When I’m not painting cute  cat wall art and such, I am often volunteering for animal causes, currently an organization that helps cats. The mission is to spay and neuter cats who live outside. You can read about it here.

Cats live outside for all kinds of reasons, but they all have to do with humans. They’re domestic animals after all, so what people do and don’t do with their cats determines the trajectory of their lives.

All of the cats we help live outside. About 25% of them are friendly. That means they were owned at one time, and probably lived in a home as a pet. Most of those were left behind when the family moved, or were just turned out when the family didn’t want the cat anymore. The good news for them is, we can bring them to an animal shelter where they can be found a new home.

The larger percent of the cats who live outside are feral. That means they were the offspring of feral cats or perhaps of friendly cats. Regardless, if they had no contact with humans when they were little, they will likely not be candidates to be house cats. Their best life is to live in a place where there’s shelter, and where people provide them with food. And though they might not think so, they are much better off when they have been spayed or neutered. Reproduction takes a toll on them and the humans around them. Large colonies of cats are generally not tolerated, and cats are very good at reproducing.

The moral of this cat story is; spay and neuter! It’s the best way to prevent suffering in the feline world.