- Joined
- May 16, 2015
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- 27
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Hello,
I apologize in advance for the length.
My husband and I are having a few feral cat issues and we are hoping you can help. Any suggestions are helpful! We live in a subdivision and our neighbor feeds and provides a little bit of shelter for 7 feral cats. I started feeding a starving little thing that was shunned from the group (a male) and of course now I have all 7 of them. They bounce between neighbors but always end up here at night. I don't mind feeding them as we have a little extra money to do so. We have even temporarily made our 12x12 patio into a covered shelter with heated water bowls, heated houses, and heated beds. Some of the cats are more social than others. They don't really show aggressive behaviors and they are a pretty good little colony (all related). However, we've seen so many kittens/cats get lost, hurt, sick and not make it and we lost 2 adults last winter. This broke our hearts so at first, we just wanted to help the best we can and therefore provided them food. Since we lost the 2 last winter we decided to make our patio their temporary shelter for winter (but will be torn down in the summer) and we want to get them TNR'd. My husband and I enrolled in a TNR program, but we honestly have no idea what we're doing and the resources in our area are limited, we have to drive 1.5 hours one way just to get them fixed. We have the 2 live traps from the TNR place but we have a few questions:
We know how to trap them, but we're wondering afterwards, with it being winter (we live in Michigan), how long do we keep them? Our plan is to put our 4x4 kennel with lid in our heated garage with some plastic and old blankets lining the floor (since it's cold concrete) and put the live trap in that. The kennel door lines up with the outside garage door so when we release them they will go right out to the area they are used to. But, how long do we keep them in there? We just want to get them through the winter and get them spayed/neutered to reduce the population and give them a better chance.
Also, we don't plan to be in our current home forever, so we really want to get them through the winter and then slowly wean them from eating here. This makes me feel guilty because they now trust us and partially rely on us, but I had planned to be here forever when I took them on. My thinking is if they no longer reproduce because we TNR them, then there will be less competition for food and of course the neighbors will continue feeding them and provide the shelter she currently does. I just don't know who will take over our home and I don't want them being poisoned or hurt. Isn't it better to wean them in spring then for them to possibly learn the hard way?
My next issue is:
Of the 7, one is a mom, about a year old and had a litter in late August early September. Only 1 survived. She brought him to me. They have stayed in the patio on warm beds and I have been taking care of them. They are here all day and get special treatment lol. The little guy gets so cold at night and I bring him in while mom hunts. Well about 2 weeks ago they started crying at my doors, following me around my house jumping window to window. I couldn't watch another baby die and so they now live in my spare bedroom. My plan was to hopefully acclimate them and keep or find them a new home. However, my 2 indoor cats are really struggling and this breaks my heart. My indoor cats have not seen them, but they hear mom crying all night and can smell her. It is causing them to fight, which is something I've never experienced before. My girl wants to rip me apart every time I come out of that room. They seem to be OK with the kitten. Mom cat won't use a litter box and my house smells horrible! She is spraying up the walls and on the kennel. The kitten is doing wonderful socially, but mom is kind of hindering him at times. He was using the litter box, but now he only goes where she goes. I took him to the vet and have an appointment for mom tomorrow. I don't know how we are going to get her into a carrier. She is not going to do well in there if we can even get her in there. Will this break the trust I've worked so hard to gain? Since I was planning to keep them, I decided to go the vet route verse the TNR route and get them shots, tested, wormed, etc. BTW baby is FIV, Leukemia, and Heartworm free!! However, the vet trips are getting really pricey and I'm not sure if mom will acclimate or my indoors will acclimate with her. She is friendly but at times skittish and does well for the situation, but she is struggling to be inside at times, although she doesn't seem to want to be outside either. I have completely emptied my guest bedroom and laid down plastic to protect the carpet and then put puddle pads and blankets on top of that. There is also a 4x4 kennel with a lid and with an open door but she prefers to lay on top. During the day she sleeps comfortably in a comfy position, but at night she cries and paces. She's eating, drinking, playing, and everything else just fine as long as we're not in there. I even cracked the screen to let fresh air in while I was cleaning up poop and pee and she didn't seem interested in busting out. There are toys, beds, and litterboxes but she still cries a lot. Is it best for her if we TNR her and release her back with her colony or give her more time? Do I keep her until spring and then release her so she's not out in the winter? I'm scared she will hold back the kitten from acclimating. Should I separate them or will that make it worse? It seems the baby calms momma but momma stresses baby and teaches him feral habits. I don't know what to do, but she is unfortunately causing a lot of stress for my indoor cats and therefore me.
