The Stray Cat Blues

She was a young cat, homeless, hungry and pregnant.  There was no safe place to give birth or care for her babies.

Help arrived in the nick of time when LifeLine Animal Project took her in.

Five tiny kittens were born on the fourth of July, earning their mother the name Betsy, short for Betsy Ross.

The kittens were named Red, White, Blue, Star and Stripe. All were all adopted within a matter of months, except for Star, who died soon after birth. With the kittens in homes, Betsy was left alone again in a shelter scenario that many animal rescuers see over and over again.

“Mother cats come in pregnant or with their kittens and the kittens get adopted and the moms are left in the shelters,” says Mickie Blair, LifeLine’s field coordinator and cat adoption specialist, “People miss out on great pets by overlooking these special mother cats.”

Making the problem more difficult, shelters are often overrun with kittens during the spring and summer, the time when Betsy had her offspring.

It’s known as “kitten season."

A female cat that is not spayed can have from two to four litters a year and often up to six or more kittens each time. Kittens born on the street often die rather painfully and quickly due to dogs, disease, cars, starvation and sometimes the cruelty of humans. If they do make it to adulthood, the prospects for a long life are still slim.

The average lifespan of a cat on the streets is two to five years, much shorter than the 10 to 18 years many cats enjoy when they live indoors and have regular food and care.

The oldest known cat was Texas feline named Creme Puff who lived to be 38 years old.

Spaying and neutering can contribute to a longer life for domestic pets.

Neutered male cats cannot develop testicular cancer, spayed females avoid ovarian cancer and both will have a reduced risk of mammary cancer.

Since it is estimated that there are more than 60 million stray cats across the nation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that an additional 5 million pet cats are abandoned each year, the idea and practice of fixing homeless cats has taken off in recent years. Ending rampant reproduction is seen as the most humane way to stop the suffering that comes with too many animals and not enough homes for them all.

Spaying and neutering homeless cats is the mission of LifeLine's specialized program called Catlanta. This seminal program the non-profit started almost 10 years ago has been very effective in impacting the homeless pet population and serving city residents.

“Tax payers in the greater Atlanta area spend about $5 million per year to catch and euthanize abandoned and feral cats,” says Rebecca Guinn, LifeLine’s founder and executive director. “Our Catlanta program has captured and fixed about 13,000 cats, so LifeLine has saved the taxpayers in the 20 county metro area 1.3 million dollars. And the cats get to live!”

“It’s one of the most effective programs we have in the term of the money it saves and the misery it prevents,” Guinn asserts.

Betsy was one of the lucky cats who benefited from LifeLine’s forward thinking mission and she’s fully enjoyed the advantages of not being a stray, including getting regular meals. She’s still small at just over a year and a half old, but has gained weight up to 11 lbs.

That, combined with her long feathery hair make her an adorable butterball.

She’s a domestic tabby cat with full fluffy face and big copper colored eyes.

"Betsy may have a Persian cat in her family tree somewhere,” Blair says, “She’s gorgeous and draws people in because she’s so pretty.”

“She’s sweet but not needy. She likes to play but when she’s done playing she just walks off. Typical cat personality!” Blair smiles.

Betsy is healthy and has had all her shots. She likes people and other cats. It’s unknown how she gets along with dogs.

If you would like to adopt, foster or even “virtually” foster Betsy or one of the cats in LifeLine's Kitty Motel,  contact mblair@atlantapets.org.

If you would like to know more about or participate in LifeLine’s Catlanta program, contact gint@atlantapets.org.