Rhema Ferals – Johannesburg South Africa

O Hello. My name is Hershey.

Would you believe that I was born in a feral colony from a feral mom?

But I'm one of the lucky ones.

This middle aged lady did not give up on me or my 4 siblings.

She came every day, constantly peering under the structure mom kept us safe in, moaning and groaning every time she had to bend down.

Once, I heard her saying 'In the beginning, I trapped, neutered and returned (TNR) 15 cats back into the colony' - I think she was getting bored waiting for us to come out from under the hiding place. I think she might be going a bit senile as well.

Via the grapevine, she was also overheard saying: 'Last week, I trapped a mom cat, TNR her, and caught her 3 week old kittens. They are also the lucky ones.'
- Sure are ma'am.

But apparently there are another 3 moms, 5 kittens, and 2 boys that are causing a lot of trouble. (And this is just what I know of)

Word on the street is that they also need to be TNR and hopefully tamed. If not, they too will live in the feral colony - like my mommy is.

When my sibs and I stayed with her before going to our forever homes, she once sat down next to me and said: 'Hershey, looking after feral colonies is like washing dishes and doing washing. It's never ending.'

I gave her a wink and went off to play with my sibs again. Hey, I couldn't miss out on the freshly caught bug!

The old hag was once explaining to someone what the costs are to look after us:

Per Month:
3 x 25kg Montego Classic Cat food @ R899 each ($63)
= R2 697 ($189)

Trap, Neuter & Release - per cat:
= R450 ($32)

Kitten deworming & 2 booster shots
= R500 ($35)

Kitten food
Royal Canin Kitten = R17 ($1,20) per tin
* On average, a kitten eats around 50 before it gets homed

= Sterilisation (TNR) R3 600) $250
= Kitten care R2500 ($174)
= Food always ongoing

The above does not even cover vet visits should me, my sibs or any other cat or kitten fall ill.

Wow, she must really have A LOT of money!.

But... then, when I was falling asleep next to her the one night, I could see that she was sad. I think she pays for everything out of her own pocket.

I know she doesn't mind. After all, I have seen SO MANY Cat stuff in her house. Oh, wait, that is her own 7 cats and 2 dogs. But still, there is a lot of stuff. Ok, not stuff, more like a box of toys for us.

As much as I hate those darn wired things they catch us with, I know she doesn't have enough traps which means she can only trap one cat per day!

On a phone call the one day, I heard her say a very very bad word and slammed the phone down. Ok, I'm being dramatic, she doesn't have a landline, but I have to get the message across.

Apparently a trap costs around R900 ($65) to manufacture.

Well, not sure to make of all of this, but I think this crazy cat lady needs some help.

I promise to send you some very very cute pics of my sibs and the three kittens she currently fosters if you scratch around for some spare change.

Anyways, this was exhausting. It's nap time.