Sweet Ruth is the matriarch of a large colony of community cats that my bestie Rachel and I have been TNRing in our neighborhood this past month. Thanks to a whole lot of caring folks on the block, these cats are well-fed and looked after, but mostly they're feral and have only ever called the backyards home. All, perhaps, except Ruth.

We know two main things about Ruth: 1. She is a senior lady, anywhere between 8 and 16 (!!) years old; and 2. She is extremely friendly, which means that in all likelihood, she wasn't born outside. When we showed up to trap Ruth's colony, she walked right under the trap and calmly ate, and since she's been indoors, has shown us just how much she's missed having a cushier life.

Given Ruth's age, we felt that she'd be better off getting spayed at a private vet, for a couple of reasons. Our trusted vet, Park Slope Veterinary Center, would run pre-op testing to make sure anesthesia was safe for Ruth, and they'd also be able to monitor her closely under sedation.

When Rachel took Ruth in for a pre-surgery appointment, she got a checkup, bloodwork, preliminary vaccines, and was ultimately cleared for surgery - a huge win! The vet also noticed that Ruth doesn't have any teeth, and that one of her ears was bleeding: a simple infection, or even mites, it was not. It turns out that a mass on Ruth's ear is causing her lots of pain and discomfort, and will need to be removed and biopsied during her spay.

We want to give Ruth the best shot at spending her golden years where she deserves: warm, safe, and loved, and with all the stinky fish she could ever hope to eat. So far, caring for Ruth and her family have not come with a small price tag:

Caring for colony cats is not easy, but we are the only lifelines they have. If you can help us help these sweet babies, it would mean the world -- and ensure we can keep saying yes to more cats in need.