Advice on acquiring 2 feral cats

[momofmany]

Get yourself some puppy training pads and line their cages with them. If they do go in the cage, you can replace them on the way.

Bring a towel or blanket to cover the carriers while they are in the car. Keeping the carriers covered can often calm them down if they aren't seeing the the sites around them. And like LDG suggested, put plastic under the carriers in case they do make a big mess.

They won't want to eat or drink in the carriers, but bring a bottle of water and a small dish in case they appear to be thirsty.

Do NOT open the door to the car if the cage doors are open.

If you can find this: get a CD that has harp music. Don't ask me why, but harp music calms down cats, particularly feral cats. If you can't find harp specific music, get very calm classical music (one without horns), such as piano music.

Feliway spray in the carriers before hand.

Don't open a window while driving. It will scare the dickens out of them.

If you can get someone to drive with you, you can switch drivers along the way to avoid any long stops. Pack a lunch and snacks for yourself to stay alert.

I moved feral cats from Houston to Kansas City. It can be done without undue stress.

 

[ldg]

I totally agree with Amy's advice. LOTS of puppy wee wee pads. Just absolutely make sure no doors are open at any time you open a crate/cage door.

About the not opening the window - I don't know. We open one or two of the front windows a crack so there's fresh air moving around. One of our kitties vomits if there's not air moving around, so I'd just see how it goes. One thing is for sure - do not open a window large enough for a cat to get out just in case a crate door gets opened.

Good luck and keep us posted if you can!

Safe trip!

Laurie

 

[bbleho]

Alright, so I finally went through with the rescue operation! I arrived to find no adult cat, but two tabby kittens hidding under the trailer. I was feeding them for the five days I was there and trapped them the day before leaving. I was keeping them in the trap with a mini litter box (which they used!) and food/water in the closet in my room, but they got a bit loud scratching in the litter, so I moved them out to my car since I was sharing the room with someone else. This was 3:30 a.m. and as I was moving them, lo and behold Mankota showed up! It now looks like they are her kittens (there was also an orange one which was found dead and partly eaten, and presumably the black one that was seen once in September didn't make it either). Still no sign of Pipit. Anyways, it was 3:30 a.m. so I decided to hold off till morning to try to trap her. She wasn't there in the morning, like I feared might happen, but she finally showed up shortly before I was about to leave, possibly because I kept calling to her as I loaded up my car. I transferred the kittens into a carrier and got her in the trap and covered it. I drove out to the nearest Humane Society 4 hours away in the hopes of dropping them off there and saving them another 6 hours in the car (though they were so calm and quiet that at times I forgot they were there!), but the lady was honest and said there was a high probablility they would be euthanised - even the kittens! So I decided to take my chances at home because I recalled that some of the shelters here were no-kill, but now I find out they don't take strays! Which brings me to the current situation.

Right now they're all at the local Humane Society. They're going to see if the kittens are adoptable (based on temperament). If not, I might try to socialise them myself and then bring them to one of the shelters, pretending they're not strays, or at least they'll be adoptable then. Mankota is waiting to be spayed, which should be sometime this week. I was stressed about what I was going to do with her after, since she would be at best difficult to socialise, plus I now have two house kittens, and I'm living in a condo (concerns about noise complaints from neighbours). I was dreading the thought of bringing her back to the trailer since there's no one there to provide some supplemental food when there are few natural resources available over the cold winter! Nevermind the 20 hour drive and $200 gas...but I can't bring myself to let her be euthanised! Who am I to judge that her old life wasn't worth living?

BUT I have been fortunate! One of my co-workers is from a farm and his parents would be willing to take her as a farm cat. They feed their cats, so this is fantastic! The best possible solution. Hopefully she will have her surgery soon so that we can bring her out there this weekend. As for Pipit, all I can do is hope that she makes it through the winter and returns next spring since I'll be out there for a few weeks again.

So...anybody interested in some kittens

I want to thank everyone for your enormous support and fantastic advice!

 

[ldg]

I think you are absolutely wonderful!

This is really amazing news.

I'm so sorry about Pipit.

Vibes that she makes it.

But this is great for Mankota!!! One piece of advice - have them keep her in the barn but in a large crate for two weeks. When she gets used to regular feeding, she will be less likely to run away out of fear - she'll know there's a regular source of food there for her.

As to the two kittens? If they're deemed not adoptable, I'd go with your plan. Foster them yourself, and then turn them in as homeless strays.

for being so wonderful!

Laurie