Cat neuturing, continued.

COUNTRYSIDE: This is in regards to Michelle Milbanks' "No cat neutering on this homestead" (Sept/Oct 2007). I am sorry to hear that she was unable to adopt a cat from her local animal shelter because of their requirements. Sorry to hear that healthy animals are euthanized because of red tape.

I would like to inform everyone in Colorado that the needs of both homesteaders and cats are being addressed at the Longmont Humane Society, Colorado through the Barn Cat Placement Program. This program places otherwise unadoptable cats onto "free range" homes. If you can provide nutritious food, water, rabies vaccination, future veterinary care when needed and a protected place to live you will receive a cat that has had a general exam, is neutered, wormed and has its first set of distemper shots.

If you need a barn cat or two ($50 for a pair) go to Longmonthumane. org or call your local animal shelter and see if they have a similar program. Please help these otherwise unadoptable animals find homes.

--Sara Reiss

COUNTRYSIDE: Michelle from Virginia wrote regarding cats on her farm. She is in the "no-neuter" camp. She is due her own opinion, but I took offense at her statement that people who spay or neuter their pets are "brainwashed liberals." First, I found her approach very unaccommodating. If COUNTRYSIDE readers are anything, it is accommodating of others' views. Folks write about the virtues of homeschooling, off-grid living, raising and slaughtering livestock.

I remember a letter from a fellow in an eastern state, a few years back, which extolled the virtues of going naked most of the time. His point was that he saved money on the purchase of clothes as well as the upkeep cost. Good for him! Personally, I burn too easily and would be losing my savings to extra sunscreen purchases.

The point is, I don't go naked, homeschool or live off-grid. I do enjoy hearing from those who do. I do raise and butcher my own chickens and have picked up some great tips from letters and articles in COUNTRYSIDE. This magazine and its readers have always seemed accepting of others views and lifestyles. We seem to take a live-and-let-live attitude, as long as it doesn't intrude on someone else.

So, getting back to my original point--being told I am brain-washed for doing something I think is responsible pet care is maddening to me. We have had our place, five-plus acres, for seven years. When we arrived there were six, or more, barn cats which we inherited. It took a month of table scraps and sitting quietly to make friends with the spring kittens. The two mamas took much longer and subsequently both were very pregnant before they were tame enough to handle. One female had one extremely large kitten and ended up with a prolapsed uterus. The other lost her litter to our dog because we didn't know where she had them and unfortunately found them too late. All in all it was a horrendous introduction to birth and new kitties for my children and myself. The cat with the prolapsed uterus died quickly from infection. I have to wonder why having her spayed and being able to save her from so much pain would have labeled me a "brain-washed liberal" in Michelle's eyes.

Michelle stated that we fail to take into account nature's population controls. Granted, if castration was not an option we would have to rely on prolapsed uterus', dogs and tired out cats to kill off the extra cat and kitten population. Fortunately, we are a developed country with options. In our case we didn't have extra money to do all of the cats, so I sold plasma at a Bio Life Center in town and saved up my $50 a week to get the job done. Folks there were always talking about the special trip they were saving for or some event the money was going to fund. You should have seen the looks when I said mine was going to spay and neuter my hoard of barn cats! I guess it doesn't have the fun factor of a Disney World vacation.

Michelle's other point of contention was with her local humane shelter. Those folks work tirelessly to care for the unwanted and abused dogs, cats and other animals in our society. Is it any wonder they want to know what type of home an animal is going to? Of course they would prefer an indoor cat home. There is much less chance of the cat getting lost and ending up back at the shelter. If she can't find kittens she should check her local shopper paper. Our local paper has four ads for free kittens this week. I am sure we don't have the corner on the free kitten market here.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Spaying and neutering your pets is not a conservative or liberal issue. It is a personal issue. Just because you choose not to do something doesn't make it wrong in all cases. I mean, if the sunburn and horsefly bites don't bother you, run naked around your yard site if it suits you. Just make sure it suits any close neighbors too! Enough said.

On an unrelated subject, the letters berating Yarn from Virginia about her embarrassment of thrift shopping. Ken's demise may have simply been a result of location. I love our thrift and dollar stores and frequent most of them. There are three thrift stores within a few blocks of each other in our city. I go mostly to the one which has its women's clothes racked by size--makes rouch easier shopping. I check out the others a little less often for household items and specialty things. My sewing machine came from one thrift store. It is the fold-away type, in a nice side type table. It was half price day and I got it for $15. There were cheaper sets but I really like the fold-away option. It works great! My dining room table was a thrift store buy. The adjoining furniture store had donated three identical five-foot tables with two 18" leaves. Two had some more major marring, but I was able to get one with an extremely small scratch. I checked out the same thing at the furniture store. The table was retailing for around $900. I got it for $75. Now I have enough room for everyone during the holidays.

Anyway, I could go on and on about my bargains, but you all know the deals to be had. My point is, if I had to go very far (or even a bit, probably) out of my way to shop these stores I wouldn't do it as often. Time is money too. I don't look at thrift shopping as embarrassing, I think of it as a treasure hunt.

Gotta say Doug from Texas summed it all beautifully in the last issue, "When did being conservative start making us liberals?" I think someone should make bumper stickers--or in Doug's case scooter stickers--with that sentiment.

I encourage everyone to keep writing, whether you live off grid in Timbuktu or are doing your thing on an apartment patio. It is so much fun to hear what folks are doing all over the country.--Adele Sandry, Minnesota