At my Wit's End with being attacked over feeding cats

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Whenallhellbreakslose

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In your situation, you will probably have to accept/face how much of this is out of your control and realize how much you have tried to do. With ferals, that is a big part of what goes with it. Not the same as your indoor pet and you were not able to help it in its time of need. I did have a ginger boy make it to 10 and there is a neigborhood feral who might be older than that; however, with the true feral who will live outdoors only the life expectancy is not the same as an indoor pet. I am sure that there are a lot of exceptions to this and others can chime in with their experiences.

Of the wild feral who will only be trapped once for TNR, the average age for me has been about 3. Ginger boy lived closer to the house and used the shelter that we provided.

I have had ferals who passed away at a young age from what I believed was a genetic component.
The remaining cats are 3 years old. They seem healthy. I haven't seen one with as much as a sniffle. However, two of my present cats had a brother who got very sick. I took him into the garage and got meds from a rescuer a tried to nurse him back to health. I took care of him for 3 weeks before I let him go only to have him go down hill again and die on me. He was only 1 years old and a sweetie. I wish he lived longer. What a shame. I often hear that ferals live from 2-5 years with little to no intervention, but I think it also come done to genetics. Well, we can only do our best. We are not in control of everything


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Being strays and ferals, they have a choice of staying at one location or moving around. Especially those that are not TNR'ed, they move around to find mates and disappear for a period of time before returning. Some will venture further for more food.

We have cats here that disappear for sone time and we ask around about their whereabouts and sometimes no one knows and recently, they were these to kittens born nearby and we have been feeding them for a while and suddenly one went missing and later the other too went missing and someone said she was spotted some distance away across the street. Now she's back here where she first appeared.
We also have some that were around for sometime and they were beautiful cats and have not been around since and we guess that they were adopted by someone (I hope). People will take the nicer cats home.

And we have a case here that two of our resident strays have been poisoned band it was reported to the police.

As for older cats or sick cats, they cannot be attended to all the time as they are not house cats which are easier to look after. Some have sickness and they die of a natural cause and some die as to like the case above. Some live a longer time and some don't as that depends on the living environment, the people around them whether they are cat lovers or not and if living conditions were good and hey are well taken care of, I guess they could live a longer time. It's important to have good rescue group around in the neighborhood.
 
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Whenallhellbreakslose

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Being strays and ferals, they have a choice of staying at one location or moving around. Especially those that are not TNR'ed, they move around to find mates and disappear for a period of time before returning. Some will venture further for more food.

We have cats here that disappear for sone time and we ask around about their whereabouts and sometimes no one knows and recently, they were these to kittens born nearby and we have been feeding them for a while and suddenly one went missing and later the other too went missing and someone said she was spotted some distance away across the street. Now she's back here where she first appeared.
We also have some that were around for sometime and they were beautiful cats and have not been around since and we guess that they were adopted by someone (I hope). People will take the nicer cats home.

And we have a case here that two of our resident strays have been poisoned band it was reported to the police.

As for older cats or sick cats, they cannot be attended to all the time as they are not house cats which are easier to look after. Some have sickness and they die of a natural cause and some die as to like the case above. Some live a longer time and some don't as that depends on the living environment, the people around them whether they are cat lovers or not and if living conditions were good and hey are well taken care of, I guess they could live a longer time. It's important to have good rescue group around in the neighborhood.
Thanks for your words of wisdom. The last two weeks has been hellish for me. If my little guy passed away, it would probably be for the best. I didn't want him to suffer.
 
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Whenallhellbreakslose

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Thanks for your words of wisdom. The last two weeks has been hellish for me. If my little guy passed away, it would probably be for the best. I didn't want him to suffer.
So sorry about the poisoned cats. I had another cat along with the cat I just mentioned above get very sick at the same time. It entered my mind that poison could be a factor. However the female cat who got sick wandered away. I didn't see her for days and thought the worse. Strangely, she has resurfaced 3 weekends in a row and ate with her buddies as if nothing was wrong. I saw her last Saturday, and she looked fine, so I think she found a new feeder. I hope that she is okay. This time of year is bad with accidentally poisonings (antifreeze for winterizing the car). However, there are always sickos out there who are capable of deliberate poisoning. 😡😡😡 Don't put me in a room with these people, it won't be pretty.
 

