feeding feral cats.

buffy2011 · Mar 20, 2014

I was looking for something on feral cats and came across this article. (below) Believe me, I have a very hard time seeing a cat run threw my yard not knowing if it is hungry or not. So here we go again, I put food out. It just breaks my heart not knowing if this cat has a real home. I know how I feel about this but " What are peoples thoughts on this article" ?

SHOULD I FEED STRAY CATS? No. No no no no no no no. This is one of the worst things you can do for both cats and the ecosystem of local wildlife. Never feed any wild animals. It may be a lot of fun, and it may make you feel good, but it will always result in an overpopulation of unhealthy and suffering animals. Every time. I've seen it too many times - people feed stray cats, the population explodes, and the whole lot ultimately ends up underfed, with puss-filled eyes, flea-ridden and diseased mangy cats. If you want a pet cat, take it in and take care of it, but do not feed wild cats or any wildlife.

jane11 · Mar 20, 2014

We always attempt to help ferals. It's true that feeding them can lead to an increase in population, but not feeding them will lead to increased predation, fighting among hungry cats, bite wounds, gouged out eyes, the spread of FIV, FELV, and even possibly rabies - all the things that the author purports to fear that feeding will cause.

No starving animal will just slink off and die of starvation quietly, and that does not just include cats. A point that this argument ignores.

Cats that cannot hunt enough prey, or find enough food in the trash suffer horribly, please take my word for it. Last June a female longhair came running up to me as I was out in the garden. She began meowing frantically, and circling my legs. Of course, I went in and got her some food, while my neighbor went and grabbed one of my pet porters. I put the food in the carrier, and she walked right in after it. The food was all gone by the time she realized the door was closed.

Almost immediately she vomited up everything.

She was so round that I immediately assumed she must be pregnant. To make a long story short, she was not pregnant - she was bloated because she was starving to death. It took her weeks before she could eat without throwing most of it up. It took her months before she stopped following me every time I left a room, or crying pitifully if I closed the door while I took a shower.

She still howls when I leave her alone. ( I named her Marie, after a dear friend who passed far too young)

You can often borrow a safe trap from a local humane society. Harbor Freight and Tractor Supply sell them cheaply.

Some shelters will offer help in getting strays neutered. We now drive 50+ miles to take strays to a vet who we can afford and who we trust not to foul up the operation. Trust me, it is worth it. I think the figure is one neutered male, and one neutered female prevents over 420,000 potential births.

I'm sure you will get many responses telling you I am an idiot. But after what I've seen first hand, there is NO WAY I could say just let them starve.

Anne · Mar 21, 2014

I think that when someone feeds it's also their responsibility to spay and neuter the cats. I definitely think we should help feral cats but I agree that feeding without spay/neutering them is irresponsible and could cause much more suffering down the road.

StefanZ · Mar 21, 2014

The answer is both yes and no.

We here, most forumists and staff on the TCS, do agree to not "just" leave out food for the ferales and homeless.

However, most of us do it, and or try to rescue and adopt those we think are dumped or may be socialized.

(Jane, your Marie was surely a dumped family girl - she is an excellent example of cat most of us would try to help one way or another.

Well done, madam sir!)

The key is to have a plan with what you do if you want to feed them.

1. Socialize and adopt these who are adoptable if you can

2. And the answer for all the remaining is not really 42. The answer is TNR.

Spayed / neutered they wont multiply, and in overall, they will manage much better, both if they still are ferale / homeless, or to find spontan adopters.

There are no contra-indications of feeding these TNR-ed ferales. Its even a praiseworthy deed.

And yes, of course you do neuter spay also owned home cats, unless you are a breeder. That is best so.

msaimee · Mar 21, 2014

I don't think it's right for anyone to judge people who feed hungry feral and stray cats when these people may not be in a position where they can afford to do TNR. I am blessed with a decent job, so I've been able to pay the $250-300 dollars it costs me to spay and vaccinate a feral cat, and in one case $700 for extensive veterinarian care. There is a low cost spay/neuter clinic 25 miles from me, but you have to book at least a month in advance, and if you can't trap the cat on the day of your appointment, you lose your money. The other clinic in my area that treats ferals is available 24/7, but it costs what I've sited above. Very few areas have clinics that you can just bring a cat to whenever you trap it, and for low lost. It's ridiculous to suggest that if a person doesn't have the financial means to TNR that they are being irresponsible for not allowing cats to starve to death.

