How do you honor your mother, wife, sister or grandmother on Mother’s day? Gifts, dinner, brunch? It’s a time to celebrate. They have been there for us no matter what. Who taught us some valuable life lessons? Here are some ideas to help you plan her special day.
On this special day take the time to celebrate and enjoy the great outdoors. You can start your day in nature. Find a beautiful location to take a long hike or bike ride. Bring along a basket with a bottle of fine wine from your amazing collection, cheese, and maybe some fine dark chocolate. Take your time to enjoy your beautiful surroundings. You are so busy with the rush of our daily lives that sometimes we forget to “smell the roses” and enjoy the surrounding nature.
Another way to celebrate is to plan brunch out on the patio at home or at your favorite patio restaurant. Enjoy some light tasting mimosas and a light meal. When you are done take a leisurely walk around a park, your neighborhood or go to your city zoo.
As the day comes to an end draw a hot bubble bath. Relaxing in a bubble bath and a glass of fine wine is the perfect end to the perfect day.
Mother’s Day Gifts – what do you get for one of the most important people in your life? Isn’t Mother’s Day all about spoiling the “Mom” in your life whether it’s your wife, sister, grams or your best friend? For you guys, even though a woman will tell you she needs a new frying pan or toaster – I guarantee if you give it to her as a gift, it won’t be well received. We have some pretty unique gifts and ideas. Feel free to browse and get some great ideas here.
GIFT IDEAS
Mother worked hard to raise you, kept the house, did your laundry, fed and protected you. She deserves to be treated extra special on this day. So why not give her a spa experience in her very own home?. Variety is the spice of life and artisan soaps won’t disappoint! Not all handmade soap is alike. Give the joy of happy and healthy skin just the way you like it. Mix and match to create a wonderful gift basket.
While she is relaxing in that fabulous bubble bath, she could be enjoying a glass of fine wine that she receives from her favorite wine of the month club, What a fabulous gift! four or bottles or a case of wine a month. Or are you planning to have a wonderful home-cooked meal? Wine complements so many foods and food experiences. A fine wine pairing can make any meal into an event, and more so, a lasting memory. Take a moment to think about the last time you had a truly fine wine? Do you remember? With a glass of fine wine, you can remember everything about the occasion. Something magical happens with each event that has wine included. It does something remarkable. Learn more details here.
BOOKS and WINE
Does Mom love to read? She can relax reading her favorite book, having a glass of wine, while Dad takes the kids out to play in the neighborhood park. She would love to have that time to enjoy! Why not get her that Kindle she’s been wanting along with the Kindle Unlimited package? With the Kindle she won’t need to find a place to put her books. Everything will be at her fingertips with the Kindle. No more looking where she laid down the book she was reading. Or what page did she leave off? Learn more here
So now that we have given you some wonderful ideas for Mother’s Day and gifts, have fun shopping for that VIP in your life. And if you are a mother yourself, have a wonderful and peaceful Mother’s day.
Brunch season is here! For the next few months, our calendars are packed with reasons to celebrate—bridal showers, baby showers, Easter brunch, and Mother’s Day, just to name a few. If you’re hosting any of these events, take our advice: you’re going to want to make this mimosa bar. Not only is it easy to set up, but it also lets your guests make their own drinks so you’re not stuck in the kitchen blending margaritas to order for the entire party. Sounds like a win-win situation, right? Get our tips below.
What You’ll Need
Sparkling wine
Fresh Fruit
Fruit Juice
Champagne Flutes
Pitchers
Bowls for Fruit
Beverage Tub
Labels
Decor
How To Make Them
To take the guesswork out of making your own mimosa, set up a chalkboard sign with instructions that read:
Pour the Bubbly
Add the Juice
Top With Fruit
Have guests serve themselves according to their own preferences, but we recommend a 1:1 ratio of wine to juice for each mimosa.
