A feral cat in a tree in Marietta on January 26, 2024: Photo by Jason Fussell
by Jason Fussell
MARIETTA, Ga. — A cat popped its head out from a decorative wall with a look of intrigue and caution before retreating behind the wall and popping out once more. With a final retreat, the animal sauntered down the steps into a staff parking lot, where it began inspecting the cars therein.
While searching for a place to hide, the cat’s clipped ear twitched at the sounds of scurrying birds and squirrels before it propped itself up to peer into the undercarriage of one of the cars. This would have been his hiding spot since it was relatively warm compared to the frigid temperatures in the morning of January 26, but the morning’s rain made the car an unsuitable candidate.
Instead, the cat scurried away, under a maintenance cart, and up the branches of a nearby tree, nearly blending into its surroundings as it curled up for an hour-long nap. The cat ignored the sounds of critters above while it slept, and passersby would not have known he was there.
This cat, who lives on the Marietta campus of Kennesaw State University, is merely one of a vast number of feral strays who call not just Cobb County, but most of the United States its home. Over the last three weeks, outdoor cats, including feral cats like this one as well as domestic cats that live outside, have been subject to the freezing cold temperatures in the area, with some lows reaching 11 degrees or lower.
Aside from the sheer danger that freezing temperatures can impose on the biological systems of outdoor domestic cats, there are other physical dangers that leave them vulnerable to injury, infection and even death.
“A lot of times when…
Read the full article here
