feral cats

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

My inlaws are always giving me heck for being on DK so much... but last night my MIL asked me to ask you all something...

My inlaws have feral cats. They live at the neighbours property, but they come to visit most days, and the inlaws feed them with either store bought (corn) food, or returns from the pet store DH works at (now we live here too). The Mommy cat Barney (she lives in a barn) had a litter in 2010, all kittens died within the year apart from one - Spooky (shes super shy). Barney then had another litter summer 2011. Unfortunately, Barney then died while the kittens were still nursing. Spooky (who is tiny) must have had a litter too because she was obviously pregnant (either they all died or the 2 smaller of Barneys kittens were actually hers) as she then took over as Mommy cat. My inlaws did see the kittens nursing on both Barney and Spooky.

DH and I have been wanting to scoop up the cats and take them to the local rescue, but the inlaws said no. Anyway, 2 Tom cats are hanging around, so my MIL is ready to let them go - she doesnt want them to have more babies (Spooky is so tiny and something happened with her last litter, and the kittens arent even a year old yet), and she knows most if not all of them will die within a year. My FIL however, doesnt want us to catch them - he likes having them around. Last year one of the kittens (Buddy - now dead) would go inside the house and hang out for a while. Thats not going to happen this year though, as there are 3 cats and 2 dogs in the house now.

So... how do we go about catching them? We have 2 kennels - a bigger cat one and a smaller cat one, and the cats will sniff us when we go to feed them, but only 1 will let us stroke him. I have no doubt they will all find a home quickly, they are all such pretty cats. DHs boss is a board member of a local cat rescue (they have cats in their pet store for adoption) and they have foster homes (unlike the humane society) so they will get some TLC and a chance to be less feral!

Is there a way we can put food in the kennels and rig the door to close? We can try to grab them and stuff them in a kennel but it will be hard. They will be really wary of us once we catch one..

This is Spooky last year with Tigger, Barney and Buddy (all dead)

This is Gimli (tortie), my favourite and the smallest. The name just came to me (my cats have LOTR names), and Buddy Junior (my FILs not so very imaginative name for the very friendly one - the largest now, and definately male!) photo taken about 4 months ago

This is Bandit Junior - named after a black and white male cat who belongs to a family a few kms away. he comes to visit occasionally. Do you notice a theme to the names yet?? photo taken about 4 months ago

And this is Spooky junior - sorry my inlaws arent very imaginative with the names! photo taken 4 months ago

[Christine & Camus]

I don't have any advice on catching feral cats, however I did have one as a pet.

Many years ago I found a litter of feral kittens in an old box on top of a wood pile.  It was in an area referred to as "the Flats" in Berkeley, CA, that had an unknown number of feral cats that just multiplied out of control.  I moved the kittens because once they were mobile they would have fallen into the wood pile below and most likely died.  The mother cat was okay with my moving them, watching me from a distance.  I went back to check on them and they appeared sick so I gathered them up and took them to a vet.  They were ~1 week old and the vet said they had a disease most commonly referred to as the wild cat disease and that the mother cat would only re-infect them.  Real scientific, I know but, he gave me medication for them and I took them back to their mother, after 2 died I decided to take the 3 remaining kittens home with me.  My son, Justin, helped me bottle feed the 2-week old kittens four times a day (took a lunch break from work to go home and feed them lunch) and they thrived.  I found homes for 2, Justin kept the one male kitten and named him Comet.  Comet was a wild little kitten and we had to train him not to attack with squirt guns!  Fast forward - Comet was raised by Justin more like a dog than a cat, he was affectionate with us, but no one else, and he lived for 17 years.  I could not say that he was ever a normal domestic cat, but he was a great pet for a boy!  And we have some of the most unusual cat stories ever.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Comet and your son are adorable in these pictures.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Kaytlin the kitties are all beautiful! I have to agree with the others about catch, spay/neuter and release. Most shelters are overrun with cats already so a feral doesn't stand much of a chance.  Thank you and your in laws for caring for them and trying to help them. You are so kind.

[Kelly B]

They are all so cute! I love cats! I have done a lot for my neighborhood feral cats. TNR is the best thing to do for them. If the cats are only living a year it is highly likely that they have serious fatal diseases running through the colony (FIV, Feline leukemia). They also have to fight the elements, people, cars, other animals, etc.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Kaytlin, I'm of no help here, but there was a documentary on the CBC last week-end that might interest you and your family. here is the info:

Cat Crazed is a fun and irreverent take on an important environmental story: the world’s unprecedented cat overpopulation crisis. The cat is the world’s most popular pet – and the most disposable. Some 100 million cats, domestic and wild, roam the North American landscape, wreaking havoc on native flora and fauna – and forcing well-meaning humans to take sides in a cat-bird war. It’s become clear that we don’t have a cat problem, we have a human problem.

The species at the top of the food chain needs to get a grip on practical humane solutions that can save the lives of cats and birds. Cat Crazed celebrates our love affair with felines and encourages a new relationship where all cats are loved and none are abandoned.

A series of animations by Cordell Barker is interwoven into the film. In Cat Crazed, the Oscar-nominated Barker channels the mythic cat personality captured in his classic 1987 film The Cat Came Back.

You can watch it here: http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/doczone/2011/catcrazed/

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

We have a feral cat problem here and I'm wracking my brains as to what to do about it.  The two elderly people who live either side of me feed them and they use my yard frequently.  Riley wants to play with them and at the moment there are four kittens.  I have only to whisper the word CAT and he's running to the back door really excited.   I tried to find a Humane society here who would and they did say they could lend me the traps but said that I would have to fund the neutering myself.  At last count I reckon at the moment I am talking about 12 cats.  So the only thing I can think of doing is having a fund raising event to cover the costs... I am not only afraid of them multiplying but their diseases really scare me not only in terms of their own health but also what they could pass to Riley.

[F, Calla & Luca]

A fund raiser sounds like a brilliant idea.

[Becka]

Feral cats are an issue here, too, and the last house I lived in had a whole colony living next door (the owner was a vet and fed them, as did several others, including me occasionally, because I am a big softie like that). They used to come over in little groups to drink out of the pool, which made me feel sad for them so I put out water. I didn't have any pets at the time and so I liked having them around (only one would ever let me touch it), but unfortunately they of course all had fleas, and all spent time on the backyard furniture, and eventually I had a very bad flea problem in the house. (I know this is anecdotal and probably not helpful--but watch out for fleas.)