Need Advice From the Feral Colony Experts

surya

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There's a bunch of babies here I would love to save, but nobody can take them. Maybe I could send you a couple? That would take you mind off of her. :)
 
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orange&white

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I disassembled the temporary catio this morning, but left the ice cooler on its side with a blanket in it up on a shelf she can jump up onto. And she has a top shelf for food if she comes around. I'll only leave out water unless I see her.

Overnight, some cat ate all the kibble. The food was also all regurgitated onto the untouched saucer of tuna and the ground. The saucer of chicken and rice and the canned food were untouched.
 
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orange&white

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There's a bunch of babies here I would love to save, but nobody can take them. Maybe I could send you a couple? That would take you mind off of her. :)
I think I'm out of the feral business for awhile.

This was stressful to me and I'm not feeling much reward. I keep thinking terrible things like "What if she gets hit by a car, or a dog kills her, or...or..or..." A lot of people spent a lot of time and energy on her (particularly the wonderful shelter people), and I keep thinking "If something happens to her now, what was the point?" :(

Plus, the middle of last week, I heard a cat in heat over at the apartments crying for a mate. It's just endless.

I know I need to stop worrying. There's nothing else I can do.

On the good side, her kittens will all get homes as will the other little kitten who I dropped off when I picked up Kit Kit. OK, I'm trying to be positive.
 

surya

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I think I'm out of the feral business for awhile.

This was stressful to me and I'm not feeling much reward. I keep thinking terrible things like "What if she gets hit by a car, or a dog kills her, or...or..or..." A lot of people spent a lot of time and energy on her (particularly the wonderful shelter people), and I keep thinking "If something happens to her now, what was the point?" :(

Plus, the middle of last week, I heard a cat in heat over at the apartments crying for a mate. It's just endless.

I know I need to stop worrying. There's nothing else I can do.

On the good side, her kittens will all get homes as will the other little kitten who I dropped off when I picked up Kit Kit. OK, I'm trying to be positive.
I know that feeling. I do believe you have helped. I always think of that story of the guy throwing the starfish back in the ocean.
 
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orange&white

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Kit Kit hasn't been around at all for 9 days now. I inquired with the shelter about her 4 kittens. One of them died and the other 3 are still in foster care. :sigh:
 

vyger

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I'd like some advice from the feral experts about the stray/feral cats on my property, and one cat in particular.

There are multiple ferals which frequently pass through my large backyard, and a few litters of kittens are born each year. There is a large, probably 150-200 unit, apartment complex built behind my back fence on what used to be a forest (circa 2002), and a 30-50 unit condominium complex on the other side of the fence on what used to be an open field (circa 2005). With that many transient tenants, the stray/feral cat population is never ending.

I have no interest, nor the finances, in managing a feral colony on my property. To some extent, they are preventing me from vegetable gardening because of finding cat poop in the tilled soil. Cat poop may be natural and organic, but it's not the kind of organic I want to grow vegetables in. That makes them nuisance animals. I'm not sure there is a long-term solution since there are always going to be idiots people who believe in letting their cats roam but don't believe in spaying/neutering (or the cats just get lost when people are moving in or out). I'd appreciate any ideas, but over the last multiple years, have just pretty much accepted roaming cats as a given.

The other question is that there is this one cat who sits in my yard and watches me play fetch with my dog. It sits in the shadows and watches when I take my senior cat out for a few minutes of sunshine, and I see the cat sitting outside the bedroom window looking at the feral kitten we trapped in my office warehouse in January and I adopted early February. Essentially this one cat seems tamer than the all the other cats who run and scatter. It does run if I approach it.

The only attraction to my yard I can figure is that I keep a 5 gallon bucket of rainwater for the one planter I keep. I've seen this tamer cat drinking from it, but none of the other ferals are brave enough (at least not during the day).

