OUR STORY My name is Gretchen, and my family has spent the last twenty years taking care of cats. Lots of cats. Stray cats, feral cats, seriously injured cats, deathly ill cats - no matter what the circumstance, any cat that showed up at our farm in Southeast Michigan was guaranteed to get food, a bed, a (sometimes leaky) roof over its head, and at least some basic medical care. As we quickly learned, dealing with a mostly feral cat population is not easy. Cats breed like crazy, and what starts out as a skinny mother cat and six bedraggled kittens can easily turn into a herd of thirty-plus felines running amok. It took us years to get them all trapped and fixed. It was like trying to plug a violently spurting leak in the Hoover Dam. Eventually we prevailed, and the population finally stabilized. About once or twice a year, a new stray would come along. Whenever this would happen, we would tame or trap the new animal and then immediately get it fixed. We were not about to let the vicious cycle of breeding start all over again - not after we worked so long and hard to stop it. I am proud to say that as of mid-March 2020 we had twelve outdoor cats on our property and every single one of them was spayed/neutered and up to date on their vaccines. Which brings us to early April, and the COVID-19 lockdown. My family was sheltering in place, doing our best to only go out for essentials. We were just barely starting to come to grips with our fears about the virus, the stress of not being able to get basics like bread and toilet paper, the complications of communicating via Skype rather than in person, and all the other things that came along with America's new normal. It was during this chaotic time that the "Covid Cats" arrived. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597769972188214_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597769972188214_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> A STRIPED INVASION I was outside one day, caring for the animals as usual, relishing my time in the brisk, fresh air, when I saw a tiny head poke out from under an old wooden gate that was leaning against our fence. As I walked over to investigate, another small head came into view. Leaning down, I peered into the small triangular shelter made between the gate and the fence. The number of eyes peering back at me was startling, to say the least. A long, skinny black cat that I'd never seen before lay sprawled in the narrow space, surrounded by a group of tiger-striped kittens. Oh great, I thought. A mother cat brought her babies here - just what we needed in the middle of a global pandemic. But I was wrong. Oh, boy was I wrong. It wasn't just a mother cat and her kittens. Over the next several days, more and more striped cats appeared out of the woodwork, emerging from the ruins of a collapsed building, peeking nervously out at me from the underbrush, hiding in the rafters of the old wood barn. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_159768706993396_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_159768706993396_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597687324582915_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597687324582915_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597688390288937_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597688390288937_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> By the time the dust settled, there were fourteen brand-new cats on our property: three adult females, four tiny kittens, two adolescents, and a whopping FIVE adult males. All of them had tiger stripes (yes, even the black one). Few of them were tame. None of them were fixed. One thing was very clear: fourteen cats who all looked similar and seemed to know each other did not spontaneously decide to leave their home and go on an adventure to parts unknown in cold, nasty weather. Someone had abandoned these cats on our farm. Someone had dumped them. As the reality of this sank in, I practically had a panic attack. I didn't even know how to begin dealing with this situation. All the local animal shelters were closed. Veterinarians were open for emergencies only, and having fourteen cats and kittens unceremoniously plopped down on your property apparently didn't qualify. With one single, really bad decision, some stranger we'll probably never meet took away ten years of progress. Our family had worked so hard to get the neighborhood cat situation under control. And now it felt like we were right back at square one. But we couldn't just sit there and let that tidal wave of helplessness sweep us away. All of our years caring for stray and feral cats had not been for nothing. We had learned so much about taming and trapping feral animals, about cat health and behavior. So, we got to work. MANAGING THE SITUATION Right away my dad and I built an enclosure for the two adult females I could catch, in order to prevent them from getting pregnant. We put the kittens in the enclosure as well, fearing their small size might make them easy prey for coyotes in the area. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597689273724415_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597689273724415_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> I started making phone calls and found a wonderful foster-based rescue group that was very happy to take the four small kittens and two adolescent cats into their care. It broke my heart to give them up - even after only a few weeks, I already loved them to pieces - but I knew they would have a better life being loved and doted on in someone's home. I am thrilled to report that the group successfully socialized the two most feral kittens and found loving homes for all six of the young cats: Azrael, Castiel, Gabriel, Raphael, Amenadiel, and Tony Stark. The rescue group also promised to help us if any of the older females turned out to be pregnant, and pledged to assist us with spaying and neutering the adults once non-emergency veterinary surgeries became permissible again. For the first time since the cats arrived, I finally felt like my family wasn't alone in this fight. That someone understood what had happened. That someone cared and wanted to help. It meant everything. With a huge weight off my shoulders, I set about the task of taming and bonding with the remaining cats. The one female I couldn't initially catch, Stargirl, was indeed pregnant. She gave birth to seven gorgeous, healthy, tiger-striped (of course!) babies roughly nine weeks ago. The rescue group kept their promise and accepted the kittens into their foster program, where they are now awaiting their forever homes. