Feral cats have to go NOW?
For some reason, my neighborhood is thoroughly run over with feral cats…none of them are friendly…and even hiss at you from time to time if you get to close. Our household has a real outdoor cat, whom we bring inside at night since he’s gotten very old. Unfortunately though he doesn’t always show up at night, and several times we have had to take him to the vet from serious injuries and bites he has gotten. He stay around the house and is fixed so we know any cat fights that he gets into aren’t his fault, plus he’s old so he really doesn’t want anything to do with other cats. However, since we feed him outdoors when he is hungry we have attracted some unwanted feral cats and one of them is noticably pregnant….I feel extremely bad for them, but after my mom and i found out that the cats helped themselves to our beautiful koi fish in our pond….that even had a net on it…they are going one way or another now….i have a very angry brother and he is less accomadating than myself…and i’m afraid if i can’t catch them, then he will shoot them instead….can anyone explain to me how i can catch these cats??? i’ve tried numerous times to conact animal control in my area and it hasn’t worked….
I would prefer to catch the female cat that is pregnant and give her kittens to someone who needs them…but if i don’t catch the mom they will just become wild as well…we really have a huge problem because there is several neighborhood cats that come around as well…and our solution starting today is not to put any more food out, and just bring our cat in when he wants to eat…
our outdoor cat…is an outdoor cat…because he doesn’t want to be indoors…he likes being outside…so if he gets beaten up by some feral cats..then the feral cats are the problem not him
Filed under: Cat Behavior
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You’re under the mistaken impression that once you get rid of all the ferals and strays, no more cats will come. That’s not going to happen–once you open up territory then the surrounding areas have the cats move in to the now vacant territory.
Just do the logical thing and contact your shelter to see if they have a TNR community program. Our city does it for free–you live trap the cats, bring them in, they neuter/spay them and de-flea, de-worm, vaccinate and ear tip, and even microchip them, then give them back to you to release the cats in the same place they were caught. The cats can NOT reproduce, and they keep other cats out of the area. YOU just provide a water bowl and some dry food (I was feeding 14 cats for the longest time, and it cost me $8 in bagged dry food a month, it is NOT going to break the bank).
Outdoor cats live on average 2 years, you stop all the kitten production with TNR. You keep up with the new cats coming in (they won’t be ear tipped) and there’s not going to be a problem that way.
As for you koi–I highly suspect raccoons. They wade right in and do so much damage to fish ponds here, as well as herons dropping down into the back yard to help themselves. Cats prefer not to get wet.
It’s illegal to shoot inside city limits (you get jail time) AND it’s illegal to shoot cats since that’s animal abuse and you can get jail time and fines on that alone.
Feeding the ferals allows them to keep your area as neutral ground, and if you do it in daylight hours only you avoid pulling in raccoons and possums. The cats are healthier and able to fight off infection, and are not going to be starving. Once they eat, they leave the back yard–we have had a feeding station here for over 8 years and with TNR there’s no fights, no screaming mating season, no poop/pee problem. It’s been fine.
You can buy humane or "mercy" traps at hunting stores..just bait them and be sure to check them every day.
Do these Type in google help for feral cats and also type in your city and state or just your state. Then you could get info on someone who can come and trap and spay or neuter and then release the cats in a area that people will go there two to three times a day and feed them . The people will take them to a feral cat society.
ughh
To do things properly it would take a lot of money and time. AC will just kill them all.
I agree with te other use that suggested googling "Feral cat help" might want to add your location as well.
1st I would have to say if your cat is old like you say it is, then maybe you should think about making him an indoor cat for his safety, if he sometimes doesn’t come home, and comes home only to be taken to the vet, how will you feel when he never comes home? Make him an indoors cat and save you the heartache of not-knowing.
2nd most tractor supply stores and even some hardware stores will have humane traps to catch the mother cat, if you do catch her make sure she hasn’t already had the kittens yet, then take her to a NO-KILL shelter. Do not try to take her in and care for her and the kittens, as for your cat may get jealous or when she gets the chance run out and not come back, leaving her kittens to die.
So recap, keep your cat inside, if you catch the mother make sure she’s still pregnant and then take her to a no-kill shelter.
I feel your pain I have almost the same situation as of late but my cat is not getting hurt yet.You might have to borrow or buy a live trap places like TSC or Rural king should sell them but they are kind of pricey I feel about 30.00 a piece anyway I would still try getting hold of a humane society in your area but if it like my area, well ,there are none because I live in a town not a city and it is pretty rural and not very progressive to have good animal laws and shelters. Good Luck I hope that you can rehome them without cruelty to the cats.
Find and contact some volunteer "Animal Rescuers" in your town. These are people who will rescue mistreated animals. They really love to find feral cats and help them. Personally I know several, and it always amazes me the way they jump into action concerning feral cats. They do it humanely, they take the cats and vaccinate them, and feed them well, and find homes if they can. As I said, it is amazing the good that they can make out of a bad situation.
Short of contacting a group that does trap-neuter-return you don’t have many humane options for these poor cats. If you trap them and take them to the local shelter, they will be promptly euthanized as they are not adoptable, and will not adapt to a shelter cage. Rescues won’t take them either – these again are not adoptable cats, they are more akin to wild animals. Trapping them and getting rid of them just frees up more space for a new batch to move in. The solution is an established colony of spayed/neutered cats – of course this doesn’t solve your problem, but I’m pointing out that getting rid of this batch doesn’t solve it either.
Your cat is old and getting beat up – so you’re going to allow him to continue to go outside until he either doesn’t return, or gets a fatal or really severe injury? The fact that he likes to go outside doesn’t mean that he should. It’s time for "tough love" and keep him inside for his own safety. This is the real solution to your problem. The problem isn’t the feral cats – the problem is you won’t keep him indoors.