The road to a better life is not an easy one for a feral cat; it’s traumatic, being pulled from the place, the smells, the creatures it knows, in a steel trap to a busy vet clinic with craaaazier smells, doped up and poked up, then carted again to a very strange place – “inside” – a place it’s never been.

And, have no doubt, “it” is just an it until this point. Now “it” will come to be known as he or she, and he or she will be given a name. That name will be the call to eat, the call to play, the call to get your ass home, the call of love, affection, trust, and care.

When we go and set a trap and wait, we aren’t always successful, and sometimes it’s a relief. When the trap springs shut, we wonder if we’re doing the right thing. Separating a creature from the comfort of a life that they know – even if it isn’t the ideal life – is a sobering experience, for both sides.  

Dirty, flea- and worm-ridden, feral, and stinking, in short order will become healthy and healing, safe, secure, and on the road to being taken care of and cared for. When the moment comes just after the cage goes in the vehicle for the next step on this journey, it gives us pause, and taking a calming breath, we regard this creature whose life has been unalterably changed at this moment, and it is an honour to say it aloud –

Your new life starts today.