I am starting to put L-lysine in my ferals food that i leave out for them... i also have racoons that come and eat the ferals food as well as skunks my question is will the lysine harm the other wild animals that get a nibble of food???
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Question on my Ferals and other animals
- Thread starter jaclyn4238
- Start Date
I do not know of any problems associated with feeding L-lysing to wildlife...however, is it possible to feed the ferals at dawn and dusk and remove the food after the ferals have eaten?? That way, you would not need to be as concerned for the raccoons and skunks.
Katie
Katie
I dont know for sure, but I would be much surprised if the other animals get hurt by the lysine. Lysine isnt no poison, it is an aminoacid naturally found in food.
Here given as extra. And it doesnt hurt the cats, does it?
Definitely not as it is only a small part of what they raccons and skunks eat.
The question is perhaps: Is it dangerously if you happen to overdose the lysine? Ie will the cats be hurt?
They are talking in swedish press these days several young men collapsed after drinking sporting drinking; they do have a lot of taurine. The newspapers says excess of taurine is dangerous to your heart...
Here given as extra. And it doesnt hurt the cats, does it?
Definitely not as it is only a small part of what they raccons and skunks eat.
The question is perhaps: Is it dangerously if you happen to overdose the lysine? Ie will the cats be hurt?
They are talking in swedish press these days several young men collapsed after drinking sporting drinking; they do have a lot of taurine. The newspapers says excess of taurine is dangerous to your heart...
Stefan - that's really interesting about the sport drink. I think it's far more likely the collapse was from the amount of caffeine in those drinks rather than the Taurine! They usually have 1000mg of Taurine in them, and clinical studies have shown that Taurine taken at 3000 - 4000mg actually helps reduce bad cholesterol and raise the level of good cholesterol. It is a cell regulator, and works with calcium and magnesium, so perhaps if someone had heart disease maybe it could be a problem. But in the research I've done on Taurine, the most dangerous part of Taurine I've found so far is that it does increase the level of digestive acids, so anyone prone to stomach acidity or ulcers shouldn't use the higher levels of Taurine. Haven't seen any warnings about heart problems in relation to Taurine though (doesn't mean they don't exist!)
As to the L-Lysine, it's probably good for the others too, though I have no idea. Sorry can't be of more help!
Katie's idea of putting out food only in the morning and evening is a good idea. We ended up having to do that so we weren't feeding an entire forest of animals, lol!
Quick question - are the cats you're feeding spayed/neutered and ear-tipped? You can use http://www.pets911.com/index.php to help find organizations that can help trap - or perhaps a place to lend you a trap - and low/cost spay/neuter services (if you want to trap them on your own).
Sorry - I don't know much about your feral friends. But if the colony isn't spayed/neutered, they really need to be - or you really shouldn't be feeding them. While I applaud every effort to help animals (especially cats
), as a rescuer, I do have a problem with the idea of helping to keep animals healthy so they can create more homeless pets....
Laurie
As to the L-Lysine, it's probably good for the others too, though I have no idea. Sorry can't be of more help!
Katie's idea of putting out food only in the morning and evening is a good idea. We ended up having to do that so we weren't feeding an entire forest of animals, lol!
Quick question - are the cats you're feeding spayed/neutered and ear-tipped? You can use http://www.pets911.com/index.php to help find organizations that can help trap - or perhaps a place to lend you a trap - and low/cost spay/neuter services (if you want to trap them on your own).
Sorry - I don't know much about your feral friends. But if the colony isn't spayed/neutered, they really need to be - or you really shouldn't be feeding them. While I applaud every effort to help animals (especially cats
Laurie
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
You would rather see cats starve and freeze to death than be semi health fed and warm? It isnt a colony it is 2 cats that I see reguarly no more and I only leave food out at night. They are impossible to get near you cant even look at them without them running away. Or else I would do my best to alter them. I in no way advocate pro creating of strays...but I also do not agree with taking away their source of food being meOriginally Posted by LDG
Stefan - that's really interesting about the sport drink. I think it's far more likely the collapse was from the amount of caffeine in those drinks rather than the Taurine! They usually have 1000mg of Taurine in them, and clinical studies have shown that Taurine taken at 3000 - 4000mg actually helps reduce bad cholesterol and raise the level of good cholesterol. It is a cell regulator, and works with calcium and magnesium, so perhaps if someone had heart disease maybe it could be a problem. But in the research I've done on Taurine, the most dangerous part of Taurine I've found so far is that it does increase the level of digestive acids, so anyone prone to stomach acidity or ulcers shouldn't use the higher levels of Taurine. Haven't seen any warnings about heart problems in relation to Taurine though (doesn't mean they don't exist!)
As to the L-Lysine, it's probably good for the others too, though I have no idea. Sorry can't be of more help!
Katie's idea of putting out food only in the morning and evening is a good idea. We ended up having to do that so we weren't feeding an entire forest of animals, lol!
