Last Updated on May 3, 2022 by Pets Feed
A woman plants catnip in her garden and attracts all the stray cats to her neighborhood and turns her garden into a playground.
Nikki Byrne had it in mind to plant pots and flowers in her garden, so she visited the local nursery in hopes of finding some eye-catching plants, but the only healthy-looking plant left at the time was the catnip.
He didn’t give it much thought and decided to take her to his house, where he planted a few pots without imagining that in a short time all the stray cats in the neighborhood would come to his house, obviously attracted by the catnip that grew in his garden.
Nikki told The Dodo:
I didn’t grow up with cats, and I don’t think I’ve ever been too close to cats, so I really didn’t understand that some of them find catnip irresistible. Soon after I planted it, I heard a little commotion outside one morning. I looked out the window and there was a big tabby cat on the fence. He managed to knock over one of the cans of catnip as he chased him.
A woman plants catnip in her garden and attracts stray cats
The tabby cat, whom Nikki decided to call Monsieur, still visited the garden every day. Soon the woman realized that the cat had no collar and looked rather skinny and tired, so she started leaving food and water for it.
And apparently, the cat considered Nikki’s garden a safe place, because soon all of Monsieur’s children began to appear to rest and play under the constant gaze of their father.
Excited and amazed, Nikki turned her garden into a playground for stray cats, so she decided to add toys, scratching posts, tunnels and a heated cat house to the decor. The young cats were more than happy with all the attention they were getting, but Monsieur kept his distance.
The woman says:
We had to work very hard to show him that we are not dangerous, while the little ones are throwing themselves at you. They are very friendly.
Fortunately, with time and patience, Monsieur began to trust his new friend.
Nikki recalls:
It didn’t look like a cat that humans had managed to approach before. I let him make the decisions, and now we can approach him and he eats treats out of my hand, I can even pet him.
Nikki knew these adorable kittens needed more than treats and toys, so she contacted a local cat community organization in San Luis Obispo County, USA for help with trapping, neutering and bring back the felines.
In the space of a year, this woman has helped many cats in her neighborhood, and it’s all thanks to the idea of planting a few decorative pots of catnip.
Images: Facebook / Nikki Byrne
