In memory of Milo – 9/1/2003 to 2/16/2017 – Cats helping cats…it’s a feral thing
This site is all about helping feral cats through TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release), with included medical care, and potential territory containment. That’s Milo up there in the big picture. He was our first exposure to feral cats and was our feral household pet for 13 years. He brought with him a vision, a big idea, and a big plan to help cats large, small, young, and old. He didn’t ask if we wanted to help; he just said, “Do it!” Along the way, he taught us a lot about caring for feral cats. So, what is his vision? We imagine it goes like this:
“ Yep! That’s me! When I was just a baby, of course. My vision is simple! We cats have a hard time out there and can use all the help we can get. That’s it, and that’s all. We don’t understand why some people don’t like us and think we can fend for ourselves. We don’t understand why some people just want to cause us harm! I mean, it’s like they think we want to live this way out in the world; that we don’t feel pain and fear or get sick and hungry. Do they really think we like having to hide from coyote and fox and other scary things our whole life? Get REAL! It’s really scary out there.
We don’t always land on our feet and we don’t have nine lives! People created this way of life for us and… well, let me stop ranting right there and just say that I’m so glad my pet humans are smarter than that! Thanks to them I had a safe furever home with plenty of food and everything else I needed since they found me abandoned under that tree before my eyes were open. They took really good care of me for all of my 13 years. I think it’s the cats meow that they agreed to help some of my friends, too!”
Well, Milo obviously had a lot to say about himself and all his furry friends the world over! Helping his buddies meant so much to him that we could never get that feral fight mentality completely smoothed out. He remained “wild” throughout his life. Sure, he lived peaceably with us in our home, but the order of things was please do not disturb MILO! He allowed the occasional pat on the head and LOVED his own personal food and water bowl, and he especially loved his comfy bed; however, he took his loving on his terms only, and when he wanted loving from his pet people he would call for them. Even though he politely let us share his space, he would growl at us if we talked too much while he was trying to snooze…in our office space. And, unfortunately, other humans could never approach him at all. He was so fight-or-flight minded that even the veterinarian took special precautions in his handling.
Therefore, in Milo’s honor and memory, Milo Projects’ ultimate goal is to bring feral cat awareness to communities everywhere. We would love to see special, fenced cat sanctuaries being built in neighborhoods near and far. Though we did a minor version of this vision, it was still a wonderful way to provide safety and basic survival needs to feral cats. The ultimate vision of this would not only provide safety, but would also help control the over population of feral cats. Through educating people to the special needs of feral cat management and the initiation of containment sanctuaries around feral cat territories, it will be easier to TNR (trap, neuter and release). Hopefully through helping to educate the public our vision will one day grow through communities the world over.
Let’s start here. When feral cats find a steady resource of food, water, and shelter, then the perimeter of their traveled territory begins to shrink. Most of them tend to stick close to their resources instead. In doing this, they are staking a claim to the resources, and they become very territorial at protecting their colony and those resources from “outsiders”. The outsiders mentioned here are other free roaming feral cats that are not a part of their original colony. Most feral cats don’t take kindly to outsiders imposing on their staked out territory. However, we have seen that outsiders in dire need are most often accepted by an entire colony. How awesome is it to see “cats helping cats!” We’ve seen cats from our managed colony lead lost, hungry, and sick or injured cats back to where they will have access to food and shelter within their established territory. They sometimes even carry kittens back to the colony. You can read about one such case in Tiger’s story.
Our vision is when the roaming perimeter begins to shrink after the TNR, that a barrier should be installed around the territory. Releasing them back to this now perimeter-limited sanctuary will add a new level of population control and safety while making it easier to focus on the special needs of individual feral cat colonies. The difficulty lies in the fact that sometimes several small colonies exist in close proximity of one another, but we will explain an approach to solving this on this website.
So enjoy this rare opportunity to read all about Milo’s story, and the stories of his friends! It will give you up close and personal “tails” of his buddies and the dangers and difficulties they faced and over came, and how they sometimes didn’t over come those issues.
Either way, enjoy your visit while learning how TNRC (trap, neuter, release and contain) is of great benefit to individuals, communities, and feral cat colonies alike. Thank you for visiting!
Milo wants everyone to know the what he taught us to do, and how it can help so many of his friends world wide! He will provide lots of information about ways you can help, starting with how to help orphaned kittens, but don’t miss the stories of his friends and still loved angel friends.