You can make 6-8 mimosas out of every standard 750 ml bottle of sparkling wine, so for a party of 20 people where each guest will have two or three drinks we recommend buying about 6-8 bottles of sparkling wine. To give guests options, serve four different kinds of juice—we picked orange juice, strawberry lemonade, pomegranate juice, and an orange-mango juice. Most people will opt for the classic orange and bubbly mix, so stock up on a larger bottle of OJ. Three smaller bottles of juice will be enough for the other varieties. As for the fruit, pick up a few pints of whatever is in season. We chose strawberries and blackberries because they were the freshest options at the grocery store.
It really all comes down to personal preference. If you like sweet drinks, choose a sweet sparkling wine rather than a dry to pair with the already sweet-but-tart orange juice. But if super-sweet cocktails aren’t your thing, opt for a dry sparkling wine. To accommodate everyone’s tastes, serve several different kinds of bubbly so that people can customize their cocktails.
Decor
Now for the fun part! For a colorful (and affordable!) mimosa bar backdrop, make tassel garlands out of tissue paper. And because a party without cake is just a meeting, how about a cake with a mini tassel garland cake topper to match the backdrop.
Need some ideas for Easter activities? Holidays are great opportunities for us to spend time with our loved ones, enjoying the time together. Easter Sunday is no exception and it’s a wonderful time to enjoy with your family. Make some plans with your loved ones to make your Easter a great one.
Invite your family and friends to share the holiday with you.
Ask your family and friends what they might like to do on your Easter together.
Dyeing Easter eggs can be a fun way to spend time together with your family and make some great Easter decorations. However, before you can get started you will need to gather a few key things. Review the following list of the basic materials you will need to create dyed Easter eggs.
A cup to hold the dye.
A spoon or tongs for the eggs.
Hard-boiled eggs.
Liquid food coloring or egg dye.
Paper towels to let eggs dry on.
Optional decoration tools such as a clear wax crayon to draw designs on the eggs. The next following step is to prepare your eggs. Preparing your Easter eggs can make them last longer and prevent them from making a mess if they break. Before you get started dyeing your eggs you will need to prepare them properly.
Add water to a pot and place your eggs in the water, making sure the eggs are cover by about an inch.
Bring the water to a boil.
Remove the pot from the burner and add a cover.
Let the eggs sit for about 12 minutes.
Drain the water from your eggs and refrigerate until you are ready to decorate. Now take the following steps to properly dye your eggs:
Add water and dye to a glass.
Place the egg in the color you want it to be dyed.
Remove the egg with a strainer or spoon.
Place the egg on a paper towel and allow to dry.
The longer the egg sits in the dye, the darker the color will be.
Make use of your decorated Easter eggs. After you have enjoyed creating your designs it’s time to show them off. Alternatively, think about fun ways you might want to use them. Look over some of the following examples to get an idea of how you can use your newly decorated Easter eggs.
Create a display that showcases your designs
Hide your Easter eggs to create a fun Easter egg hunt
Have a competition to see whose eggs are the best in categories such as most artistic, best design or brightest colors.
Easter Activities for Families
Egg and Spoon Race.
Jelly Bean Guessing Games.
Plant Flowers.
Decorate an Easter Egg Tree.
Make Chocolate Fondue.
Create Easter Crafts.
Give a Gift Basket.
Traveling with your family.
If you’re looking for a slightly cheaper alternative to travel abroad, a holiday park is always a good option. With so many to choose from – Haven, Butlins, Center Parcs and Forest Holidays to name but a few, plus a whole host of independent holiday parks too – you’re sure to find somewhere to suit you and your family’s needs.
Easter games
Spring means Easter and Easter mean eggs! But you don’t have to restrict the fun to eating eggs of the chocolate variety – you can have lots of fun with real eggs outdoors. Aside from holding your own egg-and-spoon race championship, how about playing egg catch? You’ll need an apron and some eggs.
How to play: Stand about three steps away from your partner in the garden and start playing catch with the egg. After a few throws, each player should take a step back and carry on throwing. Every couple of throws each player takes a step back until they are quite a distance from each other and the game becomes increasingly difficult! The loser is the person who fails to catch the egg and it drops and breaks.
Easter Activities: Read Easter and Spring Children’s books
Gather the kids and curl up with a good book. Search for any Book Finder tool to stock up on great children’s books about Easter, bunnies, and spring.
