DUMPSTER CAT'S

I have always been a soft touch when it comes to a starving being. Animals are no exception.

I work as a server in a southern barbecue restaurant and out back where they keep the dumpsters, we always have a number of wild cats that have been forced eat out of these filthy things.

The wild cat�s have always been a fixture at our restaurant for as long as I can remember and some of the customers will take their leftovers out and feed them. I also feed them, I will save all the scraps that I can gather and will make sure that they have one good meal each day that I work.

Before I go any further with my story, I would like to explain that calling the animal control would only bring these animals to an early demise, as they are wild, have never been touched by a human hand, and would not be fit for family adoption. It's heart breaking to think that this all started because some one dumped their pet out on the streets and gave no thought as to how they were to survive.

Also trying to capture them would not be an easy task, and more than likely a futile one. So the only thing that I feel I can do is feed them and make them feel as safe in their environment as I can.

I take a lot of ribbing from my coworkers (no pun intended) about this task I have under taken. But I have noticed that some extra meat is always added to my daily bounty of pork, beef and chicken, with an occasional rib.

Closing time is at nine o'clock, so I make feeding time around eight-thirty, and my cats know what time it is, cause everyone of them are sitting at the dumpster every evening at this time.

About a month ago as I was feeding my family, I noticed that they had a dinner guest. I was in total shock! Mr. Opossum had came to join the party. I stood very quite and watched as he came and got a portion of food and scurried back into the bushes.

I was amazed that he didn't try to attack any of the cats and more amazed that the cats did not run from the opossum.

Mr. Opossum has come to dinner three times since I first saw him. So I didn't give it a second thought when Mrs. Raccoon came to the dinner party the other night. She didn't have very good manners though, because she rudely tried to take the food from the youngest kitten, my favorite. My little one just stood her ground and slapped Mrs. Raccoon right on the nose. Embarrassed, Mrs. Raccoon took her dinner to go.

Worried that they were not being fed on my off days, I told a friend about my fears. She laughed and assured me that they were being fed, at least three times a day, it seems that several of my co-workers have taken up the task of feeding the cats. My friend has gone so far as to buy a bag of cat food so that they will have a better balanced diet.

I have not had a cat since my son Jay lived at home, and that has been seven or eight years ago. I confess that I�m more of a dog person and had no desire to become a cat owner. But I didn�t take into account the powers of one little orange kitten! She did not know that I liked dogs, nor did she care. When I would feed the mass of cats, she soon stood out as the one who demanded the most attention. She was the one who would come running up closer than the others, the one who would sit and look at me with those beautiful topaz eyes and expect to be treated different.

Needless to say she was treated different and soon became my kitten in my heart and mind. My only problems where my husband and the fact that this kitten was wild. Roger proved to be an easy obstacle to get around. I just asked him to come and visit me at work, then I took him around back to the dumpster area and introduced him to my kitten, who by this time had the name of �Ginger�.

I didn�t push him, I just let him know that she was my kitten and asked how could we leave her to live in those conditions. Didn�t he realize that the wild animals could be a danger to her?

It wasn�t long before I took Ginger out of the wild and brought her home with me. My kitten is still trying to adjust to the sounds of my world and all the activity of a human household.

As soon as she gets over the trauma of being rescued, I will take her to the vet and have her spayed, have all her shots and all of the other wild things done to her, so that she can live safely in our tamed world.



Judy Kiser � 10/28/00