Beauty

[UMDTerpFan]

OP-my husband has been feeding the feral cats around the grocery store where he works. When two small kittens showed up, it broke his heart, he couldn't sleep or work without worrying about them. His co-workers told him one had been hit by a car and was limping. We caught them and then started learning more about feral cats. Once they are about 2 1/2 to 3 months old, they are very difficult to socialize and domesticate. We asked the Humane Society if we caught them what would they do and they told us they would immediately put them down. So we spent the time to socialize them and introduce them to our house. We already had two cats, one is a rescue. In contacting Alleycats.org, they said the older cats cannot be taken out of their environment, they will die. Many people are doing the trap, neuter, return program advocated by Alleycats.org. And many people are providing feeding stations and shelter. In fact, my husband ran into a guy at Home Depo who builds shelters for cats on his own personal dime and time. It breaks my heart because cats are not meant to live in the wild, they should be in warm homes with lots of love. My two feral kitties are now about 15 months old. One is still extremely skittish. We have a difficult time catching him just to take him to the vet and heaven forbid how much it disrupts them and how long it takes them to recover. And our kitties names? Metro and Amtrak because they lived alongside the metro lines outside of DC. When hubby goes on vacation, he gives money and/or food to a co-worker to continue feeding the feral cats. IMHO, people should not let their house cats roam outside. Mine are indoor cats.

[UMDTerpFan]

On 1/8/2014 LipstickDiva said:

On 1/8/2014 jaxs mom said:

Ferals are not the same as abandoned pets. Those are two separate issues. The whole point of TNR ( trap neuter release) is to reduce the amount of ferals by stopping them breeding. You can try and catch the kittens and socialize them and find them homes but true feral cats are not just someones ex pet. They aren't socialized to humans, and once they are over about 6-8 weeks it just gets harder to sometimes impossible to socialize them and turn them into house cats. At which point the only choice is to let them live outside, usually in a colony with other ferals or put them down. Most of these cats are not tamable. A few of them are though if they were exposed to humans young enough and someone has the patience and facility to keep them and socialize them. It's a ton of work.

I know they are two separate issues but I was bringing up the fact that because we have such a huge stray cat issue in my area, many people trap the strays, spay/neuter them and release them. Rescue groups, APL and kennels are absolutely full and can't take anymore. In order for some kennels to take on anyone they'd have to kill one. The only other option would be to trap them and have them euthanized.

My sister has tons of strays in her yard (because she feeds them) and they aren't feral. They will come right into her house if she leaves the door open, you can pet them, etc. Anyhow, she went on a mission to get them all taken care of so they don't keep reproducing.

The cats your sister is experiencing are not feral cats, they are strays. There is a big difference. If a cat lets you come up and pet it and it will come right into your house then nperhaps you or your sister could act as foster homes and find homes for the cats? My husband and I caught two feral kittens. They were wild, had never been close to humans. The humane society told us they would put them down, would not even give them a chance at socializing. It took months to socialize them to our household. There is a huge difference between ferals and strays. Anyone who is interested in helping feral cats should become affiliated with Alleycats.org who does advocate the Trap, spay, neuter, return program for ferals. Alleycats put me in touch with Metroferals.org which is a group of local vets who donate their time to spay, neuter, vet out and give rabies & distemper shots at a very low cost. They also said people who want to get involved can claim the cost as a charitable deduction. Metroferals.org is in the Washington DC metro area but perhaps Alleycats.org can refer people to an organization in their location.

[UMDTerpFan]

On 1/8/2014 Mar5775 said:

On 1/8/2014 Vamp said:

I haven't seen any feral cats around my home, but I was just made aware of this idea the other day. For those of you who take care of ferals, you can make an inexpensive shelter for them out of an old Styrofoam cooler. Google for more ideas.

This is a great idea for short-term cold weather strays...ty for sharing.

I second that idea. And if you can pad it with old blankets, towels, sheets, it's even better.

[Wackers3]

I reside in a complex where two ferules kept breeding and breeding. Some neighbors and I managed to rescue each litter and young enough for them to get adopted. They have all gone to great homes and now live happy lives. Finally one neighbor and I decided to get a humane trap and get them neutered so at least the numbers wouldn't keep growing. We did and then released them back here where many residents willingly leave food and create some kind of shelter for them.

