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What Should You Do If You Find A Cat Outside?

In the bitter winter weather, free roaming cats desperately need help to survive. If you find a stray or abandoned cat or kitten and you do not want to commit to caring for it, please catch or live trap it and take it to the SPCA.  The SPCA rents live traps if you need one.  ca-r-ma is not a shelter and is not able to take in homeless animals.

If you want to help the cat/kitten on your own, here are some pointers:

• Put out water several times a day; it's the number one need for free roaming cats in winter. Many  cats die horrible painful deaths from kidney failure when they can't find unfrozen water in wintertime. 
• Devise shelter: if you can construct a windproof and insultated space under a porch or in a shed, the cat(s) will be quite cosy there.  ca-r-ma can advise you on how to build an effective and inexpensive one or two cat shelter if needed. Place water near, but not inside the shelter; if it spills it will make the shelter very uncomfortable.
• Put out dry food frequently.  You can also put out small amounts of wet food at times you know the cat comes around. 
• Report the animal to the SPCA and the Times Transcript so it can be advertised.  An owner may be looking for it.  You may also want to advertise it on kijiji or other free advertising websites and put up flyers in your neighbourhood. Photos are always helpful in ads.
• If you have cats of your own, do not take in a homeless cat unless you can keep it strictly isolated.  It needs to be tested for certain diseases and treated to make sure it does not carry communicable parasites before being in contact with other cats. ca-r-ma may be able to help with testing and parasite treatment. 
• If the animal is not feral and you would like to place it for adoption, contact ca-r-ma. As resources allow, we will spay/neuter the cat and help you to advertise it. Please realize that the animal will remain in your care unless/until it is adopted, which may mean a permanent commitment if it does not find a home.  

Where Are All the Kittens?

If you are looking to adopt a kitten, you may be having trouble finding one right now.  Few kittens are born in winter.  The prime season for adoptions is June through October, although some early litters will be ready to go in May and there are always a few late litters available into December.  Occasionally a cat will deliver a litter in the wintertime, but since this is the one time of year when there are more adopters than kittens, you may not have much choice about gender or colour.  If you have a specific gender and colour in mind, you might want to wait until summer when both ca-r-ma and the SPCA will have dozens of kittens available all the time.  In the meantime, do check this website frequently.  We have some kittens in care now that will be ready to go over the next three or four weeks, and others may come in at any time.