are trapped, they must be removed from the area and not returned. If homes cannot be found for the animals and no sanctuaries or shelters are available, there is no choice but to euthanize them. If the animals cannot be trapped, other means must be taken to remove them from the landscape—be it the use of select poisons or the retention of professional hunters.                

Feral cat advocates and ecologists agree on very little. But one thing they both will say is this: There are too many cats outside. Feral cat advocates say these dense numbers threaten the welfare of cats themselves, which lead miserable lives colored by fights and starvation. Ecologists, meanwhile, worry about those cats’ victims—as well whether the cats might be spreading disease to humans and other animals.        

Management of these overabundant felines is where the two disagree. For many animal welfare advocates, the solution is TNR, or Trap-Neuter-Return. TNR is just what it sounds like: a policy that involves trapping stray and feral cats, sterilizing them and returning them to the urban wilds in the hopes that populations will decrease. In the past decade, TNR has gone mainstream in many cities, helped along by generous funding from pet food companies including Petco and PetSmart. The premise is simple: Cats live out their lives, but don’t reproduce.        

Becky Robinson, president of the advocacy group Alley Cat Allies and a major proponent of TNR, calls the method “effective, humane control.” “This is a benefit directly to the cats,” she told me over the phone. (Two communications staffers from Robinson’s organization were listening in our conversation, to give you an idea of the delicateness of the topic.)        

Some researchers have documented surprising successes with TNR. Dr. Julie Levy of the University of Florida in Gainesville and colleagues conducted one of the first long-term studies on the effectiveness of TNR, publishing their results in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2003. They sought to quantify whether TNR could succeed in a specific population: stray cats colonies on the campus of the University of Central Florida.        

The researchers expressed doubts at the outset, reporting that “virtually no information exists to support the contention that neutering is an effective long-term method for controlling free-roaming cat populations.” Yet in 2016, more than ten years after their study concluded, just five cats remained on campus—and these are so old and sickly they had to be given geriatric care. Even Levy was taken aback by the results. “We keep seeing better success in the field than the models ever predict,” she says. However, much of the decrease can be attributed to the fact that volunteers often end up adopting cats—a phenomenon Levy considers an unofficial part of many TNR programs.        

Despite these kinds of successes, many ecologists say flatly that TNR doesn’t work. The problem is that, for TNR to succeed in large populations, at least 75 percent of cats in a colony must be sterilized. That rarely happens. The trouble is that negligent pet owners continue to abandon pet cats, which then join existing colonies; additionally, non-neutered stray cats can wander in. Like efforts at vaccinating schools against chickenpox, just a few stragglers can undermine an entire TNR program. Any short-term reduction in colony size is therefore quickly reversed, a group of researchers including Levy and ecologist Patrick Foley reported after studying nearly 15,000 stray and feral cats.        

For Marra, TNR is a feel-good solution that is no solution at all—a Band-Aid that has done little to stem the flow of cats. By refusing to look at the reality, he says, we are letting our “misplaced compassion” for cats get the better of our reason. That is why he and some other ecologists call for a more draconian approach: widespread removal of feral and stray cats, including euthanasia.        

The concept isn’t as radical as it sounds. Australia aims to kill two million cats by 2020 using “robots, lasers, [and] poison.” New Zealand, as I’ve reported previously, has long perpetrated mass warfare on possums, stoats and weasels in a bid to save its beloved birds. In America, too, we cull mammals—including gray wolves, which can prey on livestock and pets, and bison, our national mammal, which can spread bacterial infections to cattle. We even kill cats: American shelters put down more than 1.4 million cats a year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.        

That doesn’t mean we’re comfortable with it. “That’s the aspect that is most alarming about the animal welfare groups, is the fact that often the only reasonable solution of getting rid of invasive species is lethal control,” says Stanley Temple, a wildlife ecologist who argued for the necessity of eradicating invasive species in a 1990 essay The Nasty Necessity. “And that is the single thing that they are so vehemently opposed to. Their hang-up, if you will, on death.” 

Given the unpopularity of eradication programs in the U.S., it would seem inadvisable for any researcher to make one part of his platform of action. But this, Marra says, is our only option. Now his challenge is to get others on his side. To do so he will need more than science—he will need to get people to empathize with birds, and to value species and ecosystems over individuals.      

