Worried I'm In Too Deep! Need Help!

[MotherofFerals]

Hi everyone, I've just signed up to get some advice! Basically the best way to explain my questions is to first tell you the full story!

So 2 years ago when we moved in to our new house we noticed a lovely cat in our garden all the time, we started giving him morsels of food and some water, long story short he was terrified of us and was not social at all so eventually after 16 months of feeding him we realised he must be feral, over the last two years he has grown to trust us more and more to the point where he will come in the kitchen (with the door left open) for food and will allow me (only me, not my husband or son even though they feed him too) to stroke his head slightly, and has got way more used to touch although he does still bolt at any loud noises or fast movements! We've called him Keith!

Fast forward to now, we now know he's very feral (compared to other feral cats we meet later on!) So we feed him 2 or 3 times a day and he's still really timid... Anyways during this time we have seen other cats around that we thought were feral (Nigel a long haired cheeky male cat who Keith hates! Marylin a beautiful short haired Calico female, Jim, a huge ginger male very outgoing and dominant, Paul a black and white male who seems friendly-ish with Keith!) they occasionally got Keith's left overs when he'd gone!

Anyway one day we saw this beautiful little black and white scruffy kitten bouncing about hunting crickets in our garden so we quickly named her Hunter, anyway a couple of days later we see her again.. with Keith!! Keith is protecting her and looking after her and he meows at her (we'd never heard him make a peep in the whole 2 years we've known him!) So everything we thought we knew about Keith was in question! He was a very timid male feral looking after a female kitten!? Anyway so we approach them and at first Keith is very protective of Hunter, doesn't want us near her and even seems to direct her to hide when we're around! But after time he starts bringing her to eat with him at his normal times.

Then about a month later Hunter turns up on her own, she's very friendly and runs straight in our house and runs around! We think this is so weird as Keith has never let her out of his sight! So we feed her and then keep her in while we wait for Keith to come for her thinking she might have just ran off from him or something, well hours pass and Keith doesn't show up and we're worried and don't wanna let her out on her own as she's very vulnerable without him. It goes the whole night and Keith doesn't show, Hunter is a bit jittery but we manage to settle her for the night. Keith comes in the morning for his feed but doesn't seem worried as we thought he would be, we try to give Hunter back to him but he just meows at her and they play a bit but he didn't try to get her to go with him at the end he just goes (when before he would spend ten mins just meowing at her to go with him! ) So you may think we're mad but we get the feeling he wants her to stay with us, like he left her with us (we have always been in the mindset that we would take Keith in if he wanted but he's well away from that he's still very untamable!) So we decide to keep Hunter if she turns out to not have a microchip and if nobody claims her ( we were thinking she might not be feral cos she was so friendly and settled in really well, although I think it helped that she saw that Keith trusts us) so we take her to the vet and she doesn't have a chip and we find out she's a healthy (if quite underweight) 6 month old kitten! So anyway fast forward 2 months later and Hunter has grown so much and has really really thrived in her new home (put on weight, her coat is shiny and healthy and she's much happier etc)

Anyway since then the other ferals have started to come more and more and I fed them, one after another over time, first Marylin and Nigel and my husband fed Marylin late at night and I said no because they would make Keith nervous (this was before Hunter) then more recently we noticed Jim was in a bad way and more vulnerable than we thought, his jaw seems out of place, when his mouth is settled his lip is up on one side revealing his gum and his lower jaw hangs down at the same point revealing that he's missing all his small bottom teeth (pointy ones still there) also his back end is very slender compared to his front end which is very muscular and big and his tail looks thin and scrawny and he holds it in a strange position he also walks more like a bulldog than a cat poor thing so I started to feed him too. Then Paul started coming more and we actually think he may be Hunter's father as they look very alike and have similar mannerisms although this may just be breed thing! He is also not doing great, he has large scabs all over his body under his fur, like he has excema or something! So I fed him too :/ well I bet you can guess where this is going now I'm feeding Nigel, Jim, Paul and of course Keith at least 2 times a day in the garden!

Keith used to love our garden and he was left alone there, he could chill out and know he was safe and had peace and quiet well it's just totally ran away with me and Jim is now very clingy he hates me stroking or giving any of the others attention and has started to bully the other cats out of the garden, Paul and Keith are terrified of him! Jim has become very fond of attention and affection and he follows me around the garden bless him, I love them all so much and I genuinely just wanted to help them all but now I just worry that I'm in way too far over my head and after reading up on ferals I'm worried I'm doing them more harm than good by feeding them but I can't just ignore them, they all seem to need me and I just want to look after them and help them all! I would love to adopt them all but we live in a very small 2 bed flat (big garden tho) and we both are disabled and survive on very little.

