An elderly Virginia man had spent 15 years feeding and caring for a group of feral cats when he had to move away. In order to keep his hard work going and make sure the cats received the care they needed, a couple decided to take over when he left. But earning the trust of the kitties was a little more difficult than they expected. Even still, they were able to get close to some of the feral cats.
“There are about 25 cats living on this dead-end road, which used to be a lumber yard,” Kevin Drum told Love Meow. He says that each cat is different. One demands head scratches while others will still only come out after Drum and his wife leave. “When we show up, I click my tongue to call them, and an average of maybe 15 cats will come out of the woodwork to be fed,” he adds.
The cats like to stay behind the fence that encloses the old lumbar yard. Drum thinks that the fence makes them feel safe and protects them from predators and scary humans they don’t know. When they see new cats that have joined the colony, they have someone come trap them. The cats are spayed or neutered and released back into the colony. This has helped keep the population from growing and becoming out of control.
A new kitten showed up recently and was caught and adopted out to a human family. Unfortunately, the rest of the cats are quite feral. Drum has become fairly close to one of the felines, but he says he doesn’t think the cat would do well living away from the colony. “Sometimes I can get a few of them to play with a long piece of grass,” he says.
Thankfully the colony has gotten smaller over the years due to the catch and release program. This has allowed everyone to keep the population healthy and ensure every cat is living as quality a life as possible. The cats have learned to recognize the people that come to visit them and have started trusting Drum and his wife since they come to feed them everyday. Special people like the elderly man, Drum and his wife and those volunteers providing veterinary care certainly deserve some recognition!
