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hersheys mom

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I live in a very lovely mobile home park. It is surrounded by apartment buildings on the streets that border it. The end result is that when someone moves out of their apartment and leaves their cat to fend for itself, it often finds its way over to our park. We get a newsletter every month, and every month they have the same message in it - don't feed the stray cats, don't take them in, call and have them removed. As for us tenants, we can only have one cat. For the seven years I've been here, I have seen many poor, starving strays. I have sneaked them into the space between my storage shed, made beds and houses for them, cared for them, and found them homes. I have been threatened more than once by the management to stop caring for the feral/abandoned cats, but I just tell them it's against my religion to ignore a starving animal. When Hershey, my beloved dark chocolate Burmese Service Animal of 17 years passed away last June I was beside myself. Eventually, I adopted my Heinz 57 Tortie, Minja. No one wanted her, she had been adopted and returned numerous times because of behavioral problems. Love, patience, and lots of one-on-one training put an end to her bad ways and now even my mother can't believe she is the same screaming, out of control cat I brought home a month before. Shortly after that, a got a call from one of the Humane Societies in Denver, CO, they just turned up a dark brown Burmese. When Hershey passed, I had tried to find another dark brown Burmese, but could not. Apparently, they kept my name on file. They interviewed me several times as they wanted to make sure I could handle her - she was a true feral. My experience has been with abandoned and part-feral cats, but not with an actual feral who had 2 months of human contact. Her foster mom was a lovely woman who met me at the Denver airport ( I live in San Diego) and handed Hershey Rose over to me. Before adopting her, I had contacted both TSA headquarters and the TSA manager at Denver Airport and was assured that if her carrier was labeled "FERAL ANIMAL" a Supervisor would come over and just do a visual inspection, she would not need to be disturbed. This made me feel better as her foster mom told me she had to be drugged to get her into the carrier, and she would be a wild child if they tried to remove her. Assured by TSA, I accepted her and adopted her by fax. Upon reaching Security at the airport, however, it was an entirely different story. A brazen young man decided he needed to remove her and inspect her see-through carrier. They took Hershey Rose and me into a small room where he grabbed her and pulled her out of the carrier. She went crazy. She bounced off the walls, ceiling, floor, knocked over a lamp which broke on my head, and was totally terrified. This went on for almost 30 minutes. Later I found out he had NO authority to touch her, he was a lead, who decided to show off in front of the female TSA officers. His boss, the real Supervisor, was furious that he touched a feral animal, and that a customer was injured because of his breaking the rules. I don't believe he works there anymore, and I could care less. Everything Trish, her foster mom did, working with her and trying to get her used to humans was destroyed. When I finally got her home, she was one ferocious animal. Her bites landed me in the ER several times. My doctor advised me to get rid of her. My mother and her sister ragged on me everyday to have her put to sleep. It only made me more determined to win her over.

This past Sunday afternoon I was lying on the couch with my electric throw, reading and fighting off the flu. I felt my Minja jump up on the couch, squirm her way between the back of my legs and the couch cushions and lay down to take a nap. "Hello, Minja" I said, not looking up. Minja let out a little meow when she heard her name. But the meow came from the other side of the couch. When I looked down at my legs, my heart literally stopped! There, sleeping on my legs, was Hershey Rose. Tears of joy ran down my cheeks as I realized, after all she had been through, she finally found a human and a home she was comfortable in.

Hershey Rose is a permanent member of my household, and is my Minja. Yes, we are only allowed one pet. But Hershey Rose and my late Hershey look a great deal alike, and no one but my family knows Hershey passed away. As for Management and the rest of the neighbors, Hershey Rose is still my Service Animal (who legally cannot be counted as a pet), and Minja is my one allowed pet. Sneaky, yes. But without people who care enough to help these creatures, they are doomed to short and hard lives. Here's to those of us guardians of these beautiful, furry, four-legged lost souls! May they be lost no more!

Lei Ann
 
 

katluver4life

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We rescued a stray and her kittens this past fall. Was my first experience in an actual rescue of my own. All my past and current kitties have been rescues, but was never "involved" in the process till we found Cali. She and her kittens were living in this crawl space.