Unfortunately we live next to a wash area (open land) that is loaded with coyotes. Because of this, we knew we had to rescue the kittens of each litter ( average 3 litters a year which is normal) and each litter was between 5 or 6 kittens. We got them anywhere from 2 weeks to 5 weeks and the Humane Society informed us that 3 weeks is actually the typical age when they start to take on feral traits. With all of the litters, I brought them into my home for a few weeks to get them used to people then took them for neutering and adoption. My local Humane Society was kind enough not to list them as feral since they had been humanized to some extent by living in our home. They were really quite adorable and most lost the majority of their fear very quickly.

By at least neutering/releasing, the populations will eventually decrease but it takes time. I have heard and read numerous times that 2 breeding cats over the course of a 10 year period will result in 10,000 additional offspring. Obviously the initial 2 cats don't populate that number by themselves but with each additional litter there will be more and more male/female matings that the total number will reach 10,000 in 10 years. That is staggering, imo and more than reason enough to keep neutering/releasing.

It is a tough problem with no easy solutions for sure but neutering/releasing is at least a good start in eventually decreasing their numbers.

Anyone who thinks neutering then releasing doesn't at least help the overall feral population is not aware of their potential for procreation. Just the initial Mom and Dad we had here added just under 20 kittens a year. It's not always easy to rescue the kittens away from a protective Mom but it had to be done. I would always feel so badly for her as she frantically tried to locate her kitties but there wasn't an alternative. When we caught them very young she would be so swollen with milk for the first few days and any nursing Mom knows what that engorgement feels like. But we were able to save them from coyotes and also find them good forever homes.

[SchippyLuv]

I've rescued/released/adopted many feral cats over the years. Currently, two of them live inside with me and one neutered male lives outside in this heated kitty cabin.

http://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Kitty-House-Heated/dp/B004ZJOH06/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389464621&sr=...

I also have one of these on my deck, but none of the neighborhood ferals will use it - sigh - but it's snug: http://www.feralvilla.com/

Hope this helps some cold kitties out there...

[UMDTerpFan]

On 1/11/2014 wackers said:

I reside in a complex where two ferules kept breeding and breeding. Some neighbors and I managed to rescue each litter and young enough for them to get adopted. They have all gone to great homes and now live happy lives. Finally one neighbor and I decided to get a humane trap and get them neutered so at least the numbers wouldn't keep growing. We did and then released them back here where many residents willingly leave food and create some kind of shelter for them.

Unfortunately we live next to a wash area (open land) that is loaded with coyotes. Because of this, we knew we had to rescue the kittens of each litter ( average 3 litters a year which is normal) and each litter was between 5 or 6 kittens. We got them anywhere from 2 weeks to 5 weeks and the Humane Society informed us that 3 weeks is actually the typical age when they start to take on feral traits. With all of the litters, I brought them into my home for a few weeks to get them used to people then took them for neutering and adoption. My local Humane Society was kind enough not to list them as feral since they had been humanized to some extent by living in our home. They were really quite adorable and most lost the majority of their fear very quickly.

By at least neutering/releasing, the populations will eventually decrease but it takes time. I have heard and read numerous times that 2 breeding cats over the course of a 10 year period will result in 10,000 additional offspring. Obviously the initial 2 cats don't populate that number by themselves but with each additional litter there will be more and more male/female matings that the total number will reach 10,000 in 10 years. That is staggering, imo and more than reason enough to keep neutering/releasing.

It is a tough problem with no easy solutions for sure but neutering/releasing is at least a good start in eventually decreasing their numbers.

Anyone who thinks neutering then releasing doesn't at least help the overall feral population is not aware of their potential for procreation. Just the initial Mom and Dad we had here added just under 20 kittens a year. It's not always easy to rescue the kittens away from a protective Mom but it had to be done. I would always feel so badly for her as she frantically tried to locate her kitties but there wasn't an alternative. When we caught them very young she would be so swollen with milk for the first few days and any nursing Mom knows what that engorgement feels like. But we were able to save them from coyotes and also find them good forever homes.

