Compass Communications

Story by Lisa Rowell

Our cat Spike had been with us for 17 years — ever since my son Jordan was ten years old. She slept at his feet every night since the day we got her. She lived with us in Somerset then traveled with us to Vermont, and back to Kentucky 12 years later. 

As a six-week-old feral kitten, Spike’s first vet would be Dr. Cynthia Donovan at Lake Cumberland Animal Hospital. And 17 years later, she would be the one to help us say good-bye to our beloved feline companion last year. Jordan still mourns her loss. 

With a 13-year-old arthritic dog with Cushings disease, and having freshly moved back to Kentucky, having more animals in our home was not on my bingo card for 2023.  The “Cat Distribution Center” had other plans. 

Our friend and neighbor was keeping an eye on a feral cat problem in our neighborhood and inadvertently become the foster mother to a litter of kittens that had been abandoned by their young mother. That feral cat problem is still an issue, however, my friend was able to trap and spay the mama cat, and get her kittens off the street. We ended up with two from that litter — Georgie and Barbie. Because of my neighbor’s kind actions, a total of five cats were taken out of an endless cycle of reproducing.

A single female feral cat can produce up to 200 kittens in her lifetime. She can start producing those kittens when she’s still a kitten herself. Many sources report that a single female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats over a seven-year period. I didn’t do the math because I didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole. But — whew! That’s a lot of cats for the “Cat Distribution Center” to keep up with. 

We welcomed the sisters into our home, right at the same time we were accepting the news that our beloved old tabby was nearing the end of her long and happy life. Dr. Donovan would once again guide us in all things healthy for our new family members, including spaying them when the time came. 

Fast forward to May of 2024. Lots of feral kittens and their young mamas would be roaming the streets of downtown Somerset again. Despite the efforts of many of my neighbors, we barely made a dent in that feral cat problem.  

One day I noticed a very tiny gray kitten by my garage. I barely scooped her up in my hand before she hissed and spit at me then wiggled free. We watched for her and her tiny gray mama. She seemed to be the only kitten of that litter. 

As weeks passed, we noticed the little gray kitten had infiltrated herself into two other litters of kittens, a little younger than herself. With no sign of her mama, we noticed she would come onto our porch to eat the food we were leaving out. (So did an opposum, then a raccoon that literally carried the food bowl away.)

The day the kitten let me touch her was the day I scooped her up and put her in a cat carrier. She went straight to the vet to get checked over and have shots. 

“CeeCee” as we would come to call her, came home with me that day and has never left. Her older cat sisters have welcomed her as if she always belonged with us. 

And that is how the Cat Distribution Center put three cats in our home within a year. 

My plea to you — during Cat Appreciation Month — is, if you are planning on gifting a feline companion this holiday season, please understand it can be a commitment that lasts a couple decades. Care, food, litter, and vet bills can get expensive. Cats should not be let outside (and they can be sly escape artists) if they have not been spayed or neutered. Being loved by a cat can be an amazing experience, and they deserve to be well cared for.

Local Resources

Hope for All Pets, Inc.
hapiky.org
All-breed 501(c)(3) animal rescue based in Southern Kentucky. Adoptions, spay/neuter clinics, fostering.

Pulaski County Animal Shelter
pcanimalshelter.com
235 Adopt Me Lane, Somerset
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 12-5 p.m.
(606) 679-6432

Somerset-Pulaski County Humane Society
bhumane.org
Foster, adopt, rehome, rescue.
179 Chris Way, Somerset
(606) 451-2367