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PETS AND THEIR PEOPLE
MAY 2013
By Claudia Stewart
Pamplin Media Group
I
love cats. I have always loved cats. I
probably will always love cats. I mean, I
love dogs and all other critters, but my
first love has always been cats.
About 35 cats have let me live with them
over the years. Not all at the same time. I’m
not that crazy. Several people have asked me
why I love cats so much. My stock answer is
that I love their aloof independence, because
it reminds me of myself.
The real answer? My dad left my mom
and me when I was 10 and my mom thought
I would be so devastated she let me have a
cat in exchange.
Excellent trade in my opinion.
My dad would never have won father of
the year in anyone’s book. But that is an-
other story for a different day.
My very first cat was a beautiful white/
calico named Heidi. I loved her with all my
heart. She was my friend, my companion
and she listened to all my teenage angst
stories and never rolled her eyes once.
She listened to all my Beatle records
with me on my rattly old record player that
played one record at a time.
If I turned up the sound it practically
jiggled itself off the table.
Heidi got trapped one time in the neigh-
bor’s garage when they
went on vacation for 10
days . I didn’ t know
where she was and I
thought I was going to
die from worry. She was
fine, once she escaped,
and lived until I was 24.
Heidi was the first in a
very long line of cats for
me. I won’t tell stories
about each one. Do I
hear a collective sigh of
relief?
However, she did start
my 35 (and counting) ob-
session.
When I started work
at The Outlook in 2003 I
noticed cats hanging
around the parking lot,
but I never thought
much about it.
We are located next to
a big apartment complex
and I thought they real-
ly lived there. Their
numbers started grow-
ing at a brisk exponen-
tial rate that really be-
came quite alarming.
My job selling adver-
t ising causes me to
cross the parking lot
several times a day and
the cats got to know me.
So, I started giving
them some treats once
in a while. Well, the
treats became dry cat
food every other day, which soon also in-
cluded canned food occasionally. You
guessed it, soon it was dry and canned food
twice a day, every day.
Their numbers kept growing and grow-
ing. By the time we were up to 25 or 30, I
knew something had to be done. My entire
paycheck was being used to buy cat food.
I talked to an advertiser in Troutdale
about the cats and she told me about a cat
group annual fundraiser she had heard of
called the Fur Ball.
I had to check this out, I mean with a
name like that how could I not?
The Fur Ball is the biggest fundraiser of
the year for a group called the Feral Cat
Coalition of Oregon. The FCCO spays and
neuters feral cats for people like me who
feed large colonies of cats in an attempt to
quell the growing numbers. They charge a
small donation per cat.
The procedure is done by licensed volun-
teer veterinarians from the Portland area.
In fact, all the people at the FCCO are non-
paid volunteers except for a very small of-
fice staff.
By early 2005 I was taking about four
Outlook cats a month to the FCCO clinic to
be fixed in an attempt to reduce the num-
ber of kittens born each year. For a time it
seemed like I couldn’t get ahead of it, but
gradually over time I could see real prog-
ress. The spayed and neutered cats are re-
turned to where they live, in our case, the
newspaper’s parking lot, to live out their
lives without adding more to the feral cat
population.
Fast forward to spring 2013.
I am now feeding the remaining five cats
that have become pets to the staff as well
as myself. I am still the chief cook and bot-
tle washer for them.
They let me pick them up, brush them,
take them to the vet etc. They are all very
car and truck savvy and in relatively good
health.
If I ever added up what I have spent on
food, vet bills, the FCCO, houses, straw,
food bowls, etc. I would probably be in total
and complete shock. It’s best if I don’t
know.
The Outlook Cat-a-Rama is an excellent
example of how spaying and neutering can
really work and make a difference in pet
overpopulation.
It takes time and dedication to start to
see results, but you can definitely see how
it works. Anyone who is feeding stray and
feral cats can check the web site (feralcats.
com), or contact their own veterinarian for
possible multiple cat spay and neuter dis-
counts. It really does work.
All my house cats are former Outlook fe-
rals and they are the nicest, sweetest, best
mannered cats I have ever had. Cats make
wonderful pets who just want to be loved,
taken care of, and love their owners uncon-
ditionally.
I still tell all my cats my secrets, plans,
concerns and strange opinions. They still
all totally agree with me without any no-
ticeable eye rolling.
Thanks, Heidi.
Claudia Stewart is an advertising representative
for The Outlook and Sandy Post.
Confessions of The Outlook’s ‘crazy cat lady’
OUTLOOK PHOTO: JIM CLARK
Outlook advertising representative Claudia Stewart has a lifelong
fondness for cats and their welfare, including Petey, a stray, who calls
the Outlook home.
She was my friend, my
companion and she listened to all
my teenage angst stories and
never rolled her eyes once.
— Claudia Stewart,
speaking about her first cat, Heidi