It's a hard life for area's feral cats

Dear Times News,

Maybe somebody in downtown Lehighton can trap and neuter one of the too many homeless cats roaming its alleys. I was able to neuter one and learned that neutered homeless cats get an ear clipped to show they were neutered.

It's debatable if any "no kill" shelter saves feral cats, since such cats aren't adoptable; the only thing to do is trap and neuter such cats, and hope they can survive on some cat food left outside for them.

There are a number of low-cost neutering clinics in the area, and no-name cat food can be bought for 3 cans for a dollar. I was able to trap one cat and feed three others with a few extra dollars that are saving me from becoming homeless.

One cat that was not neutered had the veins in his ear blown out during the summer from ear mites; one day the veins in his ears were bulging red; the next time I saw him, he had flat white streaks in his ears. He and other homeless cats probably don't live to age 10.

My own cat lived to be 20. With good luck, good genes, neutering, staying indoors, some cats even live to be older than 20 years!

Yes, these are scary, hard times for most people, but a starving domestic cat tearing into garbage bags for food in the winter, doesn't help anybody's quality of life.

Sincerely,

Michael Sakara

Lehighton