Patching Up Patches and Her Siblings
The picture texted to me of the kittens found on an empty lot in Marysville looked grim. Bedraggled, undernourished and sickly looking; they needed care soon.
The four kittens arrived at the shelter in dismal condition. Fleas, eyes crusted closed, coats matted over their flesh covered skeletons, the little ferals hissed in fear at us with their last bit of energy.
We cleaned them up, prepared a medical protocol and nourished them with the best gruel we could whip up. They were tucked into a warm, cozy condo in our clinic where they would be monitored closely by our veterinary team. We did all we could do to give the best shot at survival. The rest would be up to destiny.
Patches and her siblings did better than many other litters of kittens just like them in Marysville. Three of the siblings, survived. Sadly, one passed away. But thanks to the skills of our medical team Patches, Cujo and Prissy survived.
Theirs is a story that happens several times a week in Marysville. FieldHaven is working to change that.
For years – no, decades – the cat population has been run unchecked in this small Yuba County city. Periodically, frustrated cat-not-likers (I refuse to believe any person is a cat hater) would set out traps and haul scores of cats off to the Yuba County pound where they would be killed. Kittens, if they survived to adolescence, would be reproducing the same year in which they were born. The cat annoyance factor was sky-high. Smells, fleas, fighting and mating noises and not to mention the horrifying sight of sick and dying kittens.
We have set about on a mission to change that. Thanks to the wisdom of the Marysville City Council and Police Department they knew a change had to be made. The old way of trap and kill or ignore wasn’t working.
We are TNRing the Town of Meowysville. With an estimated 1,200 to 1,700 free-roaming unowned cats throughout the town it’s going to be a big job but we are FieldHaven, a force that is up to the challenge.
Are you there with us? Join us and be part of making history in Marysville. Be part of making Marysville the first no-kill community for cats in Yuba County.
Patches has now been adopted and so has Cujo. Prissy will go home one day soon.
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This is just beautiful. Thank you!
I love this story of Patches and the love and attention she received along with her siblings. Thank you to all for I now have this sweet and beautiful kitty Patches in my home, known as Bella now. She is thriving and getting bigger everyday, purring, playful, and new besties with my 1 year old dog Ava. Again- you and your team of vets, volunteers, foster families, and all those in- house are a blessing in saving and bringing these innocent fur babies back from near death and finding them loving homes.
thank you for sharing – FieldHaven is a wonderful place any kitty would want to go to – before they get their “forever home”
Well I hope you are talking to Jan Kendel as she has spent the past ten years trying to clean up the cat mess in Yuba and Sutter County. You are the only ones working on it. She works a part time job just to pay for food and to spay and neuter these poor cat. Everyday she goes out and feeds the ones she has fixed and returned to their areas. She knows more about that mess than anyone!