About ten of them live on the top floor and are separated from the rest due to a variety of medical issues. One is diabetic, for instance. The rest are in a small basement behind a door with a printed sign that reads “In Case of FIRE Please release cats from basement (behind this door) ! ! Also, in the room itself, UNLATCH door to large wire enclosure to let those cats out.”
The air quality of the basement forces my friend to wear a face mask. She visits the cats on a regular but infrequent basis to help clean out litter boxes and feed them. An email she received from an organization let her know about these cats and that they needed help with being fed. She volunteers and it’s close to where she works.
Even before I walked into the basement I was reminded of the video of the Russian woman with over a hundred cats. The feeling was similar but not as dramatic or colorful. One side of the room had a row of about six deep litter boxes and on the other side of the room was a large cage with equipment for the cats to climb in. The top of the cage had large piece of carpet upon it where about a third of the cats sat near the ceiling of the room. Inside the room were various old chairs, a recliner, cat carriers and old “cat condo”-like furnishings, most of which are very worn out.
Almost all the cats were very friendly and they all seemed to live in harmony. Fighting was not common while I was there and most of them had spots where they hung out. A couple of them played with a toy I was teasing them with but most were unamused. A few that were on top of the large cage hissed at me when I approached them with my camera. Some asked to be pet after sniffing my fingers.
The woman that lives here used to feed the cats before she moved them into her home. She could tell me names for every single one and short histories about them and almost did. They all have personalities and she treats them all as individuals. She wore two pins on her collar: one an American flag and the other a Rod of Asclepius with a cat in front of it with a halo over its head. She opened the patio door in the back to get some fresh air in but it didn’t seem to make much difference. A few times between taking photos I snuck over to the screen door and put my nose on it to take a few deep fresh breaths.
While we talked a lot about the cats, she also brought up some surrounding issues that I won’t get into that involved naming relatives and the words “custody,” “lawyers” and “think I’m crazy.” She also asked me where I was during the 35W bridge collapse and brought up how she felt about 9/11 and a short bit about when she was in New York.
I asked what the neighbors thought about the cats and I don’t think she thought they had much of a problem with it. It’s clear that these cats do not have enough space, though. She is in the process of moving to a home in a more rural area of Virginia where the cats will have significantly more space. The cats were in the forefront of her mind when she was picking a new place to live and wanted to make sure the cats will be happy. We joked briefly about the process of moving 60 cats and she was fairly confident she’ll pull it off. Either way, this is a fantastic thing that these cats will have more room to roam and they should be a lot happier.
As all of these cats are about the same age, they are now starting to get to the point where some are dying. She says she doesn’t plan on taking on more cats. “After this, I’m done.” Although she does now have a younger cat in the mix that wasn’t originally part of the colony.
On our way out, she showed my friend and I photos of the cats from when they used to live in the wild including a juxtaposition of two photos combined on one card where on each side two cats were brushing up against each other. Cute, seeing them in such a different habitat and so happy, but quite sad seeing that this woman saw that she was faced with the decision of letting these cats and their habitat be destroyed or having them relocated to her home. While I won’t judge her choice I can agree that the situation is tragic.
After we got in our car she walked down to my window and asked that I let everyone know back at home that during the 35W bridge collapse she and the country were glued to the televisions and praying. The families of the victims are in everyone’s thoughts.
On Flickr, see more photos of the Feral Cats of Oakton.
