by Betty
(Birmingham, UK)
Female feral cat at the allotments
I am the site manager of a fairly large allotment site in Birmingham, UK. We have some feral cats which nobody objects to. I put food down every day for them. The food is donated by other gardeners and myself.
The cats do a good job of killing vermin on the site and I think they deserve to be fed by us, rather than only relying on the mice and rats they catch.
Last year the Cats Protection League lent us a trap and then arranged for the cat we caught to be neutered and returned to us. We shall soon be doing this again. There is no charge for this service but we help by fund-raising for them.
Although I do love cats, I also love my dogs who absolutely HATE them so I will have to make do with looking at the beautiful photos on this website!
Update: 22nd Feb 2010...

Photo by Betty
An update about the cat I feed at the allotments -
She is getting really brave now. As soon as she hears my car pull up near the allotment, she comes running and waits outside the polytunnel for me to feed her. She sits just out of arm's reach while I fill her plate and quickly goes inside once I come out. It's hard to believe she is 'wild'!
I took this photo today, it's similar to another one I posted but a little closer.
We have always had a problem with rats and mice on the allotment site and some people put poison down. (I don't)
I worry that one of the cats might catch and kill a rat or mouse which had already eaten the poison. Does anyone know if the poison could be passed to the cat?
Betty
I share a plot with my husband bill, in Philips park allotments clayton Manchester, we too feed feral cats 4 in total, so keep up the good work.
Nice to hear from you Sylvia. Nice, also, to know you are helping feral cats. Well done.