Stefanie from Nutley
Were you always a cat lover?
Always, I love all animals. My mom was a huge animal lover and always rescuing them! I definitely got it from her.
How did you get started being a colony caregiver?
Another woman used to feed them but wasn’t able to anymore so I just took over.
How many cats do you take care of? How many have been TNR’d?
Tell us about some of your cats!
So Sesame was always my favorite. She was a tiny little thing, smaller than the rest. She was also the last of the adults we caught. She gave me a run for my money! We went to the drop trap and we would set it up… wait hours, finally pack it in and her little head would pop out. I know she just sat and watched us like we were fools! Haha!
I always selfishly said that if I finally caught her I’d like to try and see how she did inside. Well, long story short, she taught me – feral is feral! So after two nights, we let her back out. I was afraid she’d be upset with me but she still shows up for every feeding. Also, she’s the reason we were able to catch Midknight. Oddly after catching her she trusted me more and Midknight saw that she didn’t run when I was around. So he slowly stopped being skittish and in return was more trusting. He was smelling the trap as I was setting it. I turned to walk away and he went in. The rest is history and he’s one of the 4 kittens in a loving home.
What are the best and worst parts of taking care of your crew?
How do your neighbors feel about the cats?
Not really, a few of them also feed the cats which is nice to know in case I’m away or working late. When I first called CPAW, I let all my neighbors know about the TNR and luckily they were all on board with it!
How did you hear about CPAW?
When I spotted the kittens I panicked because we do have a lot foxes and raccoons. I posted on the app, Nextdoor and Kylie immediately reach out to me and told me to contact CPAW, that she was a volunteer there. CPAW assigned her to me and she helped me tremendously! She worked with me every almost weekend from June to September until they were all caught!
