Dear So and So

[Veronica]

You could just call him Kal.

I ended up taking our last feral catch to our regular vet. The kitten had broken his leg about two weeks before I caught him and had a nasty looking infection. The spay/neuter vet didn't want to deal with that.

The leg had already started to heal so it didn't get set properly. But they took care of the infection. Curly Kitten - he lives in our backyard still with his dad, Curly - is doing great. You can barely see his limp now.

I have 5 ferals that I feed. All have been neutered and now they really don't act like ferals.

Anyway... I hope it works out and whatever you decide to do with them is going to better than if you did nothing.

Veronica

[indysteel]

You could just call him Kal.

I ended up taking our last feral catch to our regular vet. The kitten had broken his leg about two weeks before I caught him and had a nasty looking infection. The spay/neuter vet didn't want to deal with that.

The leg had already started to heal so it didn't get set properly. But they took care of the infection. Curly Kitten - he lives in our backyard still with his dad, Curly - is doing great. You can barely see his limp now.

I have 5 ferals that I feed. All have been neutered and now they really don't act like ferals.

Anyway... I hope it works out and whatever you decide to do with them is going to better than if you did nothing.

Veronica

DH suggested Ollie (as in Kalamata Olive).

I'm trying to get my head around the idea feral/outside cats, especially with our winters. Currently, the cats mostly hang out under the deck of the house next door to us that is unoccupied at the moment. We could build them a shelter, too. They otherwise have quite the expanse of land to safely roam because our property borders the city park.

How did you come to have ferals btw and have you ever tried to find homes for them?

ETA: If I may also ask, what routine care do you provide for them? Yearly vet visits and the full round of periodic vaccines? Do you treat them for fleas and worms?

[Biciclista]

All of my present cats were born feral (3 of them) I joined a group like you are describing and for a few years I fostered feral kittens and socialized them.
If you decide to take these cats on permanently as ferals, you can make them a shelter for the winter time. They will stick together and stay warm. Most feral cat caretakers I know do not deflea their cats, but if one is reallly sick, they try to retrap and treat them. (or even put medicine in food which doesn't make sense when you're feeding more than one)
I started with ferals when I looked out my back window one day and saw kittens in my back yard. It took a month to actually trap them, but I did trap all of them and their mother; spayed the mother and let her free, and socialized all the by then 4 month old kittens. One of them was Enza - and she is one of the greatest cats I've ever had.

[Veronica]

I don't know where Mama Cat came from, but I started feeding her right after we lost our Greta Dog in 2003. She stayed pretty feral, had a litter in 2004 that I barely saw. But in 2005 decided to have her babies in our backyard. That's when we decided we needed to get a trap and start the neutering. We've probably neutered twenty cats over the years - mostly boys and they for the most part haven't stayed around after.

Our population has leveled out in the last few years to five - 3 girls, two boys. Two of the girls are from Mama Cat's last litter. I don't know where the third girl came from. She's the only one I can't pick up now.

We decided all we were going to do was neuter, release and feed and water, especially since for a while they kept disappearing. Curly Kitten was an exception. Although I think that if something happened to any of my friendly four now, I'd probably take them in if I could get them into a carrier.

We never thought about looking for homes because for the girls it took years to get them to let me handle them. We lost Mama back in December and she was finally letting me touch her. Sometimes I wish we had tried to place the Curlys - but I'd have missed out on their antics in my backyard. Curly in particular is quite friendly - he loves his belly rubs!

Our two indoor babies aren't allowed to socialize with the outdoor ones. Cassie is content with that. Tucker would like to go out and play and sometimes escapes. Because of the potential contact with the ferals, our indoor cats get vaccinated as if they went outside.

We've been lucky in that we haven't had a flea issue with Cassie and Tucker. Tucker had worms once after a lengthy escape and play session with Curly Kitten. I know that means he ingested a flea - but otherwise we haven't seen any.

We're in CA and it almost never freezes so I don't have winter issues. Our backyard is fenced so that keeps them relatively safe from the coyotes. We're on a dead end street with little traffic and back onto open space. I do end up also feeding skunks, raccoons and the occasional opossum. Part of me would like to be the crazy cat lady who takes them ALL in... but it's not practical. There are days when Cassie and Tucker don't get as much play time as they'd like. So I do what I can.

Veronica

[indysteel]

Thanks for sharing your stories and experiences. It gives me some reassurance that tending to them as outside cats isn't the worst thing that could happen to them. That's not to say that I'm not going to pursue/consider any other options, but I've felt a lot of guilt as it is about them.

[Biciclista]

The reason I STOPPED socializing feral kittens for the cat rescue group was that it disturbed Enza and my other former feral so much! YOU really do have to look out for your own cats first.

[indysteel]

The reason I STOPPED socializing feral kittens for the cat rescue group was that it disturbed Enza and my other former feral so much! YOU really do have to look out for your own cats first.

Absolutely. Believe me, Henry is at the forefront of my mind, especially since he's been having health issues lately as it is. He's about to turn 13, and while I'm hopeful he'll be with us for several more good years, I am bracing myself for what's to come. Emotionally and financially, he's my priority.

And I'll be honest, the problems he's had over the last few weeks have reminded me of just how upset and worked up I get when one of my cats isn't doing well. I wish I could remain calmer about their health issues, but I historically have not been able to.

Again, thank you. Your perspectives are most helpful.

[jessmarimba]

Also wanted to chime in. Both of mine were ferals, though I did not socialize either of them (answered posts from foster moms).

I have a feral community in my yard now. I water but don't feed unless it's REALLY cold (the dumpster is in the alley behind my house & they seem quite well-fed), but I do let them in the garage with a space heater when the weather gets terrible. Like when it hit -30 last winter. All of the ones that I was watching out for then made it.

I'm pretty sure they have a "home" inside an old truck cap that is in my neighbor's yard, too, but I don't think he knows about it.

I have taken my Skunk-kitty out on a harness and run into Mama cat - I didn't let them touch but they wanted to be friends, so I think I might be ok if I end up taking one or more of these guys in someday.