Rescued, My Favorite Breed

By Christa Stout

According to Marci, the three steps to reducing the cat population are:

Kitty population booms in pandemic

FOSTER FUNDING FOREVER HOMES

And all help is appreciated.

WOW- No really, WOW actually stands for Watching Over Whiskers (what a great name!) and is a wonderful 8-year-old organization that was started by Marci Bowling when she realized there was an overpopulation of cats, many of them feral, whose life expectancy and quality of life were dismal. At the time, Marci was fostering for another group and she wanted to contribute to a solution herself, hence WOW was born. Her primary focus at first was moms and kittens be-cause they were affected the most by being in inclement weather or chased and killed by other animals. At any one time, WOW has 15 to 30 foster homes with 150 to 200 cats. They did recently add a headquarters on Sunshine Street in Springfield, where they can bring cats to be socialized or re-cover from surgeries. But the need is so much bigger and their most desperate demand is for foster parents. Do you have time to spend an hour or two a month helping out? As Marci explained, the overpopulation will not change until cats are spayed and neutered and the endless reproduction cycle is disrupted - new sets of kittens are born at least every 2 - 4 months and these in turn will reproduce in another few months. Therefore WOW is very much involved in TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return), a healthy and painless way of disrupting the reproduction of the feral cat population. WOW will train people in TNR, these people are the boots on the ground who will need to make sure that no traps are ever left unattended; and that cats are never fed for more than two weeks without getting them spayed or neutered. Marci says this past year has been especially daunting. When COVID hit, 90 percent of the cats gave birth, because there was no manpower to do TNR and therefore prevent a new set of kittens. Fifty percent of these kittens passed away within 6 months,

Scan the QR Code to read more Rescued, My Favorite Breed online WOW can be reached at:

Facebook.com/watchingoverwhiskers WatchingOverWhiskers.org

from illness, lack of food or predators, and so did 70 percent of moms, and the babies become orphans. However, the breeding cycle continued. The cat overpopulation will never be fixed by adoption, but only by stopping the breeding. And this past year, unfortunately, there was no opportunity to trap and neuter the cats. Consequently, all shelters are full, and there is truly no room for the many cats and kittens out there. Waiting lists are full and not enough adopters can be found, and the same is true of fos-ters. WOW works with SAAF Organization in Springfield to provide low-cost spay and neuter Services, but there is so much catching up to be done due to the pandemic. I always learn something new from talking to the wonderful people who have the energy and compassion to run the shelters: I knew from my own experience that it is much harder to find adopters for black cats (and I still wonder why - an old wives tale or superstition?), but what I didn’t know was that white outside cats have another enemy - they will get cancer much more frequently than other colors due to the fact they have very little fur on ears and tail, making them subject to cancers. With Christmas coming up, I have message for all parents looking for a pet for your children, or maybe you are looking for a companion for yourself, please consider adoption rather than pur-chasing a pet from a breeder. Although I know there are many reputable breeders, there are many more who are not. And there are so many shelter animals looking for their forever home. Consider this; will a purebred Siamese cat be a better pet than a properly socialized Tabby? And the same goes for dogs, do you want a highly bred Yorkshire terrier, or does a mixed breed Lab make a better companion? And consider this, most cats can live to 18 years or so and many dogs live to be 12 to 15 years or more. Are you willing to make the commitment to the animal for its lifetime, through marriages, children, moves and whatever else life may throw your way? If the answer is yes, go adopt! Here is one of my favorite cat tales from WOW: MAIZEY (the pretty little white cat in the picture below) was found in the summer and her ears were in awful shape. After exam and testing it was determined that she had cancer on her ears. She was a lucky girl to have been found and rescued so treatment could be started. WOW raised money for her care, which was essentially for amputation of most of both ears. She was dingy, thin and overall sad at heart. With treatment, good food and lots of love she began to blossom and come into her own. She LOVES to be on laps and finally picked one to claim as her own forever and ever. Happy Life to sweet MAIZEY! But look at the pictures of some of the beautiful kitties still available. Aren’t they gorgeous? Please consider helping this holiday season! Happy Holidays!