Advice re Feral Cat?

[violagirl]

We are debating what to do about a feral cat and kittens we found up at the cottage. The cottage is in fairly rural place, an hour's drive north of my house. She was pretty skinny so we fed her while we were there. She let us feed her and the kittens but would not allow anyone nearer than necessary. A couple of the kittens let the kids pick them up, but it might have been because they were famished, because after a few days of feeding they were not as tame. 

We have 6 animals already and can't take anymore. My nieces would love a kitten, but their mother is allergic. We called a local animal rescue but they were not taking more cats at this time. We called a few friends with barns but they said their barn cats would likely drive new cats away or worse. 

So we could try the SPCA but it is unlikely the cats will really be adoptable as pets. On the other hand, a quick painless humane death may be better than starving to death or being eaten by a coyote. 

What would you do?

[zibazinski]

I'll tell you what we did. My neighbor who owns a pet food supply shop, among other things, had me help him trap the mother by putting her kittens in a large carrier. Mom knew it was a trap but could not resist her kittens mewing piteously. He had mom fixed and kittens fixed and all got shots and got cared for for a few months. He brought the mom back which shocked the neighborhood but she's still around. Her kittens did get adopted out because they weren't feral in the end. The adult cats will always be feral. The best thing you can do for her is trap and get her fixed. She can care for herself until she can't. But she cannot care for herself and litter after litter.

[violagirl]

That is a good idea. There is another cat rescue around here that specifically deals with feral cats, I'll give them a call. My problem is that I don't know anyone who could take on a cat or cats while it was recuperating. The problem with having friends who love animals, is they generally have all the animals they can handle already. My dogs and cats tolerate each other, but any outside cat is prey. 

[zibazinski]

Yeah, his sister is a vet so probably kept them at her office and had staff handle/play with kittens once they were weaned.

[zibazinski]

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I was also going to suggest a catch and release program.  Mama cat isn't going to change, but her kittens may be able to be homed.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

My SO found our younger cat hiding in an abandoned car when she was about 5-6 weeks old. Her mom was most likely one of the strays that live in the area. She is not quite as snuggly as my other cat, and she is terrified of strangers, but otherwise she has made a successful transition to an indoor pet.
Maybe there is a rescue group in your area that can spay the mom and find homes for the kittens.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Sept 8, 2015 10:56:19 GMT -5 andreawick said:

Quote removed because post quoted has been removed. - mmhmm, Administrator

What a reprehensible and illegal thing to suggest. I'm appalled. Animal cruelty isn't funny.

[moon/Laura]

Sept 8, 2015 10:56:19 GMT -5 andreawick said:

Quote removed because post quoted has been removed. - mmhmm, Administrator

nice. real nice. sensitive too!

[andreawick]

Sept 8, 2015 18:32:51 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

Sept 8, 2015 10:56:19 GMT -5 andreawick said:

Quote removed because post quoted has been removed. - mmhmm, Administrator

What a reprehensible and illegal thing to suggest. I'm appalled. Animal cruelty isn't funny.

what is more cruel...putting the cat down or letting it scavenge around 'til it eventually dies from the cold or malnutrition?

[mmhmm]

Just for the record, there is no kindness involved in feeding anti-freeze to a cat. None, at all. It's a horrible way for the creature to die. If an animal needs to be put down, that's not a method to be chosen by anyone with even a modicum of decency.

[zibazinski]

Actually without babies, she can probably manage for quite some time. Our neighborhood feral is still alive and we've had some nasty winters. It's been three years now It's true outdoor cats don't live as long as indoor.

[moon/Laura]

I agree with zib. Feral cats have lots of ways to take care of themselves. I feed ours now, and have for several years. But prior to that they always took care of themselves just fine. They find places to hole up for shelter against hot or cold weather. Kittens probably make it harder, but a kitten born to a feral mother does have the ability to adapt to an owner. I know - I have one myself.

[Opti]

Sept 9, 2015 9:02:56 GMT -5 andreawick said:

Sept 8, 2015 18:32:51 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

What a reprehensible and illegal thing to suggest. I'm appalled. Animal cruelty isn't funny.

what is more cruel...putting the cat down or letting it scavenge around 'til it eventually dies from the cold or malnutrition?

Depends on your opinion of course, but a slow painful death does not sound kind at all. This is a link on how dogs react, but I fail to see how inducing several days of pain leading to death is better than letting the cat scavenge and live its life.

www.dogchatforum.com/antifreeze-poisoning-dogs.htm

Symptoms of Antifreeze Poisoning (Ethylene Glycol) over the next few days

Ethylene glycol causes metabolic changes in the body which destroy parts of the kidneys. Crystals form in the kidneys and the damage cannot be repaired. Unfortunately death results.

Symptoms of kidney damage usually show up 36 to 72 hours after ingestion of the antifreeze.

•Lethargy


•Inability to Urinate


•Loss of Appetite


•Mouth ulcers


•Dehydration


•Excessive salivation


•Painful swollen Kidneys

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Sept 9, 2015 9:02:56 GMT -5 andreawick said:

Sept 8, 2015 18:32:51 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

What a reprehensible and illegal thing to suggest. I'm appalled. Animal cruelty isn't funny.

what is more cruel...putting the cat down or letting it scavenge around 'til it eventually dies from the cold or malnutrition?

