I had to learn all the new Florida laws and rules, as well as my town's rules, as well as which neighbors were cranks,
to begin my TNVR mission.
then I had to train my wild cats to learn to meet me in this here nearby field, (below)
which even has a clear running steam where they actually DO drink the water from, they do! the cats run down there and take drinks on hot days.
The water "looks" clear and clean, and it IS gently moving water going by. It is shallow, so if they ever fall in, they can get out easy enough.
There is a small bridge over the creek.
Previously, I fed the cats in various parking lots, where the neighbors all complained. Til i found this neighborhood field. It did take a while for the cats to understand where to go, i had to move them in increments, day by day, over to the field.
but, the cats know my "whistle" and they come running to that sound. whew, lucky for me.
After TNVR surgery,
I always "keep" my ferals for at LEAST a few days, before I release them after surgery. (or, depending on the time of year, up to a week or two, like it was 35 degrees last January,--------- so i kept them all bundled up rather than set them out there in the cold, until the cold snap was over). They had fairly lousy fur, too.
Especially females who were found to be pregnant will need extra recovery time. Males recover faster, i guess.
I get a cut price rate for feral TNVR, but i always pay extra if they will deworm, de-flea meds, microchip, everything. Even if the cats Do get fleas again in a month or two? at least, they get a month or two off, to help gain weight.
So these drugs may also have the cats feeling poorly, and need extra time to recover.
I Keep the cats overnight in the small cage, so they don't move too much,
and then, next morning, i transfer them to their little 2-story recovery suites for the next week (or 2, depending on weather, how cat is doing, etc)
I have a few giant dog crates, which i keep on my patio, and the recovering cats live in there until they are 100% recovered. If the cats are not friends,
then, i keep the cages covered separately and apart from each other.
Afterwards, when the cats are free again,
next I take these cages to the car wash to clean them well,
and then these particular dog crates then fold up for storage until i catch another feral.
I find several ferals can be VERY hard to trap! some are quite trap-savvy. One cat took me three (3) months to trap! You name it, i tried it. It was just a reeally really smart cat.
I bought and borrowed various kinds of traps, used every treat, every trick, camoflauge, you name it,
and eventually had to buy a drop-box trap, (where you pull a string to drop the cage down over the cat) and even then, it took quite a while to get the cat under the cage...
*sigh* that was one hard cat to catch!!!!!
Attached are pics of my dog crates after I set them up.
It was easier than I thought to transfer the cat from the carrier cage into the big dog cage,---------- and then, after a week or so, -----------------back into the carrier cage to move cat back to their own areas.
I was worried about that, since I didn't get the kind of cage that has that nifty "slide up and attach" the cages together kind... but, it worked fine. I just blocked other exit points with blankets while transferring back to the smaller cage to get them outdoors again.
These have slide out floors for cleaning, were large enough to accommodate a small litter box in the back, and have a little "loft" area /2nd storie bed area, up above over the litter box back there. I used paper plates for cat food and found some no-spill water bowls.
I taped cardboard over the bars of that upper loft thing, to prevent those little bars bothering the cats,
and next I tied and secured the blankets over that cardboard.
I punched holes in the blankets and tied some string onto the bars near the bed area, so the blankets would not fall off down to the lower level.
I got those lil cat caves on the cheap and stuffed them with old shirts and stuff for the cats to hide in there. This was a cold weather event when this pic was taken. During winter, my little feline patients get their cages covered up nice and snug and warm, with juuuuust a enough ventilation for fresh air. During summer, it is just a light cover to make cat relax.
I put more blankets over that floor area, prior to my first patients. Then I put them outside
on my patio on 3rd floor, so they ARE safe, we are wayyy up high,
I put the cages outside, so my indoor cat does not get any diseases Nor stress out the poor ferals.
So i just do 2 cats at a time. Sometimes I can not catch them, though.
Afterwards, I wash everything super well, or even throw some things away, to help prevent scents of previous patients
from bothering the latest patients.