StefanZ · Mar 21, 2014

MsAimee said:
. It's ridiculous to suggest that if a person doesn't have the financial means to TNR that they are being irresponsible for not allowing cats to starve to death.

Very true.

That is why my recommendation is not Do this or Do that, but If you do, have a plan with that.

Try to find a TNR group. Or organize such a one yourself. Or find a sponsor of some sort...

A captured ferale can be held in the trap 24 hours or even somewhat more, without big problems. Not optimal, but they ARE used to hide in a hole even for days. A shy cat you take home, ferale or even bought, may typically hide under your bed both 2 or even 3 days, no?

So a captured ferale doenst need to be immediately transported to vet. Next day is also OK.

And so on...

So, when the need arises, reach out your hand and help when and if the help is necessary NOW. I dont quarrel that.

But deciding to help and giving some food, you must be aware it is just a first step, not the whole of it.

It is a good deed to give a hungry person a meal. But it becomes really good deed firstly when you teach the person [how to find his own food / teach occupation]

buffy2011 · Mar 21, 2014

Jane don't get me wrong, I too as I said have to feed them. I just copied and pasted this article that I found. I actually have a feral that was 7 months old when I caught her. I had it spayed and I decided to keep her, so as of right now we are taming her. Before this I had gotten two litters a total of 7 kittens and actually was lucking enough to find a place for all of them. I had called the animal control about the kitten I have and they said if caught they would put it to sleep, they have no more room for anything. I couldn't do that. So they gave me a name of a group that will spay and neuter, with shots for a reasonable price, and told me to just let it back outside in a few days. So I caught the kitten and did that with all intentions of leaving her go but the weather was so bad that she has been here a long time so we will just keep trying to tame her. But now I have two other feral cats that I have been feeding all winter. Not sure if they are male or female but I do know that they are adults and they are really wild. My intentions are to spay or neuter them and let them go. I can't keep anymore cats. I have two inside cats already and now this kitten. I just feel so bad for any animal that I see running around, not knowing if they have a home or not. I mentioned this to the lady of the group that spayed and neuters the cats and this is what she told me. You can't help everyone you see, but the ones you helped are going to live a happier, healthier life. So I just have to keep telling myself that.

buffy2011 · Mar 21, 2014

Just want to reply about the clinic you were talking about that wants a months notice in advance. The one I took my kitten too was also the same way. But they told me if I didn't catch the cat by a certain time to call them so they had time to fill the spot. They would just schedule me for another time. They were very nice about it. They understand how this all works with these feral cats. And also the cat can't have any food the night before the surgery, so you have to catch them the day before. I caught mine in the morning the day before the surgery. Not sure what price your clinic quoted you but it has to be much cheaper then not going threw the clinic. I know no one wants to lose there money, but I thought if I did have to lose my money I would just consider it a donation, because I couldn't beat the clinic price even if I did pay twice. All there donations go for other cats that need spayed and neutered. So I feel its a very good cause.

jane11 · Mar 22, 2014

I definitely agree that if possible, it is always desirable to TNR any ferals, That is why I always mention places to borrow or buy a trap.

But, I also think it is better to feed if necessary to prevent starvation, and then line up help doing the rest of the process, than just letting a stray go hungry. The feral you plan to feed after you have your trap and vets appt set up may not be alive by then.

Just a thought...

I'm curious, what are you all paying for your spays or neuters as well as vaccinations? We were averaging $200 per kitty on a "volume plan", but that is now up to about $300 in the last year.

jane11 · Mar 22, 2014

MsAimee said:
I don't think it's right for anyone to judge people who feed hungry feral and stray cats when these people may not be in a position where they can afford to do TNR. I am blessed with a decent job, so I've been able to pay the $250-300 dollars it costs me to spay and vaccinate a feral cat, and in one case $700 for extensive veterinarian care. There is a low cost spay/neuter clinic 25 miles from me, but you have to book at least a month in advance, and if you can't trap the cat on the day of your appointment, you lose your money. The other clinic in my area that treats ferals is available 24/7, but it costs what I've sited above. Very few areas have clinics that you can just bring a cat to whenever you trap it, and for low lost. It's ridiculous to suggest that if a person doesn't have the financial means to TNR that they are being irresponsible for not allowing cats to starve to death.

