There are a couple of important things to consider before becoming a pet owner, if you ask Luwanna Johnson, founder and president of Purr Partners rescue. Johnson and her team of volunteers devote countless hours to the Franklin County-based rescue operation, which takes in as many cats as it can, but it’s not enough.

“The number one thing people can do is spay and neuter their pets,” Johnson said. Without that step, she told WIZS’s Bill Harris on Tuesday’s TownTalk, “nothing is going to change.”

She said her organization gets upwards of 50 or 60 calls each week from people who have found cats or kittens, either abandoned or as strays.

This is not a new phenomenon, she said. “Sadly, it’s happening every year – every year it’s worse,” she said.

Some of the kitten “explosion” can be blamed on the fact that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the spay-neuter clinics closed. Those who were inclined to have their cats fixed couldn’t. Now, she said, those cats have had kittens and the kittens have had kittens.

But it certainly isn’t the only factor in this dilemma, she said.

“As the human population explodes, the cat population does as well,” she said, explaining that folks who move to the “country” and let their cats live outside. And if they’re not spayed or neutered, Mother Nature takes over.

“Cats are just not safe outside,” Johnson said. “Our world is not safe for them,” she continued.

“Never let your cats outside, especially if (they) aren’t fixed,” Johnson stressed. Even if they are fixed, she said too often she sees cats come into rescue that have been hit by cars or attacked by other animals.

“They rarely survive an encounter with a car,” she said, “and they’re prey for coyotes, dogs and even humans.” She said Purr Partners has taken in more than a dozen cats in the past year with gunshot wounds.

These injured animals aren’t feral, she said. “These are the friendly cats – those who are coming up to people asking for help. And they’re being shot.”

And there’s another category of cat that often find themselves in her rescue – Johnson calls them “unsuccessful strays.” She defines this type of cat as one that has either wandered from its home or yard, or was scared or chased away and now finds itself unable to fend for itself.

“They’re not capable of surviving” on their own, and they come to Purr Partners in “horrible condition…they don’t know how to live outside,” she said. One such adult male came in weighing less than 4 pounds, she said.

So, spaying and neutering is the first thing a responsible pet owner should consider. The second important thing to consider is purchasing pet insurance, Johnson said.

It’s not realistic to think that, at some time or another, your pet will never need the services of a veterinarian. Or worse, an emergency veterinary clinic.

Vet care has become extremely expensive, she said, and just like the human members of the family, pets also need regular care to stay healthy.

And pet insurance has come a long way since its inception, Johnson said. For about $20 a month, cat owners can have coverage that will pay for emergencies, injuries and all kinds of illnesses.

Speaking of vet bills, about 99 percent of all Purr Partner donations are used to pay for veterinary services.

“We operate solely on donations and fundraising,” she said. The biggest fundraiser is the “Black Cat Bash” in October, which is a costume party held at the Durant Road Nature Park.

Send an email to purrpartners@yahoo.com to learn more.

Visit https://www.purrpartners.org/ to see the list of adoptable cats, learn how to volunteer, fill out an adoption application or click the big DONATE button!

Checks may be sent to:

Purr Partners

P.O. Box. 905, Youngsville, NC 27596

CLICK PLAY!