After all the fun activities of the day and the kids are sleeping take time to relax in a warm bubble bath. And don’t forget to grab your favorite boutique wine from our wonderful wine of the month club.
Follow me on: Instagram – @offers26 and Twitter – @msazkat
Most people define boutique wine as “small production”, “artisanal” or even “cult”. But what does that really mean for a wine to be boutique? Is it the number of bottles a winery makes? Or the simple fact that the vineyards happen to be in a remote location enough to make it boutique? Probably “Yes”.
Is boutique wine a state of mind rather than the number of cases produced?
There are plenty of large wineries, though that produce tens of thousands of cases and think of themselves as “boutique.” The winemaker is passionate about their craft. The vineyard manager knows every vine, exactly when to harvest the grapes, and how delicately they should be crushed. The whole wine operation just had a sense of purpose that transcended the “business” of producing wine.
Is it about attitude rather than location? There are other considerations, of course.
Most wines were made by ma-and-pa operations. Very often producing just enough for the family. The growing international popularity and profitability of wine have become big businesses. Much of the wine consumed today is the product of massive multinational enterprises. Wine companies in the “large” category produce more than 450,000 cases annually. A major international brand can sell well over a million.
The rise of these big market-driven brands, tailored for popular tastes, has sparked fears about all wine tasting the same. Boutique wineries, in contrast, have become widely regarded as the antidote: repositories of individuality and champions of diversity. But is this opinion warranted?
It’s often the drive and dedication of the smaller players that get new varieties, practices, and even regions off the ground. But large companies can be sources of innovation, too. They have substantial research budgets to drive this. Some of the most powerful wine groups have been investing in producing top benchmark wines.
Small wineries have expanded and developed into big businesses. Some winemakers want to grow their enterprises. Others actively avoid becoming a size where they can no longer be involved with their wines from vine to bottle. The bigger wineries tend to lose that “soul”. The day-to-day operations become about the efficiency of operations and costs. Decisions made due to other pressures do not always consider quality. The intimate and personal connection to every part of the process – the land, vines, and wines, guided by passion rather than chasing profit – does seem to result in some of the most expressive and distinctive wines.
However, it’s always accompanied by an understanding and commitment to what’s required to make great wines. Without this, small producers can still make bad wines. Thankfully, these are increasingly rare. But it still pays to examine some of the notions surrounding small-scale winemaking. The idea of a family-owned vineyard with wine made in its tiny winery by the proprietor is still a romantic notion and viable option.
Often the reality is quite different. Given the substantial costs of land and planting, some small wine companies don’t own any vineyards. Many make wines in shared facilities. And a not an inconsiderable number, largely those who’ve come to wine for lifestyle or business reasons, will employ someone else to make their wines for them.
CAN BIG BE BOUTIQUE?
It’s not uncommon for larger companies to embrace approaches common in smaller operations. But can a big business truly embrace a boutique mentality when making its wines?
There needs to be a common desire to achieve wines that stand apart from others. Wines that offer intrigue and raise eyebrows. Most importantly, do this on a regular basis. It is possible for any large company to embrace a boutique winemaking philosophy. But there needs to be a willingness and everyone needs to be on the same page.
The company’s size assists in a quest for high quality, offering opportunities not available to smaller players. Typically, a large winery will have the option to select fruit from more than one vineyard or a range of specific areas within a vineyard. This will open up the opportunity to be more selective, and have more options both if the vintage works against you or purely from a blending perspective. As a group, the size allows for experimentation, being innovative, and trying new techniques.
In Conclusion
But what is clear is that the individual voices of our smaller wineries are an important part of the diversity and distinctiveness of our wines. Each of their wines tells a story – of a place, a season, and the people that made them – and they are well worth seeking out and hearing.
Wine complements so many foods and food experiences. A boutique wine pairing can make any meal into an event, and more so, a lasting memory. Take a moment to think about the last time you had a truly fine wine. Do you remember? With fine wine, you can remember everything about the occasion. Something magical happens with each event that has wine included… it does something remarkable.
