Friend of Ferals Award Badge - Apply Here

[pdbudd]

I would like to apply for the Friend of Feral Badge. Regularly we donate food to either TNR cats (even adopted ferals) or to a know and protected feral colony i the next town.

Hope I av posting on the right place

PD Budd

 

[Anne]

 
I would like to apply for the Friend of Feral Badge. Regularly we donate food to either TNR cats (even adopted ferals) or to a know and protected feral colony i the next town.

Hope I av posting on the right place

PD Budd

Yup, in the right place indeed! Thank you for caring for the ferals! Badge awarded! 

 

[pdbudd]

 

[kitten_smitten]

Does having five feral colonies qualify me for being a friend of feral cats? My guys and gals are all TNRed - I feed in the neighborhood of 65 cats a day 75% are living in one of five local feral colonies.

  - The kitty in my avatar, is  Ferocious.  She started life with me as a fearful feral feline with an URI. I tell people it was love at first bite - I knew strays had cats all my life but ferals we a different kettle of fish when compared to dealing with tame strays.

Back when first caught Ferocious  I didn't know if you let a feral cat out of a carrier in the house catching her and trying to put her back in would get one cat bit  . . . . Now she scooches  me ever so slowly out of my computer chair on a regular basis. 

40 feral cats and five feral colonies colonies later - Ferocious is still my baby just a lot less fearful - well  of me any way but getting her into a carrier to see the vet  for annual health check  still requires a fast well gloved set of hands and if she needs any more than routine annual  vaccinations she still requires sedation.

I have learned a lot over the last 7 years  . . . .

 

[lrosewiles]

I've been nudged to apply and have been reluctant because our rescues are small scale, but now we are up to five!  Back in the summer a starving cat appeared raiding my garbage and that was the start of my feeding her, and discovering she had 4 kittens under a hedge alongside our property.  We started feeding and taming them too, found a home for one boy, the other three we adopted - neutered, shots etc., all are now totally happy and spoiled inside/outside cats who sleep on our bed and run our house (Mr. Patches, Picassa and Little Grey).  When the weather became cold their Mama (Patience) who we had also trapped and TNR'd, fed regularly and provided an outdoor shelter, decided to come inside. She's now another permanent member of the household, and after some struggles has learned to use the litter box and now also sleeps on the bed.  Our latest rescue was a sad case, Little Ginger (now named Ellie) who has her own thread, she is recovering from abuse and a terrible URI, but doing much better now.

So I don't know if this qualifies, but I would be honored to have a friends of ferals badge.

 

[chellma]

It is a great thing you are doing.  I thought I was the only one who had to have my cat sedated before vet treatment.  My  ferals are doll babies with me, but not at the vet. 

 

[gloriajh]

 
Does having five feral colonies qualify me for being a friend of feral cats? My guys and gals are all TNRed - I feed in the neighborhood of 65 cats a day 75% are living in one of five local feral colonies.

  - The kitty in my avatar, is  Ferocious.  She started life with me as a fearful feral feline with an URI. I tell people it was love at first bite - I knew strays had cats all my life but ferals we a different kettle of fish when compared to dealing with tame strays.

Back when first caught Ferocious  I didn't know if you let a feral cat out of a carrier in the house catching her and trying to put her back in would get one cat bit  . . . . Now she scooches  me ever so slowly out of my computer chair on a regular basis. 

40 feral cats and five feral colonies colonies later - Ferocious is still my baby just a lot less fearful - well  of me any way but getting her into a carrier to see the vet  for annual health check  still requires a fast well gloved set of hands and if she needs any more than routine annual  vaccinations she still requires sedation.

I have learned a lot over the last 7 years  . . . .

Sorry, I actually laughed out loud when you related your first experience of letting her out of the carrier IN the house - guess it's because I know what you're talking about.  Better that you let her loose inside, than outside, though.

Getting them back into the carrier is not for the faint of heart !

Oh, sure hope you understand that being bitten is an emergency room visit that is very necessary - it's not a wait-to-see situation.

 

[Anne]

 
Does having five feral colonies qualify me for being a friend of feral cats? My guys and gals are all TNRed - I feed in the neighborhood of 65 cats a day 75% are living in one of five local feral colonies.

  - The kitty in my avatar, is  Ferocious.  She started life with me as a fearful feral feline with an URI. I tell people it was love at first bite - I knew strays had cats all my life but ferals we a different kettle of fish when compared to dealing with tame strays.

Back when first caught Ferocious  I didn't know if you let a feral cat out of a carrier in the house catching her and trying to put her back in would get one cat bit  . . . . Now she scooches  me ever so slowly out of my computer chair on a regular basis. 