Marra likes to say that birds saved him, which isn't far off. He was raised mainly by his mother, who worked full-time to support him and his three siblings after his father left when he was an infant. As a result, he enjoyed a relatively feral childhood. By the time he was six, he found himself wandering alone in the woods near his house in Norwalk, Connecticut, swimming in lakes, climbing trees and digging in the dirt for star-nosed moles, frogs and salamanders. He loved catching animals of all kinds—“anything wild,” he says now.        

The Westport Nature Center, a half-mile walk down the hill from his house, became a refuge. With its living wild animals and displays of taxidermied ruffed grouse, the center got Marra asking questions about how his surroundings came to be. One day, a naturalist at the center caught a black-capped chickadee in a mist net, and placed it in his hands. He remembers cupping the bird delicately, “looking into its eyes, feeling its feathers, feeling its wildness,” as he recalled at a Smithsonian event. Meeting the bird’s black marble gaze, a switch flipped in his brain.

“It was a remarkable moment that I’ll never forget,” he said at the event. “The aura of the bird almost entered my body. It was really kind of a transformational experience for me.” 

Throughout a tumultuous childhood, birds provided an anchor. “Birds saved me, because they were always this constant thread that I could come back to,” he says. “It was the one stable thing in my life.” When he went to Southern Connecticut State University to study biology, he quickly realized that dusty specimens in libraries held little appeal. “I was less interested in understanding the subtleties between plumages,” he says. “I was much more interested in watching live birds.”

  In 1999, Marra took a job as a wildlife ecologist at Smithsonian's Environmental Research Center to be on the front lines of human encroachment on the natural environment. When West Nile virus began leaving a trail of dead crows, he started looking into bird mortality. In 2011, he published a paper in the Journal of Ornithology that followed the fate of young gray catbirds in the Maryland suburbs. Soon after leaving the nest, 79 percent of birds were killed by predators, primarily cats, which leave the telltale sign of decapitated victims with just the bodies uneaten. (Ironically, this bird gets its name not because it commonly ends up in the jaws of cats, but from its vaguely catlike yowl).        

The following year, Marra got more ambitious: He decided to tally up the national toll that outdoor cats take on wildlife. He and colleagues used mathematical models to analyze data from local cat predation studies going back more than 50 years. When they extrapolated the data to reflect national trends, they were stunned. According to their calculations, outdoor cats killed somewhere in the ballpark of 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion small mammals in the U.S. per year—far exceeding any other human-influenced cause of avian death, such as pesticides or collisions with windows.  

When Marra saw the number “2.4 billion,” he knew that the claws were about to come out. He was right. On January 29, 2013, the same day the paper was published in the journal Nature Communications, the New York Times featured a front-page article highlighting his findings entitled “That Cuddly Killer Is Deadlier Than You Think.” The piece became the newspaper's most-emailed article of the week. It garnered more than a thousand comments online, ranging from outraged (“I'm tired of everyone putting down cats and trying to justify their extermination”) to pointed (“It’s the large bipeds who are the problem, not their cats”) to satirical (“Eat more cat!”). 

Marra read them all. Many were personal insults directed squarely at him. Some suggested that he should be predated or euthanized. Marra understands how emotional people can get about cats—he has entered into many a dinner table debate with his 15-year-old daughter, a long-time vegetarian and animal lover, over cat policy—so he tries to take these reactions with a grain of salt. Still, he admits, “it hurts.” When I ask him how he deals with the constant backlash, he laughs. “Good question,” he says. “It’s actually because I believe in what I do. And if I don’t do it—well, I’ve got one life. This is it. This is the now.” 

More bothersome than the personal attacks were the attacks on his research methodology. The most relentless was Peter Wolf, a vocal feral cat advocate who called Marra’s paper “garbage,”“junk science” and “an agenda-driven effort to undermine TNR” on his blog, Vox Felina. Wolf took issue with the levels of uncertainty in Marra’s paper, alleging that the numbers were “wildly inflated,” came from biased sources, and drew upon just just a handful of studies. “When seen in context, these astronomical figures alone raise questions of credibility,” Wolf wrote on his blog. “It doesn’t seem like science to me,” he told me recently.

It was, Marra admits, a wide range. He and his colleagues estimated that “free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually.” The reason for the discrepancy was the woeful lack of data on feral cat populations and their lifestyles. Marra worked with the limited data he had, synthesizing the results from previous studies and augmenting them with predation numbers from Europe, Australia and New Zealand. By including both the lowest and highest possible estimates for cat predation, he thought he was covering all his bases.  

