Cats On The Lookout For Human Kindness

Ahead of the recent snowstorms, while we were busy running to the grocery store for milk and bread, filling our gas tanks, and checking the snowblower, a small army of volunteers was hard at work. They were tending to the needs of an oft-forgotten segment of the community – the homeless cats.

But homeless may be a bit of a misnomer. They do have a home though it’s not in a warm house with human companionship.

The cats of the Saltonstall area live in a little village with insulated shelters stuffed full of hay. They’re in a neat semi-circle with protected food stations where the food bowls are full. Charlene Vessichio, chief caretaker of this and other colonies in the area, said the shelter are cleaned out each fall and packed with fresh hay. ​“You start anew,” she said.

A year-and-a-half earlier, the colony was relocated a couple hundred feet from its current spot in back of some offices due to complaints about pawprints on a tenant’s car. The cats have adjusted well to the area, which is private and unobtrusive.

Fresh water is available; chunks of ice were on the ground nearby, evidence that the bowls were recently filled. 

According to Eunice Lasala of the Branford Compassion Club, there are eight to 10 residents and the colony is one of 18 to 20 in the area, cared for by the aforementioned volunteers who feed the cats twice a day.

“I lay awake at night and worry about them,” said Lasala, who has spent years caring for the colonies. She said the mild winter has been helpful in maintaining the colonies. The Branford Compassion Club supplies food for them and volunteers maintain the snug shelters. 

After the storm

Checking in again after one weekend storm, everything was tidied up. There was little evidence that 11 inches of snow had hit the town. Fresh cardboard had been put down in front of the shelters and all the snow had been cleared away from the central area. The canopy of fir trees no doubt offered a lot of protection.

Vessichio and her volunteers shovel out all the colonies after every snowstorm.

“You worry every time it snows,” she said.

Four orange kitties were lounging around and another was playing a game of camouflage in the nearby wooded area.

About community cats

“Community cats” is now the more politically correct term for these felines. Feral cats, as they are commonly known, are domestic cats (and subsequently, their kittens) that have been abandoned by humans and left to fend for themselves. Their numbers are kept in check through TNR – Trap, Neuter, Release – a program in which the cats are trapped, spayed or neutered (and vaccinated), and released back to their colony. Their ears are ​“tipped” to indicate that they have been spayed or neutered.

Any kittens that are born to feral moms are brought into foster care and adopted out, and if a ​“friendly” cat is found within the colony he or she is taken in, socialized, and placed in a home. 

The population of the cats is thus kept in check and usually declines.

Teams of volunteers, like those in the Branford, commit to regularly feeding the cats and maintaining their shelters. Typically the cats are fed early in the day to avoid competition for food from local wildlife.

The program has come under fire in many communities where it’s believed the cats should just be exterminated. However, TNR proponents say that when cats disappear from a colony, other cats appear to fill the void.

Lasala, who has helped maintain the local colonies for years, has seen a decline in the number of cats and some older colonies no longer have cats.

Contrary to popular belief, community cats will probably not be happier if they’re brought inside. We may be used to keeping our house cats safe indoors, by our side, but these kitties have spent their lives outside and have adapted very well. Once indoors, a feral cat may languish under a bed or in a dark closet, seeking safety. ​“If you try to bring them in, they’ll go berserk,” Lasala said.

But there are exceptions.

“If there is one person capable of saving a cat, it’s Charlene,” said Lasala.

Indeed, Vessichio has done that. On several occasions, she’s removed injured or sick cats from a colony, obtained veterinary care, and either found homes for them… or taken them in herself.

“One of them has turned into a big lap cat,” she said. Her most recent acquisition (and last, she says) is named Brady, after the Brady Bunch.

Vessichio maintains the schedule for feeding the colonies and ensures that all of them are looked after daily. She also sends out a newsletter with updates on the various colonies and their residents, feeding information, and schedules.

With the care of volunteers such as those from the Branford Compassion Club, they can live long healthy lives. No doubt they get more exercise than your typical house cat, who may spend the day curled up in a sunny window!

The cats at the Saltonstall colony are comfortable in their environment. The orange clan is probably related and it’s evident that there is a bond among them. The cats watched me warily from a distance; they’re used to the human contact from those who feed them, but they’ve not experienced the touch of a loving owner.

The Branford Compassion Club is always in need of volunteers to help with these cats and to donate supplies. A winter food and supply drive will take place on Saturday, Feb. 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at its facility, 2037 Foxon Road, North Branford. The wish list includes canned and dry kitten and cat food, Oka cat litter, Yesterday’s News cat litter, grain-free cat food for special diets, paper towels, kitchen trash bags, and liquid hand and dishwashing soap.

BCC offers information on feral cats on its website.

Despite their threatened extermination two years ago, Lasala said a dozen or so cats are still living in the Shoreline Mobile Home Community on East Main Street. She said a resident there feeds them and she helps out even though BCC is not allowed on the premises. ​“They’re doing all right,” she said.

Help and advice are available for people who are having problems with their cats or can’t keep them; discuss options with your veterinarian, BCC, or the Cosgrove Animal Shelter. Spay and neuter clinics are available through Tait’s Every Animal Matters (TEAM). Owning a pet is a lifelong commitment: The cat that is adopted and brought into a home is not disposable.

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