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November 1, 2001

The McDonald's cats

By Nicole MacIntyre
nmacinty@uwo.ca

When Janet Daw steps out of her car at the McDonald's in the Superstore Mall on Wellington Road, she whistles loudly and then waits. Within seconds cats begin to materialize from around the parking lot and neighbouring field. Picking up plastic containers of cat food, Daw walks along a well-worn path into the overgrown field -- the cats trail behind her. As the cats crowd around the dishes, Daw walks off to look for the newest batch of kittens. It is a routine both Daw and the cats know well.

It was a craving for McDonald's pancakes that led Daw into a feline friendship that would cost her thousands of dollars and many sleepless nights of worry. Daw, 57, often went for an early breakfast before she headed to the factory job she'd had for over 20 years. One morning she encountered a black and white cat and two kittens beside a McDonald's garbage bin. Daw, who had always fed little animals like squirrels, decided she couldn't ignore the cats and began to feed them.

Photo by Nicole MacIntyre
One of the stray kittens waits to be fed.

That was three years ago and Daw has been back every day since, including snow storms and holidays. "I just started feeding them and before I knew it there was a whole slew of them," says Daw, who estimates she now feeds nine adult cats, plus several batches of kittens born each year.

"You get to know them after awhile and it's just like they're your own cats and I can't just say 'I'm not going to feed them' because they're just like my own now, except they're not at my place."

As another winter approaches, Daw wants to find the cats permanent homes. But with limited options for strays in London, she is worried the situation will only get worse as the cost of feeding more and more cats increases.

Daw buys only premium cat food. The cats, some of which she has named, eat a large bag of dry food every two days.

"The funny thing is I'm feeding the skunks and raccoons too. When I whistle for the cats, the raccoons come."

Daw's efforts to provide a healthy diet may not be working though. An employee at McDonald's said the cats have a second meal late at night hamburgers, fillet of fish, eggs and sausage. "And I heat it up for them too."

But management at McDonald's have not been so accommodating to the cats, said the employee who declined to give her name. Last year managers blocked off an open area on the side of the restaurant which had previously been home to the cats. "Management doesn't like them," said the employee.

Daw says she's well aware that some people don't like the stray cats hanging around. Almost every month she has to buy new dishes, shelter and blankets to replace the ones stolen and thrown away. She was disgusted last year when someone took a large dog house less than half an hour after a local businessman donated it for a cat shelter.

Despite the frustration and costs, Daw says she's bonded with the animals and could never leave them, though there have been many days when she wishes the situation was different. "I want to see them go into homes."

Finding homes for stray cats is not an easy thing, though, especially cats which have been feral since birth. Lorna Chamberlain of the London Humane Society says it doesn't deal with stray cats. Animal Care and Control is responsible for stray cats in London, but Daw doesn't want to involve the organization for fear the cats will be put to sleep.

Animal Care and Control said its employees will pick up stray cats that are confined in cages or an enclosed area. The cats are then held for four to five days in case an owner steps forward. If the cats are healthy, they are put up for adoption, but if a cat is deemed unhealthy or feral, it is euthanised.

Most of the McDonald's cats are wild, but Daw says they are friendly with her. Yet, she admits some of the cats are still nervous. The original cat, Mama, doesn't approach her since Daw began taking away her kittens.

Daw has often been asked why she doesn't take in all the cats herself. She says the answer is money and space. "We're not even sure they would adapt to a home."

Photo by Nicole MacIntyre
Janet Daw feeds two of the strays.
However, she has adopted two of the stray cats. She found her newest companion, Cody, alone inside an abandoned shed in the field on a cold winter day when he was a few days old. Daw didn't sleep for three days while she nursed the kitten back to health. "His eyes and little ears were still closed, but he made it."

Daw finally found help a year and half ago from a small animal aid group called Animal Love. When Daw catches any of the stray kittens, two of which are currently living in her bathroom, Animal Love pays for the cats to be de-wormed, de-fleaed and vaccinated. The kittens are then put in foster homes and placed for adoption.

At the Oakridge Animal Clinic, which handles 80 per cent of Animal Love's veterinary care, employee Kristine Ekblad commends the work of Animal Love and Daw. But she is worried they won't be able to keep helping stray animals for long. In the past Animal Love accepted all stray animals and paid for their veterinary costs, at a sizable discount, but the organization is now $4,000 in debt to the clinic, said Ekblad.


Ekblad hopes the McDonald's situation will improve, but says it's an impossible cycle of stray cats unless the adult cats are spayed or neutered, something neither Daw nor Animal Love has the money for. Ekblad says ideally the cats could be fixed and returned to the streets or become barn cats.

Linda Hughes of Animal Love says the group wants to help the McDonald's cats, but can't because of its limited budget and a foster home shortage. "It's kind of a vicious circle -- we want to help all these cats, but we don't have the money. And who's going to put up the money?"

Daw is also concerned about the future of the cats and knows she can't afford to fix the situation. Two years ago Daw was laid off, which has made paying for food, supplies and vet bills even harder. But after finding dozens of kittens homes, doling out cat food in the pouring rain and paying enormous vet bills, Daw says she refuses to give up for one simple reason: "They deserve a chance in life too."