Now you don’t even need to leave your home. Boutique wine comes right to your door. And you get the benefit of amazing experiences in each and every glass! Join us in this amazing club today.
Need date night ideas to reconnect? Remember when you and your partner used to go on date nights? It used to be so easy — and now it all seems like a distant memory.
The good news is that you can always bring date nights back into your routine. The first thing to remember is that they don’t have to just be for special occasions, either. In fact, you should definitely have date nights that are “just ‘cuz.” The key here is to establish a regular day for your date night — whether it’s on a weekly or monthly basis — and stick to it. (And make sure to lock down your babysitter or nanny ahead of time so you don’t have to scramble last-minute.)
Active & Sporty Date Night Ideas
Go bowling.
Cheer on the high school sports team where you gradually become a regular and consequently create new friends.
Find some discount coupons or online offers to try out free martial arts or exercise classes.
Get in a round or two of mini-golf.
Get in touch with your inner kids and play on a playground—they’re not just for kids!
Have an alphabet-scavenger hunt. Challenge yourselves to kiss in front of an item that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Consequently, you may lose time and forget about all of the other activities you may have planned.
Head to the basketball court and play a game of HORSE or 1-on-1.
Hit some balls at a local driving range or batting cage.
Go for a bike ride.
Roller skate around your neighborhood or in a local park.
Go for a swim together, and the next step will be a healthier lifestyle for both of you.
Take a dance class. Chances are good that there are a few low-cost lesson options in your area.
Throw the Frisbee around in a nearby park.
Volunteer together.
Watch planes take off and land at the airport.
Arts & Culture-Related Date Night Ideas
Attend a free concert.
Browse the local bookstore or library.
Check out free- or low-cost museums. Small-town museums often have low admission rates while large, city institutions often have free or pay-what-you-wish hours. Not to mention, some museums even have “free nights” that just ask for donations!
Enroll in a class together. In addition, you can find reasonably priced programs through your community college, parks and recreation department, or community center.
Find a poetry reading in your area — whether it’s at a coffee shop or community center. Maybe consider reading one of your own compositions, too!
Go to a local record/music store and browse for new genres or musicians you haven’t heard before.
Go to a drive-in theater.
Sing in a karaoke bar.
Attend a presentation or lecture.
Stroll through a local art fair or show.
Take in a play or musical performance at your local high school or college.
Test your smarts at a trivia night. It’s a fun and inexpensive way to bond over teamwork.
Finally, visit a historic site in your area — admission is usually inexpensive.
Food & Drink-Related Date Night Ideas
Browse the farmer’s market and don’t try the samples!
Conduct a taste test. Driving to three or four local bakeries, picking up one chocolate chip cookie from each, then tasting and rating them to decide which the best is.
Get a scoop of ice cream at a nearby scoop shop.
Go out for breakfast or brunch at a restaurant you’ve been meaning to try.
Browse a secondhand store for new-to-you treasures.
Drop by any local estate sales in your area.
Go fantasy car shopping. Browse the lots and dream about which ones you’d like to own. Maybe even take one for a test drive!
Hit up a used book sale.
Stop by the mall for some window-shopping. Treat yourselves to a soft pretzel or a giant cookie as you stroll through.
Stroll through your local flea market — and keep your eyes peeled for great deals!
Ultimately, a walk through your downtown area, browse the boutiques while learning more about your neighborhood.
In addition, here’s a potpourri of fun and unique items as well as your ordinary day-to-day items. Feel free to browse around and explore these pages. You never know when you might come across something that you just can’t live without.
“Stay at Home” Date Night Ideas
Bake each other’s favorite types of baked goods.
Challenge each other to a video game competition.
Cook a special dinner together. After the kids go to bed, dress up for late-night dinner and bring out the fancy china and coupled with a fine wine.
Dip fondue. Try strawberries, marshmallows, in addition to pretzels.
Do crosswords or other types of brain puzzles.
Draw pictures of one another — stick figures are allowed!
Play a favorite card or board game — or maybe try a new one!
Put together a time capsule that you can bury in your backyard. Consequently, dig it up when the children are older.
Read aloud to one another from a book or magazine.