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597687737506781_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597687737506781_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> Stargirl is now tame and safe in an enclosure while she waits for her turn to get spayed. In fact, all of the Covid Cats except one - Oliver Queen - are now pet-able and at least somewhat socialized. To date, they have all gotten their first dewormings, five have been treated for infections, two of them have been tested for FIV/FELV, and one has been treated for fleas and skin allergies. HOWEVER, the cost of their care is already taking a hard toll on our family, and the work is only just starting. HOW YOU CAN HELP The sheer amount of money it takes to feed so many on a daily basis is overwhelming. We already had twelve cats before this all started, and now we have eight extras who will likely remain with us for the rest of their lives unless we can secure adoptive homes for them. We have been SO lucky to find one partner in this battle, but we need many more in order to provide these abandoned cats with the care they deserve. Any donations we are fortunate enough to receive will be used for necessities such as: -Cat food -FIV/FELV testing -Vaccinations -Surgeries -Flea treatments -Ear medicine -Deworming -Reflective safety collars -Brushes -Food and water dishes -Pet scale -Shelters -Bedding -Litter And many more things I can't even think of right now. We will be supremely grateful for any donation we get - no amount is too small. A typical can of cat food costs just $0.55. A breakaway reflector collar costs only $1.08 and can actually save the cat's life by making the animal visible to cars at night. A bottle of antibiotics can be as little as $10 and can also be life-saving when one of them gets sick. A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597689196528305_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597689196528305_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597770142787643_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597770142787643_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> As overwhelming as this whole situation has been, as powerless as it has made our family feel at times, we want the person who left the cats here to know that we don't hate them. We understand that it was a crazy, totally unprecedented situation. The animal shelters were all closed. The vets were all closed. For all we know, the person who dumped the cats had just lost their job. Maybe they had a family member suffering from COVID-19. Whatever was going on, they too must have felt overwhelmed and desperate and that's what drove them to abandon the cats. And, while it definitely was not the right thing to do, it also wasn't the worst thing they could've done. As a friend said recently, "It's lucky they didn't just destroy the cats." Thankfully, they didn't. Instead of taking that brutal measure, the person who left the cats on our farm at least gave them a fighting chance at life. I'll always be grateful for that. By now the Covid Cats - Stargirl, Natasha, Gamora, Oliver Queen, Thanos, T'Challa, Black Canary, and Cerberus - are beloved members of our family. Each feline has his or her own wonderful, funny, quirky, completely unique personality. What really blows me away, though, is how sweet and loving all the cats are. After everything they've been through - being rounded up and caged and abandoned in a strange place, being literally dumped like trash - by rights these animals should still be cowering in the shadows like they were in the beginning. Instead, they have embraced their new life here. They have opened themselves up to loving people again, and being loved in turn. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597689335957611_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597689335957611_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597689391282477_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597689391282477_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597689441336107_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597689441336107_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> These cats have already seen the worst side of humanity - now I want them to see the best. I want them to know that just because one person chose to throw them away, it doesn't mean the world itself has turned its back on them. I want them to know that they are safe, that they are cared for, and - most importantly - that they are loved. Please help us make sure that each cat gets everything he or she needs for a long, happy, healthy life. Thank you so much for reading! ~Gretchen <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/50497150_1597689501399135_r.jpeg" alt="50497150_1597689501399135_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />

John Bloom

Jeanne Schlaufman

Wendy Ohnsman

Amy Glass

Anonymous

Elizabeth Nelson

Sarah Speth

Rebecca Nikodem

Daria W Devantier 

Cat Crisis in the Covid Lockdown

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Cat Crisis in the Covid Lockdown

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