Killing with Kindness

It takes a strong heart to resist the temptation to feed a street cat in the U.A.E. as they look so pitifully thin compared to their European counterparts. However, before you open that first can of cat food, please keep the following advice in mind or your act of kindness may eventually kill the cat.

Sadly Feline Friends receives many desperate calls each year from animal lovers who have unwittingly made the cats they have been feeding, totally dependent on humans for their survival and when they leave the Emirates, they need someone to take over the feeding of these semi-tamed cats.
Unfortunately, we have neither the financial resources nor sufficient volunteers to feed these ever increasing "colonies". If you are already feeding a street cat, what can you do to give it the best chance of survival, not just while you are around to feed it, but later when you are gone? First, get the cat, male or female, sterilised with the help of Feline Friends. Second, if you are feeding it daily, cut down your routine gradually so that on the days you do not provide food, the cat will look elsewhere for its meals. This way, the cat will not forget how to forage for food and it will continue to be recognised by the other bin cats. If the cat suddenly has to enter the bin cats territory due to hunger, it could be very badly attacked by the resident males and it will not have the street sense to survive. Having reduced the food you are giving the cat prior to your departure, you must then take stock of the situation. If you see that the cat is being badly beaten by the other cats and it is losing a lot of weight, then in many cases the kindest act you can perform is to catch the cat and have it humanely euthanaised at the vet. (Contact Feline Friends first). This may seem extreme but a cat who once depended on you solely for its food, cannot always return back to its feral state and it will possibly suffer painful, infected wounds and slowly starve to death. Due to its contact with you, it may also have lost its distrust of humans and consequently be hurt by children, or be run over by a car, as it has to move farther away from familiar territory.

Another point about feeding cats, please do not offer tidbits to hotel cats. They are on the premises to keep away rodents and once you encourage them to approach outside tables for food, you are most likely signing their death warrant. Not all guests are cat lovers and not all cat lovers appreciate a stray cat jumping on their table to steal food. Many of the hotels actually provide food in a separate location from the dining areas for their resident cats. Although it is so tempting, do not encourage the cats to come to your table.

Remember, an odd meal once in a while is not going to harm the cats and it will probably make you feel goo too, but don't let it become a daily routine. Once the cat finds it easier to wait for you than to search for some scraps, you are on the road to "killing it with kindness."

Thank you to the original writer of this article.... which was published in FF magazines many years ago. If you are the writer, please contact us, so we can acknowledge you.

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