Roast marshmallows around a backyard fire pit.
Set up an indoor picnic with attention to the little details.
Take a trip down memory lane together by looking through your old yearbooks or your wedding album.
Finally,
When you have the recipes to create a fabulous dinner and add a fine boutique wine, it makes for a very enjoyable evening and experience. With this in mind, who doesn’t love great cooking, amazing food, and the Gods’ Gift of Fine Wine? Cooking healthy makes it even sweeter! Here you can learn about the BEST Wine of the Month Club. Just go to your very own wine collection to pick that fabulous wine for your special night at home. Above all – enjoy! With this in mind, both of you will relish your time together.
Regardless, don’t let a lack of funds hamper your dating creativity. No matter your budget, by all means, you and your partner can enjoy fun, romantic, relationship-building times together.
Follow me on: Instagram – @offers26 and Twitter – @msazkat
Aromatherapy is the art and science of utilizing naturally extracted aromatic essences from plants to balance, harmonize and promote the health of body, mind, and spirit. Also, it seeks to unify physiological, psychological and spiritual processes while enhancing an individual’s innate healing process. As a holistic practice, Aromatherapy is both a preventative approach as well as an active method to employ during acute and chronic stages of illness or ‘dis’-ease. Aromatherapy is a natural, non-invasive modality. In fact, it affects the whole person not just the symptom or disease. It assists the body’s natural ability to balance, regulate, heal and maintain itself with the correct use of essential oils.
As a matter of fact, Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, the French perfumer and chemist, coined the term “aromatherapie” in 1937 with his publication of a book by that name. His book “Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy” contains early clinical findings for utilizing essential oils for a range of physiological ailments. Gattefosse’s intention for coining the word was to distinguish the medicinal application of essential oils from their perfumery applications.
So we can interpret his coining of the word “Aromatherapie” to mean the therapeutic application or the medicinal use of aromatic substances (essential oils) for holistic healing. As the practice of aromatherapy has progressed, over the years, it has adopted a more holistic approach encompassing the whole body, mind, and spirit.
About Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy wasn’t well-known until the 11th century even though it has been around for thousands of years. In fact, steam distillation first made it possible to properly remove the essential oils from plant materials. Since then, cultures around the world have utilized aromatherapy for a wide range of functions. There is more to it than simply using essential oils; aromatherapy can be quite complex, involving carrier oils, absolutes, herbal distillates, vaporizer oils, and phytoncides. Ask the administrator of the treatment for literature on the various components and applications.
Synergy – Important Element of Aromatherapy
Synergy is an important element of aromatherapy. It is the combination of numerous essential oils that can create a more powerful effect than the oils would have on their own. Blending essential oils is such an important area of study for alternative healers. Notably, the range of possibilities is almost endless. However, it is important to always do your consultation with trained aromatherapists, as some essential oils can trigger allergies. Also, essential oils can actually be toxic if mixed improperly. Furthermore, most aromatherapy treatments with essential oils are diluted in a carrier oil of some kind. A wide range of negative side effects will result if you use too strong of a concentration of essential oils in aromatherapy.
While there is an infinite number of combinations that have been tested and used around the world, not all of them would be approved or recommended by normal doctors. However, this doesn’t mean they aren’t legitimate or effective. Pay close attention to your body and its reaction whenever you use aromatherapy as a therapeutic solution for a medical condition.
For over 5,000 years, aromatherapy has been a trusted practice
In fact, natural healers turn to aromatherapy for the many antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects of aromatic essential oils.
Today, you’re likely to find over 40 different therapeutic-grade aromatherapy oils available. Some popular aromatic oils you might recognize include tea tree, lavender and peppermint oil, used in everything from toothpaste to laundry detergent.
Here are some facts about how essential oils work:
Plants contain certain beneficial chemicals as a means of protecting themselves, including to ward off insects or rodents and defend themselves from bacteria or viruses.
The active ingredients within the oils are taken directly from high yields of medicinal plants or herbs through a process known as distillation. The oil is mixed with alcohol to preserve their strength. The finished result is a very concentrated oily formula that can be mixed with other substances.