MsAimee - I'm with you. But I believe it is best to do TNR if you have the resources.

If all someone can do is offer food, and hopefully ask around for someone to help do the TNR process, I think that is a still a kind deed.

buffy2011 said:
Jane don't get me wrong, I too as I said have to feed them. I just copied and pasted this article that I found. I actually have a feral that was 7 months old when I caught her. I had it spayed and I decided to keep her, so as of right now we are taming her. Before this I had gotten two litters a total of 7 kittens and actually was lucking enough to find a place for all of them. I had called the animal control about the kitten I have and they said if caught they would put it to sleep, they have no more room for anything. I couldn't do that. So they gave me a name of a group that will spay and neuter, with shots for a reasonable price, and told me to just let it back outside in a few days. So I caught the kitten and did that with all intentions of leaving her go but the weather was so bad that she has been here a long time so we will just keep trying to tame her. But now I have two other feral cats that I have been feeding all winter. Not sure if they are male or female but I do know that they are adults and they are really wild. My intentions are to spay or neuter them and let them go. I can't keep anymore cats. I have two inside cats already and now this kitten. I just feel so bad for any animal that I see running around, not knowing if they have a home or not. I mentioned this to the lady of the group that spayed and neuters the cats and this is what she told me. You can't help everyone you see, but the ones you helped are going to live a happier, healthier life. So I just have to keep telling myself that.

Buffy - I think what you are doing is great.

There is no way any of us could take them all in, but I think you're doing it the right way.

lrosewiles · Mar 22, 2014

We are very fortunate here in NJ to have a low cost spay/neuter clinic that only charges $55 for ferals, and if I recall $2-=$30 more for rabies and distemper shots and Revolution for fleas/mites/heartworms, plus ear clipping unless requested not. They will end a pregnancy provided it's not so far along as to be dangerous without extra charge, and they are awesome about accepting truly wild hissy scratchy ferals (just ask to be told so a warning label can be put on the carrier). You make an appointment (typically within a week), drop them off in the morning a collect them same afternoon.

I had our 3 rescue kittens and their mama done with no problems, and several times had to reschedule because of inability to capture safely without a problem. They are all part of our family now. But one issue, likely with all such clinics, is that they do not offer "full vet service" so it's not a good option for a kitten or cat that has other serious health issues. Spaying and shots at a "regular" vet can cost over $800, so it's pretty much a charity operation.

Willowy · Mar 22, 2014

True ferals won't starve (barring unusual conditions like heavy snow or injury or other problems that cause even wild animals to starve) if you don't feed them. They wouldn't be wild if they couldn't take care of themselves. Of course it's nice if you have them altered, vaccinated, and provide food and shelter, to make their lives easier and to control the population (and to prevent suffering of their babies, as all wild animals have a high infant mortality rate). But they don't NEED it any more than raccoons need it.

But dumped/lost pets do need help or they will suffer terribly. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. But they too need to be altered, vaccinated, and provided with food and shelter, so dealing with them isn't so different from dealing with true ferals :tongue2:.

Anne · Mar 22, 2014

Willowy said:
True ferals won't starve (barring unusual conditions like heavy snow or injury or other problems that cause even wild animals to starve) if you don't feed them. They wouldn't be wild if they couldn't take care of themselves. Of course it's nice if you have them altered, vaccinated, and provide food and shelter, to make their lives easier and to control the population (and to prevent suffering of their babies, as all wild animals have a high infant mortality rate). But they don't NEED it any more than raccoons need it.

But dumped/lost pets do need help or they will suffer terribly. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. But they too need to be altered, vaccinated, and provided with food and shelter, so dealing with them isn't so different from dealing with true ferals

.

Absolutely! I would never ever in a million years turn my back on a stray, starving or not. Stray cats cannot survive on their own and if you see one that isn't starving that only means it got lost or was dumped fairly recently, or has someone else feeding it. Ferals are a different story. An adult feral cat doesn't rely on humans feeding it and if you see one that looks starved it almost always means it's sick (in which case I will definitely try to help by trapping it and taking it to the vet etc.).

