The Real Impact of Feral Cats

[datasuspect]

they hate you, you feed them, they come around for food, they still hate you, and then they poop everywhere.

[Orsino]

1. And the feral ones are even worse, I hear. n/t

[elehhhhna]

2. ours pees. hates and pees. that's how he rolls.

but he's a gorgeous snowshoe , the other cats & the dog like him enough, and he lets our youngest -- and ONLY her -- pet and cuddle him. I think of him as mildly developmentally challenged, catwise. It helps.

[lazarus]

3. we loved ours

the lady next door got an unfixed female, and before you know it, we had ten or twelve cats running around. No mice, no rats, no gophers. It was great. But it was getting out of hand. All the females were adopted (we got two, Kali and Eris Discordia), and then the males started disappearing. We were going to get the last one, and the day we had him set up with a vet to get fixed, he disappeared. Sad, he was a real cutie. We're fairly sure a jerk down the street was trapping them and turning them over to the shelter.

There's still one (Eris's father) who comes around occasionally, but he spends most of his time up the block, so the vermin problem is back and our landlord is going to be shelling out big money for exterminators.

The rats have been eating our tomatoes. We got none this year. A few outdoor cats would have taken care of that problem. But we also have coyotes, and with that jerk down the street trapping, we can't get a cat just for the backyard.

[Curmudgeoness]

4. That jerk down the street...could you keep setting off the traps

before they have a chance to catch the cats? Not that I am a fan of feral cats, but if you have problems that the cats are helping with, why not.

[femmocrat]

5. Don't forget that they carry diseases.

And when they shriek at night, you could have a heart attack in your sleep!