Essential oils used in aromatherapy practices are usually combined with a carrier oil, such as almond, jojoba orcoconut oil, before being applied directly to the skin.
Aromatherapy uses are:
Diffusing a combination of essential oils into the air (or just one single oil)
Inhaling oils through the nostrils directly off a cloth or from the bottle
Receiving massage therapyutilizing oils
Soaking in an oil-infused bath
Rubbing oils directly onto the skin
Finally, enhancing a facial toner, shampoo, or conditioner with essential oils.
Importantly, research shows that when used at home, most people use aromatherapy oil candles, apply natural products containing oils to their skin or add oils directly to a soaking bath/warm shower. What types of plants produce popular essential oils used in aromatherapy? Notably, these include:
Herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano or peppermint
Leaves from eucalyptus plants
Grasses, such as lemongrass
Fennel seeds
Zest from fruits such as oranges, grapefruit or lemon
Flowers, including rose or geranium
Wood or bark from trees including cedar or pine
Roots from ginger
Resin from frankincense trees
And many more
History and Interesting Facts
For thousands of years, aromatherapy essential oils have been an important part of self-care and medicinal practices. Oils were also used as perfumes, tonics, cleansers, wound salves and more. Records show that some of the earliest civilizations to use aromatherapy include the ancient Chinese, Indians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.
Interesting facts about the history of aromatherapy include:
Over 2,500 years ago, Hippocrates recommended aromatic baths for overall well-being and health prevention.
In the year 100 A.D., the famous philosopher Dioscorides mentioned aromatic oils in some of his writings.
Ancient Egyptian priests used aromatherapy oils during religious ceremonies and also as antiseptic agents.
Starting in the late 1800s, researchers began using botanical extracts in studies, publishing their reports in respected medical journals. French and German medical professors started using aromatherapy to fight diseases like tuberculosis and infected wounds.
Essential oils began being used in western medicine practices in the early 19th century. Doctors started isolating the active principles of plants (identified as “active ingredient”) to use them in making prescription medications.
French soldiers returning home from World War I were treated with oils to heal wounds, treat anxiety and lower depression.
Aromatherapy made its way to the U.S. around the 1980s.
Today, sales of aromatherapy lotions, candles, oils, and fragrances are higher than ever before.
How to Find a Good Aromatherapist
There are a number of different organizations that now train and certify professional aromatherapists, including the Aromatherapy Registration Council (ARC). The goal is to overcome lack of education standards; promote safe practices, and encourage the FDA to protect public safety and use of essential oils.
Completing at least 30–200 hours of training and passing an exam is part of the Aromatherapy course certification. Many training programs also require supervised hours working with patients.
Aromatherapists are typically trained in some of the following topics and practices:
History of aromatherapy
Profiles of 20 of the most powerful and popular essential oils
Ensuring the quality of essential oils
Physiology of aromatherapy (including methods of absorption, olfaction, the limbic system, the lymphatic system, the immune system and the skin)
Treating patients with various essential oils depending on their medical conditions
Contraindications and safety concerns of certain essential oils
Notably, the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy offers resources on its website to locate a qualified aromatherapist in your area.
Precautions
Equally important, certain types of aromatherapy oils are not recommended depending on a person’s sensitivity or medical history. It is important to keep essential oils away from infants and children, unless otherwise noted. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, always make sure that any essential oil you use is safe.
Although essential oils have generally shown minimal adverse effects, potential risks include:
ingesting large amounts/intentional misuse, which can cause toxicity
skin irritation, especially when used in large amounts
allergic contact dermatitis
photosensitivity to sunlight
In general, only use oils internally when you know they’re completely pure. Medications can interact with oils – so beware. Using aromatherapy oils internally can sometimes be toxic and very harmful. Do your research. Ask a professional for their opinion if you have any concerns or questions. Always start with the lowest dose possible.
Importantly, if you have sensitive skin make sure to always dilute oils with a carrier before applying them to your skin. Look for symptoms, such as a rash, redness or swelling (especially when in the sun). Photosensitive essential oils include bergamot, lemon, lime, bitter orange and angelica root. Citrus oils and oils with menthol (including peppermint) can irritate sensitive skin, so use these carefully.
