Congratulations to Kathy Santiago who won a free outdoor shelter for their colony cats and a bottle of Feral Flower Essence from FixNation board member Jackson Galaxy’s Spirit Essences line through FixNation’s National Feral Cat Day story competition!
I have had a cat all of my life. The very first cat I found in my garage in my dad’s tool shed. I ran and told my mom that there is a cat in there and is dad gonna get mad? She went to look and much to her surprise it was a female cat and she was pregnant. Every day I ran home from school to see if Jingles (I named her that because of a collar with a bell on it) had her kittens yet? Finally after 2 weeks she had her babies, 2 of the smallest little things I’ve ever seen. We made sure Jingles and her babies had plenty of food and water. But sadly the day came that I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life, my dad said either you give the kittens away or we have to take Jingles to the pound, we can’t keep them all. I wrestled with this, especially every night when I went to bed and cried and prayed what would be the best decision for us all. I tried finding homes for the kittens first with no luck. Then I tried to find Jingles’ old home (where she came from), 2 blocks in every direction, nothing. My mom found one of the kittens a home with a friend from her work…one kitten left and Jingles. Well, ultimately, my dad took Jingles to the pound and we kept the baby which we had for 14 years. In that time I met my husband, married and moved here to where I currently live. I vowed that day I had to give up the animal I so loved (Jingles) that I would help all cats the best I could and never take them to the pound. I have had feral cats for about 25 years, all ages, all colors, big and small, even spending my own money to get some of them fixed. They all know where to get something to eat and drink. With the help of FixNation, they are all very well taken care of, TNR, and have their shots.
