I’m not sure if Riley is making mating calls. It doesn’t sound like the usual “ngiow” sound, it’s more of incessant mewing.
But to begin with, Riley is quite the vocal cat. She has always been the one making loud mewing sounds to alert me that she and Samantha were at the front door. Samantha is totally silent. I have not heard a single mew from her.
This morning, I brought Riley downstairs and she stayed at her safe spot, under the bluish stool and started mewing loudly at Ginger and the Monsters.
Our outside colony is still not safe because Cheeto (I renamed him, from Kalel) is coming round now, with Gerald and Creamy still at the vet’s. That’s CNRM for you – they come really fast. The moment there is a vacuum, more will come in. This is why the councils’ method of capture-and-kill does not work. They have been doing it for decades and yet…why are there still “stray animal problems” (“problems” for them, not for us) on the street. If it works, shouldn’t it have already worked?
CNRM is to return to colony. Return the neutered animals to the colony and they will protect the colony. New unneutered cats will not enter. At least the chances are decreased. The best case-in-point is our old neighbourhood. Cow and Bunny protected the entire street for the whole 6 years while we lived there. No new cats came in at all. But the moment we moved and we went back to collect some things on the next day, wow….you won’t believe it, there were already so many new cats on the street! It was only one day. The FNN (Feline News Network) is super efficient. “The Warriors are gone!! Come, come, come!” But granted, there were quite a few homes there where the owners were against neutering. No matter how you talk to them about it, it doesn’t get through. They have their own beliefs. It’s not about right or wrong because their argument is that we have no right to interfere with Nature. But for us, it is doing what we think is best for the street animals. Why let them procreate nonstop? Produce offspring who may die on the street in our concrete communities? Get captured by the councils? Get abused by unfriendly humans? Get run down by vehicles? Why not just control their population? That’s our argument.
If it in the jungle, I personally would not interfere with Nature. Help only during droughts, bush fires, floods or other natural disasters where lives are at risk and danger. I will not interfere with their procreation if they live in the jungle. Again, that’s just my personal take.
In our unnatural concrete jungle where we have destroyed their homes and natural habitat, yes, I will interfere and do my best to ensure they are safe and their numbers are under control.
We must always remember that it was our human ancestors who domesticated the wild cat and wolves as companion-animals. It was our human ancestors who left food scraps around and this attracted the animals to follow their trail when they (the humans) were leading a nomadic life. That is how we have cats and dogs living amongst us now.
Now, back to Riley. I discussed it with the vet yesterday and she said in some cases, a one-week wait (after vaccination) is good enough for neutering. Today is Day 7. My concern is if Riley wants to mate, it can be quite agonising for her to be confined. Many years ago, we visited a shelter where the operator absolutely refused to spay or neuter all her dogs. She insists that neutering was painful and cruel and there were death risks and she would not subject her dogs to that. So she separated the females and the males, but it was terrible during mating season. I saw the animals and my heart went out for them. Until today, I cannot shake off the looks in the eyes of those dogs, especially a particular mother and daughter pair. We pleaded with her to reconsider and offered free neutering for all her dogs, but she would not relent.
So, is Riley doing the mating call? I am not sure. It’s not like I have much experience with cats on mating calls. I remember Raven, the little black kitten, who had courageously come into Bunny’s Place many years ago. She was covered with mange. So I took her in, treated her mange, and found her a home. I didn’t think such a small kitten would already be sexually matured but soon, she was. There was one day when she started clawing all over the cage, making a horrifying “ngiowing” sound. Then, she escaped from the cage!! I went to look for her, found her down the road and brought her back. She had gone quite crazy. Luckily her adopter was willing to take her immediately. She sent Raven for spaying and all was well after that. Raven was still very small-sized.
I will discuss with the vet if Riley’s neutering should be brought forward.
Meanwhile, here are some photos from this morning:
Riley has some problems going through these bars. Even Ginger can go through them! Maybe Riley is just scared.
Tabs does want to be friends. Look at the difference in their size!
Here she is, mewing at Ginger and the Monsters.