Final Thoughts to Consider
Essential oils are increasingly popular.
Aromatherapy works by utilizing aromatic oils that contain many different active components. In fact, there are antiseptic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial essential oils.
Benefits and popular uses of aromatherapy include:
reducing anxiety and depression,
colds and coughs,
fatigue,
pain,
PMS,
menopause symptoms,
nausea,
ulcers,
indigestion, and
arthritis joint pain.
Lastly, pay attention to how the different oils and methods of use, and how they affect you. Explore the world of essential oils today.
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Chances are that you will come across stray and feral cats in your lifetime. Whether you spot them in your backyard, around your office park, or while traveling abroad, misconceptions still prevail worldwide about stray and feral cats. Learning the facts can help overturn the myths and stop the overpopulation and mistreatment of homeless cats.
What is a Feral cat?
A feral cat is a cat that lives outdoors and has had little or no human contact. They typically remain hidden from humans and avoid any human contact. Some feral cats become more comfortable with people who regularly feed them. Even with long term attempts at socialization, feral cats usually remain fearful and avoidant of humans. The cats share a common food source and territory. A colony may include not only ferals, but also strays. The more we understand outdoor cats and the complicated issues related to them, the more effectively we can help them, reduce cat overpopulation and protect wildlife.
“Feral” is a behavioral characteristic, not a biological one. While they live outside human homes and exhibit wild behavior, feral cats are not wildlife. In addition, feral is not a black or white quality. Different cats will be feral to different degrees. The vast majority rely on some form of human-based food source for their sustenance. It can be a caretaker who feeds daily, a dumpster behind a supermarket or scraps left on fishing docks. Very few subsist on hunting alone.
What is the difference between a stray and a feral cat?
A lost or abandoned pet is considered a stray cat. It is usually tame enough to be adopted. A feral cat is the offspring of stray or other feral cats surviving outdoors. They are not accustomed to human contact and usually too fearful to be handled or adopted. Feral cats will find it difficult or impossible to adapt to living as pets in close contact with people. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t many things you can do to improve feral cats’ health and quality of life.
Where do community cats live?
Community cats typically live in a colony and consist of related cats. The colony occupies and defends a specific territory where food (a restaurant dumpster or a person who feeds them) and shelter (beneath a porch, in an abandoned building, etc.) are available. Strangers may not realize that feral cats are living nearby. Stray cats tend to be much more visible, may vocalize and approach people in search of food or shelter. Stray cats may join a colony or defend a territory of their own.
Why are outdoor cats a problem?
Nuisance behaviors, such as urinating and defecating in someone’s yard or garden, digging in someone’s yard or garden, jumping on someone’s car and upsetting pets, are the greatest concerns that the general public has about outdoor cats.
Overpopulation is a serious concern as well. Approximately 2 percent of the 30 to 40 million community (feral and stray) cats in the United States have been spayed or neutered. These cats produce around 80 percent of the kittens born in the U.S. each year. Although 85 percent of the estimated 75 to 80 million pet cats in the U.S. are already spayed or neutered, many have kittens before they are spayed or neutered. Those kittens when allowed outdoors, add to the number of outdoor cats and the problems associated with them.
Shelters with a large population of outdoor cats in their communities experience:
More cats entering shelters as a result of trapping feral adults and kittens young enough to be socialized (tamed).
Adult feral cats can’t be adopted which causes a rise in euthanasia rates..
Euthanasia of adoptable cats when cage space runs out.
Costs associated with trapping and/or caring for and euthanizing feral cats.
In addition, shelters receive many nuisance complaints about outdoor cats, including:
Frequent, loud noises that are part of the fighting and mating behavior of unneutered/unspayed cats.
Strong, foul odors left by unneutered male cats spraying urine to mark their territory.
Flea infestations.
Visible suffering from injured and dying cats.
The death of wild animals who are cats’ prey.
What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?
Spaying or neutering community cats using Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) will reduce their numbers. Spaying or neutering pet cats before they reproduce will reduce their numbers and help stop pet overpopulation.
