if you're going to care for feral cats, prepare to have your heart broken

[Bertha Venation]

This morning when I went out at 6:30 to feed our feral cats, I heard a cat crying. I traced the cries to the junk pile behind the well house adjacent to my own house.

I saw the mama feral cat, Ringtail, leave her nest of kittens to get the food I'd put out on our porch. (I didn't know before this that this is where she has her nest.) I saw one kitten -- so cute! -- follow her a little way. Still tiny, maybe 4-5 weeks old. The tail is still just this tiny little wiggly thing. And I realized one of her kittens was stuck in a tube (maybe 4 inches wide?). Damn... even tiny, cats can HOWL.

I called Animal Control, had to leave a message. A rep. called me back at about 7:30, said she had to wait for an officer to arrive, then the officer would call me to get directions about where the cat is. Still waiting.

I swear, it was all I could do to shut my heart off and leave the house for work. Plainly put, my boss does not understand tardiness for whatever reason, so I had to get on the road. But if it were a weekend I would have taken any risk to get in there and get the kitten out. :cry:

[Patiod]

1. Let us know what happens

Sorry you had to deal with that. Poor little things.

[Red State Rebel]

2. Poor babies...

I know how you feel...

[jukes]

3. hope for the best

cats can survive w/o food/water for a LONG time.

grease the tube w/ vaseline when you get home.

wish i cd reach you, i'm available 24 hours in my locale.

love your heart!

[Squatch]

4. Do not care for feral cats...they just make more feral cats

exacerbating the problem.

[Bertha Venation]

6. Actually, they don't make more feral cats. You see, O Learned One,

when we who care for feral cats take on colonies, we trap them and have them spayed and neutered, treated for illness, injury and disease, provide shots, and euthanize when necessary. At our own cost.

So why these kittens? This particular cat has been impossible to trap. So far.

There are networks of people and vets and humane societies around the country who care for feral cat colonies in this way.

Consider yourself relieved of this bit of your ignorance, Squatch.

[Squatch]

8. Right back at ya...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0907_040907_feralcats.html

[Willy Lee]

10. You just disproved your own argument

From the article you linked-

Julie Levy is a veterinarian and professor at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville. She says the answer to permanently reducing wild cat populations is through the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) method, in which entire colonies of cats are trapped, vaccinated, and sterilized by a veterinarian.

[Squatch]

12. How many people out ther who "care for"

feral cats are using the TNR method?

[Willy Lee]

16. Read post #6.

when we who care for feral cats take on colonies, we trap them and have them spayed and neutered, treated for illness, injury and disease, provide shots, and euthanize when necessary. At our own cost.

Just what is your argument here???

[Squatch]

17. 70,000,000 feral cats

a handful of people doing the TNR thing. Unless the animals are euthanized or spayed/neutered, "caring for" them exacerbates the problem.

[kick-ass-bob]

27. We did.

We aren't stupid.

[BiggJawn]

42. We do.

We call it "Catch and Cut and Release".

I believe in it enough to have gone and spent 1/2 a day's pay for a live trap, and we have a good relationship with outr vet to get cut-rate cutting done.

And it would seem that we are not the only ones. the last 2 we took in to have their love-lives ruined had already had their firing pins pulled.
Have not seen a kitten around since we got Miss Kitty fixed 3 years ago...

[Bertha Venation]

19. See Willy Lee's post. # 10. Also see this link

http://www.alleycat.org/

Alley Cat Allies

Alley Cat Allies is a national nonprofit clearinghouse for information on feral and stray cats. For more than a decade Alley Cat Allies has advocated Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) - the most humane and effective method to reduce feral cat populations.

Alley Cat Allies is working toward the time when TNR and other nonlethal control measures for managing outdoor cat populations are accepted everywhere.

[jukes]

9. spay/neuter, test for epidemics, & release if well

do my own innocs.

take them home if they're losing their habitat.

been doing this, non-profit org, for 10 years.

there are responsible ways to proceed, but huge commitment.

[Squatch]

11. Thanks for your efforts to control this

I hate to see animals suffer, and am happy that some people are taking it upon themselves to help!

[jukes]

14. Squatch

domo arigato!

[Bertha Venation]

5. I just talked to Animal Control again.

I just HAD to mention that this is a feral colony that I care for. In their book this counts as an "owned animal" and as such is not their top priority. The officer out on the road has my number and IF she can get to my area today she MIGHT be able to look in and see what she can do.

But since I opened my big mouth it's my responsibility. Fine. I'm happy to take it. Christ, I've ALREADY taken responsibility. But do you assholes understand that I am 35 miles away and won't be able to get home until at least 9:00 PM!?

Will someone please go out to my house and try to get this kitten freed? Please? It's cold out there.

:cry:

[spatlese]

7. Where are you & the cats?

Maybe a state and county might help?

[Bertha Venation]

15. Charles County, MD

It was a whiney plea, but hey, good idea. Maybe someone on DU is around....

[jukes]

13. B/V

call humane society; some rescuers list w/them to get breaks on neutering. they may know some1 to help.

heat will be trapped w/ kitten, so don't fret too much. mama might be able to drag it out, too.

[Bertha Venation]

20. humane society opens in 10 minutes - thanks!

