Caroline Ebinger

Mic brushes against the legs of his owner.

Mic, a cat of about 10 years, lives happily in the yard of the Haverstocks, a Palo Alto High School family. He does not come inside, but enjoys his outdoor freedom. Mic is spotted black and white with a pink nose and golden eyes. He loves to ‘talk’ and has never lost his childhood nip.

“He comes over to chat with me and if we stand out front he usualy comes out,” owner Mary Haverstock says. He is loyal to Mary, who feeds him daily, and loves rubbing against legs.

Mic is one of 56 feral cats that were rescued at a San Jose racetrack years ago. The word “feral” generally does not have a positive connotation; however, feral simply means born and raised in the wild with little or no human contact. If a feral cat is rescued and cannot be somewhat tamed, it is neutered and sent back into the wild. If it can be tamed, it is put up for adoption as an indoor pet, outdoor pet, mouser or ratter. Mic’s sister was adopted as a ratter for singer Neil Young.

The number of feral cats is growing in the Bay Area and around the world, and with it, the number of organizations devoted to finding a home for them. Because a non-neutered female cat can birth a litter three to four times a year, according to the Homeless Cat Network, neutering is a very important part of controlling the feral cat population.

In addition to helping the community, adopting a feral cat can be the perfect solution for people who are animal lovers but have severe allergies or family members with severe allergies, or for those whose parents do not want the hassle of owning a pet.

There are many foundations dedicated to rescuing these cats and turning them into household pets in the Bay Area alone. Paly sophomore Mason Haverstock’s family adopted Mic from the Bay Area’s Humanimal Connection. Since then, the business has grown immensely. Each Humanimal Connection cat is neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped, ensuring the health of each cat and ensuring the cats will not parent future homeless cats.

“As a no-kill, not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization, the Humanimal Connection is dedicated to addressing the unmet needs of the cat population by connecting humans and animals together,” the Humanimal Connection website states.

The Haverstock family adopted their feral cat because they could not adopt an indoor cat due to the severe allergies of Tom Haverstock, Mason’s father. Mary, Mason’s mother, had waited since she married Tom to find an opportunity such as Humanimal Connection. The Haverstock family learned about adopting feral cats after seeing an advertisement in the newspaper.

“There was an ad in the paper, and I love cats so much, but Tom is allergic, and all of a sudden in the local paper I see a[n ad for] home[s] needed for outdoor cats, and I was like ‘What?’ I right away called and she invited me to her house,” says Mary of their Humanimal Connection experience. Although Humanimal Connection had countless cats at their house, when the Haverstocks visited, Mic was the only cat ready to be adopted. Though he was ready earliest, he still often nips. Mary, though, considers his behavior a blessing in disguise.

“If he was a cat that wanted to sit on your lap and have you hold him and purr and come around, Tom’s so allergic that I would have to take that sweater off before I went into the house,” Mary says.

Because of Mic’s less than heartwarming personality, Mason does not particularly like Mic, but he does not have the same issue with other ferals.

“I’ve met some of her [Mary’s friend’s] feral cats and they’re all really, really nice,” he says.

In order to acclimate a feral cat to its new home, the cat must live outside in a cage for at least a month. This was a very difficult task for the Haverstocks, as it is for many feral cat owners, because Mic meowed constantly. Despite these obstacles, Mary is glad she adopted Mic. Even though she wishes he was one of the nicer feral cats, she emphasizes one point: “He works for our family,” Mary says.