What to do about feral cats?

A neighbor and I have been feeding a group of feral cats and kittens in our neighborhood for a couple of months. We started doing this to win their trust and then we had hoped to take them to a no kill shelter. Well I got them to the point where they will come into my kitchen to eat. There are three adult cats and five kittens.
Only one kitten allowed my daughter to pick him up. He has been living with us for a few days and has really warmed up to us. Unfortunantly, the rest of the cats and kittens spit hiss and try to claw us if we try to touch them, or they just run away before we even get close enough.
Here's the problem, the no kill shelters that we know about are full and can't accept any more. I know some people that do cat rescue and they have no room for any more cats either. I won't bring them to a kill shelter since I know they will be put down since they want nothing to do with human contact. Besides providing them with food is there anything else I can do for them? We live about 20 miles outside of Detroit MI. I am willing to buy a winter dog house if I know there is a chance the cats will use it, at least then they will have some type of shelter. We have skunks in the area and I don't want to provide housing for them.
The male we have right now we named Wilmer. He already sleeps with me and I him. He is in his forever home.
Does anyone have any ideas about what I can do about the rest of them? I don't want them to keep breeding, and since my one year old Grandson lives with me I can't have agressive cats living in my home.
Any ideas are welcome. Thank You, Renee

Here's the problem, the no kill shelters that we know about are full and can't accept any more. I know some people that do cat rescue and they have no room for any more cats either. I won't bring them to a kill shelter since I know they will be put down since they want nothing to do with human contact. Besides providing them with food is there anything else I can do for them? We live about 20 miles outside of Detroit MI. I am willing to buy a winter dog house if I know there is a chance the cats will use it, at least then they will have some type of shelter. We have skunks in the area and I don't want to provide housing for them.
The male we have right now we named Wilmer. He already sleeps with me and I him. He is in his forever home.
Does anyone have any ideas about what I can do about the rest of them? I don't want them to keep breeding, and since my one year old Grandson lives with me I can't have agressive cats living in my home.
Any ideas are welcome. Thank You, Renee

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Renee....I can appreciate that you would love to find them all homes...but the most crucial thing you can do for all of them right now is to get them all trapped and taken to the vet for spaying/neutering. You can learn more about TNR here:

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

TNR is actually a program that was designed for feral cats but it also works for strays in that it acknowledges the fact that these cats must be spayed/neutered if they are going to be living outdoors. There are a few TNR groups in michigan:

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

I would reach out to them to see if they can provide you with any assistance. If none of them are close, I would contact your local humane society and vet office regarding borrowing some humane traps to trap these cats in. Although they may be well socialized with you...we do not want to risk them getting scared and trying to get out of a carrier or getting out at the vet and then trying to make a mad dash. A humane trap allows the vet to administer a sedative through the trap before the cat is spayed/neutered. Below is a list of low cost clinics:

http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html#mi

I would start contacting them about getting these cats in to be spayed/neutered. You definately want to take care of that now before the kitten season starts up again next spring. Once they are fixed....I would release them back outdoors and provide them with a few outdoor shelters. Some of them may tame down after a while and you can certainly try to place those ones...but the ones that remain skittish should simply be allowed to live their lives outdoors with you providing them food.

Winter housing:

http://www.all-creatures.org/ak/feral-shelter.html

http://www.petfinder.com/journalinde...cats/1.5.1.txt

http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/info/wintershelter.htm

Katie

The only place even somewhat close to me (1 hour away) wants proof that I can keep feeding and taking care of the cats after spay/neuter. I will but I rent a townhouse in a co-op and this is strictly forbidden. I am having hand surgery tomorrow, and will be off work for several weeks. Thursday or Friday I am going to start calling vets in the area. Hopefully I can find one that will help out with this. I never realized why we should spay/neuter and then set free. I now do. Thank you so much for giving me this information, it makes me feel better about getting these cats fixed and putting them back into the environment they seem to prefer. I also read on one of the sites you posted, about providing them with a dog house.

Originally Posted by resturgis

The only place even somewhat close to me (1 hour away) wants proof that I can keep feeding and taking care of the cats after spay/neuter. I will but I rent a townhouse in a co-op and this is strictly forbidden. I am having hand surgery tomorrow, and will be off work for several weeks. Thursday or Friday I am going to start calling vets in the area. Hopefully I can find one that will help out with this. I never realized why we should spay/neuter and then set free. I now do. Thank you so much for giving me this information, it makes me feel better about getting these cats fixed and putting them back into the environment they seem to prefer. I also read on one of the sites you posted, about providing them with a dog house.

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Good luck...sometimes vets are willing to 'donate' a spay or neuter if they know that the cat isn't one that would normally receive any kind of vet care others may give you a deep discount. Let us know how it goes. BTW...you may want to join this group:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/feral_cats/

It's a group of feral and stray caregivers from all over the USA and abroad.

Katie

You are doing a marvellous job!

Is Wilmer your first cat? Kind homecats are often a bridge for shy semiferals. If you dont have own kind homecat before Wilmer, Wilmer will perhaps thus become such a bridge against the rest... This lying in the future of course. The oncoming winter, and the spayings and neuterings are your immediate problems. (And Wilmer your immediate joy and pay-off for your hardships. )

If you cant organize spaying right now, you can perhaps try with giving them p-pills with the food? Dont matter if the males get it - opposite. They will calm down with their malenessness. Although they are still fertile.

If you cant organize spaying right now, you can perhaps try with giving them p-pills with the food? Dont matter if the males get it - opposite. They will calm down with their malenessness. Although they are still fertile.

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StefanZ..those pills are not available (or even approved) in the USA. That is why spaying/neutering is so critical..there is no other option.

Katie

Good luck - we went through helping a feral colony, but plan to moved and were fortunate to have them places except for one we kept. On a lighter note, in the nice weather months, we had beds, etc. out for them and would often find a baby oppossum sleeping in it - didn't bother the cats at all! If you get them all spayed/neutered - I have some tips on shelter(s) for them. Hang in there.