Cheri Cares & Volunteering To Help Felines on Maui

I would like to share the work that I do with the feral cats on Maui.

Having traveled to Maui for over 20 years prior to moving to the island one of the things that I noticed during my travels was that there were many wild cats roaming about. Being a animal lover and seeing these poor cats struggling through their daily existence just for food broke my heart. So doing what I could, I made it a practice to purchase quantities of cat food during my trips and feed the cats throughout my island travels.

Reports show that every person on Maui would have to adopt 10 cats to balance the numbers of homeless animals and that the average life expectancy is roughly one year due to starvation or upper respiratory disease, both of which is a painful ending. Knowing this made me extremely sad because this problem would not be in existence if pet owners had made it a practice to vaccinate as well as neuter or spay their cats especially if they were going to allow their cats to roam out doors and mingle with their friends.

When Syed & I realized our dream of moving to Maui to live, work and play it opened up the door for me to contribute to the plight of the feral cat population in a more effective way.

We moved to upcountry the TNR program.   Volunteers trap, neuter or spay, vaccinate and release cats. This was perfect for me.

Giving in this way does not require a lot of time but it has a big impact.

We worked out a deal with the local vet (Kula Veterinary Hospital) at $45.00 per cat male or female and we supply the vet with the vaccines for upper respiratory and feline leukemia. We also purchase kits to test if the cats are infected with leukemia or aids. We purchase food where ever we can get the best deal that week. My cat food bills are around $150.00 per month. After we release the cat back into their colony we continue to feed.

We trap these cats as we see new ones or when the new litters are born.  It is hard to get all of them.  There are a few neighbors in the area who have taken to feeding on their property and we help them get spayed/neutered.

Fullfilling And Rewarding Small Contributions Matter

In the four plus years since I started doing the Trap, Neuter, and Spay and release program, I have been involved with over 300 Neuter and Spaying of cats all of whom are also vaccinated and medically checked out by a vet prior to their release.

In just a short time, it has greatly reduced the number of sick cats in our area.

It is my small way of giving back to our planet.

Cheri