- Joined
- Aug 4, 2014
- Messages
- 1,112
- Purraise
- 1,522
Ughhhhhhhhh I am fed up to HERE with feeding this colony (not the cats faults whatsoever, they’re wonderful and I adore them).
One of my colonies is in my suburban neighborhood. I feed them in a drainage way that is in between some houses but mostly out of street view.
I feed once in the mornings, around 6 am or so, leave the food out for about 40 minutes, come back, pick up the food bowls, then leave one water bowl out.
We know from our game camera that residents apparently walk through this drainage way quite often (it essentially connects two cul-de-sacs in the neighborhood, so acts as a short cut). It’s imperative we remain discreet, as we have an HOA.
Part of the drainage way was a bit unkempt, so I previously hid the water bowl behind some tall grass. A couple times last month, someone dumped the water and flipped the bowl over, but no issues since.
Then last week, someone cut the grass. Bowl was emptied (but not flipped over, so maybe different person than before) twice, so I switched it out for a bowl that blends in more and doesn’t reflect the sun (I had been using stainless steel).
Now someone stole it.
I’m not sure how to handle this.
I was thinking about maybe attaching a laminated note at the bottom of the bowl asking they please not remove the bowl, and explaining that we are vaccinating and neutering (and rehoming when possible) the stray and feral cats and kittens in the area, and leaving a number to contact for any questions or concerns.
My hope is that they will understand while not feeling compelled to report to the HOA...
The only other options I see here are not leaving water out anymore (which I hate the thought of due to the Texas heat and humidity and living in a drought area), or risk going to the HOA to ask permission.
I’m not sure if going to the HOA is even an option though. Not only do we have three colonies in the neighborhood, but we are majorly breaking the two pet limit rule, so I honestly don’t want to be on their radar at all.
I will go to great lengths for all of my colonies, but I have to prioritize my indoor guys first, as most are “unadoptable” - so even rehoming or finding a rescue to take them in an absolute worst case scenario isn’t a realistically feasible option.
If I were to stop leaving water out, I would start feeding wet only with a little added water mixed in. I’m just not sure if that’s enough, especially for our climate here. But I guess they found a way to survive before :/
Anyone have any ideas of how I should handle this?
One of my colonies is in my suburban neighborhood. I feed them in a drainage way that is in between some houses but mostly out of street view.
I feed once in the mornings, around 6 am or so, leave the food out for about 40 minutes, come back, pick up the food bowls, then leave one water bowl out.
We know from our game camera that residents apparently walk through this drainage way quite often (it essentially connects two cul-de-sacs in the neighborhood, so acts as a short cut). It’s imperative we remain discreet, as we have an HOA.
Part of the drainage way was a bit unkempt, so I previously hid the water bowl behind some tall grass. A couple times last month, someone dumped the water and flipped the bowl over, but no issues since.
Then last week, someone cut the grass. Bowl was emptied (but not flipped over, so maybe different person than before) twice, so I switched it out for a bowl that blends in more and doesn’t reflect the sun (I had been using stainless steel).
Now someone stole it.
I’m not sure how to handle this.
I was thinking about maybe attaching a laminated note at the bottom of the bowl asking they please not remove the bowl, and explaining that we are vaccinating and neutering (and rehoming when possible) the stray and feral cats and kittens in the area, and leaving a number to contact for any questions or concerns.
My hope is that they will understand while not feeling compelled to report to the HOA...
The only other options I see here are not leaving water out anymore (which I hate the thought of due to the Texas heat and humidity and living in a drought area), or risk going to the HOA to ask permission.
I’m not sure if going to the HOA is even an option though. Not only do we have three colonies in the neighborhood, but we are majorly breaking the two pet limit rule, so I honestly don’t want to be on their radar at all.
I will go to great lengths for all of my colonies, but I have to prioritize my indoor guys first, as most are “unadoptable” - so even rehoming or finding a rescue to take them in an absolute worst case scenario isn’t a realistically feasible option.
If I were to stop leaving water out, I would start feeding wet only with a little added water mixed in. I’m just not sure if that’s enough, especially for our climate here. But I guess they found a way to survive before :/
Anyone have any ideas of how I should handle this?