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Thanks for your words of wisdom. The last two weeks has been hellish for me. If my little guy passed away, it would probably be for the best. I didn't want him to suffer.
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It's sad to see that you don't see them anymore but to wonder what happened to them but it is always the thinking that they were taken to a good home and that is as much as we can speculate and nothing much can be done.

Yes, it is also great to see them back after some time just like the one I mentioned in my post.

The poisoned cats are really nice resident strays and many people who sees them will stop and get them and bring them food and one of them actually waited daily at the lift for a particular person to come sit, pet, talk and feed him and sometimes we find him taking the lift and jokingly we'll ask him which floor are you going to, Sir? But sadly he and one of his companion disappeared and was later found by the cleaners in another area.

For strays and ferals, we can only hope the best for them and hope they don't fall into the hands of cat haters 🙏 They do tug our heart strings but we can only do that much at times.
 
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Whenallhellbreakslose

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Update: He was on my deck an hour ago. I tried feeding him the softest food I could find and he wouldn't eat what I laid out and wandered off the property. I have set a trap out for him and if I catch him I am taking him somewhere where he can be euthanized for a small fee, everywhere else I checked wanted $300. It is times like this, I really wish I had some money socked away, instead everything goes towards bills and expenses. Well wish me luck. I hope I get him and hope he doesn't pass away in one of my neighbors yards, particularly the one who is telling others he put a complaint in on me for feeding cats on my stoop. Oh well, I haven't heard from any authorities yet. You know, the picture is so clear with the cat feeder/horder. She knew I had territorial backyard cats and couldn't feed at the side or back of the house because they were chased away. I was the decoy feeder because I had no choice, but to feed those cats on my front stoop. The feeder/horder was deflecting attention from herself and I was the fall guy. I was highly visible and the neighbors associated all the cats with me, despite trying to feed just a small group out front. In the last few months more and more hungry cats were raiding my feedings. It is calming down know since I stand outside on watch. I did an experiment yesterday, I shooed the front step kitties away and waited as long as I could to see if they would go back to her. Five hours later, they were still in front of my house. I then fed them and they were super hungry. It just breaks my heart that they cry for food and are really hungry. I wish that tnr group understood my predicament here, but I think that other cat feeder was badmouthing me to them for quite awhile because they didn't want to hear anything I had to say, no matter how valid my points were, they were 100% on her side. Very frustrating.☹
 
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Update: He was on my deck an hour ago. I tried feeding him the softest food I could find and he wouldn't eat what I laid out and wandered off the property. I have set a trap out for him and if I catch him I am taking him somewhere where he can be euthanized for a small fee, everywhere else I checked wanted $300. It is times like this, I really wish I had some money socked away, instead everything goes towards bills and expenses. Well wish me luck. I hope I get him and hope he doesn't pass away in one of my neighbors yards, particularly the one who is telling others he put a complaint in on me for feeding cats on my stoop. Oh well, I haven't heard from any authorities yet. You know, the picture is so clear with the cat feeder/horder. She knew I had territorial backyard cats and couldn't feed at the side or back of the house because they were chased away. I was the decoy feeder because I had no choice, but to feed those cats on my front stoop. The feeder/horder was deflecting attention from herself and I was the fall guy. I was highly visible and the neighbors associated all the cats with me, despite trying to feed just a small group out front. In the last few months more and more hungry cats were raiding my feedings. It is calming down know since I stand outside on watch. I did an experiment yesterday, I shooed the front step kitties away and waited as long as I could to see if they would go back to her. Five hours later, they were still in front of my house. I then fed them and they were super hungry. It just breaks my heart that they cry for food and are really hungry. I wish that tnr group understood my predicament here, but I think that other cat feeder was badmouthing me to them for quite awhile because they didn't want to hear anything I had to say, no matter how valid my points were, they were 100% on her side. Very frustrating.☹
Yesterday was a failure with trapping. He got in the yard after I removed the trap and by that time I was feeling physically sick. I just couldn't trap, so I blocked off all entry points to the yard. Well, he got out again this morning. My sister said she briefly seen him. Now I fortified the barriers preventing the escape routes and have only one entrance he can use, I strategically placed a trap at the entrance under a gate and blocked off everything around it. I think I will add more bricks to be on the safe side, he is very weak, but it is the other cats who will help him escape that I am afraid of. Wish me look. I am so frustrated he got off the property and I am I sad he is still alive. I don't want him to suffer, and also I don't want him dying in someone else's yard. I intend to take him to be put down when I capture him. I have up until 3pm if I caught him. I am so frustrated over this situation.
 

