Unknown
This little guy is one of five kittens we met on a camp-site. They were born end of summer, and we hope that they are still healthy and well-fed, because now the tourists are gone, the cats have to catch mice again. The kitten was very shy, but always tried to enter the caravan.
Wow . . . cute cat
why didn’t you try to save them?
This little feral fuzz knows the ways of the world; and has HUGE whisker pouches!!
aw, u shoulda taken him home…garsh..
Poor baby, cutie deserves a home.
I’m assuming you’re British ( re: Caravan ). Here in the states, leaving those five little guys/gals in the woods would be a sure death warrant for all of them, sooner or later. I’m not sure how to react to your choice to abandon them. I surely would have attempted to get them to a shelter at least, but then, that’s just me.
I agree with you 100%. As much as I love animals, I would have preferred not to see this posting. I have 4 rescues at home and feed 15+ ferals at work. I would give anything to be able to house them all.
Hey, are you going to frame the picture and show your friends one of the kittens that you basically could have saved, but chose to abandon? You should be very proud.
Kittenmaster is not responsible for the fate of every feral kitten. It would have been nice to rescue them, or at least spay/nueter/release, but the responsibility lies at the feet of the campground owner.
Forgot to add… Cute kitty. He seems so relaxed by the water, soaking in the sun’s rays.
Well more than likely it’s a State or Federal owned campground, and that kind of says it all, right? No, Kittymaster is not responsible, but I think the general opinion is that they sure should have tried to help them out. Ferals lead a very harsh, sad life thanks to us humans!
Well more than likely it’s a State or Federal owned campground, and that kind of says it all, right? No, Kittymaster is not responsible, but I think the general opinion is that they sure should have tried to help them out. Ferals lead a very harsh, sad life thanks to us humans!
Just to clarify one thing - the Kittenmaster just looks after the website - he’s not directly responsible for the pictures and stories that people submit.
I am sorry, got carried away and didn’t connect! Very sorry.
That’s OK.
D’Oh. Of course. I meant the person who submitted the photo. Sorry, Kittenmaster.
That’s alright - I’m just glad you’re here.
Er, nowhere in the original post does it say that the kitties were necessarily abandoned. They could have belonged to someone (the owner of the campsite perhaps) and have been allowed to wander. The poster has some idea of when they were born for a start!
Dare I say it that some people may be over-reacting?
That said….C-U-T-E!!!
yes you may. Sorry, I have a tendancy to over react when it comes to animals, of any kind, that seem to be on their own. It’s a hard life for them. So, I’ll try to think positive about this bunch. Does anyone know who in Fremont,CA area that may trap the 15+ ferals I feed every day and get them fixed and return them to where I work?
Lexi, try the PetSmart in your area. Ours up here in Hayward has lots of postings on their bulletin board for this sort of thing, also, a lot of times, the local vets (especially if they are working with the shelters in the area) will spay the cats for free if you can trap them. There are several no-kill shelters in the east bay, and the Milo Foundation up in Marin is a great resource. Google them! Good luck!
Thank you, I’ll try. My biggest problem is getting someone to come here and trap them. I work here in Fremont, but live in Concord. I don’t want that to seem like a poor excuse, but I need help in the actual trapping. I will look into the different suggestions you gave me tho. I even called Oholone, and kind of got “dropped” off the list. Go figure. Just want to help these poor babies.
Spay/Neuter and release, not all cats are happy being house cats and this guy looks healthy enough out of doors. His life might not be quite as long due to large predators but will probably be content.
just leave him be. he seems to like the scenic route.
Everybody has really good points and as the sort of owner of some 20 feral cats (all spayed and neutered, plus we live on acreage in a very woodsy part of California) I have to say some cats just aren’t that interested in being pets. Some of my ferals will let me pet them but others simply watch from a distance. I’ve tried to bring some in the house and some adapt really well and others are completely miserable and stop eating, start spraying, etc. I do my best to keep them healthy and safe and honestly that’s all anyone can do. Thanks for letting me ramble, hope I haven’t offended anyone.
offended? hardly! you basically have what my dream is when i get older and have the money for it. i want to have basically a kitty farm, which would just be a large area of land where i could adopt and care for as many kittys as possible, letting them run around free in the expansive yard.
