Taking Care Of Ferals...asking Advice

My neighbor took care of the neighborhoods' feral cats. He was very responsible about it, and had all the females spayed over the years so the once large colony is down to five members. There is one spayed female orange cat and her brother, their slightly older uncle, two older toms, and one male cat who has a home but is allowed to be outside. My neighbor was evicted by his wife, and she no longer takes care of the cats, or lets them use the shed and the greenhouse for shelter. The older two toms have sort of been "adopted" by neighbors who feed them, and the uncle hangs with the male cat who has a home, so they feed him. My indoor cat likes the little female and her brother, and he calls to them through the window, and bugs me till I feed them. I improvised a shelter for them, but now I need to know what I do about fleas, and worms. They are all VERY feral, and I can't get close to any of them. All six of them will sometimes hang out on my porch.

Aren't there products for fleas and worms I can somehow feed them?

Hi!
Let me see if I can touch base with a couple of members;
@Willowy lalagimp @FeralHearts would you have a moment to help the OP?

You're not going to get them treated easily if you can't handle them. The only non prescription ORAL flea killer that was presented to me was Capstar during the last conference. This isn't available in an affordable option on Chewy right now - Just the 60 count package... which is HOLY CATS... $240 Capstar Flea Tablets for Dogs & Cats, 2-25 lbs
I can see what I have in storage, but I haven't personally used these because we haven't had fleas. You would kind of need to try to dose each cat so they might work better in treats, and toss them treats, and hope an alpha doesn't snarf them all.
If they eat wet food you most likely can use a liquid dewormer in their food, but I hope someone else takes this one over personally.

Let me go see what I've got.

Kefa I have 1 package of Capstar, if ya think you can swing this. 6 doses, not expired, oral, and not as effective as a topical if you look at the reviews on Chewy, but it's something to try.

I’m having pest control professionals do my yard again this Saturday because fleas are showing up again. I had a nightmare infestation over the summer. I learned that treating the environment is as important as treating the animals.

kittypa said:

I’m having pest control professionals do my yard again this Saturday because fleas are showing up again. I had a nightmare infestation over the summer. I learned that treating the environment is as important as treating the animals.

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I am thinking nematodes are the only thing I can really use, since I can't control when and where they are going to be in the yard. In summer, fleas aren't much of a problem because it is so hot and dry here, but fall and winter are bad. It hasn't gotten cold enough in winter to kill fleas in years.

lalagimp said:

Kefa I have 1 package of Capstar, if ya think you can swing this. 6 doses, not expired, oral, and not as effective as a topical if you look at the reviews on Chewy, but it's something to try.

Click to expand...

Perfect product, crazy price, and I hate to waste it because they will just get infested again.

Thanks to whoever moved this post, I found most of my answers in the other threads !!

Homer, my inside cat, invited them in the other day when it was cold. I opened the door and before I knew it, the little girl was in the house, and she and Homer were rubbing noses. She ran out when I moved to close the door. It's a sliding glass door, and the three of them hang out on their respective sides most of the day. There is a window next to the door, with a bench outside, and the feral cats sit on the back of the bench, and Homer sits on the windowsill when the window is open.
So I worry about diseases, and fleas, and other things when there is only a screen between them.

Everyone is neutered or spayed btw.

Ever had another cat invite feral cats in your house? I think it would be a nightmare. Especially since they are so scared of me. But would Homer be able to "tame" them? Or assist? Would that even work? They seem to be such good friends.

We had perfect weather today for nematodes and I managed to spray the area the cats hang out in the most. It is going to rain and get a bit chilly, but not freezing over the next few days, so I hope they have time to get into the ground before the next cold front.

In other news, the twin ferals are using their shelter when its wet and windy, so that is good. And they are teaching my spoiled indoor brat that canned food is good food. I bought some worm medicine and snuck it into canned food. After three days of watching them eat canned food through the sliding glass door he actually took a few bites when I offered it to him.

I have been trying everything to get him to eat wet food, but apparently, seeing other cats do it and not die immediately has changed his little pea mind about it, at least a bit.

It looks like one of my kitties is poisoned from yesterday’s flea treatment of the yard. I’m at the emergency vet waiting now. More later.

They say he’s going to be ok. I could use a drink though. It was frightening.

Oh great! So scary, that is why I had to go non toxic, with no way to keep them out of the yard.

Imma think twice before doing that again. They said his symptoms were mild compared to most they see. Didn’t seem mild to me.

I try to be pesticide and fertilizer free here, inside and outside. I went through the poisoning panic with a dog once, it was terrifying and horrible. She survived, but about 3 years later she was diagnosed with liver cancer, and lost 1/2 her liver, which she also survived, but I can't help thinking the two things were related.