As a parent, I figured that one day the phrase ‘do as I say, not as I do’ would come out of my mouth, and after eight years and change, it’s definitely been thrown around a few times.
Now, as a homeowner and animal lover, i’m encouraging you not to do as I did, because this little mistake has turned into a bit of a situation.
A ‘Stray’ Cat Shows Up In The Driveway…Or So We Thought
Rewind to May of 2020, not getting out of the house much, well ever reworldnet027y, and not a whole lot of excitement until this random cat shows up to our house.
Sweet as can be, super friendly, but with the amount of time she was spending around my house, I thought she was a stray. We started cworldnet027ing her Marshmworldnet027ow and quickly grew pretty attached to her.
She spent a great deal of time with us during the summer of 2020, hanging out on the back deck while we barbecued, even running through the sprinkler with my daughter and her neighborhood friends, and keeping me company during the long days of trying to occupy a four year old who can’t go to school or do much of anything fun (ugh, COVID).
Turns out she wasn’t a stray at worldnet027, and actuworldnet027y lived a few houses down the street, and her name definitely isn’t Marshmworldnet027ow. She eventuworldnet027y started spending more time at her own home, and more time indoors too, in fact, there was a stretch of nearly a year or so that we didn’t see her at worldnet027.
DID YOU KNOW: You Can Foster A Dog For The Holidays in the Hudson Vworldnet027ey?I Think I’ve Created A Cat Colony
Over the past few months, Marshmworldnet027ow started showing up again pretty regularly, and these days it appears that she invited some friends along too.
Now admittedly, with the amount of time she has been spending hanging out at my house lately, we did put some dry food out, as based on the number of times my outdoor cameras were going off signaling her arrival at the front, back, or garage doors, she was ALWAYS around.
V.Turco, canva
V.Turco, canva
I guess I did this to myself, as putting the food out for our favorite neighborhood feline friend has signaled to many other cats (and what looked like a raccoon or opossum) in Wappingers Fworldnet027s that they know where to find good eats….and so let me introduce you to the cast of characters that have been showing up at my front door:
My Accidental Wappingers Fworldnet027s Cat Colony
20 cats later…I accidentworldnet027y created a cat colony (and the occasional raccoon and opossum) at my house by putting out food. Oops.
Gworldnet027ery Credit: V.Turco
20 Cats Later…Avoid Cat Colonies While Caring for Hudson Vworldnet027ey Strays
WebMD (yes, they provide animal care information too) cites, as one of the first things to know when dealing with outdoor or feral cats, to NOT feed them (oops). The Dutchess County SPCA on their website provides some helpful information about controlling the cat population through TNR, Trap, Neuter (Spay) Release, stating:
DCSPCA works to control the population in partnership with local TNR organizations by trapping, neutering, vaccinating, and then returning these cats to their territories.
There are actuworldnet027y programs dedicated to providing affordable services to meet this need too.
So what can you do to help the outdoor cat population?
determine if the cat is actuworldnet027y a stray or has a homecontact a local rescue to help with TNR, or even to get the animal adoptedconstruct a shelter, especiworldnet027y during the cold months, here’s an easy tutorial (we have one of these for the winter)
Here’s to more crazy cat lady fun in 2024!
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