All the area rescues were full and there was no way I was calling the spca. And so they all eventually were trapped and taken to my house lol. Momma was a stray, abandoned there. She was actually very friendly with us after a few days. It was the crawl space of the apartment she had lived in. Kittens were about 3-4 weeks old. Anyway..got her spayed, shots and tests ect, Got a crate for the kittens to socialize them and we had a new family to add to the 2 rescues I had adopted the year before. After a couple of months we had kittens neutered, given their shots ect..and they are all now in new homes. We still have momma,,the work in progress lol.

There is a new tenant in that crawl space. At the moment we are just trying to keep him fed and warm. We currently have no trap, but plan to TNR him asap. Not even sure it's a male as we have not been able to get a real close look, he just seems to be male lol. PRAYING not a female lol.



We may need to release him elsewhere as new tenants may be moving into that building soon and we don't think it'll go over real well having a feral under their place. we'll see :)
 
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Anne

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Thank you everyone for sharing your stories and pictures


Awards have been assigned. We now have 32 official TCS Friends of Ferals!!
 

meowmmy_aprile

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I have a feral colony of 9 now that I take care of. I am currently in the process of working with one of the rescues to have another colony relocated to my location. We have set up  the outdoor pen they use to get them adjusted to the area we are just waiting for the trapping to begin so we can bring them over. The new colony will consist of about 15 that are being moved from a city location to here where it will be a safer enviroment for them.

I also do feral kitten work. I am a big advocate of taming the ones I can and rehoming them.  I feel sad that alot of these babies are not even given a chance because they were born feral and most shelters either will not except them or will put down as soon as they come in because they lack the resources to spend the time to work with them. 

I have now tamed and rehomed 4 Adult ferals and about 25 kittens. 6 of my current 7 house cats are former feral babies born in my colony or colonies around the area that were either trapped by me or brought to me from someone. 

While I am a firm believer some are born wild and meant to live that way. It is the most rewarding feeling when one comes around and you just know they were meant to be a loving family pet. I often look at the babies and think to myself wow if someone had not taken the time to be with you, they would have missed out on one of the most awesome cats. I wish more people would give them a chance.

I do my best to make sure all of my colonies are fixed. Sometimes it takes forever as there is always that crafty one who just outsmarts you at every turn but I never give up trying.

Somedays I feel I was put here to do just this. Take care of unwanted or needy animals. I love every minute of it. I take the misfits, sick, old anything that others feel are not worthwhile anymore or just don't have time for and do my best to give them a loving forever home whether it be inside my own home or outside on my property.
 
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Anne

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Thank you for sharing this,  Meowmmy_Aprile. I think the issue of taming ferals, if and when, is fascinating. Maybe you could start a thread to discuss just this. I'd be happy to join in the discussion with my own insights on the matter.

Badge awarded and thank you for helping all of these cats!!
 

catwoman707

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Long before starting my non profit cat rescue group 4 years and 2,000 cats ago, I have been very active in TNR and care management of feral cats in my town.

For the past 10+ years now I have been doing a route of 12 stops, every other night, rain or shine, making sure all cats are healthy and fed who I had TNR'd.

Of course it surely has it's ups and downs, as I become attached to each and every one, give them all names and hope to give them a feeling of being loved, and belonging. That they do matter.

A few of my stops tend to attract new ferals who need to be TNR'd, some seem to simply maintain the usual residents.

My latest drama had an explosion of newbies, including sick/injured cats. I've trapped 2 of the main targeted kids now, one I still have in my cat room who's teeth had to all be removed due to stomatitis, the 2nd one (Buddy) was tragic and still aches my heart, a young boy who was injured so badly he was blinded in both eyes, and I had to have him euthanized. The worst part of his story is how much he must have suffered from such trauma before I trapped him....

The next target is another sickie who I see has likely stomatitis as well. Once he is trapped, fixed and teeth removed and given time and meds to heal including his URI I have a backyard home for both of the toothless ferals reserved.

I have 12 appts for the feral cat clinic on the 24th so a-trapping-I-will-go!!!

It's my passion to help the innocents,

"Saving one cat won't make a difference in the world, but it makes a world of difference to that one cat"
 

catwoman707

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I am happy to offer advice/tips for taming, if anyone ever needs help. I've done quite a bit, tons of feral kittens tamed.
 

skor220

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My taming concerns lay more so with the adult cat. I've taken in the one (due to medical necessity). He is quite happy to be indoors - but only when he is in his own room (he has a bedroom to himself).

I know that time is the best thing and he has already come such a long way. (he purrs now, makes bisquits/muffins, and will play a bit too) Any advice on helping him feel more at ease when he ventures out of his bedroom would be welcomed :) .
 
