Taming feral cats

[indysteel]

Other than cost, why wouldn't you fix a feral cat, male or female?

Well, I didn't consider it for very long--like for about five seconds. Cost, hassle, stress on the animal, their unpredictable behavior (my adult male comes and goes for weeks at a time). I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm sure there are feral tenders out there that just make it a priority to spay their females. From a cat population standpoint, that's not a horrible approach. It's not the best approach IMO (and sometimes not legally compliant), but it's better than not doing anything I suppose.

[Biciclista]

I grew up with un-neutered cats, leaving them entire seriously shortens their lives. They are so driven by sex and territory that they don't take enough time to hunt and eat. But Indy, I hear what you're saying, if you're having to pay for it!
The cat ladies around here take anything that will crawl into a trap.

[indysteel]

I grew up with un-neutered cats, leaving them entire seriously shortens their lives. They are so driven by sex and territory that they don't take enough time to hunt and eat. But Indy, I hear what you're saying, if you're having to pay for it!
The cat ladies around here take anything that will crawl into a trap.

I want to make it clear that I didn't seriously consider not fixing him. It was really just a passing thought. My adult male disappeared for three weeks the very day that I took the other two to the vet. He showed up again last week. Part of me was relieved that he was alive; another part of me was sort of frustrated. I had gotten into a routine with the adult female and her kitten, and I could predict when they would come around for food. Now the male tends to eat all the food, so it's making our breakfast and dinner routines more time consuming and costly. They at least all get along. In fact, I think the female acts more comfortable around us when the male is present. I'm sure I'll get used to taking care of three of them, but I'm not going to lie. In my limited experience, I have to say that it takes a fair bit of work to care for ferals. Some days I'd really rather not deal with it, as much as I have grown to care for them.

That said, I know I've done the right thing by him and other cats in getting him neutered.

[Biciclista]

wow, they sound like a little family, that's actually kind of neat.
I understood what you were saying, a few seconds isn't such a long time.

[jessmarimba]

I had a new cat show up this morning. I don't think she's feral, she just sees my yard as a safe haven.

She's a Siamese, too chubby to have been outside for long, obviously not hungry as she wouldn't eat the food I had out, and petrified of the real ferals. But I couldn't coax her into the house before I had to leave for work. (She probably would've come through the window if my screens slid up and down, but they pop out and that scared her too much).

I hope she's there when I get home. If she wasn't just dumped it would be nice to see her back with her owners.

[badger]

you might want to contact the local shelters to see if there are any spay/neuter programs for feral cats? We have the staff of spca volunteering one day a year to spay and neuter trapped feral cats. Last year it was canceled due to low number of cats (though I don't quite believe that).

I would try what others suggested, in trapping and getting them fixed yourself. You can always borrow traps from veterinarians or shelters.

In Japan, hardly anyone ever spays/neuters their cats, so they are totally overrun with cats. My mother's trapped a lot of the cats in her neighbourhood and had them fixed and then released again (all out of her own pocket).

[indysteel]

I had a new cat show up this morning. I don't think she's feral, she just sees my yard as a safe haven.

She's a Siamese, too chubby to have been outside for long, obviously not hungry as she wouldn't eat the food I had out, and petrified of the real ferals. But I couldn't coax her into the house before I had to leave for work. (She probably would've come through the window if my screens slid up and down, but they pop out and that scared her too much).

I hope she's there when I get home. If she wasn't just dumped it would be nice to see her back with her owners.

I hope she wasn't dumped and that you can find her owners. You might take her to your vet to see if she's chipped.

Sorry for the threadjack by the way as to my own ferals. I guess we got a lot of feral kitties her on TE!

[indysteel]

wow, they sound like a little family, that's actually kind of neat.
I understood what you were saying, a few seconds isn't such a long time.

Yep; a slightly crazy family, but family all the same. The Mom and her kitten (Taco and Callie) have taken to climbing onto our neighbors' roofs for their afternoon naps. So far, they seem to be getting up and down just fine, but it makes me nervous. We really lucked out in that our neighbors are all animal people who don't seem the least bit bothered by the cats. One of them is going to feed them while we're out of town.