In all the fighting and flying fur, Marra saw an opportunity. By the time his paper was published in Nature Communications, he was already thinking about writing a book. “I knew this had huge potential for creating a lot of controversy,” he says. “But also conversation. To me, it’s really about the conversation and trying to figure out: how do we come to some resolution on this thing?” 

Cats kill; that much is clear. “The science is all pretty bloody obvious,” as Michael Clinchy, a Canadian biologist focusing on predator-prey relationships at the University of Victoria, puts it. But cats also spread disease. Outdoor cats can transmit plague, rabies, feline leukemia and a mysterious parasite known as Toxoplasma gondii. The extinction of the Hawaiian crow, or ʻalalā, in 2002 is thought to have been caused in part by the spread of Toxoplasma via feral cats. “The diseases from cats is what’s going to change this whole equation,” Marra says. 

Cat feces, 1.2 million tons of which are excreted a year, are known to contain Toxoplasma. The single-celled parasite enters the brain and changes the behavior of prey animals like rats, which can show a strange attraction to cat urine. About 10 to 20 percent of Americans also harbor the parasite, which can be absorbed through contact with litter boxes, drinking contaminated water or eating undercooked meat. Once believed to hang out harmlessly in the human brain, some scientists now believe that Toxoplasma may actively change the connections between our neurons—shifting dopamine levels, altering personalities and even triggering diseases like schizophrenia in genetically susceptible individuals.

Marra calls Toxoplasma a contaminant on the order of DDT, the broad-scale chemical pesticide used to control insects and combat infectious disease up until the 1960s. (DDT lingers in the environment for years, where it can threaten human and animal health, as Rachel Carson documented in her book Silent Spring.) In fact, Marra thinks of outdoor cats themselves as a DDT-like contaminant—wreaking widespread, unnatural havoc on their surroundings. The difference, to him, is that DDT has never been known to wipe out a species, while cats have been implicated in at least 33 extinctions thus far. 

The Toxoplasma threat, Marra writes, makes outdoor cats nothing less than a public health issue. He recommends that the federal government take on the task of eradicating cats from the landscape, via the Centers for Disease Control. He imagines taxpayer-supported public education campaigns, billboards about disease dangers and the importance of keeping cats inside, and large-scale eradication programs in vulnerable areas like Hawaii. To Wolf and others, the idea of such a policy is “absurd” and “screams of desperation.” But to Marra, it’s simply a logical conclusion: “We need to minimize the impact humans have,” he says. “Cats are one of the impacts.”

Science might be able to tell us how many animals cats kill per year. But it can’t tell us what that means—nor what we should do about it. It is us who attach moral weight to cats, by projecting our fear and fantasies upon them. Tibbles was “doing only what her instinct told her to do,” Marra writes. We make cats into pets or pests; victims or villains; those who suffer or those who cause suffering.  

At the heart of this debate is a question not of data, but of aesthetics, principles and philosophies. That is: In a world fundamentally shaped by humans, who is to say whether birds and native wildlife have any more right to the landscape than domestic cats do? Should the goal be to rewind the urban landscape back to before the arrival of Europeans—and is that even possible?  

Conservation biologists have always called these kinds of shots themselves. “We’ve made a judgment that biodiversity is good,” says Temple. For Marra, cats represent yet another destructive footprint man has made on the landscape. To rid the country of their presence is therefore to restore some pre-human balance of nature, some lost sense of grace. It is to protect those creatures that cannot save themselves. “It is essential,” he says, “that we save these species.”        

In his closing chapter, Marra warns that Americans may soon awaken to dead birds and “muted birdsong, if any at all.” It’s another nod to Rachel Carson, whose defense of nature helped spark the modern environmental movement. Today we’ve come to recognize Carson as an environmental Cassandra; history has vindicated many of her inconvenient truths. But when Silent Spring first came out, her ideas were met with hostility from other scientists, who deemed her hysterical, alarmist and “probably a Communist.”

For Marra, it is clear that outdoor cats represent the Silent Spring of our time. Not only are cats the single worst threat to birds caused directly by humans, but they are also the easiest problem to fix, as compared to many-leveled threats like climate change. For him, it is obvious what we must do. Yet he is also starting to understand the challenge of making others see the world as he does. “To me, this should be the low-hanging fruit,” he says. “But as it turns out, it might be easier stopping climate change than stopping cats.”

Rachel E. Gross is the Science Editor for Smithsonian Magazine, covering stories behind new discoveries and the debates that shape our understanding of the world. Before coming to Smithsonian, she covered science for Slate, Wired, and The New York Times.

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