weird situation

Hi !
I care for strays... actually they come to me to care for them.

I have a little problem that i've tried a million ways to solve it

The place -
Husband's warehouse with antique furniture
Located in a rural area, so there are many wild cats

Our warehouse cat -
She came to us almost 6 years ago pregnat, gave birth, got spayed and stayed, she lives there since and loves the place, always free feed her

Our problem -
Since last summer many other cats took advantage of the free feeding arrangement and learned that there is food in there... so they manage to get inside and eat... and mark territories.... also in the furniture and my husband is really angry - I do not blame him, he is right

Me trying to solve the problem, and failed -
1- Picked the food and started feeding "Mami" the cat when we were there (strays smelled the food anyway and sneaked in)
2- Brought a cat trap , I had it for 10 days ! I tried different things inside - fish, canned food, dry food, meat... nothing made them get inside ! and when finally one did... I took him about 2 km away (to a place I know they feed strays) and CAME BACK AFTER 2 DAYS !!

Last resource -
I brought "Mami" home now for 4 days, she is in the spare bedroom locked and hates it (I have other cats at home so they cannot mix) and we have took away all food dishes and litter box from the warehouse. My plan is to keep her for 10 days approx and let her smell and food smell from the warehouse dissapear

In the warehouse - we are not feeding anyone anymore, as sad as the look in their eyes can be, and they are not getting inside too because there is no food, so there is not any more marking, nor smelling.

Do you think this will last ? even if I return the cat to the warehouse?
I definetely cannot keep her here, and she hates it ! she misses her grounds and her trees to climb...

Does anyone have any other solution for keeping undesired cats away ?

I thank you for your help

Ronit

Set up a regularly maintained feeding station near your warehouse; limit your feeding to that designated area. The cats in your area have concluded that there is a relatively reliable source of food in that area and have formed a colony. Allow your cat to live in the warehouse, since this is what she seems to prefer, but don't feed her there--let her eat at the station with the other cats.

Like it or not, you've inherited a colony and should now maintain it. That means not only regular feedings but trapping the cats so that they can be neutered, unless you want to be overrun by kittens.

All of this does not necessarily have to be done by you. There may be people in your community who are willing to feed the cats, and there may be people with trapping equipment and skills. If you're lucky, there may be a local veterinarian willing to either donate time or offer a discount for your cats....

You MUST move the feed place to outside the warehouse away from it some ways. You MUST do a trap neuter and release - trap the cats, fix them and release them back. This will practically eliminate the marking behaviors... and the aggression of males. This will also result in fewer cats over the long term, no kittens and a stable healthy colony. I have 12 out of a group of 20 I started with. I see 6/7 regularly (live under the shed an din the shelters I made) and 6 more that wander in and have shelter or food elsewhere - or just don't come in daylight...

Get a TNR group to help you - PM people on this site, tell them where you are and get a list of resources to help. YOU CAN DO THIS!

It sounds hard, but it is SO worth it!

Thanks for your help,

My problem basicly are 3 male cats (that's why their mark their territory as well) and they are un-catchable, the trap I used is a proffesional one from the vet, but I guess they are too smart for that, I used it in the past to take away to the mountains an agressive cat that used to hurt my outside cats and worked well..

There are no females except the warehouse cat, all females around are sterilized so there is no problem of kitties...Just these 3 guys that arrived last summer refuse to leave !

Today, day 5th the cats did not appear at the warehouse so maybe they are starting to understand that there will be no food for them there

I had the food outside a long time ago, the problem is that in that area someone have hunting dogs, mainly chained, but they let them out to run free and they always ate the food I left for the cats (not fair for my pocket)

I will see what happend by then end of the week