Any advice? Thank you!
I apologize in advance for the length.
My husband and I are having a few feral cat issues and we are hoping you can help. Any suggestions are helpful! We live in a subdivision and our neighbor feeds and provides a little bit of shelter for 7 feral cats. I started feeding a starving little thing that was shunned from the group (a male) and of course now I have all 7 of them. They bounce between neighbors but always end up here at night. I don't mind feeding them as we have a little extra money to do so. We have even temporarily made our 12x12 patio into a covered shelter with heated water bowls, heated houses, and heated beds. Some of the cats are more social than others. They don't really show aggressive behaviors and they are a pretty good little colony (all related). However, we've seen so many kittens/cats get lost, hurt, sick and not make it and we lost 2 adults last winter. This broke our hearts so at first, we just wanted to help the best we can and therefore provided them food. Since we lost the 2 last winter we decided to make our patio their temporary shelter for winter (but will be torn down in the summer) and we want to get them TNR'd. My husband and I enrolled in a TNR program, but we honestly have no idea what we're doing and the resources in our area are limited, we have to drive 1.5 hours one way just to get them fixed. We have the 2 live traps from the TNR place but we have a few questions:
We know how to trap them, but we're wondering afterwards, with it being winter (we live in Michigan), how long do we keep them? Our plan is to put our 4x4 kennel with lid in our heated garage with some plastic and old blankets lining the floor (since it's cold concrete) and put the live trap in that. The kennel door lines up with the outside garage door so when we release them they will go right out to the area they are used to. But, how long do we keep them in there? We just want to get them through the winter and get them spayed/neutered to reduce the population and give them a better chance.
Also, we don't plan to be in our current home forever, so we really want to get them through the winter and then slowly wean them from eating here. This makes me feel guilty because they now trust us and partially rely on us, but I had planned to be here forever when I took them on. My thinking is if they no longer reproduce because we TNR them, then there will be less competition for food and of course the neighbors will continue feeding them and provide the shelter she currently does. I just don't know who will take over our home and I don't want them being poisoned or hurt. Isn't it better to wean them in spring then for them to possibly learn the hard way?
My next issue is:
Of the 7, one is a mom, about a year old and had a litter in late August early September. Only 1 survived. She brought him to me. They have stayed in the patio on warm beds and I have been taking care of them. They are here all day and get special treatment lol. The little guy gets so cold at night and I bring him in while mom hunts. Well about 2 weeks ago they started crying at my doors, following me around my house jumping window to window. I couldn't watch another baby die and so they now live in my spare bedroom. My plan was to hopefully acclimate them and keep or find them a new home. However, my 2 indoor cats are really struggling and this breaks my heart. My indoor cats have not seen them, but they hear mom crying all night and can smell her. It is causing them to fight, which is something I've never experienced before. My girl wants to rip me apart every time I come out of that room. They seem to be OK with the kitten. Mom cat won't use a litter box and my house smells horrible! She is spraying up the walls and on the kennel. The kitten is doing wonderful socially, but mom is kind of hindering him at times. He was using the litter box, but now he only goes where she goes. I took him to the vet and have an appointment for mom tomorrow. I don't know how we are going to get her into a carrier. She is not going to do well in there if we can even get her in there. Will this break the trust I've worked so hard to gain? Since I was planning to keep them, I decided to go the vet route verse the TNR route and get them shots, tested, wormed, etc. BTW baby is FIV, Leukemia, and Heartworm free!! However, the vet trips are getting really pricey and I'm not sure if mom will acclimate or my indoors will acclimate with her. She is friendly but at times skittish and does well for the situation, but she is struggling to be inside at times, although she doesn't seem to want to be outside either. I have completely emptied my guest bedroom and laid down plastic to protect the carpet and then put puddle pads and blankets on top of that. There is also a 4x4 kennel with a lid and with an open door but she prefers to lay on top. During the day she sleeps comfortably in a comfy position, but at night she cries and paces. She's eating, drinking, playing, and everything else just fine as long as we're not in there. I even cracked the screen to let fresh air in while I was cleaning up poop and pee and she didn't seem interested in busting out. There are toys, beds, and litterboxes but she still cries a lot. Is it best for her if we TNR her and release her back with her colony or give her more time? Do I keep her until spring and then release her so she's not out in the winter? I'm scared she will hold back the kitten from acclimating. Should I separate them or will that make it worse? It seems the baby calms momma but momma stresses baby and teaches him feral habits. I don't know what to do, but she is unfortunately causing a lot of stress for my indoor cats and therefore me.
Any advice? Thank you!