TNR is a nonlethal strategy for reducing the number of community cats and improving the quality of life for cats, wildlife and people. At its most basic, TNR involves:
Humanely trapping community cats
Spaying or neutering them
Vaccinating them against rabies
Returning the cats to their home
How does TNR solve common complaints associated with feral cats?
When feral cats are trapped, neutered and returned to their territory, they no longer reproduce.
The cessation of sexual activity eliminates the noise associated with mating behavior and dramatically reduces fighting and the noise it causes.
Neutered feral cats also roam much less and become less visible and less prone to injury from cars.
Foul odors are greatly reduced as neutered cats no longer produce testosterone which, when they are unaltered, mixes with their urine and causes the strong, pungent smell of their spraying.
The population stabilizes and gradually declines over time.
Would it be better if feral cats were euthanized?
Even if the shelter had enough people and money to remove and euthanize the feral cats in a community, other cats would move into the vacated territory to take advantage of the food sources and shelter. The new cats would continue to reproduce and complaint calls would continue. Euthanasia alone won’t rid an area of feral cats, and killing animals to control their numbers is increasingly unpopular with the general public.
The animal welfare community in general is concerned about the health, safety and welfare of the cats in our communities, as well as the public’s health. There is over 20 years of documented proof that traditional ways of dealing with feral cats don’t work. The catch and kill method has not reduced the number of feral cats. While the cat may be gone, there now is room for another cat to move in.
We have all heard the saying, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” By creating that hole in a neighborhood feral cat colony, we encourage fighting, spraying of territory and breeding. In addition, female cats in distressed colonies tend to produce more offspring than those in stable colonies. So, catch and kill actually makes the problem worse.
The Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR) of feral cats is a proven, humane method of feral cat population control. TNR humanely trap, sterilize and release the cats back into the environment in which they were living.
Won’t removing community cats from an area eliminate the problem?
Trapping and removing a colony rarely solves cat problems. Community cats live at a certain location because it offers food and shelter. By removing a colony, cats from surrounding colonies move in to take advantage of the newly available resources. The cycle of reproduction and nuisance behavior begins all over again.
Here are some of the other factors that usually make trap and removal ineffective:
No input from the cats’ caretakers, who are the only people who really know the cats’ numbers and patterns and can control whether or not the cats are hungry enough to enter a baited trap
No volunteers to trap cats, who face an uncertain fate or death upon capture
Little to no animal control staff and money available to accomplish the task
No strategy for the difficult task of catching all the cats in a colony
A vacated territory quickly repopulates
Why don’t feeding bans eliminate community cats?
The logic behind bans on feeding feral cats is that if there is no food available, the cats will go away. This rarely happens. First, cats are territorial animals who can survive for weeks without food and will not easily or quickly abandon their territory. As they grow hungrier and more desperate, they tend to venture closer to homes and businesses in search of food. Despite the effort to starve them out, the cats will also continue to reproduce, resulting in the deaths of many kittens.
Second, feeding bans are nearly impossible to enforce. Repeated experience has shown that people who care about the cats will go to great lengths to care for them. They might risk their homes, jobs and even their liberty to feed starving animals. In addition, there may be more than one feeder and other sources of food, including dumpsters, garbage cans and other animals.
Anyone Can Become a Caretaker
Feral cats have a rough life and live, on average, two years on their own. With regular care, which includes reliable shelter and daily feedings similar to the care of barnyard cats, they can live as long as ten years. If you decide to become a caretaker, an important lesson is to never forcefully grab an outdoor cat or make a sudden movement towards it. These cats are fearful of people and tend to run away as strangers approach them. Let the feral or stray cat come closer to you on his/her terms.
Through daily feedings, in time they will let you know if it’s acceptable to touch them. If you do decide to become a caretaker, squat or sit on the ground so you’re at their level when you regularly feed them. This approach indicates to the feral or stray cat that you are not threatening.
In conclusion, I hope this helps you to understand feral cats and their colonies. Work with your local animal shelters and use community resources to help stabilize the feral cat colonies in your community.
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WESTERN ARIZONA
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