Hello. My story is not unique in any way. We had an apartment complex (now demolished) a block from my house and when tenants were forced to leave several left behind their cats (don't get me started!!). Within a couple of years our neighborhood was overrun with cats and kittens, and wandering tomcats who happened through on a regular basis. Many of these cats looked horrible and I'm sure had unthinkable diseases. It was to the point you could call it an infestation of about 50 stray/feral cats and growing. Poor babies! I had never owned a cat and knew nothing at all about cats, but after the 2nd litter of newborn kittens magically appeared in my flowerbed I knew I had to do something. I went online and read everything I could about feral/stray cats and I began to feed them to lure them to my property, then trap them. One by one each trapped cat went to the vet for spay/neuter, vaccinations, worming, ear checks. I just said to the vet, "Do whatever it is cats need." After about 2 years neighbors started commenting that there were no more litters of kittens appearing on their properties. Imagine that! But still, I could get no help in trapping the remaining few. All told, I trapped and released 36 cats. Now, 5 years later, we still have about 12 cats remaining (all spayed and neutered), longtime residents of the neighborhood, and never any kittens. Some of these 12 have attached themselves to me and my property, and have become almost pets. Others have gone to other houses where the neighbor was happy to feed them, even though that neighbor had not wanted to help trap. We never have wandering toms anymore. These cats are now lovely, sweet members of our community and everyone enjoys them.
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