Getting stray to stay during the day

Some of you may have read my thread about the stray cat that was coming around my house at night and I wasn't sure if she had a family or not. Well, we put up fliers and asked around but no one responded so we took her to the vet and got her all her shots and had her fixed. It's a good thing we did too because the vet said she was within days of starting a heat cycle.

The problem is that we want her to stay around during that day but unless we stay outside with her she leaves the yard and then doesn't return till the evening. She stays all night and then leaves around 7 in the morning if we don't stay outside with her. The last couple of days we have been trying to get her used to coming in the house, we open the back door and let her come in on her own but she is timid so it's probably gonna take a while.

Do you guys have any tips for keeping Jasmine in our yard during the day?

Thanks
Katie

Originally Posted by -KT-

Some of you may have read my thread about the stray cat that was coming around my house at night and I wasn't sure if she had a family or not. Well, we put up fliers and asked around but no one responded so we took her to the vet and got her all her shots and had her fixed. It's a good thing we did too because the vet said she was within days of starting a heat cycle.

The problem is that we want her to stay around during that day but unless we stay outside with her she leaves the yard and then doesn't return till the evening. She stays all night and then leaves around 7 in the morning if we don't stay outside with her. The last couple of days we have been trying to get her used to coming in the house, we open the back door and let her come in on her own but she is timid so it's probably gonna take a while.

Do you guys have any tips for keeping Jasmine in our yard during the day?

Thanks
Katie

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Hey Katie...how wonderful that you got her fixed. I honestly do not know how to encourage her to stay in your yard...but perhaps LDG has some suggestions.

Katie

My grandpa built a cat house (like a dog house) and they seem to enjoy it and stick around where there is shelter. Put toys out too, some cats really enjoy them, and if they are always outside that gives them a reason to stick around, to play! Brushing her outside is good too, it's a good bribe to say to her "hey stick around, and i'll brush you" Planting catnip would work mabye.

You have to keep in mind that this cat could possibly have been stray her entire life until now. If she was, she is used to her own freedom and her own timeframe. Don't be so bummed if she won't stay in your yard.

My roommate and I have a litter of stray kitties (around 1 yr old) that live in our apartment complex. We feed them outside the door and say hello whenever we see them and they're quite happy with the attention and full stomachs. However, they're strays. Domestication isn't easy at an older age. But keep trying! Best of luck!

Originally Posted by BeanBub_Love

My roommate and I have a litter of stray kitties (around 1 yr old) that live in our apartment complex. We feed them outside the door and say hello whenever we see them and they're quite happy with the attention and full stomachs. However, they're strays. Domestication isn't easy at an older age. But keep trying! Best of luck!

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I do hope that you have gotten these cats spayed/neutered or plan to have them spayed/neutered. Feeding intact cats will only encourage them to breed which will mean a lot more mouths to feed and a greater chance of complaints.

Katie

Originally Posted by TNR1

I do hope that you have gotten these cats spayed/neutered or plan to have them spayed/neutered. Feeding intact cats will only encourage them to breed which will mean a lot more mouths to feed and a greater chance of complaints.

Katie

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I hate seeing people be critical of people showing kindness towards animals. Katie, these cats don't belong to the person that posted, so rather than criticise her for what she is doing, why not offer to help her with what perhaps she's not in a position to do on her own. Not every person can afford to desex every stray kitty they show kindness towards, and many cities have no assistance available to street cats. Are you suggesting the apartment building start to starve these kitties because no human ever did the responsible thing and desexed them???????? Or are you saying that this lady shouldn't be kind to them & feed them because she can't also afford to desex them? I don't get it. I think most of us are here because we love cats and I am always saddened to see these sorts of unnecessary attacks.

Thank You for speaking for some of us Naomih!

As much as we know that unfixed cats can reproduce, that doesnt mean if we cant get them the operation we should ignore the fact that some are starving and craving attention from humans, and neglect them by letting them starve. Yes if you can get them fixed that great and a big help, and if you dont have 20+ unfixed cats and are already finding them homes thats another way you are helping out to decrease the homeless population.

I myself feed 7 cats, TNR1 told me my only concern was to get them fixed, yeah right! These arent feral, they are friendly strays that are craving human attention, just getting them fixed alone isnt enough, they WANT a home and to be loved. It's important to FIND THEM A HOME and TRY TO GET THEM FIXED.

If they are feral then just focus on getting them fixed and to a vet for shots and stuff, and make sure you have enough food to feed them. (oh and a suitable shelter) If you are wuilling to try and get them socialized with people, even better for both of you!

