Purr-servering love: the story of a feral cat caretaker
- heisenhauer6
- Oct 5, 2023
- 3 min read
Listen to the audio version of this story here!
What you need to know:
Sylvia Barron is a local woman who opened her home to a local feral cat colony of over 20 cats, providing them shelter and care, even though they remain wary of humans.
Over the years, the feral cat population around Sylvia's house has grown, influencing her to partner with local Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) programs to control their numbers.
TNR programs like Operation Pets, the organization Sylvia collaborates with, have played a crucial role in spaying and neutering thousands of cats, preventing population growth, and improving the well-being of existing feral cats while educating the community about their care.
Over the past decade, Sylvia Barron, a native of Lockport, has opened her home (and her heart) to a local feral cat colony of more than 20 cats. They live in the woods next to her house, but over the years many have begun to call Sylvia’s house their home.
"I call it the tribe or the horde, there’s so many on the porch sometimes," Barron said. "If I look at them or talk to them on the porch they’ll run away, like ‘Oh my god it’s a human! We can’t be with the humans, they’re horrible things, all they do is feed us.’"
On most days, passersby can catch a glimpse of Sylvia’s colony as they take cat naps in her stacks of firewood, in her driveway, and even under her shed! But, as years have gone by, the population of these feral cats has spiraled out of control, compelling Sylvia to turn to local Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) programs.
"We go to Operation Pets and we drive to Blasdell," Barron said. "The traps are on loan to us from Save A Pet. We told [Operation Pets] how many kittens they had this year, and they’re giving us a price break. First, it was $25, then it was $20, and now this third time we went it was $10 apiece, and I’m like: this is great! If more people knew about it, maybe they would try to get the cats fixed, too."
Linda Robinson, co-founder and executive director of Operation Pets, provided valuable insights into the TNR process. Their services play a critical role in our community.
"We’ve done 120,000 spays and neuters—dogs, cats, and ferals—since 2008," Robinson said."It’s a process in which caregivers—or people who are concerned about the cats on the street—will trap them in the humane ‘Havahart’ trap. And what they typically do is they trap them, they bring them to the clinic, we prepare them for surgery, and we vaccinate them for rabies and distemper, we apply a flea treatment, and we sterilize them."
Though Sylvia has already gone through the TNR process with many of the cats from her colony, she is still met with litters of new kittens year-round. It is her goal to one day have the entire colony fixed.
"This winter I’m gonna try to get some of the males fixed. I’ve been working on most of the females this year," Barron said. "I’ve got seven cats fixed this year, and I’m gonna have—hopefully—four more fixed next month."
The TNR process not only prevents the feral cat population from rapidly growing, but it also benefits the well-being of the existing cat population by pacifying their aggressive traits, preventing cats from continually being pregnant, and allowing community members to focus on the cats that already need their help.
"Without people who are willing to set those traps, willing to recover the cats, willing to feed the cats, those cats would just be—in many cases, they could be out there suffering because they can’t find a food source," Robinson said. "We have spent a lot of time educating people in the community, and I think we’re doing a great job at keeping the numbers down."
Even though she loves the colony dearly, Sylvia often struggles with her inability to treat the ferals like her own house cats.
"There’s not a lot of love with these cats, you know," Barron said. "But I think that it’s just something I’ve always tried—to feed stray cats and stuff—in the past."
Despite the wild nature of feral cats, Sylvia is a firm believer in treating them kindly and with compassion.
"A lot of people just think they’re terrible animals and they should be euthanized … but they’re just cats!" Barron exclaimed.
Though it isn’t always easy, Sylvia will never give up on these cats. In the world of feral cat care, dedication is a common thread.
"It’s heartbreaking, you know, you can get attached to these little animals, and they’re just gonna do their own thing," Barron said. "They’ll disappear and maybe they’ll come back in a couple years."
The feral cat life isn't an easy one by any means, but with people like Sylvia looking out for them, these cats can live happier and healthier.
To learn more about the TNR process and feral cat care, visit feralcatfocus.org and operationpets.org for valuable resources and information.
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