Caring for feral cats & how to feed with yellow jacket problem

[TerriJ]

With the assistance of a cat rescue organization we trapped and had 5 ferals spade and neutered. It took some time, but it was well worth it. Of the 5, only 3 come around once or twice daily for food and water, 1 visits randomly and the only male disappeared about a month after being neutered.

Biggest problem we're dealing with right now is yellow jackets. Sprayed 3 nests on our property. I stepped next to a nest and was stung multiple times with a severe reaction. We have multiple traps hanging around and my husband put together the water type traps. We got a lot of them that way. There are still more!! We think there are nests over the fence at the neighbors. My husband is going to see if they will allow him to spray the nests
In the meantime, I'm trying to feed the cats. It takes the yellow jackets less than 20 seconds to start flying in once I put food out. There are so many they almost cover the food. The youngest cat decided on her own that she wanted to cross over a little from feral to domestic. It blew my mind! I've tried getting her to come in the kitchen to eat, but she is too fearful. My husband can pick her up, but only for brief periods. Not long enough to get her in the kitchen. Now I feed them before sunup and after sundown. Problem is they aren't all there at once and I can't leave the food out too long. Does anyone have suggestions on how to keep the wasps off of the food long enough for them to eat?

2nd question(s) is about flea, ear mite and worm control. Vets won't prescribe treatment unless they examine the cat. I'm sure there license requires that. The kitty that loves to have us pet her, I could probably get Advantage 11 applied, but does it work? The only wormer I have found is for round worms. There are homeopathic wormers, but they have to be strictly dosed and I can't rely on each cat showing up 2-3 times a day for that. For now I'll use the dewormer for roundworms.
Ear mites is a whole other story! I wish there was something I could put in their food to cover all these pests.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[cmshap]

I have some minor knowledge about yellow jackets. Unfortunately in many cases, complete nest removal is the only way to get rid of the problem. Do you have any large nest(s)? If so, often the best thing you can do is hire someone to completely remove it.

When there is an infestation like you describe, there is likely a large nest nearby, possibly one you can't see (like a ground nest).

If this is a serious problem (you described having a severe reaction, as well as as causing problems with your cats), I'd consider hiring a professional to assess and remove the nests. If you have the means, of course.

 

[TerriJ]

Thank you and I agree. We believe there is a nest on a neighboring property, so we have to obtain permission to look for it first. My husband and I have a tree nursery and a side landscape business. He also has a pesticide applicators license. However, I like the idea of a professional with protective gear dealing with it, but I don't think my husband will go for it. If he locates it he will spray it at night. I'm hoping the cats will clue into new feeding times for now.

Any advice on pest treatment questions for the cats?

 

[fionasmom]

If you can apply Advantage II (do not use any Hartz products) or another OTC product like Frontline, it would be a good start. With the ferals who do come to eat, can you approach the other two at all? I have been able to walk up behind a couple of my ferals while they are eating and apply Advantage in a quick squeeze to the back of their necks. If they won't let you near, it is another story. Any oral wormer, as you say, would be difficult to use as you don't know who eats how much of what is in the food, or refuses to eat the food with it mixed in.

Revolution will cure ear mites, but it is prescription. You would need to bring in at least one kitten which would allow you to purchase a package of it.

Yellow jackets are a mess; we had them at our other house, probably not in the amount that you do. Spraying worked, but they always returned.

 

[cmshap]

I like the idea of a professional with protective gear dealing with it, but I don't think my husband will go for it. If he locates it he will spray it at night.

I don't know how big these nests are you're talking about, but given a big enough size, night spraying isn't necessarily effective.

If you're talking about a papered wasp nest covered in envelope, the most effective way to spray at night is to puncture holes in multiple locations and spray liberally inside (as opposed to just spraying in the opening).

If it's a ground nest, spray won't do anything to it. You have to completely dig it up.

I grew up on a large property that used to be a farm, and we had wasps all the time, and some very large nests. My dad was a former beekeeper in another lifetime, so he had old protective equipment, and preferred to manually remove nests vs. spray them, as spraying would take multiple cans of the stuff and only partially work.

If they were nests attached to walls/overhangs, and not too big, they could be scraped off at night with a paint scraper and dropped quickly into a garbage bag, then sealed, then submerged in a bucket of water with a few drops of dish soap to drown them. This usually requires no gear or anything. (FYI, I am not explaining this as advice, as it can be dangerous especially if you have an allergy to stings.)

A ground nest has to be dug up. I watched my dad do that once with his beekeeper gear on, and he said he was never doing that again himself. He was stung dozens of times through the suit (it wasn't the right kind of gear for that work, but he was the kind of dad who always wanted to do it himself... which brushed off on me a little, as I always try the DOY route first, myself).