Anyway sorry for getting offtopic, but I had to get that off my chest.

double post

I myself feed 7 cats, TNR1 told me my only concern was to get them fixed, yeah right! These arent feral, they are friendly strays that are craving human attention, just getting them fixed alone isnt enough, they WANT a home and to be loved. It's important to FIND THEM A HOME and TRY TO GET THEM FIXED.

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Although I appreciate your efforts to find them homes...how many kittens have been born while you have searched for people to take these cats?

That is why whenever you are dealing with outdoor cats (either strays or ferals) your first priority should be to get them spayed/neutered.

Katie

Originally Posted by Naomih

I hate seeing people be critical of people showing kindness towards animals. Katie, these cats don't belong to the person that posted, so rather than criticise her for what she is doing, why not offer to help her with what perhaps she's not in a position to do on her own. Not every person can afford to desex every stray kitty they show kindness towards, and many cities have no assistance available to street cats. Are you suggesting the apartment building start to starve these kitties because no human ever did the responsible thing and desexed them???????? Or are you saying that this lady shouldn't be kind to them & feed them because she can't also afford to desex them? I don't get it. I think most of us are here because we love cats and I am always saddened to see these sorts of unnecessary attacks.

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Noamih...I am suggesting that whenever someone is considering feeding either stray or feral cats..that they should have a plan in place to get them fixed. Simply feeding will encourage more mating and more mating equals more births which in turn equals more homeless cats.

There are actually several groups that work with ferals/strays in Austin:

http://www.alleycat.org/orgs.html#tx

Katie

It's a fine line for animal lovers. Our hearts say we can't let them go hungry, so we feed them. However, the experienced in feral population control will say exactly what Katie said - if you can't fix them, don't feed them. Providing food without TNR only makes them more efficient breeders and leads to an explosive population problem. If you can't afford to fix the few that first show up, will you be in a better position when there are now 30 mouths to feed, and 12-15 of those are breeding females that will all have more litters next spring?

Yes, it sounds harsh. Yes, it sounds cruel. But you have to realize that ferals are survivors. If you don't feed them, they will find another food source. If they don't, they won't have the strength to breed and have viable kittens. If they do have food, you'll have a much bigger problem. It's not a maybe - even if it is just one family. Cats are indiscriminate breeders; they don't care if it's their sister/mother/father/brother. Then you'll have an even bigger problem with inbreeding.

There are so many resources around, if you live in an urban area in the US there will be someone who can help. You just have to find them.

Originally Posted by Naomih

I hate seeing people be critical of people showing kindness towards animals. Katie, these cats don't belong to the person that posted, so rather than criticise her for what she is doing, why not offer to help her with what perhaps she's not in a position to do on her own. Not every person can afford to desex every stray kitty they show kindness towards, and many cities have no assistance available to street cats. Are you suggesting the apartment building start to starve these kitties because no human ever did the responsible thing and desexed them???????? Or are you saying that this lady shouldn't be kind to them & feed them because she can't also afford to desex them? I don't get it. I think most of us are here because we love cats and I am always saddened to see these sorts of unnecessary attacks.

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Originally Posted by keith p

Thank You for speaking for some of us Naomih!

As much as we know that unfixed cats can reproduce, that doesnt mean if we cant get them the operation we should ignore the fact that some are starving and craving attention from humans, and neglect them by letting them starve. Yes if you can get them fixed that great and a big help, and if you dont have 20+ unfixed cats and are already finding them homes thats another way you are helping out to decrease the homeless population.

I myself feed 7 cats, TNR1 told me my only concern was to get them fixed, yeah right! These arent feral, they are friendly strays that are craving human attention, just getting them fixed alone isnt enough, they WANT a home and to be loved. It's important to FIND THEM A HOME and TRY TO GET THEM FIXED.

If they are feral then just focus on getting them fixed and to a vet for shots and stuff, and make sure you have enough food to feed them. (oh and a suitable shelter) If you are wuilling to try and get them socialized with people, even better for both of you!

Anyway sorry for getting offtopic, but I had to get that off my chest.

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To both of you, TNR1(Katie) is an Advisor on this site. She is an Advisor because she has many year of experience behind her therefore the knowledge to answer these posts, accurately.

Its very easy to turn this into an emotional debate over whether to feed or "be kind" to the cats or not. The point is that feeding unneutered and unspayed cats only increase to their demise in life. Feeding them is not the solution. Having them neutered/spayed is. When you do not have them neutered/spayed they will multiply and that is a fact! Then you are now feeding many more cats than the ones you started feeding to begin with.

