Changes in their lives.

• 

• 

• 

It is an honor to become part of the changing lives of our caregivers. We are hoping to be there for their whole journey.

Five years ago, we were looking in backyards and on porches for cat dishes and water bowls. These would be signs  of  the people desperate to get help spay\neutering  their free-roaming cat colonies and stopping kittens from being born, and dying soon after. But one couple didn’t need our help. A husband and wife had shelters built on their deck and property for any cats that showed up. They would trap any new cats and paid veterinarians to spay\neuter them. They considered these cats their responsibility.

I drove by their home on 40th so many times and wondered how they were doing. Then one day young Dustin told me there was an old man down the street who had lots of cats needing to be fixed as well as pregnant mommas. He showed me which trailer and I knew right away something had changed. It was the trailer of the couple.

It turns out the man, Terry, had lost his wife in December. He had developed dementia and his son and granddaughter moved into the trailer next to his. Terry still fed the cats but was no longer able to get them spayed and neutered. His son respected the love his father had for these cats and does his best to just live among so many cats.

We Introduced ourselves to the son and granddaughter, Santisha and Jeff, offering our help in trapping and fixing the cats who had joined since neutering had stopped. We trapped 15 cats including four kittens that were taken by IHS for adoption. We have a momma and three kittens left, along with an ongoing parade of strays that find their way to the property, not far from the greenbelt.