I have been working to find homes for cats and dogs in our area for 15 years. I have found homes for hundreds of them. It has been both rewarding and sad. The illnesses they contract are increasing along with the number of unhealthy animals.
It has been more and more difficult to place these animals as the rules that the authorities are imposing make it almost impossible to find reliable homes. When I first gave kittens away I did what I see a lot of people (mostly kids) do which is to stand in front of a store and beg people to take these sweet beings into their homes. It was when I gave one to someone I felt intuitively would not take care of it that I stopped. These animals have the innocence and awareness of a 4-year-old child and I cannot imagine handing a child to someone who is irresponsible. Many do not care and treat them like an object void of feelings.
I switched to taking them to health food stores. I knew that people whocare about their own health would be the most responsible owners for these animals. I did not let a cat go without an address and phone number to make certain that the new owners really wanted them and a promise to neuter and spay them. I even told them that if they ever became a problem I would take them back.
I had great success and made a yearly trek with spring babies. I was even able to place the flame points with Jerry Garcia”s wife and other members of the Grateful Dead. The last time when I was down there however someone reported me to the animal control. They would not let me wait for the people who had gone off to locate some boxes for the kittens I was saving for them. They even threatened me with a fine.
After a long trip down I was forced to return with half of the kittens, spending $50 in gas. I have since been trying to find people who I trust to take good care of them and have discovered that I am not the only one who is frustrated and, because of these new laws, has ended up with more animals than I can handle. I know that there are a lot of people in the cities who would benefit from a relationship with a cat as they live in close quarters and small apartments and cannot keep large animals. Senior citizens also benefit, are often lonely and a cat can improve their health. Their purring actually extends our lives.
In France you would find a cat in almost every store as they find them beneficial. They not only mouse, but eat a large quantity of bugs as well. A cat in the house can eradicate cockroach problems, which are rampant in the city, and is far healthier solution than toxic sprays.
When I noticed the stray cats in our neighborhood becoming sicker and sicker I decided to do a little research. I discovered a study done by a Dr. Pottinger. He experimented with 1,000 cats. What he found was the answer to what I was looking for. He put the cats on a diet of meat, bones, milk and cod-liver oil. He fed some of them this diet raw and others completely- or partially-cooked food for several generations. What he found was that cats on the completely raw-food diet were completely healthy, never needing veterinary attention. The more the food was cooked, the less healthy were the cats that ate it. The health problems seen in the experimental cats on the cooked food were remarkably like those commonly seen in cats today ? mouth and gum problems, thyroid disorders, bladder inflammation and the like. Over a period of three generations, the cats on the cooked-food diet continued to deteriorate until they could no longer reproduce. When the cats were put back on a raw food diet, it was not until four generations later that the animals totally recovered from the physical effects of the cooked diet. I found this information in a book by Dr. Pitcairn and his wife, “Natural Health for Dogs and Cats.”
If you care about your animals, you cannot just go out and buy any food available, and expect to have a healthy animal. You must do research. A lot of the food on the market today is killing our animals and some of it is actually dangerous for us to handle and can pass viruses on to our children as well.
It has been found that animals will live twice their life expectancy on raw food. The one problem is inbreeding and generations of bad diet. It may take several generations to get the healthy animal you are looking for, but it will definitely help the one you have.
The sick animals we see are that way because of the bad food well- meaning people put out for them. Nature obviously offers the best diet as she has been tailoring it for these animals for generations. If we really care we would stop interfering with what is on the outside and provide a diet that is close to what their systems need, instead of what is convenient, for those we decide to caretake. Nature knows how to balance and has done a great job, but we constantly get in the way.
I know people love to have the deer around, but it is the same for them. I spent several years in Hidden Valley watching the sick deer pass by.
When I was in Spring Valley I had feral cats wandering through my yard daily. The neighbors thought they were all mine at one point. I didn”t feel that I had the right to turn these cats in to Lake County Animal Care and Control. They didn”t belong to me and as with all the wild animals I learned to live with them. For me it was a privilege to be able to see all these wonderful creatures in nature. That is one of the reasons I moved up here nearly 20 years ago. I did what I thought was the next-best solution to cut down on too large a population and the spraying male cats that irritated the neighbors who had a bunch of birds attracting the cats to their place. They secretly trapped my two flame point males, taking them to animal control, telling them to not let me know that they were there. I was so upset when I finally found out what had happened that I took one of the male feral cats, which I was able to cage, to the SPCA to be neutered. Much to my horror I found him later in my yard dying and many of the rest of the tribe as well. Even though they gave him shots, he still contracted the diseases he had never been exposed to, and brought them back infecting most of the tribe. Here was a well established tribe of feral cats wiped out by me basically because I was feeling the pressure imposed by people who had moved up from the Bay Area and did not understand or appreciate these animals.
The ranchers and locals are happy with the feral cats as they come in daily to get rid of mice and moles. This kept the rattlesnakes away that are looking for food. It takes a long time for a tribe to establish itself and if we allow them to be, they can also be very helpful. The cats I have eat a lot of bugs including poisonous spiders. I have often seen them chomping on a black widow, which are abundant up here. If the Europeans had not wiped them out there would not have been a Black Plague.
We are faced with similar threats now with the avian flu and cats will eat an injured bird and keep sick rodents out of reach. Just by their very nature they can protect us, but feral cats are becoming an endangered species.
What is needed right now so that we can stop the huge slaughter of animals at the animal control in Lakeport is a group of concerned people working on finding homes for these animals, free spaying and neutering for those who cannot afford it and to allow feral cats and other wild annuals to evolve without our interference.
We should not even feed the wild birds. People do this because they love to see the birds, and then they move leaving birds that then do not know how to fend for themselves. This means no feeding so that they can regain their health.
An overabundance of sick cats will make us sick as well. And please do not take an animal of any kind if you do not intend to take care of it in a completely responsible way.
If anyone is interested in getting together and finding a more compassionate way to deal with the over population we are experiencing, you can contact me at PO Box 1362, Clearlake Oaks, CA 95423.
One of our main responsibilities is to be joyful and to pass the good feelings on instead of the suffering that is incurred when we turn our backs on painful issues we could solve
I know there are lots of seniors in this area and they could really make a world of difference. Projects like this are what keep us alive and vibrant.
I also have beautiful cats who need homes, but only to those who are going to give them the kind of love I wish I could but cannot because there are too many.
Martha Somers is a Clearlake Oaks resident.
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