This kitten has something relatively important to show us.

He's hungry (and totally insane.)

Here are some observations I have made over the past year, from both my personal life and from various news sources. Recently I spent some time with a local rescue group who expressed that Realtors around the country are still finding an alarming number of abandoned pets in bathrooms and garages of foreclosed and short-sell homes. 

Many of these animals are found starved to death, dehydrated. These used to be loved family pets, and when someone spots them they are tied to posts in backyards barely alive and too tired to bark.

Your pets don’t care if you lost your job – they don’t care if you have gotten heavier over the past year or if you had to turn off the cable. They do care however about food and water. If you need to give up an animal there are some things that are more humane than locking them in your former laundry room and letting them die where your washing machine used to be.

1. Call your local humane society – if you can’t afford the surrender fee please note people have been hosting fundraisers so people can surrender animals to shelters without a charge.

2. List your pet on petfinder.com. It’s the match.com for pets and future potential pet owners. It’s free. (2 of my kitties were love matches from petfinder)

3. List your pet on craigslist, but please not in the casual encounters section. It’s free.

4. Worst case scenario : It's kinder to abandon your pet in a park so your local band of crazy cat ladies can come rescue it than letting it die in your former home. 

A final note: please do not ask your local crazy cat lady if she knows anyone who can offer a cat a home. Last year at this time she only had 11 cats, but after last Friday night, she now has 20. Her friends average about 6 cats each, and they are also fostering a few they found in the parking lot of the grocery store.