NYC Feral Cat Council - A Feral Cat Story - by Nancy Fahnestock, CSM Stray Foundation - Holiday 2006 - Out of the Cage!, the E-Newsletter of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

Home > Out of the Cage! > Holiday 2006 > NYC Feral Cat Council: A Feral Cat Story

NYC Feral Cat Council

A Feral Cat Story

by Nancy Fahnestock, CSM Stray Foundation

Feral cat Princess found shelter in a hollow tree. (Photo by Carole S. Milker)

Feral cat Princess found shelter in a hollow tree.

(Photo by Carole S. Milker)

Early in the year 2000, CSM Stray Foundation noticed a nice gray female cat scooting into the base of a 100-year-old oak tree that stood tall in Kew Gardens. After leaving food each day and walking away, we noticed that she developed a routine. In addition, she stayed there with another striped cat who we named Lookout.

After trapping and spaying her, we named her Princess. At that time, left-ear-tipping was not a standard practice to identify an altered cat, so we had the vet tattoo her left ear and put in a microchip before returning her to her home.

Princess and Lookout lost their home — and CSM Stray Foundation lost track of Princess — when their tree topped in a storm. (Photo by Carole S. Milker)

Princess and Lookout lost their home — and CSM Stray Foundation lost track of Princess — when their tree toppled in a storm.

(Photo by Carole S. Milker)

We did lots of filming and photographing of Princess and included her in our Feral Cat Film, which we use in our Humane Education Programs. The story of Princess in the tree is a real attention-getter for students when we talk about the importance of spay/neutering animals.

In June of 2005, there was a terrible storm, which caused the beautiful hollow tree to topple. Afterward, Princess and Lookout were nowhere to be found. We visited each day, calling for Princess, but to no avail. It was a very sad feeling since we'd known Princess for five years.

We contacted Bryan Kortis of Neighborhood Cats to get some insight. He said that most feral cats are territorial and do not roam far from where they live. After a week, Lookout, the striped cat, joined a nearby feral colony that we manage. We were so excited to see him. But Princess did not follow suit. We hoped that if she were injured and brought into Animal Care & Control, they would scan her and find the microchip, and she would be returned to us.

After 14 months, Princess finally reappeared! (Photo by Carole S. Milker)

After 14 months, Princess finally reappeared!

(Photo by Carole S. Milker)

Just this past Thanksgiving week, we saw a gray cat in a bush waiting for the white car that we drive to routinely feed other colonies each morning. We walked over to the bush and called, "Princess." She began to speak, walked away a bit, and then came back to eat the food in the bush. This happened for the last three days just as though the old tree were there. We took close-up photos and compared them to our earlier photos, and it was definitely Princess! We don't know where she has found shelter, but she does have a place to stay and looks great. She now appears again each morning to say "hello" and have some breakfast. We're hoping she will join the nearby colony with her friend Lookout, so we're building another winter shelter in that area. She's afraid of trees, but is very happy to sit under the bush each morning now and show herself. So now, after 14 months of hoping, we have a sequel to our Princess in the Tree story.

CSM Stray Foundation is an Alliance Participating Organization (APO) and a member of the NYC Feral Cat Council. For information about the organization and the life-saving work it is doing with feral cats, visit www.csmstray.org.

New Feral Cat Ad Calls to Action!

A great new ad inviting New Yorkers to get involved in helping the feral cats in their neighborhoods will soon be appearing in malls around NYC. This dynamic ad was designed by the ASPCA and features the logos of the ASPCA, Neighborhood Cats, and the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals. It promotes the Feral Cat Workshops provided by Neighborhood Cats — an important first step for anyone who wants to help NYC's feral cats.

Be on the lookout for the ad, and point it out to your friends and colleagues. Encourage them to join in NYC's efforts to provide a better life for NYC's feral cats.