I agree with imaginaryboy, you are very lucky to have the ability and means to care for the ferals. I envy you, as I would give anything to be able to take care of these little souls. I watch the ones at work that I feed everyday, and it breaks my heart. I can’t get help trapping them and bringing them back after they are spayed,nuetered. I can’t afford anymore than what I spend a week (canned and dry), as I have 4 resuces at home. So bless you!
i dont care what they say this little one is a cute little biscuit!
they will be fine!!!
a biscuit!!!!!!!!!!! i’d just eat em right up!!!!!!!!!!
Cute yes, but the photographer should have contacted animal rescue. The kittens will probably starve now that the tourists are gone. At the very least all should have been spayed/neutered and re-released.
I am now worried about these precious little ones….kittens left alone with no food, in the woods, will surely be dinner for the coyotes. I agree with all the persons who think these kittens should have been rescued or helped in some way.
It’s pretty naive to hope they are still healthy and well-fed if there are no persons to care for them.
That little guy is so beautiful, with his gorgeous eyes and interesting stripes.
Little Unknown is a heartbreaker, in more ways than one!
I know this oppinion won’t be popular in some circles, but since when does every wild animal need to be ‘rescued’? or neutered? Agree that a large population of breeding stray cats in urban areas with few / no predators, and limited food resources, are a nuisance (and arguably harmful to wildlife as a whole). But where there is less conflict between wildlife and human urbanization, feral cats are just part of the food chain, same as every other cute baby animal not domesticated. Do you really think your doing animals a service by forcefully taking away their, litterally, god given right to live free and breed?
The bottom line that all of these wonderful people seem to care about is ferals. How do most of these poor souls become feral? Because of human beings. and that’s the bottom line. These caring people try to take responsibility for the animals, unlike people, like you, that just seem to think nothing about the plight of the animals, and how they became that way. People get these pets, grow tired of them and abandon them, or dont care enough to get them spayed/nuetered.
But you don’t know all the specifics of every single feral cat/kitten. This one here could have been the product of a long line of ferals living in the area. Its coat, from the image, looks clean and healthy, and its eyes are clear. It is not sickly and most likely knows (or will learn to know) how to feed itself. Just because the breed is a domestic doesn’t mean that it can’t learn to hunt and live on its own in the wild. Again, as the poster knew when the kitten was born, maybe they were “campground cats”, aka from a pack of cats that just lived on the land and were fed by the owner, like many of the other repliers here.
Unless you know the whole story, do not be so quick to judge.
Not judging really, just would have handled it differently. Would have asked around first, if they were indeed “campground kitties”. If so, then great. If not, would have tried somehow to rescue them. That’s all. This picture really stirred up alot of emotions!
You aren’t judging? “Hey, are you going to frame the picture and show your friends one of the kittens that you basically could have saved, but chose to abandon? You should be very proud.” What is that statement supposed to be then?
And again, you don’t KNOW if the poster asked around about the kittens, or even knew about their background. Leave them be and enjoy the picture.
whatever
That kitten is reallllly pretty. It should own the streets cos it’s so hot!
Trap Alter Release.
It’s proven that this is the single most effective way of managing feral populations. And it takes time and patience. Personally we have TAR’d 36 adult cats, hand raised, fixed and adopted out 14 of their offspring and kept 6 kittens. Over the past 6 years, this has successfully reduced our feral population from 57 cats to 14 that still live feral and show up for dinner regularly. Thankfully, we’ve had no litters in 2 years and only 2 new members have joined the colony.
I used the terms *manage and reduce* because that is the goal. Some have died from natural causes, some have fallen prey to the coyote food chain. Those that fell ill, well I’ll say that watching them die and not being able to do a thing about it (because the reality is that in most cases, you can’t to a darn thing) is the most difficult experience. You just have to accept that you’ve done everything possible to make their lives better. Usually though, they just stop showing up and you are spared the additional heartache.
There is a huge difference between FERAL cats and STRAY cats. Once you have been involved with feral cats for a while you learn that 1) you can not save them all, 2) they are usually better off with as little interference as is necessary and most importantly 3) these are WILD animals. You would be foolish to go and try and pick one up and take it home. Trust me, I tried and was bitten a few times. The rabies scare alone was enough to teach me a lesson.