I do feed feral cats, but I make a point of never feeding one that I can't spay/neuter. It's not fair towards them, IMO. They will bring more kittens to the world with the extra nutrition and they and their offspring will come to rely on that food. Within one or two years, you could end up with a dozen cats, or even more, relying on you as a food source, and they just keep multiplying from there on. If you had no money to spay/neuter the first ones, imagine having to deal with the costs of spaying 10-15 cats...

msaimee · Mar 23, 2014

It may be true that some ferals don't need food assistance from humans in warmer climates, but in the snowy/frigid climates like the Northeast and Mid-West, they have a very difficult time surviving because the ground is frozen and covered in snow, and they are trying to survive the cold, which further depletes calories and body fat. If a cat is hungry enough to show up on someone's porch or hang around during daylight looking for food, then it's obviously in need of assistance. Also, feral cats are not wild like raccoons or opossum, etc. They are still considered domesticated animals who are un-socialized to humans. Unlike other "wild" animals, they can very quickly adapt to, and form bonds with, human caregivers. The average life span of an uncared for feral cat is about 3 years while a domesticated or indoor cat's is 15 or longer, so it's clear that feral cats do not do well without human assistance. If a cat, any cat, appears to be starving, then I don't think we should judge anyone who gives it food, even if they are unable to afford the $250 dollars to get it vaccinated and neutered. If the cat sticks around long enough, chances are good that it can eventually be taken inside and cared for properly.

keyes · Mar 23, 2014

I know of people who would, if they could afford it, have the cats spayed/neutered. I wish our local vet offices would have a spay day, where they would volunteer their services. Our local shelters are full up as far as cats and kittens go. And we just had an incident in our area where someone "released" a momma cat and two kittens out in a field. Sometime between the dumping and a would be rescuer, the momma cat and a kitten was shot to death and the other kitten is recovering from a bullet wound.

Anne · Mar 23, 2014

MsAimee said:
It may be true that some ferals don't need food assistance from humans in warmer climates, but in the snowy/frigid climates like the Northeast and Mid-West, they have a very difficult time surviving because the ground is frozen and covered in snow, and they are trying to survive the cold, which further depletes calories and body fat. If a cat is hungry enough to show up on someone's porch or hang around during daylight looking for food, then it's obviously in need of assistance. Also, feral cats are not wild like raccoons or opossum, etc. They are still considered domesticated animals who are un-socialized to humans. Unlike other "wild" animals, they can very quickly adapt to, and form bonds with, human caregivers. The average life span of an uncared for feral cat is about 3 years while a domesticated or indoor cat's is 15 or longer, so it's clear that feral cats do not do well without human assistance. If a cat, any cat, appears to be starving, then I don't think we should judge anyone who gives it food, even if they are unable to afford the $250 dollars to get it vaccinated and neutered. If the cat sticks around long enough, chances are good that it can eventually be taken inside and cared for properly.

That's a very good point you're making. Where I live, feral cats are very different. The winters are warm and the feral cats manage very well. What we do here is leave water out during summertime because that's when the cats have a harder time.

I have neighbors here that feed feral cats and don't spay/neuter. They quickly breed (the cats, not the neighbors

well, the neighbors too, sometimes) and then everyone has a problem. I end up trapping and spaying/neutering some of the overflow cats that end up in my backyard. The thing with our neighbors, they won't spay-neuter because it goes against their religious belief, not for lack of money.

Feral cats here in Israel are different in their behavior patterns too. They are out in the open, day and night, and while they won't let people touch them or get very close, they will easily get to a distance of 2-3 yards from you. They don't hide from people.

jtbo · Mar 23, 2014

Anne said:
Absolutely! I would never ever in a million years turn my back on a stray, starving or not. Stray cats cannot survive on their own and if you see one that isn't starving that only means it got lost or was dumped fairly recently, or has someone else feeding it. Ferals are a different story. An adult feral cat doesn't rely on humans feeding it and if you see one that looks starved it almost always means it's sick (in which case I will definitely try to help by trapping it and taking it to the vet etc.).

I do feed feral cats, but I make a point of never feeding one that I can't spay/neuter. It's not fair towards them, IMO. They will bring more kittens to the world with the extra nutrition and they and their offspring will come to rely on that food. Within one or two years, you could end up with a dozen cats, or even more, relying on you as a food source, and they just keep multiplying from there on. If you had no money to spay/neuter the first ones, imagine having to deal with the costs of spaying 10-15 cats...

I believe in 2 years there could be easily over 40 cats, most of them kittens if food would be plenty and there would be 2 cats originally, if originally 4 then much more.

