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Saralee
(c) 1996-2008, PetRescue.Com
Saralee is one of our long term
residents here at the sanctuary. It’s hard to believe that this pretty
little cat is the same ragamuffin we picked up late one rainy night in
March 1994.
We had first seen her outside a gas
station going through the dumpster. She was skin and bone and very, very
pregnant. We put out some food which we always carry with us for these
occasions. She ate voraciously but kept a wary eye on us. Suddenly, out
of the shadows, we noticed several more cats slinking up. Soon there
were seven! Much to our dismay, three more of them were also pregnant.
We spoke with the owner of the property
and offered to trap the cats, have them fixed, vet checked and then
return them to the only home they had ever known. He emphatically stated
that they were "just wild strays" and he didn’t want them
around. It was obvious that this was definitely not a safe environment
for them. It was also obvious that the situation would quickly get out
of control after the females gave birth, greatly increasing the size of
the colony. Therefore, we set about trapping and removing them. Over the
course of the next week, we managed to trap all seven of them.
Within a short period of time the females gave birth giving us a grand
total of seven adults and sixteen kittens. With good treatment and medical
care, they soon became healthy and beautiful and we were able to place
most of the kittens in good homes. Unfortunately, the adults were a
different story. They were all feral and it took us a long time to win
their confidence. Even after all this time, SaraLee is still somewhat
leery of us and only very occasionally allows us to pet her. Most times
she just can’t bring herself to overcome the initial discomfort of being
touched. Avoiding humans is an acquired skill which enables these ferals
to survive out in the wild and they have a hard time letting go of it.
Rarely does SaraLee let down her guard and let us in, so whenever she
does, we treasure those moments as small victories! However, to us, the
most important thing is that this sweet girl is able to live out the rest
of her days with her companions in a place where she is safe, she is happy
and she is loved!
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PetRescue.Com. All rights reserved.
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