By Sheri LeClair Banitt
Today I have launched RemiScents. I will be selling handmade cat toys made with homegrown catnip, along with hats for cats and fun accessories. Remi came from the feral colony of cats in my neighborhood. The money made from this will help me feed and care for my local feral community cats.
Through the years with my husband’s help, I fed a migrant community of feral cats. Twice daily for many years, we greeted 5 black cats and 5 tortoise shell cats at the food pans in the bushes.
I lost my husband two years ago, but the community cats are still with me. I feed them once daily now and the colors have changed, but I still have one that we spayed 5 years ago, which is a long life for a feral cat.
I learned about feral cats while gardening. When I first discovered a little black kitten living under the hostas, I left food out for him. He was black, so we called him Midnight.
He stuck around all that first summer and showed up periodically over the following winter. When summer came, Midnight disappeared and a whole litter of kittens appeared under the hostas!
We left food out for the momma kitty, and eventually we were able to handle the kittens with momma nearby. Just as we were about to catch the whole bunch of them for rehoming, momma kitty disappeared and took all the kittens with her.
Year after year, kittens were born in the spring, and the challenge was to find them and rehome them before the momma cat took them and disappeared. Whenever we found them, the momma would move them to a new spot. She often put them under the prickly bush on top of a pile of rocks. This seemed too cold, so I went online to order a cat house where litters could live until they were old enough to rehome.
At the end of the order form, it said “personalize your house for no extra charge”. I didn’t have a particular cat’s name to put on the house, but my daughter had a great idea. And that is why the Halfway House is located in my lilac bushes.
There are two humane ways of controlling the feral cat population. One is by TNR – Trapping, Neutering and Returning them to where they were trapped. The other is trapping and euthanasia. Feral cats can have happy healthy lives outdoors after they are TNR’d. Since house cats can sneak outdoors, they should be vaccinated, spayed and neutered. Even a brief escape can produce kittens.
I still have a colony of several cats though I have rehomed over 30 kittens. There is no local support for managing them. I continue to feed them and TNR as many as possible in the spring. Once spayed or neutered, a notch is put in one of their ears while sedated so you can tell at a glance that they have been treated. Money I receive from selling RemiScents items will help me feed and TNR the cats in my colony.
The best place for a cat is indoors with a loving family.
