It's a situation that I can't even imagine, being evicted and putting all my cats outside to fend for themselves but it happens probably more than we know and just last week it became my problem.
A couple of years ago I helped a woman, Colleen, who had multiple unfixed cats and hence many kittens. I found homes for the kittens and got the adults spayed and neutered. She is on ODSP and although she doesn't have much money loves her cats dearly so I brought her food sometimes and even took a couple to the vet.
Just over a week ago as I was lying flat on my back in bed in pain she called to tell me she had been evicted. She knew this was coming but the day finally came when the sheriff locked the door and she had nowhere to go so she put the cats outside. Apparently she slept there for 2 days then went to a shelter but came back to feed them. I only found this out later as I had no way to phone her.
As soon as I was mobile I went up and sure enough found the cats outside in the parking lot behind the building. Thankfully a cat rescue friend of mine happened to have a spare room and agreed to take the cats in, we just couldn't leave them out there to fend for themselves. So every day last week I managed, with help, to get a cat or two. Six are now safe and Colleen took two to the shelter, now there are still three out there but they are making themselves scarce. What will happen next I don't know. Should Colleen get them back if and when she finds housing or should they be re-homed? That's a tough one, I am just glad some of them are safe.
I've been finding this an incredibly stressful situation, and I wake up every day grateful that my cats are with me.
 |
| The parking lot where the cats were/are |
 |
| One of the cats safe inside |
 |
| Handsome Picasso in his temporary sanctuary |
How awful for everyone. I hope you can find them all. Thank goodness the weather isn't too bad. Yes, you have to wonder how often this does happen in our cities. Good luck, Robin, Deb
ReplyDelete