40 feral cats and five feral colonies colonies later - Ferocious is still my baby just a lot less fearful - well  of me any way but getting her into a carrier to see the vet  for annual health check  still requires a fast well gloved set of hands and if she needs any more than routine annual  vaccinations she still requires sedation.

I have learned a lot over the last 7 years  . . . .

Yes, I would say five feral colonies qualify you for the badge 

 Sounds like you had a good teacher there and a steep learning curve! 

 
I've been nudged to apply and have been reluctant because our rescues are small scale, but now we are up to five!  Back in the summer a starving cat appeared raiding my garbage and that was the start of my feeding her, and discovering she had 4 kittens under a hedge alongside our property.  We started feeding and taming them too, found a home for one boy, the other three we adopted - neutered, shots etc., all are now totally happy and spoiled inside/outside cats who sleep on our bed and run our house (Mr. Patches, Picassa and Little Grey).  When the weather became cold their Mama (Patience) who we had also trapped and TNR'd, fed regularly and provided an outdoor shelter, decided to come inside. She's now another permanent member of the household, and after some struggles has learned to use the litter box and now also sleeps on the bed.  Our latest rescue was a sad case, Little Ginger (now named Ellie) who has her own thread, she is recovering from abuse and a terrible URI, but doing much better now.

So I don't know if this qualifies, but I would be honored to have a friends of ferals badge.

It definitely does qualify! You're doing a LOT for these cats and every single cat matters! Thank you!

 

[folgers]

My husband found this site yesterday and we just knew that it would be a nice home for me, Misty, my husband Clarence and our life partner Linda.

Our inside babies are Clara, Bobbie, and Sam. They are all rescues. Outside we have and ever changing menagerie that is made up of at least 2 colonies but I suspect that there are 3 or 4 that split and then come back together if that is possible. Hillbilly is the biggest blackest cat you ever saw but lets my husband pet him. Eb and flo, Tiger, Bear, Tom and the rest (at times we have counted 50), to numerous to name roam the place like it is home which it is, it is their home!

I don't like to call our property a dumping station but it does have a reputation of taking in unwanted cats in the county. One group hangs out in the barn and the others on the other side of the place have taken over several small out buildings. We feed twice a day when it is cold and once in the warm months as they catch moles, squirrels, wild birds and such. We have lots of area in millet and such to attract birds. We watch for bones and feed more if we don't see enough evidence that they are eating enough. 

Most of our babies are fixed but some of the ones that are not are trap shy. We think that that is why our heard keeps slowly growing even though we have coyotes.

 

[Anne]

 
My husband found this site yesterday and we just knew that it would be a nice home for me, Misty, my husband Clarence and our life partner Linda.

Our inside babies are Clara, Bobbie, and Sam. They are all rescues. Outside we have and ever changing menagerie that is made up of at least 2 colonies but I suspect that there are 3 or 4 that split and then come back together if that is possible. Hillbilly is the biggest blackest cat you ever saw but lets my husband pet him. Eb and flo, Tiger, Bear, Tom and the rest (at times we have counted 50), to numerous to name roam the place like it is home which it is, it is their home!

I don't like to call our property a dumping station but it does have a reputation of taking in unwanted cats in the county. One group hangs out in the barn and the others on the other side of the place have taken over several small out buildings. We feed twice a day when it is cold and once in the warm months as they catch moles, squirrels, wild birds and such. We have lots of area in millet and such to attract birds. We watch for bones and feed more if we don't see enough evidence that they are eating enough. 

Most of our babies are fixed but some of the ones that are not are trap shy. We think that that is why our heard keeps slowly growing even though we have coyotes.

Welcome to TCS! We have so many members here that are dedicated to feral and stray cat care that I'm sure this indeed can be an online home for you. Thank you for caring of the kitties. Maybe you can post in this forum about the difficulty you're having with trapping some of the cats? Maybe our resident feral experts can help?

Badge awarded btw, and again welcome!

 

[keyes]

It all started two years ago with a feral cat coming into my yard, springtime, and I started feeding her.  Jump ahead a couple of months and the next thing I saw were 4 kittens out in the yard with her.  When they were old enough I was feeding them also.  So, I stand out on the deck and yell, "Breakfast Babies!" and all come running.  My plan was to do the TNR in March of 2013 but my Mom was diagnosed with colon cancer and by the time all was settled, it was to late.  So now, I have a colony of 11.  All made it thru the winter.  I have a shelter for them, a heated water dish and feed them.  I've made it my goal to have them all sterilized.  The females first and then the males.  I have a couple of them showing the effects of inbreeding and I want to stop it so that it isn't carried on.  My husband is behind me 100 percent but because they know me the best, I'm the one doing the TNR.  During this past winter, I was feeding them moist cat food and of course it was freezing faster than they could eat it so then I would bring the dish in and nuke it until it was warm and then bring it back out again.  Yeah, I'm a softie.  Just ask my 4-whoops-5 indoor fur babies.  Yeah, I kind of adopted the first one that I had spayed.  Her name is Poppett and she is now a member of our family.

