Advice for starting to feed strays.

FurmiliarCattitude

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There are a few stray cats in my area and in my search to find a food Loaf would eat to get her off of Blue Buffalo (I have found one yay!), I am left with a ton of extra food that she won't eat. Since the bags are open none of my local shelters or rescues will take it so I was thinking about feeding strays. There are also a couple of dogs people let roam and I was wondering if that might become an issue? I am new to this so maybe I'm overthinking but any advice is welcome!
 

tabbytom

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There are a few stray cats in my area and in my search to find a food Loaf would eat to get her off of Blue Buffalo (I have found one yay!), I am left with a ton of extra food that she won't eat. Since the bags are open none of my local shelters or rescues will take it so I was thinking about feeding strays. There are also a couple of dogs people let roam and I was wondering if that might become an issue? I am new to this so maybe I'm overthinking but any advice is welcome!
When there's food left out for strays, they'll most likely come back for more as what lucky luc lucky luc mentioned. They move around looking fr food and once there's a constant supply, likely you'll most likely to se them again.

You can check and walk around and see if where you stay, feeding of strays is not an issue, then you can freely feed them either outside your house at the porch or garage or garden or if the strays will not come near you, feed them where they hang out but make sure i's not in front of neighbor house that hate cats.

You can also time your feed so that it does not coincide with the dog walks or hide the food where the strays can eat safely without disturbance. Timing the feed also helps as the cats will know when to eat and also get to know you better and also you won't waste food if left out too early and some dogs or animals or hoomans come make a mess of it.

Most importantly is to keep the feeding area clean so that other animals won't come and salvage the left overs and you won't get a complain for feeding stray cats.

Other than feeding them, when you can, do a TNR or better still, bring them home.

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tabbytom

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Just to add, I did not want to edit my post just incase you miss this. Also check around if there are other people in the neighborhood feeding the strays/ferals. Some feeders does not like others to feed 'their strays/ferals' (some kind of unwritten rule) unless the cats appear in front of your house or porch.

If there are other feeders around, you may want to have a chat with them and work out something with them to avoid any misunderstandings.
 

shadowsrescue

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Feeding strays also goes along with the responsibility of spaying/neutering them. As said above, " if you feed, they will breed". The few you are feeding now will quickly multiply right before your eyes. You can reach out to rescue groups for help in getting them trapped, neutered and returned to the area.

Remember that with feeding the cats will come around often. Wildlife such as raccoons, possums, and skunks will also come to the feeding area. It is best to feed only during daylight hours and pick the food up at night. Coyotes and fox can also be attracted by the scent of cat food.

Providing food, water and shelter also comes with the responsibility of feeding stray/feral cats. They come to depend on you for daily care. Be sure before you jump right in that you are prepared for all of this. It's very hard on the cats if you can only feed every once and awhile.
 
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FurmiliarCattitude

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I am prepared to start TNR and I also have a bunch of plastic storage bins from moving from moving that I really don't have the space for that I could maybe convert into shelters if need be. I really want to and I have the extra food/can get more. The only thing now that I am struggling with is making sure I can commit, Wildlife isn't life isn't really an issue where I live.coyotes aren't a problem in my area and it's pretty rare to see a skunks or opossums because there are a ton of natural uninhabited areas where I live so for them to live in and they stay around the edges of those areas when they pop into human land for food and I live right in the middle of my town (I am not crazy I do expect it here and there but I don't see it being a major factor.) My main thing is coming to terms with the fact that these animals will come to rely on me. I do hope that I get up my courage and start and hopefully can do some good for those babies but if not does anyone have any suggestions on what else to do with the food? My friends are all dog people or I would have given it to them initially.

Edit: Also I am able to work from home most of the time so feeding during the day as an extra precaution against wildlife is not an issue and would also let me keep an eye on things.

Once again and advice is welcome!
 

moxiewild

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I am prepared to start TNR and I also have a bunch of plastic storage bins from moving from moving that I really don't have the space for that I could maybe convert into shelters if need be. I really want to and I have the extra food/can get more. The only thing now that I am struggling with is making sure I can commit, Wildlife isn't life isn't really an issue where I live.coyotes aren't a problem in my area and it's pretty rare to see a skunks or opossums because there are a ton of natural uninhabited areas where I live so for them to live in and they stay around the edges of those areas when they pop into human land for food and I live right in the middle of my town (I am not crazy I do expect it here and there but I don't see it being a major factor.) My main thing is coming to terms with the fact that these animals will come to rely on me. I do hope that I get up my courage and start and hopefully can do some good for those babies but if not does anyone have any suggestions on what else to do with the food? My friends are all dog people or I would have given it to them initially.

Edit: Also I am able to work from home most of the time so feeding during the day as an extra precaution against wildlife is not an issue and would also let me keep an eye on things.

Once again and advice is welcome!
It’s so awesome that you want to help, and it sounds as though you are thinking about this compassionately and responsibly, which is wonderful!

The long term commitment is one of the things I think people often forget. I rarely see this sort of forethought when looking to start feeding, so you might just be a natural caretaker ;)

Personally, it seems like you’ve already done a fair bit of research, are trying to prepare as best as you can, and are very carefully considering this decision - so I can’t imagine you being anything less than an outstanding and capable caretaker!

However, if you ultimately decide it is not something you can do just yet, there are other ways to help (and unload that food!) -

First and foremost, TNR the strays! Even if that's all you do, you are preventing SO much future suffering and death, improving the health of the cats, reducing their stress, and just overall exponentially increasing their chances at a better life by doing that alone.

For your extra food, you can feed them sporadically. Perhaps enough to get you through your surplus, and them through winter, but at an erratic and irregular schedule so they don’t come to expect it or rely on it as a food source.

The other option is to go on Nextdoor or local Facebook pages and offer to donate the food to any local caretakers, or to pet owners who are down on their luck or low income and need a little help.

The idea of rescues “taking what they can get” is not exactly true, hence, not accepting open bags. But someone who is struggling financially or is a colony caretaker will not be quite as selective and will be very grateful for such a donation.

All of these things are incredibly worthwhile if making a long term commitment is not feasible for you at this time :)

Also - free-roaming dogs are a huge issue in the cities nearest to me. It’s awful the amount of caretakers who lose their cats to dogs or packs of dogs, stray OR owned. Or people who find strays/ferals already injured, dead, or in the middle of an attack. One of the local rescue Facebook groups I’m in just saw caretakers lose 4 different cats from 3 different colonies due to dog attacks just this week.

Do you know if these dogs are neutered? I know in the city nearest to me that most of the people who allow their dogs to free roam, also very rarely neuter them. Unneuterrd, free roaming dogs is even worse in terms of risk.

I would find a way to reasonably separate the feeding station from the dogs.

If you have a tall, sturdy wood fence, often that can be enough to keep most dogs out. Feed the cats in your backyard, but make a small hole under or through the fence for the cats.

Garages and sheds are another possibility. You can utilize a small doggy door to keep larger predators like dogs, coyotes, and larger foxes out.

Depending on the circumstances, you may need to get creative.

Often, free roaming dogs aren’t roaming at night. So if you can verify this, you could feed them overnight, but ensure you keep an eye on whether you’re attracting wildlife. Game cameras are great for this and can be sourced fairly cheaply on Amazon.
 
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