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Anne

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My taming concerns lay more so with the adult cat. I've taken in the one (due to medical necessity). He is quite happy to be indoors - but only when he is in his own room (he has a bedroom to himself).

I know that time is the best thing and he has already come such a long way. (he purrs now, makes bisquits/muffins, and will play a bit too) Any advice on helping him feel more at ease when he ventures out of his bedroom would be welcomed
.
Could you please start this as a new thread? I know you'll get plenty of advice (and support too), but I'd like to keep this thread for the badge applications :) Otherwise it gets too confusing for me
You'll also get more people seeing your topic once it's in its own thread. Let me know if you need help with starting a new thread.
 

catquinn

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About 5 years ago, a feral mother left her injured baby on my front porch. He'd been attacked by a fox or raccoon or something, but with the help of our wonderful vet he made it and has become one of my beloved kitties. Since then, I've worked to reduce the population of Gerald in the woods behind my house. I've pulled and re homed countless kittens and fixed their parents (including the mommy of my cat.) There's actually 2 males recovering in my garage now. :0) In all, I'd say I've fixed about 11 ferals and pulled about 22 kittens. 
 
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Anne

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About 5 years ago, a feral mother left her injured baby on my front porch. He'd been attacked by a fox or raccoon or something, but with the help of our wonderful vet he made it and has become one of my beloved kitties. Since then, I've worked to reduce the population of Gerald in the woods behind my house. I've pulled and re homed countless kittens and fixed their parents (including the mommy of my cat.) There's actually 2 males recovering in my garage now. :0) In all, I'd say I've fixed about 11 ferals and pulled about 22 kittens. 
Thank you for helping the ferals - you certainly earned your badge here! And thanks for joining too - welcome to TCS!
 

ashyfulz

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11 years ago we took in an abandoned turned feral all white kitty in heat who is still living happily in our home.

7 years ago we took in 2 four week old kittens form the feral colony our neighbor's feed.

5 years ago I had a stray 4 month old tabby jump into my car and demand love and attention and a home (though he escaped 6 months ago for 6 days and just tried escaping again today >.< darn it Ruby you spent so many years happily indoors and now you want to leave?!)

And this year we took in 17 kittens (ranging from 7 days old to 5 weeks old) and adopted out the survivors along with TNRing the ferals next door (3 females and 1 male done so far but there's 2 new kitties in that colony and one semi-older member who's ear is clipped so we assume has already been TNRed before appearing here) and one of our TNRed females is 4 months into being tamed and becoming a happy indoor only cat.
 
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Anne

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11 years ago we took in an abandoned turned feral all white kitty in heat who is still living happily in our home.

7 years ago we took in 2 four week old kittens form the feral colony our neighbor's feed.

5 years ago I had a stray 4 month old tabby jump into my car and demand love and attention and a home (though he escaped 6 months ago for 6 days and just tried escaping again today >.< darn it Ruby you spent so many years happily indoors and now you want to leave?!)

And this year we took in 17 kittens (ranging from 7 days old to 5 weeks old) and adopted out the survivors along with TNRing the ferals next door (3 females and 1 male done so far but there's 2 new kitties in that colony and one semi-older member who's ear is clipped so we assume has already been TNRed before appearing here) and one of our TNRed females is 4 months into being tamed and becoming a happy indoor only cat.
Thank you! Badge awarded!
 

lesliecat

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I take care of 2 colonies of feral cats and have for three years.  Those that I cannot trap, I use a birth control powder.  Where I live it is illegal to feed ferals so I get up at 4 am so no one will see me.  I also run a small sanctuary for abandoned and abused cats.  I also donate to many groups that do TNR as their primary goal.
 

princesspandabr

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My aunt and uncle have started a ferrel sterilization program in their town, cooperating with local vets.  They feed/keep/care for dozens of ferrel cats in a warehouse, and I would love to see them recognized for their love of cats and their dedication.  They do not, however, use computers.  Is there any way you could recognize them un-electronically.  If not, it's ok - they do it not for recognition, but because they love animals, they love life, and they love helping animals that would normally be forgotten or rejected.

Sincerely, 
Lauri
 

huskercat

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I push for the huskercats.org feral cat program on the main page of my huskercat blog. Anyone visiting my blog sees that.  There's no connection between their program and my blog other than this. I would put the FoF badge on my main blog page.
 
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