Hi, I am new here, but I am hoping you might have some ideas I haven't thought of for this situation. I am a former indoor only cat owner (last cat passed away a few months ago) but currently have none in the house. In the past I have TNR'd neighborhood cats whenwe had a high number of strays, but I didn't set up a colony.
About 1.5 years ago a stray in the neighborhood adopted us. I will call her she/OC for Outside Cat, but I don't know sex. She had been around for a while, but at that point came up to us and was begging for food. She may have been abandoned. She appears to be ear tipped. She looks healthy and mostly hangs out in our yard. We feed her and I ensure she has some good shelter when it is colder here in Phoenix. She will only come within about 3 feet of me and usually spooks easily.
Yesterday, my neighbor told my husband she is planning to trap the cat (plus others) and take them to the humane society to be euthanized. She keeps chickens and left their coop open to their fenced yard and the chickens were killed overnight. She blames OC though she doesn't know what cat did it and she left the darned coop open. While the humane society says online that they charge to put down cats, they told her it would not cost because they killed her chickens. I spoke with her and let her know that while this isn't my cat and I don't believe in owning outdoor cats, I do care for this cat and I don't want her killed. I asked that if she traps the cat she would allow me to at least rehome, I would appreciate it. She seemed agreeable and I might have convinced her not to kill the cat. My crying seemed to make an impression.
I am trying to figure out options. In my perfect world they would put up barbed wire around the area where the chickens are and secure the coop and the cat stays. I am wondering if I trap the cat and microchip it as a feral if that would prevent animal control/the humane society from euthanizing if caught? A third option is rehoming. Can I even find a place for this cat if it can't be adopted? I really don't want to try to force it to be an indoor cat and I don't think my family would be up for that right now. We have a lot of things going on and I don't have the time or ability to try and turn this cat into a house cat.
Any ideas? Thank you so much in advance.
About 1.5 years ago a stray in the neighborhood adopted us. I will call her she/OC for Outside Cat, but I don't know sex. She had been around for a while, but at that point came up to us and was begging for food. She may have been abandoned. She appears to be ear tipped. She looks healthy and mostly hangs out in our yard. We feed her and I ensure she has some good shelter when it is colder here in Phoenix. She will only come within about 3 feet of me and usually spooks easily.
Yesterday, my neighbor told my husband she is planning to trap the cat (plus others) and take them to the humane society to be euthanized. She keeps chickens and left their coop open to their fenced yard and the chickens were killed overnight. She blames OC though she doesn't know what cat did it and she left the darned coop open. While the humane society says online that they charge to put down cats, they told her it would not cost because they killed her chickens. I spoke with her and let her know that while this isn't my cat and I don't believe in owning outdoor cats, I do care for this cat and I don't want her killed. I asked that if she traps the cat she would allow me to at least rehome, I would appreciate it. She seemed agreeable and I might have convinced her not to kill the cat. My crying seemed to make an impression.
I am trying to figure out options. In my perfect world they would put up barbed wire around the area where the chickens are and secure the coop and the cat stays. I am wondering if I trap the cat and microchip it as a feral if that would prevent animal control/the humane society from euthanizing if caught? A third option is rehoming. Can I even find a place for this cat if it can't be adopted? I really don't want to try to force it to be an indoor cat and I don't think my family would be up for that right now. We have a lot of things going on and I don't have the time or ability to try and turn this cat into a house cat.
Any ideas? Thank you so much in advance.