Having Trouble With Outside Cats.

Hi everyone, I am at a loss about what to to. It's killing me.

Last summer we had a lot of kittens in my neighborhood. There were two females that had kittens and two random kittens that showed up with no mom.

Once I was aware of this, I trapped and spayed/neutered all of them. 13 cats in total. I tried to get them into shelters, but everyone I tried was at capacity and couldn’t help. Some of them disappeared after they were released. The 8 remaining cats have become a big problem for my neighbors.

I provided heated shelter for them through the winter, but now the weather is getting nice and they are pooping in the neighbors yard and garden, destroying things and leaving dead birds for them. They told me today that the cats have to go. They have kids that play in the yard. I understand their concerns.

I explained that there would be 3x the amount of cats if I hadn’t spent the time/money to get them all fixed, but that didn’t provide much comfort. I’m worried that they will call someone to have the cats removed/euthanized. 6 of the 8 cats are somewhat socialized. I can pet them when feeding. 4 of them are sweethearts that I think would make good pets, but I can’t find anyone to help out. The neighbors want me to lock them up at night until I can find a solution. That would be a nightmare.

I am going to bring one inside with me as long as she checks out good at the vet. I have other cats, or I would bring more in as they all get along great with each other.

I would be happy to take care of them forever if they weren't causing problems with the neighbors..

I live in southern Wisconsin and have been sending this out to all of the shelters/rescue groups looking for advice.

Sorry it's so long, and I welcome any advice you can give.

Thanks for your time.

I figured here I would find a more compassionate group to get advice from.

It is a never-ending problem, I realize. But, have you considered negotiating with your neighbors about contributing toward having a large catio built in your yard to confine the cats to? If you can pay for it yourself, all the better. You can even make separate compartments in it if they don't all get along.

Come winter, you would have to address how to provide some warmth, but that is for another day...

Welcome! You came to the right place!
First thing is I suggest you go on Facebook if you can and look for cat rescue groups. @surya might have some tips on that! Second is to do a google search in your city, county and state for feral or cat rescue groups. Third is contact Bestfriends.org for help. Last resort is to search for no kill shelters anywhere you can take them to. Your state or even other states. Any vetting such as blood work you can do ahead of time may help. Call your local Humane Society and ask for information, referrals or any contacts they can possibly provide.
The other thing that could buy you time is to put up a feral shelter in you yard that is enclosed. You would probably need to section it off if they are not one friendly colony. Hopefully they already know each other and they may get along okay. I have seen shelters on the site made of many things @kittypa made a great one and hopefully could give you some tips. You could do a search on this site for shelters. A simple structure made of wood and covered with metal hardware cloth would work for now. Just something to contain them until you can find a safe place for them. I noticed Walmart had large metal cages right now that are fairly inexpensive. I used similar things to catch, isolate and socialize a very large colony. I already had cats too so I understand the difficulties. Do you have a garage or anywhere you could use cages that would be safe for the kitties? Don’t give up! You have done amazing work with them already! It would be nice if the neighbors would give you a little time and understanding. The cats are not a permanent problem. If any of them had noticed the poor kitties earlier and helped out then they wouldn’t be faced with this now. Turning a blind eye to dumped, abandoned, neglected or feral cats is how this got started and you were the only one to try and solve the problem instead of ignoring it. You have my complete gratitude!! I have written it repeatedly here, “ If you aren’t part of the solution, then you are part of the problem!” Most people don’t understand the issues of cats trying to survive outside. Educating them is the key. Feral and semi feral cats can be socialized/tamed to be loving family members.
I am going to tag your name on another thread too to try and get another person’s attention.

FeebysOwner Any other words here?
Again, don’t give up! I faced similar issues and I managed to get the kitties through it. Please keep posting and update us. We are all here to offer whatever we can to aid you and the kitties. You prevented a small amount of cats from becoming a colony of hundreds. If that had happened then your neighbors would really have been overwhelmed by seeing sick, injured or starving cats and kittens in front of their children instead of a small number of healthy spayed and neutered cats. You are fantastic and I hope your neighbors will come to understand that they should be recognizing you as a community hero and and an advocate for them and the cats!

It would help if we had some idea where you are, even if you want to PM one of us privately. We're pretty good at searching, and finding assistance on Social Media, but to do that, we need to know what area to target!

