Tnr Questions

[tarasgirl06]

Things to consider:

The house around the corner where the cats are congregating is likely the house where they are being regularly fed. Cats will choose a territory where there is food security.

The people feeding the cats may have taken them to their vet to have them spayed/neutered. Or maybe not. We don’t know right now. A private vet would not snip their ears.

If the cats have been spayed/neutered/vaccinated, are being fed regularly, and there is a covered patio to shelter them from rain, then they are “home” and in the same situation as they would be in a barn cat program (food/water/shelter).

I fear you are doing a lot of worrying and planning, perhaps over 3 cats who have everything they need.

The first thing to do when you see ferals/strays which are not on your property is to go knock on the door or leave a flyer and ask if the people there “own” the cats or if the cats are unowned strays/ferals. Then go from there.

My feral Misfit spends her days outside because that’s what she prefers. If someone came to talk to me about trapping her and relocating her to a barn cat program, I’d sure be happy to let them know that she is TNR’d, well-fed, sheltered…and that she’s my cat.

It may be the cats are ferals and the people feeding would love to hear about the TNR program. We don't know. It seems like you’ve spent a week stressing out over planning Steps 2-10.

Do Step 1 first and find out the cats’ status.

*GENIUS, orange&white . GENIUS.*

 

[maggiedemi]

Hi T,
How are you? We haven't heard from you in a while. Did you make your flyer?
Thinking of you. Here's another ((hug)) in case you need it.
J

 

[walli]

Thanks for the hug! doing ok, sadly had to step away from this.
Breaks my heart, It's so amazing the Feral Cat Problem. I am considering helping in some way to this problem, I just can't do it at my house, I have enough going on. The woman that was suppose to call did not call again, that was stressing me out too. I feel so badly about this, but have to hope they will be taken care of by someone else. I would have no problem helping trap cats in another area, and maybe someone trap cats in my area, that would be the only thing I could do.
I remember someone here saying if you can't take care of them, don't feed them.
I wish I would have remembered that. Thanks MaggieDemi

 

[tarasgirl06]

Thanks for the hug! doing ok, sadly had to step away from this.
Breaks my heart, It's so amazing the Feral Cat Problem. I am considering helping in some way to this problem, I just can't do it at my house, I have enough going on. The woman that was suppose to call did not call again, that was stressing me out too. I feel so badly about this, but have to hope they will be taken care of by someone else. I would have no problem helping trap cats in another area, and maybe someone trap cats in my area, that would be the only thing I could do.
I remember someone here saying if you can't take care of them, don't feed them.
I wish I would have remembered that. Thanks MaggieDemi

I'm so sorry! I do hope that the cats are cared for and TNRed. That's what matters most.

 

[maggiedemi]

W walli --You have done more than your part to help already. You took in Walli & Joey this year. I hope you realize that. You have a heart of gold and I'm proud to call you my friend.

 

[walli]

So the women finally contacted me, They are offering to help with the trapping keep the cats while they recover and possibly have someone come to my neighborhood to feed these cats, This is truly a miracle - if it happens that is. I've learned not to expect things because then I get anxietied. I offered to help trap cats in other neighborhoods but explained why I can't do anymore in my own neighborhood, I'm hoping It goes like they are offering. So there is still a bit of hope. The lady I spoke with is out of town till Sunday so hopefully by next week we can start TNR.
I've had to stay away for a bit, I was truly stressed about this whole ordeal, I know for sure my plate is full, My mom who has Alzheimers is my priority and Walli and Joey need to be socialized, I'm considering a cat behaviorist, getting these 2 together will make life a little easier.

 

[tarasgirl06]

So the women finally contacted me, They are offering to help with the trapping keep the cats while they recover and possibly have someone come to my neighborhood to feed these cats, This is truly a miracle - if it happens that is. I've learned not to expect things because then I get anxietied. I offered to help trap cats in other neighborhoods but explained why I can't do anymore in my own neighborhood, I'm hoping It goes like they are offering. So there is still a bit of hope. The lady I spoke with is out of town till Sunday so hopefully by next week we can start TNR.
I've had to stay away for a bit, I was truly stressed about this whole ordeal, I know for sure my plate is full, My mom who has Alzheimers is my priority and Walli and Joey need to be socialized, I'm considering a cat behaviorist, getting these 2 together will make life a little easier.

That is EXCELLENT news, W walli ! and I can absolutely relate to both not getting your hopes up, and your priorities. *PRAYERS* for all to go well. Please keep us in the loop, won't you?

 

[maggiedemi]

I've had to stay away for a bit, I was truly stressed about this whole ordeal

I hope you don't feel stressed by us! We missed you. I was going to message you on your other Walli/Joey thread.

 

[walli]

Thanks maggiedemi I will post about Walli soon!

 

[walli]

So I met with one of the women that are helping with the TNR, wonderful woman!
I wasn't sure if all this was true but I'm starting to believe it.
We are Trapping on the 14th of October and she is going to continue feeding the cats after that, I am feeding them until the TNR, It is stressful for me but I can hang in there till then.

