As a child growing up in Medford we had a female cat from around 1956 when we moved in until at least 1970 when I moved out. She was gray and had white paws which looked just like boots and we named her Bootsie.
She was an outdoor cat and would go out every night and come in every morning with the exception being the coldest nights of the year. She was like my best friend. I would feed her, let her in and out and I learned a lot about life from her.
One of my most vivid memories of Bootsie was when I was a very young boy and she was having her very first litter. I picked up one of the kittens and Bootsie nipped at me. Well, I was as shocked as she was! She immediately started licking my hand to apologize and I patted her hot and sweating head and I learned how protective a mother can be!
I don't remember what happened to Bootsie but in 1988 when I was going to Board of Director meetings at a woman's house in Woburn a little newborn kitten chose me to adopt her. She was positively the cutest kitty I have ever seen and she was all gray with green eyes and she absolutely loved me. The minute I walked into the house she would come out of hiding and play with me. We were trying to digitally download music in this company and the directors would get mad at me for not paying attention at the boring meetings. The kitty was a real darling and I named her Darlin.
I made her an outdoor cat and let her have one litter. I found nice homes for the kitties and had her fixed after that. One night in the fall of 2000, she did not come home. It was very upsetting to say the least.
Shortly after that a friend of mine gave me a real wildcat, or a feral. This little orange female was born in a colony that lived up in the woods behind my friend's place of work. I won't reveal the location because there are people who will use cats for bait for their snakes, sell them to labs for experiments and commit other acts of cruelty.
I name this one Ginger after Ginger Rodgers and when I brought her to the vet for the first time, we found out that she was a he! By this time I had gotten to know him and he had a real vicious side unlike any of the other two cats I had known. I would have named him Fred for Fred Astaire but with his temperament, I name him Frank after Frank Sinatra. Think "Do it My Way."
I let Frank become an outdoor cat and unlike my other two cats, he would stay out for days at a time. I had a tag on him and people would call me up and tell me that he would walk right up their second floor apartments begging for food, like I never fed him! I would tell the people not to feed him and that he would come home.
One day I had him at my restaurant on mice patrol and I walked into the lobby and there was Frank with his claws firmly implanted in my ex-wife's butt, trying to bite her inner thighs while she was yelling for help. I knocked him off and tried not to LOL. Oh how I wish I had a camera with me.
Well one day Frank stopped coming home too. I suspect that someone took him for a ride and he now rests with the fish.
In light of my last two cats disappearing and the information that I have been receiving in the last month, especially the coyotes that are roaming around Medford, and the fact that they are predators in the day or night especially on squirrels, rabbits, cats and small dogs, I now have to recommend that cats be fixed and kept indoors.
Amy Caton of Charles River Alleycats adds, "One thing about coyotes that's interesting -- and fisher cats for that matter -- is about 1 in 20 applicants indicates, on their application, that their cat(s) disappeared while outside. They cite coyotes or fisher cats as the culprits. I would say 1 in 20 also indicate their cat got hit by a car. I believe the average lifespan for an indoor cat is 18 years whereas the average lifespan of an outdoor cat is 18 months."
Janis Forde also of Charles River Alleycats writes, "One quick comment: After seeing the presentation on coyotes at Medford City Hall, may I suggest that we list all the dangers to cats rather than single out coyotes. The MSPCA rep at the meeting interjected a comment during the presentation to the effect that he would be remiss if he didn’t mention the two-legged dangers to outside cats. He gave the statistics on cases of human abuse to cats (maybe Kerry caught the number) that they deal with annually. Second Chance Fund for Animal Welfare has an info sheet on the various reasons to keep cats inside that I’ll try to locate and share."
Aside from the threat from coyotes, the sheer number of homeless cats is higher than ever before. I found this on Second Chance Fund , "According to the MSPCA, 11% of all pet cats are not spayed or neutered. This appears to be a relatively small number, only 80,000 in Massachusetts. But once lost or abandoned, these 11% in the home become 66% of all homeless street cats or 300,000-500,000 cats!"
"They breed like crazy for several years before the stress and peril of homelessness sadly overcomes them. Therefore we focus on spaying and neutering as many pet cats as possible to curtail homelessness before it starts. We believe this is the most effective way to end the suffering, by addressing the root cause."
The MSPCA believes that cats should be kept indoors because of the hazards and issues dealing with cars, rabies, dogs, coyotes, parasites, wildlife, neighbors, getting lost or trapped, diseases and catfights, breeding and pregnancy, poisons, pet theft, abuse or torture.
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