J Jack Nubbins , absorb every piece of info Jcatbird has offered. Everyday I read his posts and salute his knowledge and help.
I also echo him encouraging you to keep asking questions and keeping us posted every step of this endeavor you are admirably embarking upon!

P.S. Ditto Mamanyt1953 too!

You can send a message to any of us here for help. The post above suggesting you give your location is so that we can try to connect you to the resources you need. That person is closely involved with this site and a staff member. If you send your location through a PM then it will be private. If you aren’t sure how to do that, let us know and we will instruct you how to do it. You are definitely getting support here!

The cat you are taking in can be posted on next door once it is adoptable. Excellent idea about a catio. What if you were to put litter boxes out? Never tried that but cats like to cover their stuff. Good luck!

Excellent suggestion by @maghiedemi
Cats may flock to your yard if you provide a private spot that is hidden in the back with a sand pile. If neighbors complain that they use their yard for a potty or digging then this could solve that issue. A sand box or litter boxes could help a lot! A tarp could be strung from trees above it to protect the area from weather.

Thank you for all of the replies. I knew I would find people that cared here. Sorry, I thought I mentioned that I was in southeastern Wisconsin. About 40 miles southwest of Milwaukee. I didn't think about the catio idea. I did that years ago for a group of very feral cats, mom and five kittens. I remember the fleas that year were awful. I was trying capstar, but the fleas were too heavy. I ended up trapping them inside the enclosure, one at a time, forcing them into one end of the trap to give them Advantage II with a syringe. It was stressful for me and the cats, but it worked. Fortunately these guys I can treat except for two of them. Since I posted I have gotten five in my garage. I already had litter boxes set up in there from when they were all spayed/neutered. I'm going to try to get the other three in there tomorrow. They do all get along great. I have the heat on for them, and it's air conditioned too if they stay in there for a while until I can figure out a solution. I did build a large sandbox in the back to encourage them to use it, but they prefer the soft dirt of the garden. These neighbors just want them gone. There are other neighbors that were feeding them before they ended up here, but I was the only one willing to do the TNR. Thank god for Sandy and Cindy at ASAP out of Marengo IL or I'd be in deep debt with all of these cats. I will search for info on Facebook tomorrow. I'll keep trying Google too. Thanks again for all of the great info. I will keep you all posted

Bless your heart, and THANK YOU!!!

You are wonderful for what you are doing . Please do keep us updated!

Jack Nubbins said:

Thank you for all of the replies. I knew I would find people that cared here. Sorry, I thought I mentioned that I was in southeastern Wisconsin. About 40 miles southwest of Milwaukee. I didn't think about the catio idea. I did that years ago for a group of very feral cats, mom and five kittens. I remember the fleas that year were awful. I was trying capstar, but the fleas were too heavy. I ended up trapping them inside the enclosure, one at a time, forcing them into one end of the trap to give them Advantage II with a syringe. It was stressful for me and the cats, but it worked. Fortunately these guys I can treat except for two of them. Since I posted I have gotten five in my garage. I already had litter boxes set up in there from when they were all spayed/neutered. I'm going to try to get the other three in there tomorrow. They do all get along great. I have the heat on for them, and it's air conditioned too if they stay in there for a while until I can figure out a solution. I did build a large sandbox in the back to encourage them to use it, but they prefer the soft dirt of the garden. These neighbors just want them gone. There are other neighbors that were feeding them before they ended up here, but I was the only one willing to do the TNR. Thank god for Sandy and Cindy at ASAP out of Marengo IL or I'd be in deep debt with all of these cats. I will search for info on Facebook tomorrow. I'll keep trying Google too. Thanks again for all of the great info. I will keep you all posted

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Another proof that a hero does not need a cape. Bless your heart. You are one of a kind.