I put out a letter to all the neighbors I got 2 responses from women who called me and let me know someone was feeding these cats, they are not happy about that. I did not confess to it at the time. I am going to have to call them and let them know it was me. I'm pretty stressed about that, I hope it goes well.
The only other response I got was one guy giving me the description of his indoor/outoor cat, that was a good response.

Any input on taking to these ladies would be appreciated, going to call them later today, I hope it goes well, doesn't help that I lied by omission before.

 

[orange&white]

I put out a letter to all the neighbors I got 2 responses from women who called me and let me know someone was feeding these cats, they are not happy about that. I did not confess to it at the time. I am going to have to call them and let them know it was me.

I still think that if the cats are living several houses down and around the corner from you house, that the "someone" who is feeding the cats, is someone in addition to you. Those cats are most likely congregating close to their source of "guaranteed" food.

Anyway, if you included in your letter that you will be trapping the cats on October 14th for TNR, then that is plenty of notice to anyone who may be feeding, and perhaps claiming ownership, of the cats.

It was nice that another person gave you a description of their kitty.

 

[walli]

Thanks Orange & White, I actually was holding on to that when I was super stressed and quit feeding them for awhile! I had hoped if there was another person feeding they would contact me, but they didn't, everything went very well with the ladies that were agains feeding, they were understanding, so after the trapping the 2 ladies that are helping will take over feeding, I will mention that it is possible someone else is feeding, I think they will be able to assess the situation Better than me, I heard the one lady has TNR'd 50-100 cats in my town, she feeds a colony of 30 in an apartment building, the one that is directly helping me is new at this and has a few cats she feeds at her house, she has a dog, so she can't have them in her backyard, she feeds them out front. This is quite the adventure and has taught me I have limits. I offered the women any help they need in other neighborhoods but my own neighborhood is a problem for me, sounds weird but I'm weird
Oh yeah the lady that came over last night saw the black cat and she thinks it may be friendly and possibly adoptable, that would be great.

 

[orange&white]

Sounds like you've got everything under control now, with help from others, and notice sent out to the neighbors about the schedule. Hopefully that takes some of the stress off you with everything else you have going on in your life!

 

[walli]

Thank you! I hope so, saw more cats this morning, sheesh!

 

[walli]

I do not have the personality for this!
Yesterday there was a cat I never seen before, and the small grey didn't get to eat because of it I think. This morning I only saw the small grey one, and I fed him where he was, ( I had moved the food because I was feeding close to one of the ladies house that isn't totally happy about feeding cats) so I was so anxietied yesterday because he didn't get to eat, I didn't see the other cats today, maybe they were hiding but I can't leave food if I don't see them. Haven't seen the Orange & White one lately, so I worry about that. This is just not something I can do. Can't wait till they take over on the 14th, still 3 weeks away but at least there is an end in sight.

 

[walli]

We trapped this morning, we got grey kitty
and the Black with the white chin, Black with white chin
changed the dynamics of all the cats.
We still have the original 2 black cats and orange and white to trap.
The woman helping is wonderful! She will be taking over the feeding once she does that I will be a helper for when she is out of town.
I couldn't have imagined this would go down as it is.
Truly a miracle, The woman is dedicated to trapping cats.
Our town is experiencing coyotes coming out in areas you wouldn't think they would be.
This morning there was blood in my driveway, I'm wondering if a coyote came down our street, not sure what happened, there is another orange & white I've seen recently and I will be on the lookout for her, wondering if there was a coyote, she would be the victim.

 

[maggiedemi]

T, that's great news! I'm glad you got some help with the cats. I think the reason we are seeing so many more coyotes is because they put a limit on how many hunters can shoot. At least that's what they did here. I saw one in my backyard this year.

 

[walli]

whoa! your backyard? sheesh, scary!
good thing your kitties are indoors, My kitties a long time ago were indoor/outdoor, don't seem like you can do that anymore, I'm going to warn the one neighbor who's cat is indoor outdoor, I think Ferals can protect them selves better than house cats that go outside.

 

[walli]

I will update when we trap again, but this is my story!
A Super Duper Wonderful woman Sent to me by the Lord
has taken over feeding the cats as of yesterday, we trapped 2 neutered, vaccinated etc.. 3 to go. In all my wildest imagination would I have thought this would happen this way, I was in extreme Anxiety, had to go to the doctors.
A friend of mine prayed with me for the Lord to provide for these cats.
In no way did I realize he would send an actual person!
and above all this lady is not doing this out of a sense of duty, you can see true Joy in her heart in doing this! It is a miracle.
So I am on helper status only, when she goes out of town I will feed the kitties.
It's going to take awhile for me to destress, all said and done it was worth it
for the kitties.
Now to focus on my Feral and Strays socialization!
and my Mom of course!

 

[maggiedemi]

T, it's wonderful that your friend prayed with you and help came. That's really inspiring to hear. I deal with anxiety too, so I know what it's like.
This is the best possible news. Keep us updated!