If you want to be proactive in helping these cats have a decent life, get in the phonebook and start calling around to every shelter and rescue you can. Everyone will not be able to do everything, but pool the resources together and find a solution for these cats first to be neutered/spayed and then help find homes for them.

There is so much more to this story than being kind and feeding a cat. These cats need help and the only ones that can give it to them are humans. Just simply putting food out (although could be viewed as kind) is only setting them up in their life for false security. They will multiply, they will contact diseases, they may even come into danger in many other ways. Cats will fight when they are not neutered/spayed and then continue to spread disease around to each other.

If you really want to be kind to these cats, find the rsources to REALLY help them and get the neutered and spayed!

Mine are getting neutered and spayed...but only because I came up with a novel idea to get the resources to do it...I moved into a neighborhood with lots of strays...in Australia there is very little help for ferals...basically its a council euthanasia job. They will still eat. But if someone is not feeding and monitoring them they cannot get vet help when they need it, and in my opinion, I'd rather see them helped than die from infections and the like. Some people live in neighborhoods here wiht 100s of strays...they do what they can before the council moves in...its reality.
I understand your argument about not finding them homes, but disagree with it...I've rehomed many and don't regret it for a minute. Its not just stray cat breeding thats a problem...many homes have cats that are not desexed and go out and have kittens...often on the street. In m opinion you can't penalise the abandoned by either starving them, or making them risk their lives by drinking bad water/poisoned food. But we can agree to disagree. I'll have rescued/desexed about 20 by the time I leave here buts its costing me thousands of dollars to get everything done with them. Most people can't do that.
I'm all for rehoming them. To me it would be cruel to put it back on the street. You should check out my website at http://www.kittiesinthehood.com I have now found at least foster care for all 11 of the kitties left on my street! But it took me years and a website to get help. And if anyone wants to advertise their strays/street cats on it for homes, or for help with desexing, please let me know!
Naomi

I understand your argument about not finding them homes, but disagree with it...I've rehomed many and don't regret it for a minute. Its not just stray cat breeding thats a problem...many homes have cats that are not desexed and go out and have kittens...often on the street.

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I didn't say anything about not finding these cats homes...but I do think that if you are planning on letting these cats continue to live outdoors while you attempt to find them homes...you need to find the resources to have them spayed/neutered or else you are simply allowing these cats to continue to breed.

many homes have cats that are not desexed and go out and have kittens...often on the street.

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That's a shame....but it should motivate those who are tired of the all the breeding and the euthanization to create TNR programs and also push for spaying/neutering prior to placement.

We cannot stem the tide of homeless cats through adoption alone. For the welfare of outdoor cats....you need to have them spayed/neutered. A spayed/neutered cat is a non-breeding cat.

TNR is a wonderful program...and you can learn more about it here:

http://www.alleycat.org/index.html

Katie

Attitudes and resources are different all over the world. There are parts of the world where even feeding the strays/ferals seems ludicrous to the people, let alone giving them any kind of vet care. They are vermin. There are parts of both the US and Australia with that attitude - I know of a study done in Australia to find out about feral predation habits where they shot them and examined the stomach contents. And there are parts of the US where shooting strays/ferals is common - there was even one state that tried to legalize a cat hunting season.

Best case scenario is to have the time and resources to not only spay/neuter all ferals/strays, but also to socialize the ones we can and find good homes for them, and find safe outdoor homes for ferals who cannot adapt to indoor, family life. But that's not possible anywhere in the world that I know of. There aren't enough homes for them all, period. So the more realistic scenario is to reduce the population of those who have little or no chance at being adopted, so there aren't as many who starve on the streets or die from infections and diseases.

Naomi, I applaud your efforts for the cats in your area! It always starts with one person willing to do a lot on their own. I have also just found that the World League for Protection of Animals has begun trying to introduce TNR in the Syndey area. Perhaps they could offer you assistance, or could use your assistance in their efforts. http://www.wlpa.org/

Well this thread certainly turned into an interesting debate. I have a little update on my situation if anyone cares. We adopted a Shetland Sheepdog puppy and Jasmine loves to play with her so she is staying around more. We also made a really nice warm bed for her so she sleeping closer to the house. She is still going out during the day but only for like 5 hours.

Originally Posted by -KT-

Well this thread certainly turned into an interesting debate. I have a little update on my situation if anyone cares. We adopted a Shetland Sheepdog puppy and Jasmine loves to play with her so she is staying around more. We also made a really nice warm bed for her so she sleeping closer to the house. She is still going out during the day but only for like 5 hours.

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It's good that she gets along with the puppy.

Katie