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moxiewild

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I am so sorry, this always sucks :(

Hopefully he will go in the trap soon.

Do you have a local animal control? You can usually take an animal/pet there and request it be euthanized. It’s usually much cheaper, although the downsides vary.

I would call beforehand to ask if they do this, how much it is, and what their procedure looks like. Explain you’re struggling financially but would like to be there as he passed (if that’s something you want), and see if they’ll let you. Be sure to ask if the use a sedative before actually euthanizing.
 
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I am so sorry, this always sucks :(

Hopefully he will go in the trap soon.

Do you have a local animal control? You can usually take an animal/pet there and request it be euthanized. It’s usually much cheaper, although the downsides vary.

I would call beforehand to ask if they do this, how much it is, and what their procedure looks like. Explain you’re struggling financially but would like to be there as he passed (if that’s something you want), and see if they’ll let you. Be sure to ask if the use a sedative before actually euthanizing.
Yes, that is where he is going if caught. I really thought he would quietly pass away in my yard, but his buddies helped him escape. If I can't trap him than see if he comes back on my property and keep him comfortable in his shelter and leave him. Hopefully, I blocked every exit my yard. I am running out of time to take him in today and I am not allowed to take him into the garage, so all I can do is make him comfortable and make sure he can't escape the yard this time.
 
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Well, I must sadly announce that this poor kitty must have passed away. I haven't seen any sign of him today. He was seen walking around last night. I tried to lure him into the backyard, but no luck. My sister then saw him one last time go down by the the semi-forested area by the rail road. This area is restricted and has a fence surrounding it. It is also home to plenty of raccoons and opposums. I went in there once years ago. I nearly killed myself tripping over a branch on a slope. That area is very rough.

Well, all I can say is RIP, little buddy. Gone, but never forgotten.😢
 
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Hello, I am new to this forum. I chose this crazy user name because I am in between a rock and a hard place and the attacks are getting nastier and nastier each day-so it sums up things pretty well. I am a struggling unemployed cat feeder who scrapes by in feeding the outdoor cats and trying to nurse sick cats back to health. I was feeding 5 backyard kitties, this time last year. The problem started when one of the other cat feeders on my block moved and left her cats in the care of another cat feeder on the block who said she could take them on. I don't know exactly how many cats the other feeder has, it may be around 15 while the previous cat feeder had 6 cats. Well slowly over the late fall and into Winter these cats started coming to me one by one until I had a small cat colony hanging around my front stoop everyday. I got dirty looks from some of the neighbors and I heard their grumblings. I did try to shoo them away in hope that they go back to the other feeder. No such luck! They got attached to me, and truth be told I like them too. I found out that they were being bullied out of the other feeder's yard by the bigger cats she feeds. That explained a lot! However in the last month 3-5 more cats were coming to me, including the "bullies". I tried to shoo them away, but they were stubborn and I ended up feeding them. All the while my neighbors were getting more and more pissed off. There is another feeder on the block, but he is what I called a casual feeder. He has never feed full time and I don't think he knows what is involved in cat feeding, especially in the winter. He has given me cans of food at times. He means well, but he has the the idea that you throw a little food at the cats and they will be okay. He gives some of the cats food in the morning. I am thankful that he helps out that way.

