A Community Cat’s Christmas

Note: This blog post from Liz Pease originally ran in 2017. We are running it again this year (lightly edited) in honor of everyone out there putting their passion for cats into action each and every day. From everyone here at CCP, thank you—and Happy Holidays!

I’ve heard a song that says “Christmas comes this time each year”—but for me, it comes every single day. You see, I’m a community cat in what they call a “managed colony.” I was born outdoors and it’s where I call home. I wouldn’t have it any other way, especially now that Christmas comes every day for me and my friends when our caretakers stop by with food and fresh water.

This life can be pretty tough for me and the other community cats in the world. We spend every day trying to find enough to eat, stay healthy, and raise kittens. But some of us get lucky and kind people take a liking to us. Because of people like that, I’ve been spayed and I have my shots. Now I don’t have to worry about having babies anymore, and it’s less likely that I’ll get sick out here! What a relief that is after seeing so many of my kittens not survive their first year. Before the kind people came along, so many of my feline friends got sick and just disappeared. I’d look for them every day, but they just never came back. I feel so lucky that now we all have a better chance at staying healthy.

The weather gets really bad sometimes, and on those days. it’s tough to stay warm. For me, there’s snow to deal with, but some of my community cat compatriots around the world have to deal with things like floods and hurricanes, too. My caretakers made me and my pals here the best shelters, though! We can climb inside on those bitterly cold nights, get out of the wind, and curl up in a nice bed of straw to survive. Some of the tough old boy cats here (I can’t really call them tomcats anymore, not since the caretakers brought us all to the TNR clinic!) barely have ears anymore from all the years of icy cold winters. I remember how their ears used to hurt so much when they froze while they were out hunting. That’s not a problem for the younger cats now, though, with these cushy shelters we have!

Best of all is the food and water our caretakers give us. It used to take so much energy to catch birds and mice for food. Many times I thought I might starve to death because I was too cold, hungry, and tired from feeding my kittens and trying to keep them alive to even hunt for myself. Now, though, the caretakers bring fresh food and water every single day. It’s amazing.

Today they brought what they called a Christmas feast! I never get too close while they’re here, but I watched them from my shelter, and saw them put out chicken and treats, and even sprinkle some catnip on the ground for us. As soon as they drove off, I ran out and ate as much as I could. I wish all my kittens and my old friends who didn’t survive the cold winter nights, or who didn’t find enough to eat, could be here with me now to enjoy this feast.

Now that I’m stuffed, I think I’ll find a sunny patch where I can roll around in the catnip and take a bath and a nap. What a life! Merry Christmas to all, and may all the community cats out there get to live like me!

Liz Pease is the former Executive Director of the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society and previously served as the Feral Cat Program Director and Director of Operations at MRFRS. She has been involved in animal welfare since 2004, when she TNRed her first (of many) feral cats. Liz now works as an editor and proofreader, and has been part of the CCP staff since 2018. She lives in Salisbury, MA with her husband and two small kids, plus four cats and two chickens—all of whom hang out together in their catio-turned-chicken-coop.