Sorry for the long story, but I'm considering trapping this one friendlier feral and having it spayed/neutered and vaccinated. I'd be happy to feed this one cat as an outdoor kitty, but I do not want to feed the entire colony of community cats. Should I do that, or just leave things as they are?

Any advice would be appreciated.
The method I used for making friends with wild ones, if they get to the point that they don't flee at first sight, --- I used something like fresh chicken in small pieces and get up wind of the cat. This is important, they need to smell you and the food as well as see you. So they can smell that you have something interesting. Get as close as you can without them running and show them the food and place a small piece of it on the ground and then walk away. Never give them enough to fill up on, just enough to make them want more. Maybe do it a second time if they take the first one. Then leave them alone to think about it. Repeat this for several days or weeks if necessary and gradually they will loose their fear of you. They will begin to associate you with good stuff to eat. Let them come to you, the distance between you will get smaller until they will finally take it from your hand. If they take it from your hand they can have all they want to eat but if you put it on the ground that is all they get. They will figure that out pretty quickly.
 

MJO12

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I know that the older they are, the harder or at least the more "iffy" they are to fully socialize. The cat runs over the fence every time I have called "kitty, kitty" or tried approaching it. It comes back out when I walk away from it. When I totally ignore it, it sits and watches me. We have exchanged blinks through the bedroom window.

I'm probably still on the foster list with the local Humane/ASPCA shelter. My orange and white tabby brothers were a failed foster....I adopted them after 2 weeks when they were about 8 months old. That shelter doesn't take non-owned cats.

I will call the County shelter for a contact from the feral group. And no, I won't call animal control. I've been watching cats and not gardening for several years now. I don't want an army of wild cats on my property, but I don't want any of them killed either. Most of the ferals are just "passing through" my yard, not hanging out like the one cat. My dog chases them over the fence. He doesn't chase cats that don't run...like this tamer one.

They don't think they are being irresponsible. I think it's a cultural thing. I have had long conversations with a couple of Hispanic friends who let their pets run free and don't spay/neuter. I've asked why. They are traditional Roman Catholic and don't believe in birth control, including for their pets. It's against their religion. Letting cats/dogs be indoor/outdoor is "natural and healthy" for the pet and "cruel" to make the pet live confined indoors its whole life. They're raising their pets the same way "most people" in Mexico raise them, and no one will convince them that pet over population is that big a deal. The more the merrier! Ole'!

I don't want to sound racist like Donald Trump saying, "All feral cats come from The Mexicans! Build a wall!!!" LOL Not saying that at all. But regardless of any demographic group, people who let their cats run without being spayed or neutered are following a cultural family tradition which is ingrained and they believe it is right. The only people I ever talked to face to face about it happened to be from Mexico, so I'll shut up now before I hijack my own thread.

Maybe I should just erase the last paragraph. Political humor is usually not well received...especially this year.


Anyway, thank you again. I'll try calling the county shelter for advice and a feral group contact. I know they are overloaded with kitten/puppy season.
 
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orange&white

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Kit Kit was out in the back corner of my yard, close to the apartments, when I got home from work today. 16 days she disappeared. I'm so relieved that she is still alive. I walked out slowly and tossed some kibble in her direction, but she ran away.

This little feral cat is going to worry me to death, and she isn't even my cat.
 

vyger

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Kit Kit was out in the back corner of my yard, close to the apartments, when I got home from work today. 16 days she disappeared. I'm so relieved that she is still alive. I walked out slowly and tossed some kibble in her direction, but she ran away.

This little feral cat is going to worry me to death, and she isn't even my cat.
Don't throw the food in their direction, they think your being aggressive towards them. Figure out where the wind is coming from and then with the wind at your back, so they can smell you and the food, get low like on your knees and hold your hand out towards them and place the food on the ground. Then back up and walk away a little. At the very least they will move forward to see what you left.
 
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orange&white

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Kit Kit learned that I'm a "kibble thrower" and not trying to hit her with something harmful. ;) That's one of the ways I lured her into coming up and then eating from the trap for a couple days before I set the trap to spring.

