Meet Mama K!

Let me introduce a very special lady to you....Mama K!

A few years ago, we found Mama K late one evening running wild in the parking lot of our Mesa store.  She seemed very young, a gorgeous Siamese maybe only about a year old, but had 2 tiny kittens with her.  They were clearly feral, living in the bushes, but we couldn't imagine leaving them out there so I researched online and called some local no-kill animal shelters, but guess what?  Nobody was willing to accept them...NOBODY.  I tried explaining that two of the 3 cats were teeny tiny kittens but every answer I got was that they were considered 'feral' and therefore 'unadoptable.'

Really?  Unadoptable?  I'm sorry, personally I just don't buy that, but that was what each person told me.  Ugh.

The only place I found help at was the Animal Defense League of Arizona.  I was so glad to have found them, but even they said that the cats were considered feral and as such they could only be trapped, neutered/spayed, and then released.  I learned that the Trap-Neuter-Return program is considered a humane and effective method for stabilizing feral cat populations.  They could lend us box traps for free (but a nominal donation was recommended) and the cats must be released after they were 'fixed'. (For more information on their program, you can call their TNR hotline: 602-265-7729 or check out their website at www.adlaz.org.)

So...although the cat and her kittens all were too skittish and we couldn't get near them to catch them, we were able to trap all three in one night, getting them to a vet the next morning (and it was a miracle we did, since all three had to be trapped in separate traps...the vet would not accept even the kittens in the same trap).

At the vets, I was able to pay a discounted spay/neuter fee because I was doing this through the ADLA, but I paid extra to get them vaccinated as well as spayed/neutered, since although they would have to be released, at least they would have some protection.  Also, as part of the program, the left ear is 'tipped' (the tip clipped off...which made me cringe), but the vet said that it is a universal way to identify a sterilized feral cat.  Okay...

The kittens...we dubbed them "Sarah" and "Chuck".

Yes, we're softies....and I wished we could take them home from the start but we already had 2 rescue cats at home and we just couldn't handle 3 more.  And as you can see from the photo above, Sarah and Chuck's left-tipped ears are barely noticeable! :)

Well, after a bit of a rocky start on the street, everything turned out well for Mama K...it has been a few years and she still lives at our store.  Her kittens were adorable and quickly found forever homes.  From being a wild don't-touch-me feral cat, Mama K now allows us to pet her, and even permits Michael to brush her coat so she looks like the pretty lady she is.  She is even cared for on the days our store is closed!  Mama K is now our unofficial mascot (though she's still a bit skittish around customers).  So, come by our Mesa store and if you see her, give a friendly hello to Mama K!  She is our special little lady!