Please know it all happened over time and one cat lead to another and before I knew it I was regularly feeding 4 ferals never mind my own cat Hunter, and I really do love them and want what's best for them!

What should I do for the best? How can I at least stop Jim from bullying the other cats?! Should I get them neutered? I don't think I could get them all to come with me and I definitely couldn't afford four big vets bills! (Also a couple of them seem to have pretty awful eye infections too) Any advice would be very appreciated!
Pics included: The Ginger cat is Jim, the little black and white kitten is Hunter and the tabby with Hunter and food bowls is Keith when he was coming to eat with Hunter!
Thank you!

 

[Kieka]

First of all, it is a good thing for them to have a caretaker. Ferals with a caretaker will live longer. At this point they depend on you so I wouldn't stop feeding but maybe not feed any newcomers since you seem to have control there.

You should get them spayed/neutered. It really is the best thing for them. For the boys it would mean less fights and injuries. For the girl too. Not to mention it will reduce the chances of your group growing more. Call around and see if there are any TNR or feral resources in your area for help trapping and/or reduced surgery.

It's cute that Keith cared for Hunter. My Rocket was a feral and when her Mom disappeared a male in her colony took over the care of her litter. So I have seen the same behavior. He may very well have been leading her to safety. When Rocket joined us my boy Link took immediately too her and two years later he still protects her. She, similar to Keith, hates any cat who isn't one of her two brothers.

There really isn't a good answer to your bully cat. Getting them neutered may help some with that. I'd start with that cat if you need to space it out. During the neuter the vet can evaluate the injuries and may be able to at least clean them up and give an antibiotic shot.

 

[MotherofFerals]

Thank you so much for your reply, I was worried people would say I was stupid or even cruel for getting involved with so many ferals! I just can't help it, I can't ignore them, I just wanna help them all! I think you're right in terms of neutering, Im pretty sure I could get Jim to a vet since he trusts me the most, he even lets me pick him up! (Which is usually how I stop the fighting, I just pick the big lump up and move him! Lol) I will look for a TNR organisation and see if they could help, I was worried about calling someone in case they took them and ended up putting them down but after reading a bit about TNR I think I'll try that!

Aww I love hearing that you've seen the same thing with Rocket, we really got the impression that he was trying to get her to come and stay here as since she's been living here, he acknowledges her but keeps his distance, she cries at him and chirps and has sometimes tried to run after him when he leaves the garden and he always hisses at her and she then gives up and comes back! We think it's her trying to go play with him or run after him and he tells her she has to go back and that she's better off here! Haha I bet that sounds nuts but that's how we like to see it! Their relationship has changed since she's been here, he hisses at her a lot but never is aggressive towards her and he often blink-kisses at her!

Yeah I was thinking even if I only manage to neuter Jim, he's the ring leader of the lot and the one that causes fights and things, the other males seem quite happy to share the garden! So even if it's only him, that might help the situation a lot!

Thank you so much for the advice, I'm so happy to hear It's good for them so have someone looking after them at least!

 

[surya]

I would get the girls fixed first, so you don't have any unwanted babies. Hopefully you can find a TNR group in your area. They can probably loan you a trap. I was able to get my apartment cats fixed free through a rescue organization.

 

[Sarthur2]

Your story is much too long and hard to read, but sweet, and I applaud you caring for all the ferals, but every single one of them needs to be fixed - male or female - ASAP. They also all need medical attention right away!

Where do you live? City and state? We can help you find a low-cost clinic.

Your situation is fast growing out of control, and needs to be reigned in immediately.

Eye infections need to be dealt with too - ASAP. If you are unable to touch the ferals to apply eye meds, they need to be seen by a vet for treatment. This cannot go on. They can lose their eyesight if it is left untreated.

A vet can give antibiotics both internally and externally.

The bottom line is all of these cats need help, more than just feeding. They need to see the vet. You must make this happen as these cats are now your responsibility.

Please do right by them with respect to vet care.

 

[MotherofFerals]

Apologies if I'm not replying properly to each person, I'm new to this site so not sure how to tag someone!

