So where do all of these homeless cats come from? The more fortunate ones are formerly loved pets that could no longer be cared for by their owners. Many ending up in overcrowded animal shelters, but were lucky enough that shelter workers were able to make arrangements with 4Paws.

The many cats and kittens you see at a 4Paws adoption fair represent only a small fraction of the homeless pet population in this area. When one unspayed female and her offspring can reproduce almost 400,000 cats during a 7 year period, it is obvious that the problem is out of control.

The difficult reality is that our animal shelters cannot possibly provide sanctuary for all the homeless strays, abandoned felines, and former pets in our area. 4Paws volunteers work tirelessly taking in strays and removing from shelters cats and kittens for which we can properly care, given our limited resources. This year, 4Paws expects to place 400 previously homeless felines into permanent loving homes. Since inception in 1995, we have found homes for more than 5,500 cats and kittens.

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as taking homeless cats from the shelters and finding them permanent homes. Many, if not most, of the cats rescued by 4Paws, whether from shelters or directly from alleys and sewers, need to heal before they can be adopted into loving homes. Some ailments are physical while others are emotional and the healing takes its toll. As an all-volunteer organization, we do what we can with the volunteer and financial resources available to us.

What happens when the shelters become overcrowded? If 4Paws or similar organizations
can’t help out, friendly, healthy, adoptable cats and kittens are killed in order to make room for new arrivals. Every day, workers in local animal shelters right here in the DC metro area are forced to decide which animals will live and which will die. It’s a horrible situation.

So, what can be done? In the short term, you can help 4Paws save as many cats and kittens as possible. Make a donation, offer to foster or adopt a new furry family member into your home. Even with an all-volunteer work force with no rent to pay, it costs 4Paws $120,000 to operate for one year. Most of our budget goes toward vet fees and medical supplies. And the $85 adoption fee charged for an adult cat only covers half of the cost to ready a healthy cat for adoption. Any contribution that you make will be a welcomed help.

To foster all you need is an empty room and a lot of love. Any cat or kitten that you are able to take into your home on a temporary basis is one less cat perishing in a shelter or on the streets. Or maybe you prefer to give the ultimate gift—a loving permanent home to a stray or abandoned cat. However you choose to help, it will be greatly appreciated, most especially by the furry guys whose lives you save.

Of course the longer term solution—the ultimate solution—is spaying and neutering. If you have an unneutered pet, please have that pet sterilized as soon as possible. If all of your pets are fixed—thank you—and please spread the word to your family, friends, co-workers. Spaying and neutering is the only way to stop the suffering.  Just by spaying one female cat, you can prevent the births and unnecessary deaths of thousands of cats.

Do what you can, but please do something. Feline lives depend on it.

Barbara Lipson