My family thinks I am nutz, but, I want the best for my lil ferals, their life is so hard out there....
so it is nice to find this online community who does understand.
to begin my TNVR mission.
then I had to train my wild cats to learn to meet me in this here nearby field, (below)
which even has a clear running steam where they actually DO drink the water from, they do! the cats run down there and take drinks on hot days.
The water "looks" clear and clean, and it IS gently moving water going by. It is shallow, so if they ever fall in, they can get out easy enough.
There is a small bridge over the creek.
Previously, I fed the cats in various parking lots, where the neighbors all complained. Til i found this neighborhood field. It did take a while for the cats to understand where to go, i had to move them in increments, day by day, over to the field.
but, the cats know my "whistle" and they come running to that sound. whew, lucky for me.
After TNVR surgery,
I always "keep" my ferals for at LEAST a few days, before I release them after surgery. (or, depending on the time of year, up to a week or two, like it was 35 degrees last January,--------- so i kept them all bundled up rather than set them out there in the cold, until the cold snap was over). They had fairly lousy fur, too.
Especially females who were found to be pregnant will need extra recovery time. Males recover faster, i guess.
I get a cut price rate for feral TNVR, but i always pay extra if they will deworm, de-flea meds, microchip, everything. Even if the cats Do get fleas again in a month or two? at least, they get a month or two off, to help gain weight.
So these drugs may also have the cats feeling poorly, and need extra time to recover.
I Keep the cats overnight in the small cage, so they don't move too much,
and then, next morning, i transfer them to their little 2-story recovery suites for the next week (or 2, depending on weather, how cat is doing, etc)
I have a few giant dog crates, which i keep on my patio, and the recovering cats live in there until they are 100% recovered. If the cats are not friends,
then, i keep the cages covered separately and apart from each other.
Afterwards, when the cats are free again,
next I take these cages to the car wash to clean them well,
and then these particular dog crates then fold up for storage until i catch another feral.
I find several ferals can be VERY hard to trap! some are quite trap-savvy. One cat took me three (3) months to trap! You name it, i tried it. It was just a reeally really smart cat.
I bought and borrowed various kinds of traps, used every treat, every trick, camoflauge, you name it,
and eventually had to buy a drop-box trap, (where you pull a string to drop the cage down over the cat) and even then, it took quite a while to get the cat under the cage...
*sigh* that was one hard cat to catch!!!!!
Attached are pics of my dog crates after I set them up.
It was easier than I thought to transfer the cat from the carrier cage into the big dog cage,---------- and then, after a week or so, -----------------back into the carrier cage to move cat back to their own areas.
I was worried about that, since I didn't get the kind of cage that has that nifty "slide up and attach" the cages together kind... but, it worked fine. I just blocked other exit points with blankets while transferring back to the smaller cage to get them outdoors again.
These have slide out floors for cleaning, were large enough to accommodate a small litter box in the back, and have a little "loft" area /2nd storie bed area, up above over the litter box back there. I used paper plates for cat food and found some no-spill water bowls.
I taped cardboard over the bars of that upper loft thing, to prevent those little bars bothering the cats,
and next I tied and secured the blankets over that cardboard.
I punched holes in the blankets and tied some string onto the bars near the bed area, so the blankets would not fall off down to the lower level.
I got those lil cat caves on the cheap and stuffed them with old shirts and stuff for the cats to hide in there. This was a cold weather event when this pic was taken. During winter, my little feline patients get their cages covered up nice and snug and warm, with juuuuust a enough ventilation for fresh air. During summer, it is just a light cover to make cat relax.
I put more blankets over that floor area, prior to my first patients. Then I put them outside
on my patio on 3rd floor, so they ARE safe, we are wayyy up high,
I put the cages outside, so my indoor cat does not get any diseases Nor stress out the poor ferals.
So i just do 2 cats at a time. Sometimes I can not catch them, though.
Afterwards, I wash everything super well, or even throw some things away, to help prevent scents of previous patients
from bothering the latest patients.
My family thinks I am nutz, but, I want the best for my lil ferals, their life is so hard out there....
so it is nice to find this online community who does understand.