Do I bring her with us?

[dragonlady2]

I will try to make this brief. A mother cat came to our home about 2 1/2 years ago with 4 starving kittens. We began feeding them and her outdoors. We trapped the females and had them spayed. The mother cat had another litter which she brought to our deck. In the meantime, my husband found a kitten on a side road which he brought home. She was spayed. We caught the second litter of kittens and raised them until they were 3 months out in our garage. We brought 2 of them to the Humane Society and brought 2 of them inside they gave been spayed. The mother and one of the first females have stayed on our back deck with us feeding them and building them a cat house with a heating pad. Mother is much more wild than the daughter. I have had the younger cat eat from my hand and she will meow to me when I come out with food, although she is still cautious. We are moving and leaving the province in 2 months. Do I slowly stop feeding them and get them to be more independent from me, preparing them to fend for themselves? They are excellent hunters as evidenced by the feathers, squirrel tails, rabbit fur I keep finding. Or, do I try to bring them in and take them with us?

 

[catsfurme]

Wow, that's a tough one.  I will be facing the same delima myself soon.

Is there a Feral Cat Coalition in your area?  Or a Humane Society?  How about a shelter?  I would contact them. 

Is it possible another neighbor take over?

I can't leave mine behind without knowing they would be cared for.  

 

[dragonlady2]

I have tried in the past to bring the cats to a feral cat shelter.  I even offered to pay for spaying and pay towards the cost of keeping them.  They refused as we were out of area. I have contacted the Humane Society who basically told me they would probably have to Euthanize them as they were not tame = not adoptable.

I think I am going to try to bring in both cats and keep them in a spare room in the back.  i will set up a large dog crate to feed them in.  I will let them wander in the room and I will bring in their cat house and put out some tunnels for hiding in.  In the next couple of months, if they have settled somewhat, I may try taking them with us and introducing them to the other cats once we get there.  If it does not work out, I am prepared to crate them, fly them back to this area and have our neighbour across the street pick them up and release again. It would have to be really unworkable for me to do this and it would be my last resort.  I am more concerned about the younger cat as she has been fed by us from the beginning when she was a kitten.

We are moving to a huge place where there will be a lot more room and rooms to explore.  But this means we will have 5 cats, along with the 2 dogs who get along with the indoor and outdoor cats very well and my 13 parrots/birds. We are building a wall in the building to create a bird area away from the other animals.

Whew!

 

[ondine]

I think moving them is the best approach, even though it will be the most challenging.  If you have that much room at the new place, keeping them confined for a few weeks will help them get acclimated to the new area (a barn, a shed or garage are excellent options).  They will learn to consider it "home."

I did not see whether mom and daughter were spayed but that should be done while you have them captive.  They may not calm down inside; as ferals, they may be intimidated and frightened by all the new sounds, sights and senses.  Don't worry about that.  The changes are going to be upsetting to them and they will react with frightened behaviors (hissing, scrambling around, hiding, etc.)

I would suggest that you either keep them completely crated for the interim (inside your current house) or make very sure there is no furniture for them to get behind or under.  Once they are let loose in the room, make sure you can get to them easily.

Getting them to a vet as soon as you trap them is a good idea too.  That way, they can get the vaccinations, be cleared for parasites (and spayed if needed) before the move.

Thank you for not abandoning them!  I am working with a very friendly cat right now whose owner died.  A neighbor took over feeding him but moved and left him behind.  He is a sweet old man who only wants to be petted.  His health issues are such at this time that he may have to be euthanized but I am keeping fingers crossed.  All because someone left him behind.

 

[dragonlady2]

We have trapped and spayed both cats already.  I plan to strip the back room of anything they can hide under.  I don't think they can be completely feral as I have been able to pet the younger cat before and she was eating from my hand.  When i sit on the deck reading, they, and in particular, the younger cat will lay down around my chair.  I just haven't spent significant time with them as I never intended to have them in my home.  I plan on having them in our new home...there really isn't an outdoor building to keep them in. The vet visit may be tricky due to the mother cat being a whole lot wilder than the younger cat.  I do need to deflea and deworm for sure and am keeping my fingers crossed that this time around for the vet will be a little easier.  When we had the mother spayed,she escaped from the crate while they were trying to transfer her to one of theirs, she bit the student there, had to stay in quarantine for 10 days.  She won't be happy!

 

[catsfurme]

Ditto what Ondine said, thank you for not abandoning them.  I was told that when a feral gets used to someone being their food source they have to learn to forage for themselves when that food source is not longer available.

I am in somewhat the same situation.  None of the shelters or humane society will take any kind of homeless cats, there are just too many.  It is up to people (like us) to care for these little creatures.

In the past month I have had three females in the neighborhood have kitties.  One gave birth to 6 kitties (maybe 7); another 5 babies, and another who I have not been priveleged to see yet.  The first batch is about 5 weeks, (I have seen them), the second batch is about 6 days old, the last group may be a week old.

I could not abandon them.

I applaud you for doing the right thing for those cats.  They may not understand that you are saving their lives; nevertheless, you are doing the right thing.  Wish I had a large golden trophy for you.  

 

[dragonlady2]

Thanks CatsFurMe...the cats have been coming less now due to good weather and I started second guessing myself regarding trying to catch them and take them. I am so worried due to the winter that I feel I just have to try. I am waiting until the beginning of May so that I can devote a separate room to them.

