Friday, June 25, 2010

Triumphs and Tragedies

Tragedy


trag·e·dy
n. pl. trag·e·dies

1.
a. A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.
b. The genre made up of such works.
c. The art or theory of writing or producing these works.

2. A play, film, television program, or other narrative work that portrays or depicts calamitous events and has an unhappy but meaningful ending.
3. A disastrous event, especially one involving distressing loss or injury to life: an expedition that ended in tragedy, with all hands lost at sea.
4. A tragic aspect or element.



A disastrous event occurred this week.  Whilst out in the garden collecting daisies I left the front door to the house open.  That was a bad idea.  When I returned to the house to get a vase who did I spy in the kitchen with a mouth full of Friskies but Mr. Funnyface.  This isn't a good thing.  Mr. Funnyface is a feral cat.  He is an unneutered male feral cat.  And while he ducked inside to steal some food he also marked the house as his territory.  Our house STANK.  and my Gino, who has been fighting with Mr. Funny face for weeks, was even more riled up.  and what do you think he did?  It's a vicious circle.



Triumph

tri·umph
intr.v. tri·umphed, tri·umph·ing, tri·umphs

1. To be victorious or successful; win.
2. To rejoice over a success or victory; exult.
3. To receive honors upon return from a victory in ancient Rome. Used of a general.

n.
1. The fact of being victorious; victory or conquest. See Synonyms at victory.
2. A noteworthy or spectacular success.
3. Exultation or rejoicing over victory or success.
4. A public celebration in ancient Rome to welcome a returning victorious commander and his army.
5. Obsolete A public celebration or spectacular pageant.

Victory is mine!

The thieving bandit has been caught.  Tomorrow morning he has a date with the Atlantic Veterinary College where his spraying habits will soon be a thing of the past.  And hopefully his attitude will improve some as well.

I'd like to say a BIG Thank You to Cat Action Team.  Mr. Funnyface is the 4th cat they have helped us to get fixed since we moved into this house 8 months ago.  When we purchased this house we discovered that feral cats were part of the sale!  Unfortunately these cats had not been fixed.  We didn't want their numbers to increase so we contacted CAT Action.  They are a volunteer organization on PEI that helps people care for the feral cats in their communities.   CAT Action loans traps, gives advice and support and regularly holds clinics at the AVC for feral cats to be brought in for spaying and neutering.  As well, none of this would work without with the support of the AVC and their veterinary students who provide this service.

Most communities have groups of this sort.  If there are feral cats in your community, please contact a local agency to get them fixed.  The benefits are enormous.  No more female cats yowling in heat, no more male cats spraying and no more kittens, which stops the cycle of cat colonies.  The life of a feral cat isn't a nice one.  They are more likely to get sick, get hit by cars, be injured by other animals, freeze or starve.  The typical lifespan of a feral cat is just 2 to 5 years, compared to the average 15 years pet cats live.  It's simple to get them fixed and it makes a world of difference to both people and cats.

Barnette - Barn cat whose ears froze and had to be clipped.

5 comments:

Kyna said...

What a great post.I feel sorry that Mr. Funnyspray, I mean, Mr. Funnyface has odiferously defiled your house. But what a great style that post had! I really admire your writing :D

Laura said...

Good for you guys getting these cats some basic care. It is an unfortunate life for a ferral cat. We used a similar organization years back to have a new family of cats that had claimed our house as home fixed. We ended up keeping two of the kittens as house cats, and now those two mancoons, are plump happy house cats without a care in the world.

Boo on the smelly house. That's a nightmare to get out!

Diana Studer said...

Monsieur Chocolat began his life as one of Porterville's horde of feral cats. All our cats have been rescued, then treated. No more kittens.
Cats with white ears get skin cancer from the sun, and so end up clipped like your frost-bitten Barnette.

Marguerite said...

@Kyna - thanks so much for the compliment! I've always enjoyed writing and a blog is a great write to stretch my writing skills.

@Laura - thank goodness for 'Nature's Miracle', my defence weapon against smelly cats. Once we figured out where he sprayed we were able to get it out without too much trouble. Good on you for taking in those kitties. I love mainecoons, absolutely gorgeous.

@ Elephant's Eye - I've only recently heard about cat's getting skin cancer. I never really considered it given they're covered in fur but there you go, you learn something new every day. Great name by the way!

lifeshighway said...

Its a great idea to spay and neuter the feral population. They will guard their territory and not allow even more feral from moving in. Yeah for your great community organization.