opinions on a stray release

We trapped a female torti today. Shes'd been hanging around for about 2 weeks. Took her up to work and sedated her for a spay. We did Felv/FIV/HW all neg, vaccines, applied profeder and took an xrayof her leg. She has a broken toe To make matters worse she only weighs 2.3# but is probably close to 6 months old because she has her adult teeth.

My question: How long do you keep her in after shes spayed before going back out? I would like to bulk her up some but dont know how long I will be able to keep her. I dont even know how friendly she is. She will have to stay inthe garage for now becasue the recroom already has the mom with the babies in it.

My husband would tell you I get too attached to every cat that even crosses the yard. I am just trying to help her and myself. I dont need all these females producing litters like crazy. I' m having enough trouble trying to get them adopted!
Thanks for listening to my rant Any help or advice is very much appreciated!!

I would say that it depends how she reacts to captivity. If she's crazy stressed, it's best to release her as soon as possible, because she won't recover well if she's stressed. If she seems to be OK in the garage, I would probably keep her for a couple of weeks, to let the toe heal and fatten her up a bit.

I'd worry about her acclimating - is it cold in the garage? If so, I wouldn't worry so much. But you definitely want her to keep her coat. When trapping in the Winter, we don't like keeping them in more than 2 days - but we don't like releasing into bad weather either.

I'd weigh time for the toe to heal against temps and her keeping her winter coat.

This little thing doesn't have her winter coat. I was more worried about her spay incision and being released. Right now she's in a very large dog crate with her cat carrier inside it. A big blanket over it and I have a small heater for her. Shes very undernourished but is eating. I am trying to convince the hubby to let her stay for a few months to try to build her up and let her toe heal. Maybe we can get a shed and keep her in that.

If she's a stray, can you talk DH into being a foster home for her? Foster her while she heals up, and try to find a home for her while she "reacclimates" to living inside with people again?

Or are there any foster networks in your area that might be able to take her?

Do you need links to help you search?

Originally Posted by pamszoo

let her stay for a few months get a shed and keep her in that.

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If you are thinking about keeping her in months, you can surely instead plan on active fostering? She is young and thus a fostering will be almost surely succesful. The only real difference is to finding her a home afterwards.

TNR is a nice device, but its big plusses are when you DONT have time nor resources. OR they are so feral it takes too much.


Tx for your helping her, and good luck!