For Claire Eder, a graduate student studying English, finding a home for “community cat” Rooster was a challenge. Eder said Rooster had been a stray ever since she moved to the West Side of Athens three years ago.
“One of the first times I noticed him, … he was jumping into a trash can for food, so he was pretty pitiful,” Eder said. “I eventually started feeding him … along with a lot of other cats.”
Eder said she wanted to adopt Rooster, so she took him to the vet and discovered he had Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, leaving her unable to adopt him. She then posted on Facebook to find Rooster a loving home.
“I'd love to find him a home as an only cat (also he probably won't do well with dogs),” the post reads. “He's been pretty healthy despite the diagnosis, but he could develop health issues due to his compromised immune system.”
For community or feral cats like Rooster, it’s especially important during winter to receive additional protection, which some Athens residents help with by providing heated blankets or building cat houses.
Even in extreme cold, Alley Cat Allies, the “nation’s largest advocacy organization for cats,” recommends to never bring a feral cat to animal pounds or shelters. Instead, they suggest building simple shelters and providing food and water.
“Feral cats (also known as ‘community cats’) may look like pet cats — and in fact, they are the same species — but feral cats are not socialized to people, and can’t be adopted into homes,” Becky Robinson, president and founder of Alley Cat Allies, said in a news release. “In animal pounds and shelters nationwide, seven out of every 10 cats are killed rather than adopted out — and for unadoptable feral cats, that number is virtually 100 percent.”
Eder said Rooster wasn’t the first community cat to show up on her porch. She has posted about at least five different cats on her Facebook page in need of homes and said her neighborhood is home to at least eight different strays.
Fortunately, Meowsterspace Cat Rescue, an organization that hopes to decrease stray populations in Athens, Hocking and Perry counties, found a temporary foster home for Rooster, Eder said. They are still searching for another foster home or forever home for him, though.
The New Beginnings Animal Center is home to many rescue cats, including Tex, who was rescued during a trip to Texas after Hurricane Harvey.
“Wayne and a crew took supplies down to Texas after Hurricane Harvey and came back with 13 different dogs from a couple different humane societies,” Michele Summers, vice president of New Beginnings Animal Center, said, referring to Wayne Boyd, who helps run the center. “He found Tex in a parking lot, so they brought him back too.”
Erin Councilman, cat coordinator of New Beginnings Animal Center, said cat lovers can search online for instructions on building cat houses if they wish to help out cats during the winter months.
“If you’re going to start feeding them, don’t stop,” Councilman said. "Make sure they have a continuous source of food, because they’re going to come to depend on it.”
Jen Michaels, an Athens County Humane Society volunteer and board member, said the society has been reaching out in various ways, including building outdoor shelters for feral cats, to those in the area.
“We continue to maximize our efforts to offer low-cost spay and neuter clinics and offer a really great discount to community members helping to control the feral populations,” Michaels said in an email. “Which in turn helps to reduce the number of cats being left out in the cold.”
