Cats invaded my Apartment complex.

catinvasionapartment

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Hello everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right channel to post this in, I don't usually participate in forums, but I wanted to ask for help with a cat problem in my apartment complex.

I moved into this apartment 2 years ago, it is in the same city as my university, but I wanted to live in it because it's in a quieter neighborhood so I can keep to myself, study, and work a part-time job, and come home to peace. However, since last summer, it hasn't been all that "peaceful" anymore.
There have always been cats. Maybe 3 or 4 at most, stray cats are common where I live, as are the free going owned cats. I don't have a cat, I don't want a cat, but I feel like I have a whole horde of them now because they have decided to live in my apartment complex. The children living downstairs put food out last summer so they can play with them, and now, they're everywhere. Before, I would occasionally see a cat in the parking lot, or hear them fighting at night, but it never bothered me. I don't mind cats, I'm not allergic nor do I have a dislike against them, but it's the excessiveness of cats that is problematic.

They meow at 4am. Every, single, morning, at 4am, there's one meowing at the main door because it wants to be let in, or they fight right outside the apartment. Someone lets them in, and there's 2 or 3 every morning in the stairwell. I wouldn't be bothered by them, if they didn't sit on the steps and swat and scratch at people going up or down the steps. There's also cat waste more often than not in the stairwell, laundry room, hallway, etc. The landlord knows about this, every residence has gotten a letter saying along the lines of "don't leave your cats in the hallway", but he sent this a month ago and there are still cats in the hallway, and I'm sure there will be more since spring is on the way in a few months and cats reproduce. In total there's at least 7 or 8, some I can't tell if it's one cat or 2 identical ones.

The obvious solution would be to round them up and drop them off at a shelter, which I would love to do, if there was a no-kill shelter in the area. Morally, I would rather be woken up and scratched by them than bring them to their possible death. I'm not really sure what else to do, I would like for them to relocate but they don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Not all are aggressive, these 2 behaved normally last I saw them.
cat1.png cat2.png

And then there's this lovely specimen.
cat3.png

Any advice on how to humanely relocate them would be appreciated, or if not, at least anything on how to stop the aggression and chaotic behavior.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi and welcome to TCS, even though it isn't the reason most folks join. I honestly think you are trying to fight a losing battle. You have folks that feed them, allow them indoors, and there is likely no reason they are inclined to stop anytime soon. As long as there are cats around, many left to fend for themselves or not properly treated as pets, there will be 'aggression and chaotic behavior' with some of them. Some of these cats may even be 'indoor/outdoor cats' owned by people in the building. No one can 'legally' just take these cats away without finding out if any/all have owners. And, the landlord is likely not going to go through that tedious process, nor will they 'remove' them and relocate them. Besides, people who dump cats away from where they are used to being, often find out the cats find their way to back to what they know and consider their home.

You can use a web site like Nextdoor Neighbor (local to your area - nextdoor.com) and see if you can reach out to folks that care for strays and ferals and/or are affiliated with a rescue group, and ask if they have any ideas. But, relocating cats isn't typically what goes on; the biggest thing is TNR (trap, neuter, and release - as in, back to where they were found), to help reduce the overabundance of new kittens that become part of the stray/feral colonies. However, some of these folks will also assess the nature of the cats, and if room is available in a no-kill rescue (hard to find nowadays), they might be willing to trap some and hand them over to them for care and socialization in the hopes they can be adopted as pets.

I could go on as to why this all is happening, such as people having outdoor, unneutered pets, and those who drop pets off somewhere after they decide they don't want them anymore - but, none of that is going to stop any time soon, if ever.
 
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catinvasionapartment

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Thank you so much for your advice, I appreciate it a lot. I do believe some are owned by people in the building, there's a few that are on the heavier side. I will definitely search for a TNR or rescue group in the area, it does seem like the best option since it appears as though the cats are here to stay.
 

Avery

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Thanks for your concern for these cats. Lots of good ideas from FeebysOwner above. In my opinion, it is the landlord's responsibility to be stricter about this situation. He should set a deadline for everyone to keep their cats indoors and after that time, any cats still roaming around can be trapped (if necessary) or taken in carriers to a no-kill shelter. (I wasn't sure if you were indicating that there were none around, but maybe look a bit further away.) As suggested, if you can find rescue groups to either take the cats or help find homes for them, that would be great.

Alley Cat Allies has a website with a way to search for local resources. It is a little clunky, but you can try it and see if there is any person or organization near you that could help. Here is the link:
Resources
 
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catinvasionapartment

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Yes there are none around, my apologies if the wording was confusing, English is my second language. I believe the nearest one is around 4 hours away by car, I've thought about making the trip, but with university and work I can't find the time. Thank you so much for your advice, I will give Alley Cat Allies a look.
 
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