Derecho continues to do wonderful. He's been all over the place today. We had Peggy's 3 foster babies all weekend, but today they went back with Peggy for maybe another week. Fredo wanted to join them, so Peggy took all 4 boys. They sure do like to play together.
I was presented today with a message. It was rather hard to read. I put much thought in the answer before sending a reply. I shared this with Steve and he asked me if anyone else had inquired about the same thing. I said no, but maybe others had questions. He suggested I put my reply here in the blog, just in case others wondered. Okay....so the message was why would I allow our neurological cats to suffer. It was suggested that they should all be euthanized. And that it was wrong to let them be in front of the cam. My response:
"My name is
Jacci and I’m director of Friends of Felines Rescue Center. We have been doing rescue work for 16 years.
I would like to explain a couple things to you.
About 3 years ago, we decided we would like to help special needs
cats. That may mean they are 3 legged,
blind, senior cats, even 2 legged, etc. They have an excellent quality of life.
But we also have a soft spot for cats that have CH, Cerebellar Hypoplasia. These cats that you see that are “wobbly” are
cats with CH. There are various degrees
of it—mild, moderate and severe. They have the capability of living full, long,
loving lives. Yes, we do have some that are heavily moderate and severe. But,
their life is important to us. They are not unhappy—quite the opposite
actually. Their brain functions the same as any other cat. It’s just their
cerebellum is not fully developed. That is their balance system, hence their “wobbliness”.
We have found they are very happy, contented cats and very full of
determination. The grey/white one that you speak of is Derecho. He came here as
a baby and with pure determination, has figured out how to walk and get where
he wants to go. We have another severe one, Alma, who by herself, has figured
out how to do everything she wants to do. Sure, they may be “off balance” but
that is ok. They are not sad, abused cats as you have indicated. They are also
not suffering. All of our cats with CH have full vet support. If you were able to spend even a speck of time with them, you
would realize they give and take love and so enjoy life. I believe in giving
cats a chance of life and we here at FFRC extra enjoy our “handicapable” cats.
I truly cannot call them a handicapped cat as, in their brain, they do not
consider themselves as such. They think they are quite normal! They eat, play,
interact with the other cats and people and purr. Who are we to judge them and
simply say they should be euthanized? Not me.
You say it disturbs people to see them suffering. We have world wide
coverage of our kittycam and friends from all over the globe. They support us,
love our cats from afar and they KNOW in their hearts that these cats are not
suffering. I made a conscious decision years ago, that I was not going to “hide”
these cats. They get to go wherever they want to go. If they prefer the Kabana
Room—then that’s their choice. If they want to stroll down the Main Area—that’s
good too. Hiding or euthanizing these types of cats does not solve the problem.
What can help with this problem is to first, let these cats have a great life
and then to educate people. We encourage people to get their cats spayed, get vaccinations
done (vaccinating can prevent CH), to help with the overpopulation problem. And
to also let people realize what some may consider “rejects” still have high
quality of life. So, we shall go on as we are—loving these wonderful, happy
cats and continue educating people. I hope you may give these cats that you
have mentioned a second look on our cam. Just watch them—and get to know them.
You will see they are indeed living a good life. Jacci"
What I am hoping is that people are accepting of what we do. And to give these special cats a chance to be themselves. It's all in educating people. You and I can do this---one person at a time. Thank you.
And I'd like to say a special thanks to our FFRC friends/viewers who stand by us---means a lot to me.
