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- May 11, 2006
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I live in a first floor apartment, and my backyard is Kittycat Highway #1. There are constant travellers passing through, most are neighborhood cats with collars, but there are a couple of ferals, two intact males and one black & white female that I THINK is a feral, but I haven't seen her in many months. The last time I saw her many, many months ago, she appeared to be pregnant. She hasn't returned, nor have I seen any kittens come through.
I have NOT been feeding the cats because they seem to like to nap right underneath my kitchen window and I don't want to encourage their presence in my yard. Last summer the orange male tried to attack Ginger through the open window and nearly popped the entire screen out, and in doing so, left some huge tears in it, which I now have to pay to have replaced. (My landlord is an idiot and put nylon screens in replacing the old metal mesh ones when I moved in.)
Because of this, I can now only open my windows at the top, and then only a few inches, so that the cats don't try to attack my babies through the windows. This makes for a VERY hot kitchen in the warm months. Both males are vocal and extremely aggressive, and like to do their local courting on my porch or under my windows.
My concerns are these: Both the orange male and the white male have been looking thinner and thinner lately, and the orange male now appears to have some problems with the underside of his tail. It looks nasty from what I can see, but I can't get close - he runs away FAST if I open the door.
Part of me wants to try to trap them, but I certainly can't take them inside, and my local no-kill shelter won't take ferals like these two, especially not sick ones. I don't have any traps anyway, and I know that to trap them, I would have to start feeding them first, which again, I don't want to do for good reason.
I'm wondering if there are any links that I can find that might help to connect me to someone who could do something about/for these two guys. At the VERY least, they need to be neutered, but I am afraid that they more than likely need to be PTS, as again, they both look pretty bad off, and if they have something contagious, then they are just out there passing it around.
I don't know what to do, but am feeling like I can no longer just chase them off my porch. The orange guy has lately been singing songs through the window to my Ginger - he actually shows up on the porch and calls for her. I've been calling him her admirer, asking her if he tells her how pretty she is.
I've woken up some mornings to see him out there on my porch, asleep in a ball on the cushion of my wicker love seat, a light coating of snow over him as he sleeps. It makes me feel so bad - but what can I do? I'd really like him to NOT be around once it is time to open the windows again, but I'm not heartless, either.
Can anyone suggest anything? Any advice or ideas that may help me deal with this?
Thank you!
I have NOT been feeding the cats because they seem to like to nap right underneath my kitchen window and I don't want to encourage their presence in my yard. Last summer the orange male tried to attack Ginger through the open window and nearly popped the entire screen out, and in doing so, left some huge tears in it, which I now have to pay to have replaced. (My landlord is an idiot and put nylon screens in replacing the old metal mesh ones when I moved in.)
Because of this, I can now only open my windows at the top, and then only a few inches, so that the cats don't try to attack my babies through the windows. This makes for a VERY hot kitchen in the warm months. Both males are vocal and extremely aggressive, and like to do their local courting on my porch or under my windows.
My concerns are these: Both the orange male and the white male have been looking thinner and thinner lately, and the orange male now appears to have some problems with the underside of his tail. It looks nasty from what I can see, but I can't get close - he runs away FAST if I open the door.
Part of me wants to try to trap them, but I certainly can't take them inside, and my local no-kill shelter won't take ferals like these two, especially not sick ones. I don't have any traps anyway, and I know that to trap them, I would have to start feeding them first, which again, I don't want to do for good reason.
I'm wondering if there are any links that I can find that might help to connect me to someone who could do something about/for these two guys. At the VERY least, they need to be neutered, but I am afraid that they more than likely need to be PTS, as again, they both look pretty bad off, and if they have something contagious, then they are just out there passing it around.
I don't know what to do, but am feeling like I can no longer just chase them off my porch. The orange guy has lately been singing songs through the window to my Ginger - he actually shows up on the porch and calls for her. I've been calling him her admirer, asking her if he tells her how pretty she is.
I've woken up some mornings to see him out there on my porch, asleep in a ball on the cushion of my wicker love seat, a light coating of snow over him as he sleeps. It makes me feel so bad - but what can I do? I'd really like him to NOT be around once it is time to open the windows again, but I'm not heartless, either.
Can anyone suggest anything? Any advice or ideas that may help me deal with this?
Thank you!