Last summer, Margaret Kudzma set out to recover her lost cat, Mini Max, and discovered a hidden world that few people are aware of: a wild cat colony.
The cats had been left outside to survive the elements on their own, without food or shelter, after being lost or abandoned by their owners at some time. Their children were all born in the wild.
Kudzma had seen cats walking around her Peabody area previously, but she soon discovered that her brief sighting was just the tip of the iceberg: most feral cat activity occurs at night, as many prefer to avoid human contact. Most people are utterly oblivious of their wild neighbors, she claims, despite the fact that such colonies are widespread in Peabody and Salem.
Kudzma has now established her own nonprofit business, The Rescue Business, with the goal of not only feeding and vaccinating the cats, but also reducing their population by spaying or neutering them. The Rescue Business also helps a number of caretakers who feed and catch the cats, as well as raising awareness about the dozens of homeless cats roaming the streets.
Kudzma and others have counted at least 50 adult cats and kittens since August, with 18 of them having been adopted or placed in foster homes.
Kudzma and nine volunteers currently provide daily care for 80 or more stray cats, feeding them once a day. She estimates that at least 60 of these cats live in Salem and Peabody.
The charity has also constructed a total of 28 outdoor shelters to provide warm sleeping quarters for the cats.
Not your typical pet.
Feral cats must accept the fact that, while they may appear to be pets, they have spent the most of their lives outside and cannot readily be socialized or tamed, which means they cannot be adopted. Most don’t make ideal pets, and many were born outside to a stray mother or have spent decades outside.
“It would be like bringing a raccoon into your house,” Kudzma said. “They’re just fearful of humans. The most you can do is socialize them to one person.”
There are few options for these cats. If brought to a no-kill shelter, they may have the chance to live out their lives in that shelter. Other shelters will euthanize the cats which can’t be adopted. Often the best thing to do is leave them be in their habitat, Kudzma said.
That isn’t to say that the cats who live outside aren’t looked after.
To regulate the population and vaccinate and care for the cats, the Rescue Business use trap-neuter-return (TNR) methods. All of the cats have been neutered or spayed. Those who appear to be adoptable — mainly cats who have been abandoned or lost recently — are placed in foster homes. Others are treated and then released back into the wild.
Kudzma and her carers are still keeping an eye on all of the colonies, she said. They keep an eye out for any new cats, as well as ensuring that the present cats are in good health.
Surveillance of cats frequently necessitates the deployment of game cameras. It can be tough to track down many of the cats due to their elusive nature.
Unwanted behavior, such as fighting, does stop once a cat is neutered, Kudzma wants the community to know about feral cats. Ferals are also beneficial in reducing rodent populations.
She goes on to say that people who have outdoor cats and leave food out for them may be feeding a lot more cats than just their own.
Mini Max, Kudzma’s cat, is still missing. “It’s been the chance to lessen the misery of many other cats that no one knew were there,” Kudzma added, if anything positive could come from his abduction.
When love is directing the way, there are no coincidences!