Bless you. Your story warms my heart.

[UMDTerpFan]

On 1/11/2014 BonnieBelle said:

What would you suggest then when no one will take them and no one will even help you catch them and pay to fix them?? Just let them starve and roam to create more ferals and have a ton of cats hanging around??

I've had 6 ferals for 7 years now. My husband and I trapped them all ourselves with our own make shift traps and paid ourselves to have them all fixed. Set up an igloo for them and feed them, which we paid for and still pay for, costs about $20 a week to feed them all with dry and canned food. The last one that came to us was a pregnant female. She ended up having 4 kittens that we also had to trap and I had to beg the animal shelter to take them after calling them and everyone under the sun for a week and keeping them in my garage for week. We had her fixed and took her back. We now have another feral lurking around and I'm sure we will also get stuck with trapping this one. None of the loser neighbors would ever be bothered. They just complain about the cat hanging around on their property. It's apparently very easy for most people to just look the other way and not care.

So true and so sad. But bless your heart for caring about them and trying to help with the problem. FYI, Metroferals.org did tell my husband & I that we can claim the cost of neutering & care as a tax deduction. You might want to consider and keep all your receipts.

[Scooby Doo]

On 1/11/2014 UMTerpFan said:

On 1/8/2014 Mar5775 said:

On 1/8/2014 Vamp said:

I haven't seen any feral cats around my home, but I was just made aware of this idea the other day. For those of you who take care of ferals, you can make an inexpensive shelter for them out of an old Styrofoam cooler. Google for more ideas.

This is a great idea for short-term cold weather strays...ty for sharing.

I second that idea. And if you can pad it with old blankets, towels, sheets, it's even better.

This cooler needs to be wrapped in heavy duty black plastic. I've made three of them to shelter the cats that hang out in my yard. It's not difficult. I bought a sheet of styrofoam from Lowe's and cut, taped, and wrapped.

Towels, sheets, etc, are not recommended because if the cats are wet the towels will get icy and stiffen and stay cold. Hay/straw is ideal because the cats can burrow down in it and use it as a coat to stay warmer.

Check with the Humane Society in your area and ask if there is a ferral resource group that can help you. I asked the Best Friends Society to help me with 11 cats that hang out in my yard. They loaned me the traps and showed me how to use the traps. Trapping hungry ferral cats is very easy. I caught them all in 3 days. Best Friends paid for the neutering and ear tipping, I brought them back to the neighborhood and turned them loose. Since I am a sponsor, Best Friends gives me 40 lbs of food a month to take care of them.

I do have a big problem with the cats using my flower beds as their litter boxes, even tho I put out two big boxes for them. They are ruining the dirt in my garden And my pup thinks it's a smorgasbord. Stinks too, big time. I've tried all the home remedies like citrus, moth balls, coffee grounds, etc. No luck at all. Last week I bought a roll of chicken wire and spread it all around. It's the only thing that works right now.

Oh yeah, and the little boogers use my window screens to sharpen their claws.

Now do you understand why people don't want them hanging out in their yard............

[RinaRina]

NO NO NO!!! The trap, spay release program is THE WORST program I've ever seen in my life. I now have a cat who adopted me last year. She was one of the MANY cats that roam my neighborhood from the TSR or (TNR trap, neuter release) program. That picture you posted is what I see ALL THE TIME. This little kitty used to sleep on my front porch COVERED IN SNOW. Earlier this week, a TNR cat who's been living in my neighbor's back yard for 3 years was sleeping on top of some snow covered leaves when it was 20 degrees outside.

When it was -6, yes, 6 BELOW ZERO earlier this week, I wondered where my little "Miss Kitty" would be sleeping if she weren't in my house.

What a horrible life these poor kitties have. I HATE THE TNR PROGRAM!

It's the most INHUMANE idea I've ever heard of.

[RinaRina]

I'll tell you what else makes my blood boil -- hearing the CRYING of dogs who want to come in the house when it's freezing outside. The owners leave them outside 24/7.

Horrible!