She not ever going to be domesticated. 8 weeks at the shelter...they tagged her as "very wild".

I would like to have her hang around my backyard where she'd be safer than the apartment grounds with off-leash dogs, but I think wherever the apartment ferals hang out is her home too.
 
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orange&white

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Kit Kit made another appearance at dawn, just before sunrise this morning, 19 days since the last siting. She was stalking a small bird. I had taken my first cup of coffee out to the patio when I saw her. I went in to get some unseasoned chicken breast out of the fridge and she had disappeared again when I got back outside.

At least she is surviving. I was afraid she was long gone.
 

shadowsrescue

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So happy she is still around. I am sure it sets your mind at ease. Hopefully she will return once again when she is more settled.
 
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orange&white

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I'm not sure it sets my mind at ease, as much as it makes me start a "new round" of daily worrying about her, but I am very happy that she is alive.

I guess I had a pipe dream about her coming around once or twice a day so I could see her and feed her a healthy diet. But I guess she's eating at the apartment complex where she ate before I trapped her, and probably catching live prey.

She only ever came up to my patio for water before TNR. I'm leaving a large bowl of clean water by the small gap in the fence, and another on the top shelf of a shelter/feeding station that I set up, intended for her.
 
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orange&white

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Yeah! I got to feed Kit Kit this morning. :lovecat: Unfortunately, I didn't have any unseasoned meat or canned food ready, but had some grain-free kibble.

The apartment landscapers started mowing. That normally drives several of the feral colony members over my back fence or through the fence gap. I went out and saw a long-haired orange cat and a black cat...and then...Kit Kit! The other cats ran away when they saw me, but Kit Kit sat down. So I was able to get a little bowl of food for her. She let me get about 12 feet away while she ate. She's a tiny, tiny little cat, but looks to be in decent shape.
 

shadowsrescue

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Such good news! She knows where you are and knows she can come to you for help if needed. Maybe over time she will choose to come to you full time.
 
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orange&white

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Update on Kit Kit:

The last 5-6 days in a row, Kit Kit has shown up in my backyard a little after sunrise and anywhere between mid-evening and sunset. I've been able to feed her twice a day as I had originally hoped, so I know she's not starving.

She is letting me sit in a folding chair about 6 feet away from her while she eats, though she keeps a close eye on me, and 6 feet is her limit.

Earlier shadowsrescue shadowsrescue had mentioned that it is difficult to feed only one feral without attracting more cats. These past few days, I see what you mean. I've seen one black cat, one long-haired orange and one short-haired orange cat, and yesterday a primarily grey tortoise shell I've never seen before venture into the yard while I'm sitting with Kit Kit. The other cats won't approach though. As soon as they see me sitting there, they turn around and leave the yard.

Anyway, this is working out as I had hoped for the last few days. I hope Kit Kit keeps coming around for breakfast and dinner.
 

maggiedemi

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I'm glad she came back! What does Kit Kit look like? Do you have any pictures? My childhood female outdoor cats all disappeared years before my male cats did, I don't know why.
 
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orange&white

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I'm glad she came back! What does Kit Kit look like? Do you have any pictures? My childhood female outdoor cats all disappeared years before my male cats did, I don't know why.
I don't have a camera. The last couple times I bought batteries for my old Nikon, they wouldn't hold a charge so I gave up. :ohwell: I also live in the Stone Age and only have a flip phone. :paperbag:

Kit Kit is beautiful and intriguing in appearance. She is a black/white tuxedo cat and very tiny. I bet she doesn't weigh 7 pounds. I think she is just now about 1 year old, if that (trying to figure out how young she might have gotten pregnant). Her coat is extremely short, sleek and shiny, and her body type is oriental. You can see her musculature and bone structure very easily. Sometimes her eyes look green and sometimes a little more gold, but with a green-ish hue.
 
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