San Diego Reader

So, about eighteen months ago, a feral cat gave birth to a litter of kittens in the alleyway between my house and my neighbor's. For whatever reason, the kittens took to the trees. Even when they were little babies, I could see them across the yard, climbing around in the trees and across the tops of the fences. They eventually started crossing the roofs of the buildings in the neighborhood and getting around that way.

Some of us in the neighborhood fed them and they grew up into a motley crew of wild sky cats.

My neighbor, Anna (long "a"), had the presence of mind to humanely trap the kittens, as well as their mother, and take them all to one of the Feral Cat Coalition's monthly spay/neuter clinics. I guess the sky cats will be the last of their breed to roam the neighborhood.

And, really, only one of them is still around in earnest. The neighbor calls her Rocky, after that guy from the song who went to shoot off the legs of his rival, and she's a massive furball who I still see crossing the roof of the carport at my house on a semi-regular basis. One other kitten, Bebe, still hangs around but she has taken to the ground as cat adulthood sets in for her.

Much as I appreciate the novelty of the remaining sky cat, it's tough to ignore the fact that feral cats are kind of a problem. The Feral Cat Coalition loans out humane traps--which is how Anna captured Rocky and her family in the first place--so that people can temporarily contain wild cats and bring them to spay/neuter clinics. Visit the Coalition's web site at www.feralcat.com, or simply call (619) 758-9194 to make reservations at one of the clinics. Donations to the clinic are tax deductible and there are volunteer opportunities that require less intense effort than trapping and transporting a wild, potentially ferocious, cat.

For now, viva la sky cat!