Hello everyone,
In my former job I have been a veterinary technician for 17 years. In that time I think I only dealt with 3 feral cats. Now I am in a cat rescue group and my husband built a cattery because one of the colonies that I feed at a shopping center was directly threatened to be trapped and drowned. So as we built the cattery to fit 12-14 cats, the maintenance workers at this shopping complex seem to be making good on their promise of "getting rid of the cats" Of the original 14 cats 6 months ago, it dwindled to 2 originals and 5 new teenagers. In the past week, 3 of the teenagers went missing but someone dumped 2 kittens.
So this week we have been hurriedly trapping them to put them into the cattery after having the new cats fixed and vaccinated. So I put the first kitty in and it was able to squeeze through the chain link!! I was horrified, but luckily it was still sedated from it's neutering and easily caught. Second cat was a little older, maybe 7 or 8 months and when we let him out he EXPLODED, climbing everywhere, trying to get out, and just terrified!! 3 days later and he is in the same spot but won't let us near him without totally freaking out! He seems miserable!!
Here is my dilemna... Am I doing the right thing trying to keep them safe and giving them a forever home if they will be miserable?
Should I let them be even though they may only live another day before harm comes to them but they will have lived free and happy?
I am so torn, has anyone gone through this? It would hurt so much to have 6-8 purely feral cats living in misery and fear although I was keeping them safe and fed and loved from afar.
Will they ever calm down?
Thanks for any advice. We will be trapping 4 more to get fixed tomorrow and I'll need to decide by then if I should take them in.
Kim
In my former job I have been a veterinary technician for 17 years. In that time I think I only dealt with 3 feral cats. Now I am in a cat rescue group and my husband built a cattery because one of the colonies that I feed at a shopping center was directly threatened to be trapped and drowned. So as we built the cattery to fit 12-14 cats, the maintenance workers at this shopping complex seem to be making good on their promise of "getting rid of the cats" Of the original 14 cats 6 months ago, it dwindled to 2 originals and 5 new teenagers. In the past week, 3 of the teenagers went missing but someone dumped 2 kittens.
So this week we have been hurriedly trapping them to put them into the cattery after having the new cats fixed and vaccinated. So I put the first kitty in and it was able to squeeze through the chain link!! I was horrified, but luckily it was still sedated from it's neutering and easily caught. Second cat was a little older, maybe 7 or 8 months and when we let him out he EXPLODED, climbing everywhere, trying to get out, and just terrified!! 3 days later and he is in the same spot but won't let us near him without totally freaking out! He seems miserable!!
Here is my dilemna... Am I doing the right thing trying to keep them safe and giving them a forever home if they will be miserable?
Should I let them be even though they may only live another day before harm comes to them but they will have lived free and happy?
I am so torn, has anyone gone through this? It would hurt so much to have 6-8 purely feral cats living in misery and fear although I was keeping them safe and fed and loved from afar.
Will they ever calm down?
Thanks for any advice. We will be trapping 4 more to get fixed tomorrow and I'll need to decide by then if I should take them in.
Kim