THOMASVILLE — Bettye and Jerry Henderson’s love affair with cats began when a tiny, cripple kitten showed up in their Sarasota, Fla., garage.

They got medical care for the kitten and took it into their home and lives. Soon, they adopted a stray cat.

The Hendersons, who moved to Thomasville 18 years ago, have undertaken the establishment of a no-kill, no-cages cat sanctuary to be known as Miss Kitty Feline Sanctuary Inc.

“You call a dog, and he comes to you. You call a cat, he takes a message and will get back to you,” Mr. Henderson told a Tuesday meeting of Episcopal Church Women at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.

Several years ago, Henderson and others began considering what should be done about the rapidly increasing population of unwanted cats. The concept gathered real steam in 2009.

The facility the Hendersons and their nine-member board of directors have in mind would be operated entirely by volunteers. Cats residing at the 8,500-square-foot sanctuary would be made ready for adoption by qualified people. As cats are adopted, space will become available for new feline residents.

Henderson, a retired investment banker, thinks Miss Kitty Feline Sanctuary will be the largest no-kill, no-cages facility catering to cats only in Georgia.

Covered, enclosed, outside runs would feature trees for climbing, ladders to scale to reach various levels of catwalks, make-believe above-ground tunnels for exploring, beds for sleeping and hiding places from which to pounce.

Indoor housing also would be available, along with a nursery, a surgical area, a quarantine room and office areas.

A site for the facility has not been found. Land was donated, but it did not meet Thomas County government requirements for road frontage.

Henderson said there are two types of cats: feral and domestic.

A feral cat might have been born into a domestic situation and later became feral or was born in the wild. Formerly feral felines are not easily domesticated as housecats.

Colonies of feral cats inhabit Thomasville. A colony might have three or four cats or as many as 15, Henderson explained after the meeting.

“All restaurants in town are perfect locations for these critters to frequent,” he added.

A minimum of several hundred feral cats can be found at trash receptacles in unincorporated Thomas County. “They are trying to scrape together a meal from any food scraps available,” Henderson said.

Ferals are survivors rarely seen during daylight hours. “At night, they are all over the place, with darkness as their only shelter,” Henderson said.

Feral cats in the community must be trapped, neutered or spayed and returned to the outdoors, he told the church group.

“The only way that works is for volunteers to feed them,” he said.

Unneutered male cats die young from disease, freezing temperatures, starvation or are run over by vehicles.

Henderson said a female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats in seven years.

Accompanying the Hendersons to the meeting were three robust felines, all former strays, including Miss Kitty, for whom the sanctuary is named.

Henderson envisions housing 200 cats at Miss Kitty. Some 50 volunteers would be needed.

“If you don’t move these through adoption, you have a warehouse,” he explained.

Fund-raising is to begin within the month. Gifts are tax-deductible.

Excluding veterinary costs, Henderson predicts monthly sanctuary expenses to be $2,500.

Mrs. Henderson is captivated by stray felines.

“They are independent, but when they are strays or homeless, they have a way of looking at you and saying, ‘Won’t you help me?’ “ she explained.



Feline Facts

• 60 million feral cats live in the United States

• 16 percent of American cats have been neutered or spayed

• 2 million cats are euthanized annually in the United States

• An unneutered male cat lives about 2.5 years

• A neutered male cat lives about 13 years



To Make A Tax-deductible Donation

Miss Kitty Feline Sanctuary Inc.

P.O. Box 22

Thomasville, Ga. 31799





Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820.