Humane euthanasia by appropriate persons does NOT include people shooting cats with weapons or setting out something that could poison all sorts of animals, including the feral cat in question.

[zibazinski]

I hope the poster was joking and didn't realize how it would be taken. If I can't find someone to take the office cat, I'm faced with a terrible decision. Adult cats in shelters rarely get a new home-everyone wants kittens. I'd rather he be put down with my arms holding him than hurt, alone, frightened, and confused by some new cage and a cruel needle.

[Spellbound454]

Bit of a strange conversation on here

Get her fixed and let her go....

Feral cats are quite useful around barns and outbuildings as they keep the rodents at bay.

They can pretty much look after themselves.

bit of a wormer every now and then and she'll be ok.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Sept 9, 2015 14:57:11 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I hope the poster was joking and didn't realize how it would be taken. If I can't find someone to take the office cat, I'm faced with a terrible decision. Adult cats in shelters rarely get a new home-everyone wants kittens. I'd rather he be put down with my arms holding him than hurt, alone, frightened, and confused by some new cage and a cruel needle.

The humane society in my area has a section for senior cats that is sort of like a row of studio apartments with soft furniture and plenty of toys. Whoever designed it seemed to have taken into account the fact that most of those cats were not going to be adopted. Right across the street, there is another shelter that keeps all the cats in small cages. If my only choice was that shelter, I would probably have my cat put to sleep.

[973beachbum]

For a while there we had a colony of feral cats growing in my neighborhood.  I got tired of the side effects of them living all around and just the sheer numbers of them wasn't going to make it anything but unbearable really quickly! 

I enlisted a few neighbors to allow me to put traps on their lawns.  I sought out and got grants for the animal catcher and local vets.  So we trapped them and the local vet spayed/neutered them as well as gave them rabies vaccines.  We trapped and released 17 adult cats over the course of a year and a half.  Most were males but probably 6 or 7 were females.  There was a few that we didn't catch but for whatever reason there were no more litters after the last round.  We still have the original 3 mothers plus 2 or 3 of their kittens, obviously all grown up now.  The rest died, but not from human intervention.  Most were probably from other wildlife.  We have lots of hawks and coyotes and other animals that seemed to flock to here as the litters kept popping out.  Now that they aren't popping out kittens twice a year the coyotes seemed to have gotten scarcer. 

I also made sure they got the rabies shots.  I REALLY didn't want all those wild cats around with absolutely no rabies shots.  That was just too big a risk to the children in the neighborhood, both mine and other people's.   It probably isn't enough to be sure rabies isn't an issue here, but at least I can hold on to my denial that everyone is more safe.

[Opti]

Beach that sounds like a great solution.

[moon/Laura]

our local animal control comes and traps them from time to time in my neighborhood too. Then they take them and have them spayed or neutered. The ones that have been trapped and sterilized have the corner of their left ear trimmed off as a marking for future trappings. After that they release them again.

[Artemis Windsong]

Sept 7, 2015 19:21:10 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I'll tell you what we did. My neighbor who owns a pet food supply shop, among other things, had me help him trap the mother by putting her kittens in a large carrier. Mom knew it was a trap but could not resist her kittens mewing piteously. He had mom fixed and kittens fixed and all got shots and got cared for for a few months. He brought the mom back which shocked the neighborhood but she's still around. Her kittens did get adopted out because they weren't feral in the end. The adult cats will always be feral. The best thing you can do for her is trap and get her fixed. She can care for herself until she can't. But she cannot care for herself and litter after litter.

It's expensive to get animals fixed.

[zibazinski]

Yes and no. There's less expensive places but of course his sister is a vet and he's a trust fund baby anyway

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Many communities and organizations offer low cost spay and neuter assistance to people responsibly managing feral cat populations and participating in TNR programs.

Locally, (central California) The Cat House on the Kings cat rescue and sanctuary spends countless hours raising funds and applying for grants so that we can offer low cost ($10 copay) for cat spays and neuters for our community. And on October 16 (National Feral Cat Day), we're offering FREE spays/neuters for ferals in humane traps. To date, we've helped spay and neuter well over 20,000 local cats and kittens.

Many other rescue groups and agencies provide similar services.

There may even be one somewhere near you. You can Google "low cost cat spays" and your area, or you can do a search here: fixatfour.com/

TRAP * NEUTER * RETURN   ... it works.

[moon/Laura]

Sept 9, 2015 14:57:11 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I hope the poster was joking and didn't realize how it would be taken.

Unfortunately, based on response to my post (which I have removed) and to a PM, I'm going say that she wasn't joking.

why do you have to get rid of the office cat? you've probably said elsewhere but I didn't see.

[zibazinski]

DH is selling his business and the cat lives there due to not getting along with the cats at our home. His secretary, who adored the cat, is gone, and he won't be there much anymore and this winter, not at all.

[kittensaver]

Sept 9, 2015 19:04:21 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

DH is selling his business and the cat lives there due to not getting along with the cats at our home. His secretary, who adored the cat, is gone, and he won't be there much anymore and this winter, not at all.

How old is the cat? If its older and "not place-able," try contacting Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. They are in Utah and won't take him/her unless you personally bring it in and/or pay for the transportation, but they should be able to give you a referral to one or more animal sanctuaries closer to your home.

[zibazinski]

He's 5.