To release, or not to release???

Now, my 4 cats are out of their cage and bed room belongs to them.
It was stormy and cold this weekend and made me wonder if it's a good thing to release them in 3 weeks...

Cats seems to sleep most of the time during the day and starts to get wild around 11:00pm.
They are playing with their toys at night.
2 of them come out and play whenever my daughter goes in to play with them.

Now, here is the question.
Since cats seems to be comfortable there, shall I shelter them there until spring?
Or, shall I jut release them after their booster shot is done in 3 weeks....
I leave the window in the cat room crack open, but I don't see any behavior or evidence of them trying to escape outside.

Let me know your opinion!!

Thanks for your help,
-Kazy

well thats a hard one.

cats are growing their winter coats right now.

i did not notice where you live.

IF they are going to be released it should be right now.

however, IF you hold them until next spring and then release them
they will be worse off in my opinion.

they will have lost alot of what they learned to survive outside as
they are becoming dependent on you.

how long have you had them inside ?

i would say that if you can't release them right now, and you definately
eventually have to release them because you can't keep them and
you can't adopt them out, then i would say release them in three weeks.

also every day they are inside they are loosing their standing in their
little cat community and could be chased away.

i am assuming you are releasing exactly where you caught them ?

good luck !

I, too, have a question regarding their long-term plans. If released outside, will they be allowed to remain in your yard (territory?). If so, then they could stay inside till spring. My former feral, TommyScott, lived last winter inside, but come warm weather, he became an inside/outside cat (till the temp gets about 95 or above, then he's back inside). The advantage of a former feral, at least with this guy, is that he is adept at killing rats, which my other cats don't do.

They live in my back yard.
I am planning to take care of them rest of their life.
(see here for detail story. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=143049)
They don't belong to any colony.

I trapped them and they were fixed + Vaccinated last Tuesday.

Due to my hubby's cat allergy, I can't have them as an indoor cat.
(Letting them stay in one of the rooms seems to be OK to him)

I live in North West. (Seattle area)
Compared to North East, our weather is mild. But when it rains, it rains hard here.

-Kazy

Can you foster them for a while? Contact any of your local rescue groups. Most of them are more than willing to let you show the animals for adoption as long as you can foster them until they are adopted. If they are OK in the bedroom and happy there (mine do the same thing in their bedroom--they play at night-perfectly normal), then by all means foster them for a while.

But DO contact a rescue group. Try your local Petsmart or Petco or any of the larger pet supply stores. Most have adoption fairs on SAturdays or Sundays. Talk to the volunteers. They will help you. It's best to get them adopted to loving homes. If you put them out, they'll continue to get fleas, can get into bad water sources, etc. That's my recommendation. We work for a rescue group and we don't turn anyone away who is willing to foster their animals until they can be adopted.

So, unless I can keep them as 100% indoor cat, I should not keep them?

They had no flea and perfectly healthy.
I understand outside is dangerous place for them but can't I keep them as my pet and let them stay in my yard??
Only 1 of them is tame enough for adoption.
Mama cat is too feral for adoption....

They are already microchipped with my name anyways.

-Kazy

Mama will have to go back out if she is feral. Fleas are warm weather things, so if it's getting cooler the fleas will be less active. BUT they will always be in the grass. If they go back outside, then they should have flea treatment once a month (Advantage, or Program). Also, fleas cause tapeworms. The cats ingest the flea an flea larvae, then end up with tapeworm.

If the kittens are calm enough, then they can be adopted out. If mama is too feral, then you have no choice. She'll be a backyard kitty. Good for you for microchipping them! Excellent.

We have a backyard kitty like that. She had 5 kittens a few years ago. We got all the kittens and had them adopted out, but mama had to go back out. We kept her in a kennel until she healed from her surgery, but she was not happy. Once we let her out, she remained in the yard, (or close by) and is technically our cat, even though I can't pick her up or play with her. I can pet her when she lets me. I can get Advantage on her though. She lets me do that.

You sound very responsible and I know you'll do what's best.

I only skimmed posts, but is an ourdoor enclosure plausible?

Thanks for everyone's response.

I thought about outdoor enclosure but that is not really practical for us.
I will keep them long enough so that I will be able to apply Frontline as needed in the future.
Right now, only one will let me hold them...
I would not release them in the middle of winter. (unless they demand.)

Tonight, Konne (the mama cat) came out and played with us!!!
That was a big breakthrough!!
She seemed more trusting tonight.
One kitten still doesn't play with us.
She had umbilical hernia and has been the weakest one...
So, I understand where her shyness comes from.
I hope to see her come out and play with us soon.

-Kazy

well good luck.

i think that if they live in your yard then they know where they are
so they won't wander off.

i still say that if you are going to release them that you should do it
as soon as you give them their boosters rather than wait for the
spring.

but make sure you have plenty of good insulated shelter near your home
for them.

thanks for taking care of them.