The Feeding of Cats at Corona del Mar
It must give the well-meaning people in Corona del Mar a sense of satisfaction knowing that they are providing food for the stray cats living in the cliffs area. Even the fact that someone will take over in their absence is admirable, but their care should go beyond providing food alone.
When you leave the food and return to your home, the cats’ life in the wild continues. Because of uncontrolled breeding, kittens are born to mothers that have not had an adequate diet, and if a problem occurs during or after birth, there is no one to help.
The kittens start out their life in hiding, sneaking out for handouts and never having the human contact that is so important in their early weeks. The problems are innumerable.
As a solution, why not coax, or, by use of a humane trap, catch them and take them to a veterinarian for spaying or neutering and vaccinating.
They could be returned to the cliffs to live out their lives but would not reproduce and, perhaps, someday, “The Cats of the Sea Cliff Castle” will be a story of Corona del Mar lore to be read with a cat on your lap.
JEANNE MCWHIRTER
Irvine
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