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Marinda van der Walt of Project TNR Louis Trichardt with Tobie, one of her cats. The logo of the project is an adaptation of the Arabic word for ‘cat’. Photo supplied.

Local cat lover’s passion an inspiration to many

Date: 25 September 2016 By: Nic Hoffmann

She calls herself ummu hurairah – Arabic for ‘mother of the kitten’ – and Marinda van der Walt is justifiably proud of this moniker. Her mission to save the lives of feral cats running around town is a testament to this.

Marinda’s passionate work on behalf of these animals, which many regard as a nuisance, at best, and others see as vermin, is somewhat ironic because she never had a cat while she was growing up and had little contact with them. All this changed in 2009 when she noticed a beautiful tortoiseshell-and-white feral cat at the consulting rooms of her late father, Dr André van der Walt in Louis Trichardt. Her natural compassion for a stray creature took over and she started feeding it. The cat soon returned to be fed and became quite at home. In her own words, “the inevitable happened – she had kittens and ‘my’ colony began to grow. I realised something had to be done!”

In an effort to learn more about feral cats and what could be done to preserve their lives, she trawled the Internet for more information. That was when she came across the TNR website – a project that not only traps and neuters feral cats, but also vaccinates them against rabies and removes the tip of the left ear surgically (to show it has been neutered), after which it is nursed back to health and then returned to its habitat and released. “The whole TNR concept made such as whole lot of sense! I ordered a humane trap specifically designed for cats, and from then on adhered to the globally accepted TNR guidelines,” she writes in an article recently published in the international magazine Intelligent CatCare, which is dedicated to the health and well-being of cats all over the world. They were so impressed with her work that they requested her to write an article, which they then published.

Not only is Marinda spending her time and money on this project, but she is also currently enrolled in a course on cat health and welfare (rescue) with IntelligentCatCare. The course was designed by the foremost experts on felines in the world, such as Drs Samantha Taylor and Sarah Ellis, whom she regularly contacts for advice. “Best of all, the knowledge gained helps to provide the best possible care for one’s cats – the owned and unowned ones…” she explains in the article. All of this is aimed at trapping and neutering cats with the minimum stress for both cats and volunteers.

Blouberg Animal Clinic handles most of the neutering. Marinda is extremely grateful for the help and support provided by the vets and staff there. Not only do they perform the operations at a very reasonable fee (roughly R500), but they have also agreed to early-age neutering, which saves even more cats’ lives.

Marinda is in charge of the whole project and takes care of the cats once they have been neutered. She takes them home and puts them in a specific hospital cage, where they are fed special food and given antibiotics to prevent infection. This cage contains a hide-and-perch box that allows the cat to perch and hide away at the same time, making it feel safe. When the cat is healthy, Marinda takes the hospital cage to the place where the cat was trapped and releases it to resume its life. The period they spend with her varies between 24 hours for the males and up to 120 hours for the females, depending on their recovery rate.

The community benefits from a TNR project in various ways. Not only are there fewer feral cats as a result of the neutering, but the cats are healthier (they are less likely to contract feline AIDS from mating) and do not fight as often, thereby decreasing the risk of contracting rabies or other feline illnesses. Interbreeding with both other domestic cats and the African wildcat is reduced. If done early enough, neutering decreases the risk of cancers as well as nuisance behaviour, such as roaming and invading other cats’ territory. When a cat is neutered, its metabolism slows down somewhat, thereby increasing the presence of birds in a garden. Removing cats from a habitat, such as killing them or catching them and taking them to the SPCA, does not solve the problem, since other cats simply move into the territory – a phenomenon called “the vacuum effect”.

The general public can become involved in the project in a variety of ways, such as donating cat food or money directly to the project. Financial contributions can also be made to the Blouberg Animal Clinic, in the name of the TNR project to cover the cost of neutering. Creating awareness about the project is very useful, and cat owners can provide additional support by having their own cats neutered, thereby easing the burden on TNR. On Heritage Day, 24 September, TNR will be at Lalapanzi Hotel during the festivities there and people are invited to visit their stall and pledge their support.

To say that Marinda is passionate about this project is a total understatement. “My project is dedicated to my beloved late father, Dr André van der Walt. His tragic death shattered my whole world, but I have found a way to channel that grief into something positive, something that makes a difference to each and every cat that crosses my path,” she explains. She is also extremely grateful for the support and help she receives from a number of volunteers, viz. Laura van Zyl, Megan Terink and Anna-Mart Joubert. More information about the TNR project can be found on her Facebook page, Project TNR Louis Trichardt.

 
 
 

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