I didn't even think of it. Duh.

Thanks for telling me about the heat, didn't think of that either. I "think" with my emotions in these situations. Makes it VERY hard to be an animal advocate.

:hug: jukes -- calm port in a storm. Thank you.

[Dukakis88]

18. Feral cats cost us the election.

Stop coddling these little electoral liabilities!

[noonwitch]

21. I feed a couple of the cats that hang around, but they are not my cats

I have a cat, that I never let outside. I also have a dog. I can't afford the responsibility of taking in any more, but there is a semi-feral cat I feed who has been coming around since she was a kitten. There are some kittens coming around right now, and I feed them, too. Unfortunately, the City of Warren does not have the resources to capture all these cats that live in my neighborhood. It's a colony of god knows how many cats.

[Squatch]

22. Bertha Venation, here's my point...

how many people "care for feral cats" just by feeding them. This person does.

Problem gets worse.

[jukes]

24. Squatch

step up to bat!

[Squatch]

25. ?

[jukes]

34. if you see this as a problem

be part of the solution.

humane society hands out vouchers to spay/neuter.

have-a heart traps cost about $65.

[Bertha Venation]

37. This person does what she can, and may not know about the resources

available. Maybe this thread will offer a bit of education to her and others.

As used by the TNR advocates here, though, "caring for" is precisely ALL that TNR entails -- NOT just feeding.

[efhmc]

23. Can you answer this dilemma for me? I want some cats to be

barn cats at the ranch. I cannot be there on a regular basis but my foreman and wife are. He won't let cats in his house (okay technically, I could force this issue). There are tons of cats looking for homes where I live. I will feed, vaccinate and neutered these cats but I really need them to be mousers and not in door pets. Is this an unkind thing to do and if not how do I get them to be at home in the barn? It is large, stone and has lots of space. What do you think ?

[Bertha Venation]

28. We placed a couple of ferals as barn cats, efhmc. Not an unkind thing

at all. Most ferals have to be released back to be "wild" once they're altered, anyway, because they ARE wild and couldn't be house pets. In most cases life as a barn cat would be ideal for a feral.

:bounce:

[jukes]

35. a fixed feral

will still hunt.

supp their diet w/ small portions of "trears" to keep them around. plant catnip, too. almost grows wild w/o care & has a pleasant minty smell.

[efhmc]

39. Thanks. That makes me feel better. I really need their services.

We have had an unusual amount of mice lately and right before I left this last trip. the lady who live there let out a scream because a huge rat ran across her feet as she left the chicken coop. Of course, if I could convince her macho husband that killing every snake he sees is just stupid that would help, but we couldn's convince this type not to vote for that freak bush so protecting the balance of nature is probably not going to fly.

[Patiod]

40. Friend needed some "warehouse cats" for the same reason

Went the the humane society and asked for 3 "unadoptables" ("whoever is going to the executioner first")

He wanted them to control the rodent population at his warehouse.

Unfortunately, his staff started feeding them. So now they're fat, and just hang around the front office looking for hand-outs.

(but they're alive and not in the shelter)

[jukes]

41. shd limit

to tidbits; just enough to keep them around.

they can be weened, but slowly.

[Bertha Venation]

26. good news, kinda

I talked to the Humane Society, promised to accept responsibility for the kitten if they go get it. No problem. But they have to see if someone's available and they'll call me back.

An animal control officer just called. Said they'd try to get to there, and if they couldn't they'd coordinate w/ the Humane Society. He said they were busy trying to get two Rotties off of a schoolyard....

I also got a call from the county animal shelter. The Humane Society wasn't thrilled when I told them that Animal Control said it wasn't priority for them to get a kitten, and called the animal shelter (who dispatches to AC) to complain. It's nice to know I live where people take animals seriously. (Now if only they'd quit hunting around here.)

Looks like I'll be finding a kitten a home starting tomorrow. Mrs. V.'s going to kill me.

[Bertha Venation]

29. Finally -- a commitment that they're going out to try to get the kitten!

Yay! Thanks to all for reading & listening. :hi:

[spatlese]

30. YAY!

will they call you and tell you when they have gotten the kitten?

Thanks for being kind to those kitties.. you're their angel!

[Bertha Venation]

31. Heck, yeah, they'll call me, because if it doesn't run away once it's

free, I have to go get it tomorrow!

No angel, spatlese (but thanks) -- just a sucker for warm fur that purrs. O8)

[ronnykmarshall]

32. Oh good!

I'm tellin' ya this week has put me in knots. I teared up just reading about the kitty.

[Bertha Venation]

36. It's been a bad one, Ronny. First Richard, then the election, now this...

but it's good to have friends, as well as people in local gov't who also care about animals. :hug:

[flvegan]

33. Good for you! I volunteer with an org here

That has a monthly "spay day" for feral cats. We average 100 cats an outing. Feral caretakers trap them, bring them to the clinic, and they're looked over (euth if needed), get their shots, get spayed/neutered, and get their ear tipped. Few hours later, kitties are waking up and caretakers come get them for re-release.

If I had a nickel for every fence I've jumped, our house I've shimmied under to remove kittens, I'd be a rich guy.

[eleny]

38. You've got a heart of gold, BV!