Moving….

[Remycat]

I know this has been asked many times before but the circumstances are always a little different.
Just want to do what’s best for this small colony.

I’ve been feeding 3 feral cats (all TNR males, two I think are brothers) twice a day from our rental townhouse since January. It started by me throwing out stale bread for the squirrels to eat and noticing a cat come around and eat it instead. Since I have indoor cats I started leaving out some dry food and saw that a few cats came to eat. I have three that come like clockwork night and day and a few others that are sporadic (I don’t think it would be in their best interest to take the stragglers) Despite the amount of time I’ve been feeding them they still do not let me pet them, however they are friendly. They’ll come up to our door and rub on the screen and purr and meow when we’re around. They wait for me in the morning and the evening and come running as soon as I open the door (if they’re not already at the door).
We’re moving in about 6 weeks to a property we purchased (a house where we will have a garage and door access to the outside from the garage) and I’ve been getting bad anxiety about what to do with them. Is it better for me to basically abandon them, leaving them with no one to feed them or give them water and take away the furniture they’ve adopted as their own- or is it better for me to trap them and take them with me? Everything I’ve read from rescues says only to move a colony due to unsafe circumstances and that feral cats bond with their territory and moving them might do more harm than good. I know there are issues with both solutions but again, I just want what’s best for them.
We also have 3 indoor cats so bringing them indoors isn’t an option.

 

[Heart For Cats]

Welcome to the forum.

Never just abandon cats. Now that they have learned to get food from your porch, they will keep coming back expecting to see two full bowls there. You need to make sure the feral cats know where their food will be in six weeks, Friendly feral cats can be tamed if you do it the right way..If you have a problem with keeping the right cats inside and outside, someone else can help you cross that bridge.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Please do not abandon these cats. They depend on you for food and they seem quite attached to you.

I moved 3 years ago. I too had 3 ferals that lived on my back deck. I decided that when I moved they would come and we would try indoor living. I was able to get them inside my house by practicing daily for 6 weeks. I first moved them into my old home and brought in a mobile vet to give them vaccines and test for FIV and FELV. THey had all been neutered years ago. I also had 3 other indoor cats.

When we moved I had a wonderful sun room for them. It was full of windows and had many bird watching opportunities. THey did very well adjusting to inside living.

If you do bring the cats and decide to keep them outside, you will have to hold them in cages for 3 weeks. If you just bring them and set them outside, they will try to find their way back to their former territory. Cats need time to acclimate to their new territory before being set free.

 

[fionasmom]

Don't leave them. They were evidently hungry enough to eat stale bread when they first found you, so that indicates the chances that they had of finding enough food locally. TBH, this is an unsafe situation in which you would be leaving them. They will have no food, probably try to find it near your old house which may put them at risk from people who do not want them around. Cats bond with territory but they also are dependent on you for food, water, and some shelter which supersedes any attachment to territory.

I have been called in to help when people leave behind cats and it is pretty heartbreaking to see them waiting for the meal that will never come.

 

[Remycat]

Ugh this is heartbreaking and what I don’t want to happen. Everything I read says not to take the cats unless it’s unsafe, which it technically isn’t I guess, which is also why I’m so confused about what to do. I don’t mind caring for these cats and making sure they’re healthy and happy, I just don’t want them to hate me for moving them from what seems to be the only home they’ve ever known.
I posted on nextdoor to try to find someone to take over feeding them for me but so far no one has been interested.

Don't leave them. They were evidently hungry enough to eat stale bread when they first found you, so that indicates the chances that they had of finding enough food locally. TBH, this is an unsafe situation in which you would be leaving them. They will have no food, probably try to find it near your old house which may put them at risk from people who do not want them around. Cats bond with territory but they also are dependent on you for food, water, and some shelter which supersedes any attachment to territory.

I have been called in to help when people leave behind cats and it is pretty heartbreaking to see them waiting for the meal that will never come.

 

[Remycat]

I wish I could bring them inside, I feel like that would solve a lot of my inner turmoil. But from what I’ve seen from my indoor cats through the screen door they just don’t like the outdoor ones.

Please do not abandon these cats. They depend on you for food and they seem quite attached to you.

I moved 3 years ago. I too had 3 ferals that lived on my back deck. I decided that when I moved they would come and we would try indoor living. I was able to get them inside my house by practicing daily for 6 weeks. I first moved them into my old home and brought in a mobile vet to give them vaccines and test for FIV and FELV. THey had all been neutered years ago. I also had 3 other indoor cats.

When we moved I had a wonderful sun room for them. It was full of windows and had many bird watching opportunities. THey did very well adjusting to inside living.

If you do bring the cats and decide to keep them outside, you will have to hold them in cages for 3 weeks. If you just bring them and set them outside, they will try to find their way back to their former territory. Cats need time to acclimate to their new territory before being set free.

 

[Remycat]

What is the correct way to tame feral cats? One lets me stoke him a few times but the other two I’ve never been able to touch.

Welcome to the forum.

Never just abandon cats. Now that they have learned to get food from your porch, they will keep coming back expecting to see two full bowls there. You need to make sure the feral cats know where their food will be in six weeks, Friendly feral cats can be tamed if you do it the right way..If you have a problem with keeping the right cats inside and outside, someone else can help you cross that bridge.

 

[Heart For Cats]

What is the correct way to tame feral cats? One lets me stoke him a few times but the other two I’ve never been able to touch.

Let them decide when they want to be touched.

The friends of ferals on this forum can help you much better than I ever could.

 

[fionasmom]

Trapping them and bringing them into a safe room in your house would be the best move. I know that you said you can't do that. Will you be taking possession of the new place before you vacate the old one, or will you be doing both on the same day? I have trapped ferals on moving day by having fed them in carriers or traps that I closed that day, but it is cutting it very close, especially if you are not that experienced with trapping. In one case, I had neighbors at the old place who would have continued to allow me to try to trap on their property if the first attempts had failed. If you are going to get into the new place before you clear out of the old one, you will probably have to trap them and bring them there to a safe room and begin to socialize them from there. You can get a lot of help here if you go that route.

There is no law that says you have to keep these three ferals if they are socialized properly. You might be able to rehome them over time which is something else that you can get help here with.

As shadowsrescue said from experience, I have also brought in ferals who never wanted out again.

 

[Remycat]

We will have a few weeks overlapping. Im thinking of getting a big catio and putting it in the backyard and transferring one cat by one to it. I have a cage I can borrow from the vet. Hopefully get them checked out the same day I trap them if the vet has openings!

 

[fionasmom]

Your plan sounds good. Overlapping weeks will definitely make this easier. Try to coordinate with the vet if possible. That is what I did with the cat I mentioned that I trapped on moving day.