I have two of my backyard cats get sick. I was running out getting them special food and supplements. These cats keep drifting away from me and then coming back to me for food. Maybe they found another feeder, but I am very concerned because they seem sick to me. I intended to take them in the garage, and nurse them back to health, but I have a major problem with the owner of the house I live in, she does not want me to feed any cats now and will not let me take them in to nurse them back to health. I get hell from her on a lot lately.
On top of that my neighbors are talking crap about me, one of them bragged about putting complaints in on me and that I should get sued for cat feeding. TG I live in a state that does not consider the cats you feed as your own, opening you up to legal action. My state is very decent when it comes to outdoor cats. Also, I keep everything clean, as not to cause health issues.

To try to make a long story short. I reached out to rescuers and organizations at the request of the feeder's husband who wants his yard back and said he would pay anything for this to happen. There are too many cats roaming our streets despite nearly all of them being tned( just one older male the other cat feeder feeds). Also we have had new people move on the block with young children. For that and other reasons, including cats lying in the streets(accident waiting to happen) I searched for help. Some rescuers offered me some help with food and medicine, while one person who runs a cat sanctuary offered to work with me and my neighbor to get some of the cats off the street. The other feeder was furious with me when she found out I was trying to get the cats off the streets. I told her it is for the best and that I was worried about these cats and their survival. Well now we are not on speaking terms and her husband is not standing by me doing what I was asked (begged) to do. Just threw me under the bus!!!😡

Now the cats remain on the streets and I have to prepare for winter while looking for my sick cats. They ate well in the last few days and then they disappeared again. One of them has matted fur that I want to shave down so badly and get him to feel better. I am agonizing over how I can help them and all the kitties. Everyone is crowding me with negativity and the old "Stop feeding the cats and they will go away." 😬 I need some moral support. I feel so alone in this situation. Thank you for reading this very long post. I appreciate any advise you can give. Please no negative replies--i get enough of that everyday.
I wasn't sure if I was going to put an update, but here it is. I have a backyard kitty that wandered off to another feeder and only came to me for 1 day on the weekend for a month. Well, it is now 10 days and I haven't seen any sign of her. I think she was permanently taken into either a feeders backyard or was adopted. My kitty is a little friendly, so if she was taken off the streets, it might take awhile before she comes around. My other backyard kitties were drifting away for awhile, but they returned, now one drifts away at times

I thought I saw one of the backyard kitties harassing the front stoop kitties. When i tried to break it up, i was confused, the kitty looked alot like my b.y. kitty(the drifter), but something was different. I hope it is not another newbie, I don't know if I can handle anymore. Well, I am still looking for my b.y. cat. She probably wandered off again

We still have too many kitties on our block. I really wish that a bunch was taken off the streets. I will feed through winter, but come spring there has to be something done. I still hear the neighbors gripe. Ofcourse, no one comes to me to tell me they are unhappy with the situation--- but I hear their complaints loud and clear. As mentioned I think I was the fall guy who the otherfeeder kept dumping cats on because she knew I couldn't feed at the back or side of house, so I was front and center and the neighbor's eyes were on me and while I feed 8 front stoop kitties now and 3 backyard, she easily feeds 25 cats everyday (maybe more now).

I am sorry I don't mean to rehash things, but I am still getting hell over the cats. The house owner is putting tons of pressure on me to stop feeding, but I can't do that and especially that winter is around the corner. I seriously never got some much continuous aggravation over anything before. Yes some troubling, stressful, aggravating situations, but they eventually came to an end. This is ongoing and draining. After this situation gets resolved (with good outcome for kitties), I think I am done with cat feeding for awhile. I need to focus on other things in life. I need a laser like focus in my life to accomplish what I need to. As much as I love the kitties, this must come to an end.
 
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