 

[dragonlady2]

Update. So, I was finally able to trap them the night before we were leaving! I had just about given up hope as they both were able to escape the live trap. I rigged the home made crate we made and in a last ditch effort put the food in there and waited until they went in to eat and released the drop down door on them. It took us 2 1/2 days to get here. They stayed in the crate with the bird crates piled on top of them. We took a small room in the new place and cut a hole to the outside for them to go in and out of and built them an enclosed run. We will be adding a two story condo once we are settled. Unfortunately, they are not happy and very skittish now. I know it will take some time, but I feel bad about taking their freedom away. They will not be able to roam here due to the coyote population which has pretty much cleaned up all the other stray cats. They have an indoor crate which leads to the outside and it will have a heating pad for the colder months. I am hoping they will settle in, but I can't help worrying about the quality of their life.

 

[ondine]

The quality of their lives is fantastic! They have food, a safe place to sleep and explore and humans who care. Do not let some ideal of what they "should" have make that appear any less than it is. I am so happy you took them. They are safe and that's what counts. You are the best!

 

[shadowsrescue]

What an awesome story.  I am thrilled you were able to catch them.  They will be forever grateful to you!!  Try some feliway plug ins to help them adjust as well as some Composure feline treats or Composure liquid max to put in their wet food.  It is an all natural calming product.  It works very well. 

Thanks so much for the wonderful update!

 

[dragonlady2]

Thanks for the positive feedback...I have been second guessing myself. I will look for some of the products to assist with calming them down.

 

[red top rescue]

So glad you were able to get BOTH of them and not have to leave one behind.  You can probably build them a super enclosure with the 2-story condo over time.  They will adjust, too.  All ferals require is time, lots and lots of time, and infinite patience, and now they have it, and you don't have to worry about them when winter comes.

 

[dragonlady2]

So, another update...the cats were definitely not happy in the run that we made them, so we went ahead and made an eight feet by eight by eight enclosure that has a second level with a cat house on that level and a swing hanging below that level. They are much happier and more settled. They do not come into the house at night and prefer to stay in their cat house. I came prepared to administer "Revolution" on all the cats and dogs , however, there is no way that I will be able to get near them for this. Any suggestions?

 

[ondine]

These kitties hit Kitten Nirvana when they wandered into your lives.  Thanks for this great update.

You might be able to use Diatomaceous Earth (food grade, available on Amazon).  It is a powder (the consistency of fine flour) that you sprinkle on their food.  It basically shreds the tape worms that have a symbiotic relationship with fleas.  You can also sprinkle in on bedding and the ground of their enclosure and it will shred fleas and ticks.

Careful spreading it - it is very fine and has the tendency to drift.  Don't inhale it.

I am also having a problem applying Revolution to one of my ferals.  I applied it all last summer but he's decided he doesn't like it this year.  I am using DE and it has helped a lot.

 

[shadowsrescue]

So, another update...the cats were definitely not happy in the run that we made them, so we went ahead and made an eight feet by eight by eight enclosure that has a second level with a cat house on that level and a swing hanging below that level. They are much happier and more settled. They do not come into the house at night and prefer to stay in their cat house. I came prepared to administer "Revolution" on all the cats and dogs , however, there is no way that I will be able to get near them for this. Any suggestions?

Wow!  The enclosure sounds awesome.  I would love to see a picture of it. 

I have 2 outside ferals that I have been trying to get Revolution on this summer.  It has been a nightmare.  One of them is long furred and it doesn't seem to bother him.  The other feral is short haired and he has a fit a runs as soon as the drops hit his back.  I do my best to get as much of it as possible on him, but figure that some is better than none.  Last month split the dosage in two over two days.  I may skip this month and give it only every other month and see what happens.  I do not apply it in the winter.

 

[dragonlady2]

Thanks so much. Gonna order it today. I worry so much about fleas, worms, tics etc. how often should I spread this stuff?

 

[ondine]

I have straw on the floor of my compound and I spread mine about once a month all summer, although I noticed it isn't needed as much toward the end of the season.  Does its job.  I feed it to them once a month or so, too - again in summer only.  I check them for ticks and fleas (I am able to pet them).  If they seem clear, I'll skip a dose.

I'll put it in the straw in their shelters in the fall, too, just in case there are eggs in there.

Oh, did I mention that it also helps with worms - Bonus!

 

[snugglecat]

 
These kitties hit Kitten Nirvana when they wandered into your lives.  Thanks for this great update.

You might be able to use Diatomaceous Earth (food grade, available on Amazon).  It is a powder (the consistency of fine flour) that you sprinkle on their food.  It basically shreds the tape worms that have a symbiotic relationship with fleas.  You can also sprinkle in on bedding and the ground of their enclosure and it will shred fleas and ticks.

Careful spreading it - it is very fine and has the tendency to drift.  Don't inhale it.

I am also having a problem applying Revolution to one of my ferals.  I applied it all last summer but he's decided he doesn't like it this year.  I am using DE and it has helped a lot.

I too am not able to touch my feral cats to put flea treatment on them. I have some DE and was wondering when putting it in the food do you give it for several days for it to work or do you just put it in food once every month. I will be changing the bedding in the shelters and will put some DE  in those. Do I put it on the floor of the shelter and then the straw on top or sprinkle it in the straw? Mine are itching a lot and right now I think they have tapeworms again.

 

[ondine]

I just sprinkle a pinch on their wet food and sprinkle it on their straw bedding. Make sure the DE you put on their food is food grade. The stuff they sell in pool supply places has chemicals in it.