The Cat Lady

Kittens and Cats

‍

Doesn’t everyone love cats? We are dog people over here, but we love cats also and do not like to see them hurt or hungry. While out walking our dog I come across a lady who feeds the stray cats in the town we live in. I am not one hundred percent sure that is what she is doing but I am 99% sure. I saw a bag of cat food outside her vehicle, and she carried a bowl with her. I see her in the morning while walking down a gravel road adjacent to the park. Normally once a week. Ernie and I always travel this road. There are empty school buses, trucks, police cars, etc. perfect places for cats to spend the cold winter, a shelter from the cold wind. There are quite a few empty vehicles and as we watched her, she stopped three different times and walked to three different areas. Always carrying her bowl with her. She is dressed all in black and if she sees us, she waves and says hello.

We Had to Help Out

My husband Gary and I did the same thing this last winter. We saw a kitten two or three times in our yard, along with an adult cat. We were worried about the kitten, so we took two dog houses and pushed them together with room enough for a cat or kitten to get through. This was in the back of our garage, out of the wind. We filled the dog houses full of straw for warmth. This worked fine for a while as I went out daily and refilled the bowls. After our first heavy snowfall there was so much snow around the dog houses the cats wouldn’t have been able to get to them. Therefore, I was out shoveling a path for them. The things we do for animals in the cold. As the winter wore on, I asked Gary if he had seen the cats and he replied, not for a while now. I hadn’t seen either one of them myself. So, I started wondering who we were feeding. 

All The Rabbits

‍

It is my firm belief we fed the rabbits. There were rabbit tracks all around the dog houses as well as rabbit poop. A lot of rabbit poop. We soon had stray dogs in the yard also. Gary was afraid we would get a coyote or wolf along with everything else. Maybe this was not such a good idea after all. 

We went through a big bag of cat food throughout the winter. I also purchased some wet cat food which was always gone shortly after it was put out. Something was eating well. Towards spring I started to notice mice running around the dog houses. Just what we needed to do multiply the mouse population. I told Gary I believe we are feeding the rabbits and the mice; we hadn’t seen any cats. Maybe they had gone to the other side of town to join the other cats and the cat lady who feeds them. 

No More

When the weather turned warm enough Gary and I cleaned out the dog houses. Getting rid of all the straw. The first doghouse was full of urine along with the straw as we dumped it out. A cleaning was in order. We took the doghouse apart and sprayed it down with the hose and let it dry in the sun. The second doghouse the straw was dry, so it was put back in the kennel where it belonged. Soon both houses were back in the dog kennel, everything cleaned and back in place. We made a joint decision to not do this again next winter. We both think we fed the rabbits all winter along with the mice. I suppose they have to eat also. 

It's All Hers

‍

We will leave the feeding of the cats to the lady uptown. She obviously loves doing it and keeps on top of it. Animals lovers, can't help but love them. Somebody has to feed them, do they not? I for one am super glad she is out there making sure they survive the winter weather. If she weren’t doing it, who would? Perhaps someone else would step up and take her place. The world needs kindness like this. A good deed done. I am sure the cats appreciate her. As well as I do. 

‍

Let’s hope we don’t see any kittens this coming winter!

‍