 

[Anne]

 
It all started two years ago with a feral cat coming into my yard, springtime, and I started feeding her.  Jump ahead a couple of months and the next thing I saw were 4 kittens out in the yard with her.  When they were old enough I was feeding them also.  So, I stand out on the deck and yell, "Breakfast Babies!" and all come running.  My plan was to do the TNR in March of 2013 but my Mom was diagnosed with colon cancer and by the time all was settled, it was to late.  So now, I have a colony of 11.  All made it thru the winter.  I have a shelter for them, a heated water dish and feed them.  I've made it my goal to have them all sterilized.  The females first and then the males.  I have a couple of them showing the effects of inbreeding and I want to stop it so that it isn't carried on.  My husband is behind me 100 percent but because they know me the best, I'm the one doing the TNR.  During this past winter, I was feeding them moist cat food and of course it was freezing faster than they could eat it so then I would bring the dish in and nuke it until it was warm and then bring it back out again.  Yeah, I'm a softie.  Just ask my 4-whoops-5 indoor fur babies.  Yeah, I kind of adopted the first one that I had spayed.  Her name is Poppett and she is now a member of our family.

Thank you so much for helping these babies through winter time! Please do make sure you spay the females really fast because it's that time of the year now!

Badge awarded and thank you for applying and for joining us here at TCS! 

 

[keyes]

As of today, I have had 3 of the 8 females spayed.  The last two that I had done were in the late stages of pregnancy and because of this, the incision was larger than if they hadn't been.  And because MN is still experiencing cold weather, 4 below this morning and snow, I have had to keep them in the recovery room crate for more than 48 hours.  I want to make sure that they're in good shape before I release them.  I basically know when they've been bred and am trying to take them in accordingly.  I do understand what you're saying and this site for feral cats has already helped me out a couple times when looking for information.

 

[Anne]

 
As of today, I have had 3 of the 8 females spayed.  The last two that I had done were in the late stages of pregnancy and because of this, the incision was larger than if they hadn't been.  And because MN is still experiencing cold weather, 4 below this morning and snow, I have had to keep them in the recovery room crate for more than 48 hours.  I want to make sure that they're in good shape before I release them.  I basically know when they've been bred and am trying to take them in accordingly.  I do understand what you're saying and this site for feral cats has already helped me out a couple times when looking for information.

Sounds like a good plan! 

 Good luck with getting them all spayed on time! 

 

[loopycann]

Thank you for all your work with the feral colonies but the work, research, study, publishing and blogging pertaining to the supposed predation of wildlife by cats is invaluable.I remember reading of a study on this where the only thing found(heartbreaking) in feral tummies was crickets grass worms,etc.We really need information that opens the eyes of people that swear by Wisconsin study(dead) or other UNRELIABLE 'stats' and quotes.Please keep up the fight against ignorance.

 

[sunrayemily]

me and my friends have worked with some feral cats i have had a few in the past, i had two which were kittens, lost, no one ever came for them so i raised them myself. I loved them and i eventually gave them away to my cousin who took care of them until the end 

 i love cats so much and would always take care of a stray or feral! 

 

[sunrayemily]

Is it too late for me to tell you my feral story 

 

[Anne]

 
me and my friends have worked with some feral cats i have had a few in the past, i had two which were kittens, lost, no one ever came for them so i raised them myself. I loved them and i eventually gave them away to my cousin who took care of them until the end 

 i love cats so much and would always take care of a stray or feral! 

 
Is it too late for me to tell you my feral story 

It's never too late for that! Thank you for helping the kittens and saving their lives. They all matter, each and every one of them. 

 

Badge awarded 

 

[Anne]

Thank you for all your work with the feral colonies but the work, research, study, publishing and blogging pertaining to the supposed predation of wildlife by cats is invaluable.I remember reading of a study on this where the only thing found(heartbreaking) in feral tummies was crickets grass worms,etc.We really need information that opens the eyes of people that swear by Wisconsin study(dead) or other UNRELIABLE 'stats' and quotes.Please keep up the fight against ignorance.

Absolutely! Did you happen to see my latest blog post on this - 

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-evi...esponse-to-mr-conniffs-column-in-the-ny-times

 

[sunrayemily]

 
It's never too late for that! Thank you for helping the kittens and saving their lives. They all matter, each and every one of them. 

 

Badge awarded 

Thanks so much x I love feral cats