Fantastic news! We are all thankful to you!
You certainly rounded them up quickly! Great work! Hopefully the others come in right behind these.
I understand how the kitties prefer nice garden dirt. When I brought in my kitties they all likes the scent of nice pine needles. I had to add pine needles from the yard to to their litter boxes for a while to please them. They finally allowed me to use plain litter without giving me the scornful looks. Lol
I’m so sorry the neighbors are doing this. The ones that fed cats without doing TNR thought they were helping but actually they just encouraged more to come and breed. I’m glad they cared enough to keep them from starving. Those are the neighbors who might be encouraged to learn. Maybe attitudes will lighten up. I hope so.
From your description of the cats, it seems like they are not really feral. Semi feral maybe or previously pets that were dumped/neglected/abandoned and had to learn to survive outside. You have done such great work with them you have a very good shot at finding them loving and permanent homes. I don’t know if you caught the previous post about Next door but they might be able to help along with the other groups mentioned. Mamanyt1953 will see this tag and now that we have your location, maybe we can find more resources. You go ahead and contact the ones already mentioned and post back to us with their responses. After you catch the other kitties, of course. We’ll be watching for any updates. Bravo!!!

Hi! I found a couple of websites that have information. Whether you're able to utilize any of it at this point I don't know, but I wanted to post it just in case.

There might be something here that you and your neighbors can utilize;

Keeping Cats Out of Gardens and Yards

Towards the bottom of this page is information that could be useful for you, or for other readers/lurkers;

Feral Cat Caretakers' Coalition: Managed Care

Is there a farm/large animal vet in the area? If so, put up some posters in their office. Horse people (in particular) often want nice healthy spayed/neutered barn cats who are used to being outside and can hunt. I think you should be able to find placements for them that way. Also ask all the cat rescues if they have a farm cat program.

And, yeah, if you think their lives are in danger, build a cage and get them in there until you can find a better situation. It might not be ideal but a lot better than the alternative.

Jack Nubbins said:

Hi everyone, I am at a loss about what to to. It's killing me.

Last summer we had a lot of kittens in my neighborhood. There were two females that had kittens and two random kittens that showed up with no mom.

Once I was aware of this, I trapped and spayed/neutered all of them. 13 cats in total. I tried to get them into shelters, but everyone I tried was at capacity and couldn’t help. Some of them disappeared after they were released. The 8 remaining cats have become a big problem for my neighbors.

I provided heated shelter for them through the winter, but now the weather is getting nice and they are pooping in the neighbors yard and garden, destroying things and leaving dead birds for them. They told me today that the cats have to go. They have kids that play in the yard. I understand their concerns.

I explained that there would be 3x the amount of cats if I hadn’t spent the time/money to get them all fixed, but that didn’t provide much comfort. I’m worried that they will call someone to have the cats removed/euthanized. 6 of the 8 cats are somewhat socialized. I can pet them when feeding. 4 of them are sweethearts that I think would make good pets, but I can’t find anyone to help out. The neighbors want me to lock them up at night until I can find a solution. That would be a nightmare.

I am going to bring one inside with me as long as she checks out good at the vet. I have other cats, or I would bring more in as they all get along great with each other.

I would be happy to take care of them forever if they weren't causing problems with the neighbors..

I live in southern Wisconsin and have been sending this out to all of the shelters/rescue groups looking for advice.

Sorry it's so long, and I welcome any advice you can give.

Thanks for your time.

I figured here I would find a more compassionate group to get advice from.

Click to expand...

THANK YOU for caring and acting upon that caring, J Jack Nubbins and here are some links:
www.alleycat.org This is Alley Cat Allies' website. They are the premiere database for all things feline and particularly outdoor/free-roaming/feral/street/stray/community cats.
www.bestfriends.org/resources Many links to groups nationwide and helpful suggestions regarding cats outdoors.
www.animal

Jack Nubbins said:

Hi everyone, I am at a loss about what to to. It's killing me.

Last summer we had a lot of kittens in my neighborhood. There were two females that had kittens and two random kittens that showed up with no mom.

Once I was aware of this, I trapped and spayed/neutered all of them. 13 cats in total. I tried to get them into shelters, but everyone I tried was at capacity and couldn’t help. Some of them disappeared after they were released. The 8 remaining cats have become a big problem for my neighbors.

I provided heated shelter for them through the winter, but now the weather is getting nice and they are pooping in the neighbors yard and garden, destroying things and leaving dead birds for them. They told me today that the cats have to go. They have kids that play in the yard. I understand their concerns.

I explained that there would be 3x the amount of cats if I hadn’t spent the time/money to get them all fixed, but that didn’t provide much comfort. I’m worried that they will call someone to have the cats removed/euthanized. 6 of the 8 cats are somewhat socialized. I can pet them when feeding. 4 of them are sweethearts that I think would make good pets, but I can’t find anyone to help out. The neighbors want me to lock them up at night until I can find a solution. That would be a nightmare.

