Stray Visits At Sporadic Times

qtpidani

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
66
Purraise
73
My mama stray is still coming around to eat, but she isn't consistent with the times she comes around so I'm struggling with what to do. I don't want to leave food out overnight because it Has been attracting skunks and racoons BUT she sometimes doesn't come until 11p at night. Sometimes she visits during the day and eats dry, sometimes she comes early evening and others not until late.

Any suggestions on how to handle this? I don't want to put out food and it get wasted, but I don't want the skunks or racoons.

Is there anything I can do to get her on a more consistent schedule? I still don't know where she actually comes from, but suspect it's one or two blocks west of me. She comes to eat and heads back that way.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #2

qtpidani

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
66
Purraise
73
Also, to further add, when she gets spooked, she disappears for at least an hour, if not longer.

Last night the skunk ate her wet food. I saw her walking up, went to my front porch, showed her the food slowly openes the porch door and she took of . When I went to bed an hour later the bowl was still full.
 

kittychick

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 2, 2013
Messages
1,611
Purraise
1,960
Location
Ohio
It's definitely not one of the super simple "one size fits all" questions and answers - - but I'm sure there are quite a few people on this forum who've had this problem (myself included!!).

The getting spooked and then staying away for a period of time is VERY normal. Chances are she's MUCH closer than you realize - hiding somewhere close by and listening/watching to make 100% sure the coast is clear before she comes out in the open to try again. Ferals and strays who've spent most or all of their lives outside, generally fending for themselves, learn quickly that food (particularly one that's there like clockwork) is about the most cherished resource outside. So they're VERY spooky generally around food later in the day.

I know not having a consistent time when she's around is frustrating. Have you tried associating your setting out the food with a sound you make? I personally have never called any of our ferals with a "here kitty kitty!" since that calls attention to the neighbors who hear you that you're feeding cats in your yard (unless you're SUPER lucky and the neighbors just love that you care for them). I call with a set of whistles and noises, making it the same every night. Occasionally I use their names (we have four ferals from the neighborhood colony that we TNR'd that now make our yard/garage home) - but I never add the word "kitty!" Just the clicks and whistles and an occasional name (sounds goofily clandestine - - but it does keep the neighbors from pointing fingers!). I do that same set of noises EVERY time I go to feed them. It takes them a bit of time to associate the noises with the food - - - but kitties are smart. She'll get it!

I don't ever recommend putting yourself between food and a wild animal - so scaring the "un-wanted grazers away" isn't a great option.

But I DO recommend that you start doing your best to feed your girl at a virtually identical time every night. And e MUCH earlier than 11 PM, since that's definitely the time frame you're sure to encounter opossums, raccoons, etc. You said she sometimes comes around at say, 6/6:30 pm - - - I'd go out at that time and make any calling noises she might recognize. And what's not gone in a half hour, you pick up and bring in. I know it's REALLY hard to think about her not eating a night or two - but I'll be stunned if she doesn't quickly pick up on the "assigned time." You've just got to be disciplined (it's hard - I know! but best for all in the long run!!!).

Then pick it up, and bring it back inside, and start all over again the next day. I truly believe she WILL get it - - and this makes her safer in the long run too!

Also - - I know that Graceful-Lily Graceful-Lily mentioned it - - your girl is obviously female (and I'm guessing you might have seen evidence that she's had kittens before you called her "mama" too). If she isn't already spayed, I truly hope you'll do so. It's SO much safer for her in the long run (lowering/eliminating her chances of horrible things like breast cancer,ovarian cancer, etc. - not to mention that she'll probably stay safer and closer to home as a spayed kitty. Plus she won't go through the torture of being chased, hunted down and mated with countless times, only to go through the birth of kittens that will have a very low survival rate. So I truly hope that you'll get her spayed - - low-cost spay/neuter clinics are able to it perform a spay very inexpensively (in some zip codes/cities it's even done for free by clinics!). So if you need help trapping her - - just ask this forum. LOTS of us here have done quite a bit of it, and are happy to walk you through how to do this as easily as possible!

So keep us posted on what's happening!!!!! And hopefully even more people will offer some suggestions shortly!!
 

Maria Bayote

Mama of 4 Cats, 4 Dogs , 2 Budgies & 2 Humans
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 15, 2018
Messages
4,171
Purraise
12,686
I feel you. I feed cats also outside, one in the morning and another at night. Somehow most of them know that at around 5:30 to 6:00 am I will be opening the front door with bowls of food for them. In the afternoon they recognize our car going to the driveway and come running as they know its feeding time at 6:00 pm. Yet, there are instances that one or two cats are missing at the regular feeding time, so I call out their names (yes, I have names for each of them), so the neighbors will not really instantly notice that I am calling out for cats. When I call sometimes I'd get lucky, but often the missing ones do not return until late at night, so I'd have to check the front porch again before I go to sleep. I am lucky that no wild animals are present in my area, but what I do have are neighbors who do not appreciate the things that I do for the strays.

Hence, as suggested above, associate feeding time with a sound or a name, so your mama cat can get used to it. Stick to your time routine. If she is not there leave the food for a while, then take it back after 15 minutes to half an hour or so. Then back again. Twice in attempt is probably ok, until she gets the point. Anyway, this is how I do it here. I am just not sure if it works for you there, since a lot of other animals are present.

BTW, a big thank you for feeding this cat. This world needs more people like you.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

qtpidani

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
66
Purraise
73
Welp, I never saw that I got replies to this until I was reading through some other posts....

To answer some questions:
-The area I live in is not super busy during the day, probably less so than at night.

-Ideally, I'd like to trap her but I'm not sure how that will work. I know I can't keep her (I have 4 cats already and the 3 boys already "fight" for dominance), and the closest place that does lower cost spay/neuters is an hour away. I don't want to take her to the shelter because I don't think she'd stand a chance. I need to reach out to rescue a friend of mine has a tiny connection with to see if they could take her in.

- When I put food out, I bang on the can with the spoon, bang on the bowl and say "coooooome eat!" I'm best friends with the neighbor to my south, and my neighbor to the north actually bought me some food to contribute to feeding her, so I'm lucky in that respect. I don't really worry about the other ones ;) I initially thought she stayed within a few blocks, but now I'm pretty sure she has quite an expansive radius that she travels, so she may not hear me when I make noise to let her know food it out.

I bought some cheap outdoor cameras on Prime day, and I'd be lying if I said one of the primary reasons I got them was to be able to see when she comes by :) She typically comes for the first time around dusk, depending on how much she eats, I'll see her again around 11p/12a, maybe again around 12:30a/1a, and sometimes again around 3/4a, and every so often around 5a and 7a. It does vary though, but those are rough estimates. Typically after her sunrise visit, I won't see her again all day until dusk.

She's a smart thing though, one day last week, she was hanging out on my steps until we brought food out for her.... I wasn't home but saw her on my camera. I begged my husband to go feed her, LOL. Now, she also knows the sound of my front door and will hide when she hears it open for me to feed her, and won't come back out not only until I'm back on the porch, but also until she hears my front door open and close again, assuming I'm back inside. I tricked her last night and stayed on the porch, and she was fine with that, as long as the porch screen door separated us. She hasn't been AS scared off as she has been, but it changes day by day.

My husband is getting frustrated because a skunk was on our steps eating the dry food around 9p last night..... and he was taking the dog for a walk. I get it. I don't want to risk encouraging the skunks to take up a home nearby either, and risk my dog getting sprayed, but with how frequent the kitty comes by, how can I not leave out food for her through the night?
 
Top