Quick question - are the cats you're feeding spayed/neutered and ear-tipped? You can use http://www.pets911.com/index.php to help find organizations that can help trap - or perhaps a place to lend you a trap - and low/cost spay/neuter services (if you want to trap them on your own).
Sorry - I don't know much about your feral friends. But if the colony isn't spayed/neutered, they really need to be - or you really shouldn't be feeding them. While I applaud every effort to help animals (especially cats), as a rescuer, I do have a problem with the idea of helping to keep animals healthy so they can create more homeless pets....
Laurie
Jaclyn....I would rather that if someone wants to care for homeless cats..that they have a plan to provide the spaying/neutering that is required to bring the population under control. The most effective way to get feral cat to the vet is to borrow a humane trap and trap the cat. You would then transport the cat to the vet to be altered, brought UTD on shots and ear tipped before it is released.
May I suggest that you contact Pawswatch regarding borrowing a couple of humane traps:
http://www.pawswatch.org/
Katie
Exactly. Gary and I were contacted by a "friend of a friend" in a town about 4 hours south of here. She was an elderly woman. This is her story.
She started putting food out for two cats she'd seen rather frequently. The "poor dears" looked starved to death and she felt sorry for them. They came to rely on her for food and visited every day. She was so glad to see they survived the winter, and got so fat, even during winter. Of course, they were fat because they were both female and pregnant. When they turned up "skinny" all of a sudden, she guessed what what going on. Of course, not too long after that, the moms turned up with kittens. One had three and one had five. So now she was caring for 10 cats, not two. She didn't mind - they were soooo cute!
She was a little worried about the young cats surviving winter. By Spring, there were only eight cats. But her two original moms made it, so she was really happy. Again, the moms had gotten pregnant - along with three of their kittens from the year before. By summer, she was now feeding 23 cats and kittens. It was a "little overwhelming" now.
And the building management was NOT happy about it. The building was a "no pets" building to begin with. They sent out a notice that tenants were NOT allowed to feed outdoor animals - anyone caught doing so would be evicted.
She called all the local shelters. They were full. Animal control could come and trap the cats, but because they were feral cats, they would just euthanize them. She really didn't want to seem them killed - what can she do?
Had she simply contacted us two years before, there would have been two cats to trap and spay, not 23 to trap and spay/neuter and relocate.
We were able to find help for these cats.
And I understand she's on a fixed income and couldn't afford to have the original two spayed - let alone trap them. It seems a daunting task to someone of her years. However, even for the people or organizations that can and are willing to help in situations like this, for them, trapping and fixing two cats takes a lot less effort, time, and costs a lot less than fixing 23.
I own a website called Stray Pet Advocacy (http://www.straypetadvocacy.org). Those of us involved with the website advocate the humane treatment of cats. Cats are domesticated animals, and to feed them without taking any other responsibility for them is to treat them as if they are wild animals. Feral cats think, act, and can survive as wild animals, and they're terrific at procreation. But spraying males marking their territory invite complaints from humans, cats in heat create noise, which invites complaints from humans, and cats fighting over females in heat or over territory creates noise and injured cats, which invites complaints from humans - which result in animal control treating them like a pest and simply murdering them.
I believe humane treatment means either letting nature take its course - or being responsible about caregiving to a domesticated animal that has become wild through the actions of humans in the first place.
"TNR" means Trap-Neuter-Release. It is a proven method of caring for wild cats that cannot be approached. The idea is to provide for the cat - but not enable the cats to procreate. Of course it is traumatizing to the cat to be trapped in a humane trap, transported to a vet, be spayed or neutered, and then be released where the cat was trapped. However, I believe it is far more humane to spay or neuter the cats than to be responsible for aiding in the creation of more homeless cats. And having had to deal with what feeding 2 cats without having them sterilized can do - I have to say Yes, I find the humane thing to be either being responsible, and doing what's right for the cats - or doing nothing at all.
Of course I care about the two cats that are on your property today. But I also care about the "23 cats" that may be on your property two years from now.
I didn't know anything about TNR programs when we started feeding our first wild cat. We all start somewhere, and TCS is all about helping people learn what to do for cats. That's how I came to learn about TNR in the first place.
http://www.pets911.com is a great resource. Just type in your zip code and a list of organizaitons that may be able to help in your area pop up. They may be able to trap the cats for you - they may be able to lend you a trap. There are low-cost spay/neuter resources you can also click on to see what's in your area. And if you don't find anything there, try the other links listed in my signature line for low-cost spay/neuter services. Sometimes there are free clinics, so money is no obstacle. If you live in a rural area, try calling around to different vets. They may have traps available for your use.
There are a lot of resources out there. But you have to know to look for them - and if you don't have the money to buy a trap or pay for spaying and neutering, it does take more time and effort to find the people or organizations that can and want to help. But they're out there.
Please consider doing what you can to find a way to have the kitties you're caring for trapped and sterilized.
Laurie
