I used to live in a home that is now one of my rental properties. I moved out about two years ago and into a new home. The summer before I moved, I noticed a stray kitten outside. I opened the back door, and suddenly I saw a scatter of kittens. I went back inside, got some cat food, and put out a bowl. Of course, the kittens started coming back every day. Eventually, I saw the mom cat come, a cat who I think was the dad, and another cat who I know has a family down the street. I even had a opossum. I was feeding them all. Now, I don't want to be a nuisance to my neighbors and invite all the stray cats in the world to hang out on my deck, but I was moved to keep these cats fed and alive.
My husband and I called Operation Cat Nip and participated in their Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release program. We borrowed traps and set them up on three separate occasions to get all the cats trapped. We sent them off to the program to get spayed or neutered and vaccinated, and then we picked them back up and put them back on our deck. My father in law built a little house for them to sleep in when it got colder. I begged and pleaded for new homes on Facebook, and I rehomed two of them.
Eventually, it was time for my family to move, and I was keeping the house to use as a rental property. Fortunately, I rented the home to a friend, and he was willing to continue feeding the cats, along with some other neighbors who had taken to feeding them too. The little house still sits on the back deck, available to any cat who needs a place to sleep for the night.
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