Cat Linky Party, Giveaway, & Special Video Creation for Feral Cat Day!

It’s here! National Feral Cat Day 2012! This is my first time ever participating in an event like this. See below for a cat linky party for you bloggers ( I want to hear your cat stories too!), a very special creative video I made, and a Free gifts giveaway-all to celebrate this cause.

Why am I doing all this special stuff for Feral Cat Day? Well, it hits close to home, (literally haha) as a feral cat colony seemingly showed up out of nowhere in my backyard and neighborhood late April of 2012. When I saw that first adorable kitty in the rain one day, I thought he was the only one. Within a couple of weeks or less, I realized I was wrong. There were at least 20 homeless cats running around!

No one in the neighborhood seemed to be doing anything about it (and were not so nice to the cats either). Being just one person, I felt overwhelmed and wasn’t sure I wanted to mess with it. In fact I remember having a phone conversation about my dilemma with my friend Erica (who chuckled because she knew my heart and knew I would end up caring for them-you were right Erica!), because I couldn’t seem to forget about these cats.

At times I felt I bit off more than we could chew, but it has been such a rewarding (not to mention inspiring) experience. It has taught me a lot of lessons about animals, people and God’s creation. I even got to experience birth for the first time!

I have had several comments from neighbors or passersby pointing out that these cats must be hanging around because of the food or saying that is all they care about. I have also heard them telling inquisitive neighborhood kids the same thing. They can’t figure out why these feral cats are so loyal to me and they think it must be only the food that they come for. I remember the little neighbor boy even asking me one day what my “secret” was to getting the cats to come to me (he wanted to be able to pet them too). I told him the secret was love. Love, lots of patience, and gentleness. These are the things the cats respond to-not too different from us humans , huh?

Yes, these cats , like any homeless or starving animal (or person would for that matter), DO come around for food. However, the fact is that they also come around for the companionship. In the beginning I was not feeding the cats most days, and yet they still came around. An example to this theory of wanting love and not just food, is that if I haven’t seen them all day and put their food out for them up near the house, and then go out in the backyard to sit in the lounge chair, they will abandon their food and run over to where I am to be in my company. I also have to be careful when I walk, because they will follow me right down the street (you will see a video clip of this in my video creation below). They are (almost) as loyal as a dog and shower me with love and affection every day in return for the affection I have given them.

While one person or even 1 family may not be able to help an entire colony alone without help and financial assistance, 1 person or 1 family CAN make a difference in their community and in the lives of these homeless cats-even if it’s just a few of them (for more info on how you can help cats in your area or to donate money to this worthy cause, please visit www.alleycat.org). Without human assistance these cat colonies can not only grow in to huge numbers, but their lives could be in danger.

To see a visual story of the colony of cats that I help, and to see examples of some of the things I mentioned above come to life, please watch this special 5 minute video (click this LINK to go directly to the video, or just visit the website post HERE ). Maybe this video and post will give people a different perspective on “feral” cats and the sometimes negative reputation these cats get.