My Maine Coon Rescue Story
There are so many cats who are in need of homes, from domestic short hairs, to purebreds that somehow find their way into shelters. One of the biggest hurdles facing cats today is the lack of neutering, and uncontrolled breeding. A female kitten often goes into heat for the first time between 5 and 8 months of age. Ideally, the best time to spay a female cat is prior to her first heat.
Did you know that the average cat can produce three litters of kittens in one year? A single female cat and her offspring can potentially produce 370,000 cats in seven years? The math is mind boggling, and all too often, all these unwanted cats and kittens are dumped in shelters and are eventually euthanized.
My Maine Coon cats can not be confirmed as 'pure bred', but they have most of the obvious characteristics of a Maine Coon. Both of my 'coonies' were adopted through shelters. I have such a sense of satisfaction of having been able to rescue them from what would have most likely been an early demise.
Stormy's first night home, June 2007
Stormy relaxing in my arms, July 2007
In June 2007, I walked into the shelter in Lillington, NC to see if I could adopt a kitten that I'd seen posted which I strongly suspected was a Maine Coon kitten/mix. As luck would have it, the couple who adopted him walked out with him as I walked in! Since I was there, I decided to take a look at their cat holding area anyway. I walked into that room and saw an absolutely heartbreaking sight. This was during the height of the spring kitten season, and in about 15 cages on one side of this room, each about 2'x3' stacked one on top of the other like a wall of prisons, were what I estimated to be approximately 75 kittens.
Stormy starting to put on weight, July 2007
Stormy becoming more comfortable in the house, August 2007
Stormy in that so typical 'boneless drape' fashion, August 2007
In the dozen or so cages on the other side and corner of the room were even more kittens, and another 2 dozen or so adult cats. I already had known that there was a problem with too many cats, but even I did not expect to see the sheer number and the pitiful mewing of all these kittens and cats. I learned, from talking to the woman at the shelter, that cats and kittens were dropped off in their 'dumping' bin daily, and due to the sheer numbers, they were forced to euthanize them on a weekly basis. Earlier that spring, they had over 125 kittens IN ONE WEEK that they had no choice but to euthanize. The sad part is that was an average week in the kitten season. I knew that euthanasia happened, and for a shelter caught between a rock and a hard place, with no room to hold the quantity of kittens that were dropped off and the lack of adopters for all of these animals, they had no choice. What really shocked me was hearing the numbers!
Somehow, I had a strong suspicion that I would not be leaving without a cat that day. In looking around at the cages, I spied one adult sized cat in a cage at the top corner with those tell tale "ear tufts", and asked to see her. I learned that she had just weaned a litter of kittens, and I will never know where she came from, but it was painfully obvious that caring for and nursing these kittens on what had to be a young 'kittenish' body of her own had taken its toll.
She was thin, way too thin, painfully so. I could feel every one of her ribs through her body, her tail felt like a long hard cord, her hip bones jutted out, and even the bones in her skull had no extra 'fat' on it. She was nothing but skin and bones, and I had the sensation of it 'hurt' to pet her. Her fur though was long and she was shedding like mad (probably due to the stress on her body). However, I could feel that typical 'silkiness' of a Maine Coon, combined with her ear tufts, and tufts between her toes, I realized she was at the very least a Maine Coon mix. While holding her, I tried my 'acid' test on her to judge her personality, which was to cuddle with her, holding her in my arms belly facing up to see if she would relax and let me rub her tummy. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to see that she allowed me to do so, and she did cuddle with me. The 'hints' of that Maine Coon personality was, to me, obvious in spite of the awful situation that she was in.
I brought her home with me that day, and where I may never know exactly how old she is, I still think that she was somewhere between 6 and 12 months old, but basically a full sized cat. She weighed 7 pounds when I took her to the vet for the first time, now she weighs approximately 11-12 pounds and it has made a huge difference. It has taken love, care, patience (and a LOT of that!) and time, but over the last five months I have seen her grow, heal and develop into the magnificent cat that I saw the potential of her becoming. The pictures on this page tell the story!
Seeing these photos and the difference I made in ONE animal has made it so worth while to know that I saved at least one cat from certain euthanasia. There is always room to love one more animal in my house. Two previous kittens I adopted some years ago were among three litters that had been callously thrown into a dumpster before being rescued and fostered by the New Leash on Life organization.
Stormy, obviously maturing, with a coat that is now luxurious and soft, and she's now at a healthy weight! A HUGE change from June to October, 2007
Stormy has been the latest of animals that we have adopted. Will she be our last?
No. There are too many animals that need loving homes, and for this reason I encourage anyone who is looking to add another animal family member to check all of your local shelters or rescue organizations.
The statistics show that to place every unwanted stray dog or cat in a home, each person would need to adopt