My first experience with strays

weldrwomn

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Due to a foreclosure in my neighborhood, several adult cats have been abandoned. I mostly just ignored them, but one of the females had kittens. She and the kittens have been living under the front porch of the abandoned house (the house is in very sad condition) and I am not sure if they have access to the inside of the house.

I called the local animal shelter and got some info. For $2 per cat, they will take in and try to rehome cats. They do not go out and trap cats, nor is there any local organization who will trap cats. For a $50 deposit, which is fully refundable, they will loan out a live trap.

I haven't gone and picked up the live trap yet, but I did go check on the kittens. They are still fluffy, but their eyes are no longer light blue and they all ate some of the wet food that I brought over. Mama cat is a grey shorthair cat who is very friendly and probably quite adoptable. She let me give her scritches while her babies ate some wet food. I think this week I will try to trap them and take them in. I just don't know where I will keep the cats overnight before I take them to the shelter in the morning.
 

kotarache

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Is it a no-kill shelter? Do you have guarantees that they will be OK?
 
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weldrwomn

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I don't believe that it is a no-kill shelter. There are never any guarantees in life that anything will ever be ok. However, being a stray in this neighborhood is not a good type of life. At least at the animal shelter they will have a chance to be adopted into good homes.
 

jack31

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If they get spayed or neutered and are returned to the neighborhood they would have a better chance at life than in a kill shelter. They will hunt for food--and chances are someone will start to feed them as well.

I'd rather see them stay strays then end up being killed because nobody wanted to adopt them.

I personally would do whatever I could to keep them out of a kill shelter.

Just my 2 cents.

Leslie
 

jimmylegs

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please try to find out what the kill status is of the shelter. but i bet it's a no-kill shelter, i've never heard of a kill shelter that is canvassing for new cats like this.

do you really need a trap if you can pet her and whatnot? how tame are the kittens? can you hold them in a small room (ie bathroom) overnight til you take them in?
 
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weldrwomn

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Originally Posted by jimmylegs

please try to find out what the kill status is of the shelter. but i bet it's a no-kill shelter, i've never heard of a kill shelter that is canvassing for new cats like this.

do you really need a trap if you can pet her and whatnot? how tame are the kittens? can you hold them in a small room (ie bathroom) overnight til you take them in?
I think that there has been a misunderstanding. The animal shelter IS a kill-shelter (but they do try to adopt the cats out and will let other agencies take the cats from them.) and they CHARGE $2 per cat for dropped off cats.

I am not sure if I will need a trap, but I have not had success in capturing her or her kittens yet. She is friendly but the kittens are not. I have borrowed a rabbit cage from the nieghbor so I can keep them in the garage overnight if I do succeed in capturing them. They are not welcome in my house because I have less than 700 sq ft with my two torties that live there. How unfair would it be if I brought in these wormy, possibly disease carrying strangers into their territory even if it was just for one night?

Also, for those who think that mama cat will be provided for by the neighborhood, I really doubt it because she is just skin and bones. I don't know if nursing mamas are normally skinny, but I would bet that she isn't getting enough food, nor will she if her kittens eventually are competing for what little food is available.
 
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weldrwomn

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Well, I managed to capture the three kittens but not mama cat. I will get the live trap and capture her tonight. For all of your information I have tried to contact the Humane Society and nobody would answer any of the phone numbers.
 

jimmylegs

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great that you got the kittens!

where i come from, most of our shelters constantly tell people to NOT bring them cats since they are so overloaded, so a place that asks only $2 a cat with promises of adoption, that sounds pretty good. but the kill aspect is disconcerting. they wouldn't euthanize cats that people paid the 2 bucks to adopt out would they?

there are a couple of ways you can look at the mama cat's situation. on the one hand, a dead cat doesn't need anybody to care for it, but you're just not gonna find many fans of that on a forum like this. on the other hand, you have a point: the cat is skin and bones. however, this cat has been raising kittens, which is a strain on even pampered house cats. finally, it's not true that the neighborhood can't provide for her ... she has you.

i don't want you to feel like you're being ganged up on, but i bet a lot of people on this forum were once in your position and made the decision to help. i appreciate what you're doing, and hope you keep it up!

p.s. unless you put your cats in the cage with the kittens they are highly unlikely to catch anything from them, i wouldn't worry about that
 

cc12

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I am sure the kittens will be adopted. Everyone loves a kitten. The mother is a different story though she seems friendly. Poor things.
 

kotarache

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If tha cats is living there and looks ok I don't think that she or the kittens are feeling bad or anything. Stray for cats is not exact word. To kill them in a "shelter" is a way to cruel. Cats are not home toys, they are perfect predators.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by WELDRWOMN

Well, I managed to capture the three kittens but not mama cat. I will get the live trap and capture her tonight.
things i've heard are good bait:
1. the kittens
2. KFC [minus bones & skin]
3. smelly fishy food
good luck!
 
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weldrwomn

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I have decided not to capture mama cat. I set the trap out for one night and I have not seen mama cat since that evening. I am not going to push the issue. I do not feel that it was cruel to take the kittens to the shelter. If I had it to do over again, I would do it the same (except maybe wear gloves)
 

cc12

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The kittens had to be taken somewhere off of the streets. If the shelter is actively rehoming or sending cats to other places then it sounds like it could be ok.
 
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