No Winter Shelter for Pet Cat is Animal Abuse

 

Our area is bitterly cold with temps dipping to 15 below zero and night with a high in the single digits during the day. Throughout the week there have been winter weather alerts on the news, and at the animal shelter to bring outdoor animals indoors or to provide an insulated shelter with a heated pad or self-warming pad and straw bedding. But in spite of all the warnings people in my neighborhood put their pet cats out even though there is no winter shelter. 

No insulated shelter for an indoor at night / outdoor during the day cat when weather is extreme is animal abuse in my opinion.

Yesterday when the windchill was 15 below zero I heard a sorrowful meow and followed the sound until I found a black cat sitting in the snow covered leaves. It didn’t run for me and I picked up the cat and brought it indoors. The tips of the cats ears and the bottom of its paws were ice-cold / freezing.

Cold cat laying on the bed. He seems happier

I brought the cat indoors to my heated mudroom and the cat laid on the pet bed next to the heat vent. The mudroom is close to the side entrance and if the cat wanted to go outdoors into the bitter cold it had many opportunities. The cat stayed put only leaving the bed by the heat vent to eat, drink or use the litter box.

I wonder what would have happened to this cat had I not searched for it. Would it have frozen to death like the family of dogs did in the doghouse in St. Louis, MO?

Apparently this cat belongs to one of my neighbors who put the cat out daily at 6 AM then allows the cat back into the house at 6 PM. This pet owner does not feel a shelter is necessary because the cat has fur, and that cats have survived harsh weather for thousands of years.

I will agree that feral cats will survive the harsh winter better than a domesticated house cat and that is because the feral cat has adapted to their surroundings and knows where to go for shelter.

A feral cat in a groundhog den

When people do not heed the advice of experts concerning weather alerts and safety measures for their pets that are outdoors without a winter shelter then I think these pet owners are animal abusers.

Low Cost Pet Vet Clinic at Tractor Supply Co

Today I get an email from a fellow cat caretaker and they told me to check out the Tractor Supply store in our area because some stores offer veternarian clinics with discount pet vaccines as well as flea, tick and heartworm prevention.

Oh my gosh this is fantastic because it would mean I could get vaccines and treatments for a whole lot of feral and stray cats. The email that I received said that there are low-cost veterinarian clinics inside the tractor supply store and that their services provide the pet owner with 70% off the cost of yearly vaccines for dog or cat.

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I learned that no appointment was required and that a licensed veterinarian would be administering the vaccines. The only thing that I do not know is if they will accept feral and stray cats. The reason for my concern is these cats are not people friendly. 

 If these veterinarians are skilled in handling  feral and stray cats then this is a huge savings for  the caretakers that oversee the colony cats.  Learn if there is a discounted pet vet clinic in your area by checking out tractorsupply.com veterinarian services in your area. 

Emergency Veternarian Examines Our New Cat

Recently we adopted a stray cat from our neighborhood and everything was fine the first month and then 28 hours ago he got sick and could not urinate. Both my husband and I love this little tabby cat and are so worried about him. So in the last 24 hours we have taken our newly adopted cat to the emergency pet clinic.

Know that when your cat cannot urinate, or shows signs of wanting to urinate and nothing comes out that you need to have your cat checked asap as this is a serious condition.

As soon as we arrived the vet technician took us back to the exam room and she looked him over before and talked to us about what was going on. Husband said that our cat was in the litter box several times today but could not urinate, drops coming out. Plus our cat was pacing and irritable with dog and other cats.

All red flags that somethings was wrong. The veterinarian listened to us, then read the notes from the veterinarian that saw our cat 15 hours ago and said that he is certain that our cat has crystals and that these crystals are causing him discomfort and the feeling that he has to urinate all the time.

The behavior issues are normal for this type of infection, due to the discomfort and the cat felling like he has to urinate and nothing coming out. Husband explained our concerns suspecting foul play because it our neighborhood there have been reports of other peoples cats unable to urinate after going onto a certain block in our neighborhood.

To put our mind at ease the emergency Vet suggested we take our cat to our veterinarian and leave him there so they can get urine sample. So I am going to go to bed now, 3 AM try to get some sleep before taking our new adopted tabby cat to our veterinarian tomorrow, I will leave him in there care so they can do a urinalysis and make sure his kidneys are working okay.

Animal Shelter Has Affordable Cat Care - Spay-Nueters

Due to high pet care costs at my local veterinarian we could only provide the lost, abandoned or rescued cats with a warm bed and food and water.  We no longer could  afford to pay for the cats spay or neuter, tests for feline leukemia - aids or give them their vaccines.

My veterinarian provided me with a discount and it enabled me to get many cats the veterinarian care that they needed.  But times are tough and my veterinarian needed to take back the discount. What this means is one cat  with sterilization, vaccines and disease test comes to $100.00 +

 No discount meant no more trapping feral cats for spay or neuter, disease tests and vaccines.  It also meant we had limited funds for rescued cats and we could not care for them all..  Then another cat rescuer told me to check out the prices at our local Humane Society animal shelter.

Shelter kittens

The animal shelter offers affordable  services  for all cats that are spayed or neutered at the clinic. Which means we will be able to proved  necessary veterinarian services for the cats that are abandoned in the woods by our home; as long as they are sterilized at the animal clinic.   

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Rescued Russian Blue Mix Cat in My Shelter

It is safe to say that we are back to rescuing lost and abandoned house cats and strays as the clinic at the animal shelter has affordable prices. How to the prices compare?  Here is the breakdown: 

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Feline Leukemia and Aids test:  Clinic $15.00 / Veterinarian $49.00

Spay or Neuter  Clinic $35.00 / Veterinarian $55.00 spay $45.00 Neuter

Cat Dewormer Clinic $5.00 / Veterinarian $10.00 (1 dose)

1 dose ear mite Clinic $5.00 / Veterinarian $16.00

1 dose flea- tic Clinic $5.00 / Veterinarian $16.00

Cat distemper - rabies Clinic $20.00 / Veterinarian $37.00


Based on these costs one can fully understand why there are so many pets that are not being spayed or neutered.  I would recommend all pet owners to check their city animal shelter to find out if they have a veterinarian on staff and if they offer services to resident pet owners.