jancschindler

                                 Buffy on left                                                 Hope on right,

Cats are important to me. As a child I had two at different times. They were never let into the house. My mother didn’t want the mess.[ except for cat hair there is no mess]  Vincent was all white and Velvet was a tuxedo. I developed a strong allergic reaction to cats when I got older and could not be around them at all. [my son suffers this same fate] But then came Zyrtec and Flonase.   Fast forward, after I move back to New Orleans 3years after Katrina there were numerous cats in the area. People had left their cats thinking they would be back in a couple of days. Not to be. Cats being cats adapted, went feral and multiplied. I met a compassionate woman who along with others trapped, spayed/neutered and returned the cats to their outdoor habitat to live out their days. Its call TNR. I encourage you to go to the Alley Cat Allies website for more info. It is a long term solution but imo, the most humane one. Anyway, I wound up with 3 cats. They became indoor/ out door cats. Buffy was the first, then Hope, then Minnie. Buffy was NOT happy with the other two but they, being torties, bonded and mostly ignored her. But then Hope was killed by a car one night , Minnie looked to Buffy for companionship but that was not to be. They fought. Buffy ran away. I found her hanging out in an abandoned house around the corner from me. I brought her home 3 times; she ran away each time. I consulted with my friend and with my vet. They said the same thing, leave her be.  It was heartbreaking to leave her but she was in a colony that had a caretaker. So I moved away with just Minnie. I hope Buff is ok but when I left the neighborhood there was a lot of new construction. I am still upset about it. I have Minnie and she is fine. I’d like to get another cat but given the history I haven’t. She has adapted well up here. She stays mostly in the house. I let her outside in the back yard and she likes to sit in the sun by the roses.[this is going to be a small cat painting, a study of sorts] I’ve tried putting a leash on her but that was a disaster! And now you know my “cat story” for those who care.

I did a lot of reading on cats and found that cats seem to have domesticated themselves. As neolithic humans settled and grew grain, cats came around as there was a ready food source because mice and rats ate the stored grains. And humans let them be for they served a good purpose, vermin control!

And then there are the Egyptians and their worship of cats but that is a whole other story.

I encourage all to read more about cats. There are the smaller cats: pallas‘ cat, sand cat, swamp cat and others. The extinct big cats like the Smiladon are fascinating.

I am a big advocate for conserving ALL wildlife but especially cats. I encourage all to find their passion to help save animals whether it be whales, elephants or cats.

                                                                         Minnie in the Roses