Community Kitty Casualty of Harsh Winter Conditions

Temperatures are in the cellar. The snowstorms are serial. Most of us are worried about getting to work and getting around.

But there’s a whole other group of people with another set of worries: the dedicated group of volunteers who care for the colonies of community (feral) cats between Guilford and East Haven. This year frigid temperatures are creating new challenges for humans and cats alike.

Eunice Lasala, Branford Compassion Club co-founder and one of the regulars who cares for the cats, says, ​“We’ve been doing lots of shoveling. No one can get to them.”

Charlene Vessichio maintains several colonies, including the one near Lake Saltonstall. Sadly, she says, there have been losses. Vessichio says she recently found little RD Ragdoll (pictured) dead in one of the huts. ​“He was a feisty little cat,” she says.

He’s shown here last June, shortly after the colony was relocated when paw prints on a sports car triggered the decision to leave. 
 
Lasala says the shelters at the colonies have thick insulation and are stuffed with straw. Microwavable disks are available that can be heated, but Lasala says the shelter openings are small and it would be difficult to insert them. Volunteers would have to go out at night to put the disks in the shelters and risk scaring the kitties that might already be in them.

“I’m so worried,” says Lasala. ​“The temperatures are dropping. We don’t know who’s making it. We call them and leave out dry food and some wet food, but that freezes quickly.”

To that end, BCC’s Winter Food and Supply Drive will take place Saturday, Feb. 28, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at its Feline Rescue and Adoption Center, 2037 Foxon Road, North Branford.

Lasala says there are about 17 colonies that are maintained though some have died out through attrition.

Vessichio has a full schedule. In addition to feeding the cats, trapping when necessary and taking care of their shelters, she draws up the daily schedules for other people who care for the cats. More volunteers are always needed, she says.

In anticipation of the frigid weather, Vessichio replenished the straw in the cats’ shelters. ​“It has no chemicals and it’s not treated,” she says. ​“They like to dig and burrow in it and huddle together.”

She adds that different cats show up at different times, which makes feeding tricky. ​“We have to limit wet food because it freezes,” she says, echoing what Lasala said.

Community cat caretakers take part in a ​“trap, neuter and release” program in which the cats are trapped, spayed or neutered, then released back to their familiar territories. Kitten from feral moms are fostered and placed for adoption as are older cats that are found to be friendly.

A visit on a snowy morning to the Saltonstall colony found the same group of kitties hanging out, fortunately looking none the worse for the harsh conditions. Access to their enclosure looked a bit difficult, but the cats were plump and mingling around, tails in the air. 

“It’s a difficult life for them,” says Lasala. She added that donations of food, supplies, and cash are always welcomed through the Branford Compassion Club.

Lasala also gave an update on the cats at the Shoreline Mobile Home Park that were threatened with removal. ​“Nothing’s going on to my knowledge,” she says. ​“I do check though I’m not supposed to.” 

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