My view is that because of their ability to multiply so fast when there is lot of food available, it is not only few cats suffering, but tens, maybe hundreds and even cruel, if there indeed is no realistic plan to avoid multiply issue it is better for one or two to suffer instead of possibly hundreds.

There has been cases even here where there has been hundreds of cats that our gov. puts to sleep instead of properly carrying responsibility, just because one person wanted to do good and help poor kitty that was hungry, then they did multiply and eventually there were so many of them that with feeding it was not possible to feed them enough, also there is only so much that nature supports life for certain amount of area and as cats did reside around that food source they did run out of pray too.

Then they got sick, starved, hundreds of cats suffered.

Same thing has happened many times all over again, it has happened in other countries too.

But also I think that no cat should be left suffering, we as humans should carry our responsibility and collectively fund at least TNR because it is us as humans that have allowed problem to form in first place.

However that is not happening in immediate future, not sure if ever, but my view is that as anyone is allowed to own non neutered/spayed cat, we are allowing problem to happen, with licensing system we should be able to take control this source of the problem, even it would not completely remove it, it would make problem much more manageable and eventually TNR would make problem go mostly away.

Currently I don't think world is just ready to take such steps, so we probably have to face that difficult choice of feed or not, quite many years, but maybe some day when people are mostly seeing pets as individuals/persons instead of objects, such might happen.

Here I have got probably all ferals and strays under the control, some TNR and adopted all I could, haven't seen much of odd cats around after last autumn and I think that was neighbor's cat that I saw, it was expensive, but I guess worth it as what I have heard is that many of them settled to surrounding farms after TNR. So local issues are pretty much taken care of.

StefanZ · Mar 23, 2014

JTbo said:
Here I have got probably all ferals and strays under the control, some TNR and adopted all I could, haven't seen much of odd cats around after last autumn and I think that was neighbor's cat that I saw, it was expensive, but I guess worth it as what I have heard is that many of them settled to surrounding farms after TNR. So local issues are pretty much taken care of.

That is an interessand witness tale! Tx for telling it!

Do you have the feeling the farmers took them in, now when they didnt needed to pay for any neutering,

or did these shy semiferales themselves seek the farms to try and settle in?

jtbo · Mar 24, 2014

StefanZ said:
That is an interessand witness tale! Tx for telling it!

Do you have the feeling the farmers took them in, now when they didnt needed to pay for any neutering,
or did these shy semiferales themselves seek the farms to try and settle in?

Oh they hardly have any human contact, but there is plenty of critters around the farms to hunt for and farmers are always happier when there is less critters around so I would say it is that cats found nice place where is some shelter, no too much humans and plenty of food.

There is lot of buildings that are not used much at all, so they have their 'own' houses as there are some openings where they can get in, price of modernization is that old tend to be forgotten.

Neutered/spayed they don't need to travel very far, if there just is food, but if not TNR they can travel much further when looking for a mate.

buffy2011 · May 31, 2014

Jane11 said:
I definitely agree that if possible, it is always desirable to TNR any ferals, That is why I always mention places to borrow or buy a trap.

But, I also think it is better to feed if necessary to prevent starvation, and then line up help doing the rest of the process, than just letting a stray go hungry. The feral you plan to feed after you have your trap and vets appt set up may not be alive by then.

Just a thought...

I'm curious, what are you all paying for your spays or neuters as well as vaccinations? We were averaging $200 per kitty on a "volume plan", but that is now up to about $300 in the last year.

Wonder if anyone can help me out. I had an outside feral spayed and didn't see her for three weeks after letting her back outside. I was really upset but finally after three weeks she came back to eat. I had something set up outside underneath my porch furniture that I just rigged up fast after seeing these two cats outside this winter. It was a bad winter so I kept stuffing things underneath to make it warm and a place to eat. Well summer is hear and I had to clean up that mess which was an eye sore. I moved the feeding station off the porch, not far away. Well the one cat found it with no problem and the other one came and looked around two days and then hasn't come back for two days now. I feel bad that I had to move it, but it was necessary. You think she would smell it. I don't see her even near the table. I have everything up on a table trying to keep the raccoons away. I thought maybe it was too high and I would see that and try to make some accommodations for that but she isn't even near it. I have a camera set up to watch them and see what is going on with the raccoons also. I I'm not sure what to think, but I do hope she comes back to eat.

feeding feral cats.

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