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Wednesday. Helping day. And a Maine coon or two, with their story. [1]

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Date: 2022-07-27

Welcome to the July 27th edition of Helping Humpday, a regular feature of Street Prophets. We’re at the middle of the week, when we need a push to get over the hump and start looking toward the weekend. Come in, have a cuppa and a cookie (or three), and sit with us.

Looking over the list this week, some needs are almost met and just need a nudge to get there. Some of our other Kossacks need a little lift to get over a hump, too. Maybe it’s an unexpected medical bill. Maybe there’s a life situation that has come up and requires resources beyond regular income. Maybe they just got behind and need help getting their footing again. For whatever reason they need help, Wednesdays are the day the Street Prophets focus on those needs. Maybe you’ve skipped over this weekly diary, thinking the little you can give won’t make a difference. But you don’t have to meet a person’s entire need. If we all join together, the small amounts each person can contribute will add up to enough to make a difference in someone’s life. Even $2 or $5 or $10, when added to the mickle that others give, can be all that it takes.

These people are our own. Please do what you can.

If helping financially isn’t the right choice for you at this time, you can still help. Tip and rec the diary so it stays visible. Share on social media: Twitter, Facebook, whatever platform you use, to bring the attention of others outside our daily readers. And offer words of encouragement to people who are struggling. It can be scary to be struggling, and it can feel lonely. Let them know we understand and are here to help.

And thank you to all who’ve helped, whether by sending money, reccing, or sharing.

And, as promised, some summer cats.

Chaucer.

Dolly

TNR. I’m a fan. But once I’ve done the T and N part and am ready for the R, I don’t just abandon the strays. I keep food out, because the strays that show up look like they aren’t finding much to eat on their own, whether from lack of prey or having grown up in a home where food was provided.

In 2015, I had a large number of cats showing up. One day, a pretty longhaired torti was licking an empty bowl. I hadn’t seen her before, but I assumed she was a feral cat and didn’t want to disturb her. I put a can of food around the corner, where she wouldn’t see me but I hoped it was close enough she could smell it. As I watched her find it and eat, I said, “That cat has just given birth. That cat has just given birth.” Her belly was swaying, as happens for just a few days after kittens are born. I didn’t trap her because she had kittens to feed, obviously very tiny kittens.

She came regularly, at least twice a day, often more. Or so I thought. It was a few weeks before I realized that there were actually two of the dark, longhaired cats, male and female, probably brother and sister. They never came together, but one day she headed off to the east and less than five minutes later he came from the south—and ate a whole bowl of food. So obviously a second cat.

It became obvious that they were actually very tame cats. I still couldn’t trap her, though, because of the kittens. It was eleven weeks before she brought them, two fluffy balls of fur, to show them where the food was. And that’s when I set traps.

Chaucer and Mamie, the parent cats, were less than a year old themselves. Robbie and Dolly, the kittens, were not tame at all, having spent the first months of their lives hidden away. But all are so beautiful they would break your heart.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/27/2112869/-Wednesday-Helping-day-And-a-Maine-coon-or-two-with-their-story

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