By Norma MiltonSpecial to the Aroostook Republican
We have all met up with old friends we hadn’t seen for years and yet we seem to pick up where we left off. It is a delight to have a time together catching up on “old” news.
Seventeen kittens have recently been rehabilitated at a Caribou Pet Rescue (CPR) foster home and several are ready for immediate adoption. Kittens under the age of eight weeks can generally be rehabilitated and adopted into homes. CPR adult feral cats are checked for leukemia, parasites and spayed/neutered before being returned to site with a feeder or relocated to a barn home with the farmer feeding once daily. The program’s medical expenses are paid for by the Grace Butnam Foundation and the food for the program is donated. The kitten portion of the program is the most time consuming for the CPR volunteers, hence the program actively works at spaying and neutering the adults of known cat colonies. Statistics show that fixing the adults is the only humane method of controlling the feral cat overpopulation problems. These statistics also show that this Trap/Neuter/Release/Relocate (T/N/R) method gains control of the colony within a three-year period. Pictured are several recent kittens who have since been rehabiliated and are now available for adoption at CPR.
This past week, a lady near Cross Lake called about a visitor and, later, gave him a ride to our home at Madawaska Lake.
“Oh, my Gosh, it’s Mr. Harry Morris,” I marveled.
Harry, a male feral cat, had been trapped at the former Stan’s of Madawaska Lake in February 2005. He had been neutered and relocated to Rick Taggett’s barn in Woodland.
“Look, his V sign for being neutered is clear as any license plate.” Harry was definitely one of mine. Ev and I marveled at his travels over the last 15 seasons (not months, seasons) since we had trapped, neutered and relocated him.
We kept Harry for a week while I wormed and checked that he was healthy. Rick Taggett agreed to have Harry back.
Rick was amazed at Harry’s traveling. I surmise Harry had decided in the spring 2005 to find his old home and cat colony. He left the barn in Woodland and traveled north to Madawaska Lake only to find the colony no longer exists and neither do the buildings. Harry must have been greatly disappointed to travel so far only to find a vacant lot.
But being of strong character, Harry continued north searching for traces of his former colony.
In the fall of 2007, he met with several cats living on a farm. The farmer’s wife included Harry in her daily feeding. But Harry was not welcomed by the contented feline strangers and the alpha male continually beat Harry up.
Unwilling to see Harry suffer continuous humiliation and injury, the farmer’s wife called to see if CPR would help.
Harry is now back where he started 15 seasons ago. He is healthy and, we hope, happy to be back at Rick’s barn.
This time around, Harry will be able to explore and find his favorite hunting and resting spots in the hayloft during the warm days of August instead of in winter when he was probably unwelcome to the current cat colony. This time, Harry will also meet up with several members of his former Madawaska Lake cat colony.
We will certainly look for Harry each time we make a barn visit.
The rewards of fixing feral cats have been immense. We have a high success rate when people cooperate with the humane control program. CPR has operated this adult feral cat program for two years at absolutely no cost to the shelter.
Feral grant funding by the Grace Butnam Foundation has paid for their medical needs and surgery and the food has been donated. The barn cats are given free to area farmers.
Rehabilitating the young kittens for adoption does cost time and funding but, overall, our feral cat program has been an asset to our grant presentations.
Next week, we will discuss the feral program in more detail and advise you on some of the wonderful success stories.
Tent Sale: We have new items in our tent sale. Please stop to see what items you might want.
The Gift that keeps on living: A gift made in your name (In memory of, or in honor of you) at Caribou Pet Rescue will enable CPR to provide loving care for another animal.
The average daily cost of providing all medical care and surgery, direct animal care and comfort care to each animal until he is adopted is $5.64.
NEW HOURS: CPR public hours are now: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Hopefully, these new hours will encourage additional adoptions in the evening hours as well as save on wage expense. Employees have two work shifts on closed days.
If you have an emergency, leave a message on the answering machine and the next shift will return your call.
Returnable bottles: continue to spay/neuter many precious animals. The 88 Bennett Drive Redemption continues to pass on your donation as well as your wonderful comments.
Thanks so much for your support.
Call 498-3800 for information or check out our pets at www.cariboupetrescue.petfinder.com.
Caribou Pet Rescue, 6 Richards Rd., PO Box 488, Caribou, ME 04736
Neuter and Spay – It’s the ONLY Way.