Surya: Thanks for your advice I'm going to research my area for an organisation that can help and try and get these kitties neutered!

Sarthur2: Apologies if this is Frank but you sound a bit judgemental, I didn't get into this armed with the knowledge & resources you obviously have, on how to go about caring for feral cats. It's only since I started that I've read up on it properly and whether you think me irresponsible or not, I assure you only had good intentions when I began this journey, I love the cats and would never willingly cause them harm or neglect them!

I understand where your concern comes from and believe me I would absolutely love to get all these cats neutered and the medical care they need but unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world! I live in a disadvantaged and underprivileged area and barely get by on the money I have, I spend a lot of it on making sure I give these cats, good, nutritious food, I know this isn't the cats fault and I maybe shouldn't have got in so deep, but nobody else round here is looking after them and most of them I suspect have been abused or abandoned which is common in areas like mine, I just want to give these cats the best help I can!

I live in Northern England UK and I will try my very best to find a way to get these cats treated! I may have been naive feeding all these cats but it came from a good place!

I have thought of ways to treat the eye infections a lot, Keith has been like that (eyes dripping dark gloopy brown gunk) for the whole time I've known him but to be honest, in the last 6 months his eyes have really really cleaned up they seem much better! (We think this could be due to his better nutrition) He used to rub them with his paws and his white paws would be stained by the stuff but I've not seen him do this for a good few months, he actually seems much brighter in himself too, Keith is the one we would have the most trouble trying to get to the vets, it took him 2 years to let me slightly stroke in-between his ears with just two fingers and is still pretty terrified of everything! Jim is the other one with the dripping eyes, he is the one I feel we'd most be able to get somewhere as he even lets me pick him up! He obviously needs more than just the eyes too. My point is if I felt I could get any of these cats to the vet before I would have already done it! How do I get them to a vet when I can't even touch most of them?!

Another point is affording it, with neutering, vaccinations and then added treatment for their various ailments it would amount to a lot and as much as I would love to do it I just haven't got the money!

Your advice isn't really advice, you assume I need convincing to take them to a vet, that is not the problem, I would take them all in a shot, question is how?!

Thank you for your reply, please don't take this in the wrong way, I just felt you sounded a tad judgemental in your response, and i want to assure you I am committed to giving these cats all and any help that I can possibly provide!

 

[di and bob]

Call around to the vets in your area and see if they can recommend any low cost spay/neuter programs in your area. I have taken them out of town to get this. Trapping shouldn't be hard since they are used to you and getting food, be prepared to feeling sick to your stomach, and worried, they aren't going to like it. Many I have just put the food in a carrier and slammed the door shut when they were in. There are live traps available at farm and ranch stores like Tractor Supply or Orschelns, or on Amazon. But everything turns out SO much better it is well worth it. My feral males bully and fight each other but ignore the neutered boys. I, too, know how much it strains the finances, 175.00 to get one spayed with all the shots, and they can treat any other problems too, like the eye infections. My vet has a 'gas' chamber to set the traps in so a minimum of handling is necessary, you might want to ask if they are familiar with doing ferals. And make SURE you post right on the crate/trap, WILD ANIMAL-FERAL, take precautions! There are instances of techs getting bit and then your poor cat has to be destroyed to check for rabies or quarantined for weeks. Tell them when you bring them in too. Try to do the females ASAP, once they start having kittens every few months you will be truly overwhelmed, I had one feral mother that had 3 litters and 17 kittens in one year, then THEY start having kittens. We had so many cats at one time it was ridiculous, then the diseases move in, distemper wiped out most of them, it was truly heartbreaking. and we spent a lot more money trying to save some of them. Do your 'bully' next if you can, it still takes up to 6 weeks to get the hormones out of their system, males have a MUCH easier time, they act normal within a day. Females should be locked in your garage for a day or two to make sure everything is OK. I neuter 2 a year, and it took me a few years, especially since new ones move in. But I got it done and it is wonderful!, they are all vaccinated and no more kittens! Just save for it and do it as soon as get enough, foregoing those Starbucks coffees and not taking vacations went a long way. Have a garage sale and use that money, everyone has things setting around they don't use. Advertise it as a help to animals. I sold baked goods and vegetables from my garden this summer at the local Farmer's Market ( no fee, and the baked goods went VERY well!) for two hours a week (I was sold out) and I made 500.00!)
Good luck, thank you for being such a compassionate person, we need more like you. I'll pray for you all!