We're now trying to decide what kind of shelter to use this winter. There's a local carpenter who builds them for a reasonable fee. We might do that or rig our own.

[jessmarimba]

"Mine" live under a truck top in the neighbors yard. I think they have a pretty nice little nest under there. I've let them in my garage when the temps dropped to -30 though.

[indysteel]

"Mine" live under a truck top in the neighbors yard. I think they have a pretty nice little nest under there. I've let them in my garage when the temps dropped to -30 though.

That's funny; ours hang out under one of those, too, but it's a two doors down from us. I'd like to give them something closer to our house that's insulated and protected from other critters. My guess is that if we buy/build something and they don't end up using it, we'll be able to give it away to somebody else tending ferals. I'm sure there's some sort of demand for such things.

[jessmarimba]

Ok, the siamese is back. Definitely not afraid of people. I think it would walk right in the house. However, it's either not fixed, it wasn't fixed very well, or siamese end up with a weird little skin lump when they're fixed. Or maybe I've always had hairier cats. I don't have time to run to a vet now - should I take this one in and isolate? (and pray for my house while I'm gone?)

[jessmarimba]

Thought about it & decided he might be someone's collarless indoor-outdoor cat, so I didn't do anything yet. I'll keep an eye out and see if he's around in the evenings as well.

[Brandi]

We stole 2 traps from a man down the street years ago who was trapping neighborhood cat's that came on his property and took them to the pound! He trapped this one ladies cat that we rescued from the pound and he shot another neighbors cat with a pellet gun and shattered his shoulder. So one windy night my husband and I dressed in black and went and got the traps. He had crab in them! Gave one trap to a rescue shelter and kept one for ourselves in case we ever needed to trap a cat to fix them.
He got his traps from the spca. I asked if he was legally aloud to do this and was told yes. Terrible! But when we found out where he got the traps we figured if they went missing and he had to pay for them he would stop trapping. And he did. This man needs to live out in the country and not in a suburban neighborhood. Thank god he is waaaaay down the street from me. I would have to move!

[CyborgQueen]

Yep; a slightly crazy family, but family all the same. The Mom and her kitten (Taco and Callie) have taken to climbing onto our neighbors' roofs for their afternoon naps. So far, they seem to be getting up and down just fine, but it makes me nervous. We really lucked out in that our neighbors are all animal people who don't seem the least bit bothered by the cats. One of them is going to feed them while we're out of town.

We're now trying to decide what kind of shelter to use this winter. There's a local carpenter who builds them for a reasonable fee. We might do that or rig our own.

Shelter - If you're getting it built, I would make it something similar to a chicken coop. where the floor of the shelter is raised by about 2 feet off ground (in case of snow), Instead of a open door, put a dog flap in there to prevent wind getting in there...Put old blankets in there, and your feral will be happy. You can put food/water bowl in there.

Here's a link that I just found.....good pictures for ideas!! GOOGLE IMAGES (ugh...I just noticed a pic of a dead kitty...I apologize for that!!)

Here's a good link for Winter shelters: http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/HOW_TO_FERAL_CAT_WINTER_SHELTER


As for water - obviously, replace it daily. If it freezes, don't worry about it, they can live without water for a day. Ferals are probably going to eat snow anyways. It would be better if you use a dome shape water bowl. Easier to get the ice out.


My mom's feral cat mostly lives in a small shed protected by the winter winds/snow. However, she has a old dog igloo with hay (replaced every quarter) on a pallet (gives a few inches of clearance from snow). She's still around after 5 years (she got spayed after delivering a litter...which one of them is owned by mom). She lives in NJ, so she gets a lot of winter storms.

Good luck!!

[Biciclista]

Brandi, unfortunately, if that man can't trap, he's probably going to shoot more cats. I'd rather he trapped them and took them to the pound, it is much more humane!! But the SOB is trapping and shooting at other people's pets???! argh!!!