Monday 26 March 2012

The Feral Cats of Kihei Rent A Car

When in Maui, we always rent our vehicle from Kihei Rent A Car. It's a small family-owned business which leases older vehicles at a very reasonable rate. Seriously, you can save big bucks by renting from them! They also provide a convenient airport shuttle back and forth from their Kihei location, which is great. But another thing which endears them to us is their love of and care for feral cats.

One cat has been sufficiently tamed to come inside and serve as an office manager --

But most of the cats live outdoors, hanging around under the vehicles . . .

. . . or lounging about on top of the vehicles . . .

. . . or just relaxing on the sidewalk. Tail injuries seem to be quite common among feral cats and you can see that the next two are both bob-tailed --


This one was quite young and was the most skittish of them all, although none of the cats would let you pet them. They are, after all, still essentially feral, even if well-fed by the Kihei Rent A Car people.

I took these photos while waiting for the airport shuttle. We counted about a dozen cats. At least, those were the ones we could see! I'm sure there were more elsewhere in the compound.

[All photos by Debra She Who Seeks]

33 comments:

DEZMOND said...

cats without a tail are funny.

Copyboy said...

Cat-zow!!! Made you blog of the day.

sonia said...

Sweet!

Sulky Kitten said...

Thank goodness there are people kind-hearted enough to care about these little cats. They're a handsome healthy looking bunch!

mxtodis123 said...

I love little kitties. You can tell that these cats 'rule'.
Mary

Anonymous said...

makes my heart feel good to know there are places like this, ouch to the tail less ones,

A Beer for the Shower said...

This is so cool. I love businesses like this - every aspect of it. And even if feral, those are some damn adorable cats.

JeannetteLS said...

Good business people with big hearts. Oh, to have many, many more of this kind of people in our world, yes?

mermaid gallery said...

i could go feral in Kihei too!...lucky cats.......

brandi said...

~looks as if they embrace the island style as well...laid back little ones!!! much love light and blessinsg~

Tamara said...

Awwwwwww thats so good and kind of those people to care for the feral cats. The dealership where my husband works has so many ferals. The guys bring in bags of cat food to feed them. We have at least 10 ferals cats in our townhome community also...they are so afraid tho and won't let me near them but they will stop and listen when i talk to them. Great post! Thank you for sharing this :)

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

It's a tough life for kitties outdoors. But at least the weather is warm for this bunch, and there are some people who are kind enough to feed them.

Adam said...

it's funny, I noticed a lot of the storage or car rental places owned locally always have cats or dogs all over the place.

Lois said...

Many of them look like my Kiki, who started her life as a barn kitty. She would have been feral as well, if common-law-daughter-in-law hadn't socialized that litter. Kiki loves to eat lettuce, and cries when I make salads.

Jeanne said...

That is so wonderful! I, too, would support a company that has such a love for Cats! :0)

Green Monkey said...

how wonderful of them to care for the kitty's! There is an old barn in the town I grew up in. They house all the school buses there. There are also dairy cows and many many cats. When I'm home visiting family, I bring giant bags of food for them. The last time I was there, a women who lives across the street and says its her property told me to leave of she would call the police. I don't think she believed me when I told her why I was there. anyway... I still drop off bags of food but now I do it in a quick hurried way. and, I can't help myself. I worry about the cats. especially in winter.

loved this post! thank you for sharing. I also did a post about the cats in the barn but mine were not as photogenic (post title: magic in the barn)

Robin Larkspur said...

Such beautiful cats, some of the markings are amazing. Congrats to the car rental place!

The Dancing Crone said...

What a wonderful story of people who care. Must remember they are out there the next time I read a story about cruelty towards animals.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

ouch...tail injuries! i wonder if that happens in the parking lot?

Yvonne said...

We have lots of feral cats here, and then all of a sudden they are gone. Don't know what happens, but like to think they found a home.

Tricky Nag said...

What a great find! I love using the little locally-owned businesses that do amazing things - like looking after feral cats!

Suzanne said...

They all look so very healthy!

Mistress Maddie said...

How cool and hard to believe they aren't tame! They look so well cared for. I want them all!

Jane said...

Nice to know they are being cared for. They're all beautiful. I like the seat covers of the car that one cat is lounging on.

yellowdoggranny said...

If I ever make it there I'll remember to use them..I heart cat lovers.

35jupe said...

Aw, this is cool. I have a few feral cat stories, but I have to admit, this one is way up there in coolness. These people rock.

Riot Kitty said...

They look pretty well-fed.

Bill the Butcher said...

Dog person here, and as someone who's fed a lot of feral dogs,nice to know someone's taking care of them.

Birdie said...

I think it takes a special person to love and care for a feral cat. Little love in return and yet so much reward.

laughingwolf said...

good ideas all round... :)

[somehow i deleted all my pals + list/links, so i can't get to visit easily any more... only way i can is to go to their old posts and click their avatars/names... :( ...any ideas how i can retrieve my list?]

Blueberry said...

They could open a RENT-A-CAT business!

Southpaw said...

Wow, that's a lot of stray/feral cats.

Fundy Blue said...

Such beautiful cats, Debra! A lot of good people on Maui looks after the free-roaming kitties. Kihei Rent A Car is still in business, and I've told Terry about it. He actually had a car reserved with them in 2021, but we had to cancel our trip at the last minute because of Covid. Thanks for directing me to you post.