Queen Creek woman shelters feral cats

A Queen Creek woman has built a one-of-a-kind shelter for homeless cats in her backyard. Now, more than a month after the shelter’s completion, Lorie Fessenmeyer and her nonprofit organization, Cats Without a Provider, are seeking donations to fund her ambitious and ongoing project.

No nine lives for cats dumped at preserve

Seven years ago, Fessenmeyer began feeding abandoned cats in the now-defunct Sonoqui Village trailer park near Chandler Heights Boulevard, cats left behind by people moving out. She said it infuriated her that some people viewed cats as disposable. A town custodian for eight years, she still goes to the trailer park at 4:30 every morning to feed the cats before work.

After learning in June that the park would be demolished to make way for luxury homes, she started to think about how she could continue to care for the cats that had come to mean so much to her.

Fessenmeyer decided that the only way to rehabilitate and protect the feral cats in the trailer park was to take matters into her own hands. She took out a $5,000 loan and, with help from friends and her husband, John, built the 900-square-foot octagonal cat shelter currently nestled between the peach and apricot trees of her backyard orchard.

For Cat’s Sake is the name of the open-roofed structure currently housing 24 feral cats Fessenmeyer trapped, neutered and cares for on a daily basis. Standing inside the shelter, it’s hard to imagine anything more a cat could want in a place to live, but Fessenmeyer said it remains a work in progress.

She also said there are still six feral cats hiding in the trailer park debris. While Fessenmeyer doesn’t want to overcrowd her shelter, she said she will take in those six cats as its final occupants.

Though construction and maintenance of a cat shelter in one’s backyard would be a daunting task for the average person, Fessenmeyer said she’d also like to educate children about spaying and neutering domestic pets some day. “Telling kids about this is what’s really important,” she said.

Since feral cats are not suitable as house pets to be given up for adoption, Fessenmeyer plans to care for the soon-to-be 30 cats in her shelter “until they die.”

Fessenmeyer said that although caring for so many animals is a lot of work, it is a worthy cause and her life’s passion.

“It took 48 years, but I’ve finally found out what I’m supposed to do with my life,” she said.

The cost of feeding 30 cats for a month runs more than $400, not to mention the costs of maintaining the shelter and possible veterinary expenses. Anyone wishing to make a tax-deductible donation can send checks to: Cats Without a Provider Inc., P.O. Box 9522, Chandler, AZ 85227.