The one thing that has struck me reading these comments is that the person who spotted and photographed this kitten was on a camping trip. This leads me to the obvious; they were far from home, had little knowledge of the lifestyle of these cats, and probably had little or no resources even if they wanted to interfere. Calling animal control, (if they did respond, not likely) would be a death sentence - at least in my county. They are much better off being left alone. And an off season of learning to hunt will ensure their survival. I highly doubt that they starved to death. It’s rare that a cat dies of hunger in the woods.
I think it’s very important that this issue has been brought up here. It brings to light the reality of feral living and the altruism of some very well meaning cat lovers. Yes kittens are cute. I love ALL my cats (feral and house) and they are spoiled rotten. I have also learned some very hard lessons by committing myself to caring for a feral colony.
I suggest those of you who think this person was irresponsible, go and do a little web research on feral colony care and management. It might enlighten you, but be prepared to read things you might not want to hear.
Trap Alter Release.
It’s proven that this is the single most effective way of managing feral populations. And it takes time and patience. Personally we have TAR’d 36 adult cats, hand raised, fixed and adopted out 14 of their offspring and kept 6 kittens. Over the past 6 years, this has successfully reduced our feral population from 57 cats to 14 that still live feral and show up for dinner regularly. Thankfully, we’ve had no litters in 2 years and only 2 new members have joined the colony.
I used the terms manage and reduce because that is the goal. Some have died from natural causes, some have fallen prey to the coyote food chain. Those that fell ill, well I’ll say that watching them die and not being able to do a thing about it (because the reality is that in most cases, you can’t to a darn thing) is the most difficult experience. You just have to accept that you’ve done everything possible to make their lives better. Usually though, they just stop showing up and you are spared the additional heartache.
There is a huge difference between FERAL cats and STRAY cats. Once you have been involved with feral cats for a while you learn that 1) you can not save them all, 2) they are usually better off with as little interference as is necessary and most importantly 3) these are WILD animals. You would be foolish to go and try and pick one up and take it home. Trust me, I tried and was bitten a few times. The rabies scare alone was enough to teach me a lesson.
The one thing that has struck me reading these comments is that the person who spotted and photographed this kitten was on a camping trip. This leads me to the obvious; they were far from home, had little knowledge of the lifestyle of these cats, and probably had little or no resources even if they wanted to interfere. Calling animal control, (if they did respond, not likely) would be a death sentence - at least in my county. They are much better off being left alone. And an off season of learning to hunt will ensure their survival. I highly doubt that they starved to death. It’s rare that a cat dies of hunger in the woods.
I think it’s very important that this issue has been brought up here. It brings to light the reality of feral living and the altruism of some very well meaning cat lovers. Yes kittens are cute. I love ALL my cats (feral and house) and they are spoiled rotten. I have also learned some very hard lessons by committing myself to caring for a feral colony.
I suggest those of you who think this person was irresponsible, go and do a little web research on feral colony care and management. It might enlighten you, but be prepared to read things you might not want to hear.
Well said!
ummmm…why did u do it twice?
lexi and MJ
that cat is really cute
why couldnt u have saved them?
anyway…VUTE CAT
maybe hit the button twice? Hey, what’s a vute cat? Just teasing.
SOOOOOO CUTE!!!!I want a tabby kitty,i love these photos of the kittens!!!!!!
What a cute little kitty!!!! Meow!!!!
sry its supposed to be cute cat
well ok
CUTE CAT!!:)
WOW! That certainly was a lot of reading. First of all, the kitten is absolurely adorable. I think the meaning of this website has gotten lost somewhere with all these bleeding hearts on the site. To me the purpose of this sight is to just look at cute kittens and then write comments about how cute they are. I don’t think this is a discussion/forum website. I’m not saying that it is sad to see homeless cats but…take it somewhere else. It really gets annoying. Maybe if you all want to discuss these issues you should create a website where you can. But please, not here. It gets old and all of you start saying the same things. Just keep it simple, talk about the kitten in the picture and their cuteness.
Since I was one of the “bleeding hearts”, let me say this. You are right about this site, but somehow this particular cat touched alot of people. That’s all. So, since this is a free world let people express themselves, and if you choose not to read their comments, then don’t.
Hey Lexi…go hug a tree flower child.
you shoul have let them come with you back home and just give them to a shelter instead of having them stay out there by themselves cause they could have gotten hurt by a hawk or something way bigger…. but rather than that he is very handsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
Selling A Caravan…
Everyone appears to have easy access to the net….