1078. A stray cat welfare activist

Today, an elderly lady who rescued stray cats and had 11 in her apartment brought in an old stray cat that had been vomiting yesterday. An old lady feeding this cat had asked her to help.

"I spent over a thousand dollars feeding the strays every day, twice a day," she said. "Yet the prices of canned food keep increasing!"

"Rentals have had shot up considerably as there is a grave shortfall of commercial properties," I explained to her. "So, the cost of doing business keeps going up. The Landlords keep increasing the rentals."

As to her view on stray cat activism, she said she would operate alone and not get into problems with the other activists.

There is a vet who used to charge male cat neuter at $40. Female cat spay at $50, on heat at $55 and pregnant one at $60. "The vet is a butcher," she was referring to the thicker sutures used by one vet providing cheap sterilisation, as compared to another vet who hides her sutures under the skin.

"Prices are different for the vet who used the fine sutures," I said. "Definitely she would not be charging $50 to spay a female cat."

"She charges high," the activist said. "But those cats spayed by her are my personal cats, not the strays. I have to get somebody to queue at SPCA fo.r the free spay vouchers"

She gave some cost figures:

Stray cat trapping $70
Cat transport to vet $35/cat or $30 by a lady.
Boarding after spay for 3 days and neuter for 1 day  $5.00/day

"Do you know about this person who was fined heavily for sterilising cats? I had sent over 100 stray cats to him over the past 3 years. Fortunately, none died. Well, except a pregnant one."

"Yes," I said. "I know the incident. He did not sterilise cats. He was transporting cats to a lady who sterilised them."