I am going to bring one inside with me as long as she checks out good at the vet. I have other cats, or I would bring more in as they all get along great with each other.

I would be happy to take care of them forever if they weren't causing problems with the neighbors..

I live in southern Wisconsin and have been sending this out to all of the shelters/rescue groups looking for advice.

Sorry it's so long, and I welcome any advice you can give.

Thanks for your time.

I figured here I would find a more compassionate group to get advice from.

Click to expand...

THANK YOU, J Jack Nubbins for caring and acting upon that caring! Here are some links which may be helpful:

www.alleycat.org Alley Cat Allies is the premiere database for all things feline, with emphasis on outdoor cats.
www.bestfriends.org/resources
RESCUED! Is My Favorite Breed. Has a dropdown by-state menu you can click on to access local and nearby rescue groups.
www.animalrescuedirectory.net
You can use your computer's search engine and input things like "cat rescues in (your location)" "TNR groups in (your location)", etc.

Oh, is there a corner of your yard that can be dug into nice, soft dirt and then cleaned regularly? Lord knows, you seem willing to go that extra 115 miles for these cats! Or the sandbox is an excellent...wait...you're getting them in. And I know where you are, so off to the races with exploring options!

Jack Nubbins said:

Thank you for all of the replies. I knew I would find people that cared here. Sorry, I thought I mentioned that I was in southeastern Wisconsin. About 40 miles southwest of Milwaukee. I didn't think about the catio idea. I did that years ago for a group of very feral cats, mom and five kittens. I remember the fleas that year were awful. I was trying capstar, but the fleas were too heavy. I ended up trapping them inside the enclosure, one at a time, forcing them into one end of the trap to give them Advantage II with a syringe. It was stressful for me and the cats, but it worked. Fortunately these guys I can treat except for two of them. Since I posted I have gotten five in my garage. I already had litter boxes set up in there from when they were all spayed/neutered. I'm going to try to get the other three in there tomorrow. They do all get along great. I have the heat on for them, and it's air conditioned too if they stay in there for a while until I can figure out a solution. I did build a large sandbox in the back to encourage them to use it, but they prefer the soft dirt of the garden. These neighbors just want them gone. There are other neighbors that were feeding them before they ended up here, but I was the only one willing to do the TNR. Thank god for Sandy and Cindy at ASAP out of Marengo IL or I'd be in deep debt with all of these cats. I will search for info on Facebook tomorrow. I'll keep trying Google too. Thanks again for all of the great info. I will keep you all posted

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We've always trusted Advantage. We've tried other brands, but Advantage has always been the one for us.
As for that large sandbox in the back, are you able to fill it with "nice garden dirt"? When we lived in the Mojave, my ex built a large box and filled it with our soil, which was sandy substrate (cats' preferred filler, since cats are ancestrally desert animals and sand is what they are used to). I'd scoop it several times daily and when it needed it, it got dumped and buried and refilled.

OK...quick search, and I'm posting the google search results page. Bear in mind that these guys quite often network with each other, so ANY of them may be able to give you more referrals! They ALL deal with feral cats in Wisconsin!

feral cat rescue wisconsin - Google Search

maggie101 said:

The cat you are taking in can be posted on next door once it is adoptable. Excellent idea about a catio. What if you were to put litter boxes out? Never tried that but cats like to cover their stuff. Good luck!

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Actually, I want to keep her. She is the sweetest cat I have ever seen. I can't walk outside without her getting trampled under my feet. She gets nervous when I pick her up...but she stays. I have her sister in here(I think). We rescued an approximately 3 week old kitten last spring. The neighbor saw a mom drop it when he startled her, and she had been outside by herself for hours. I came home and he asked if I wanted a kitty, and I said "I can't"....then I saw her. I think they're from the same litter. My neighbor described the mom to me. I am above my limit by my village rules. I have 6 cats. The limit is 3. My house is clean, I have 23 litter boxes set up (my old friend died a few years ago, and he liked to pee...so we put litterboxes everywhere. He especially liked to fill our shoes with pee, but anything new on the floor was going to get pee'd on). I spend about 2 hours every day between taking care of inside/outside cats. That doesn't include the time they spend on my lap.