capturing ferals

I have been reading some of the posts here and am wondering...

The ferals we have in our back yard eat and leave. Should I be trying to make them stay?

hugs Menou Lover

It depends on how much trouble you are willing to!

you are giving them food?

Are they all spayed? If not - it would be swell if you could help them with that.

Well after reading some of the posts here I decided that the cats who stray into our yard need to be neutered.

I contacted a lady who had a safe trap and she let me borrow it, my son has already taken me to get it.

I told my husband at lunch that I was going to have all their balls cut off and he would have to live with it. I explained if we feed them and give them a chance at life are we not responsible if they make a female pregnant and more unwanted babies come into this world?

He does not think so, he is of the opinion that the female who is owned and roams free should have been fixed. Honestly ? we don't have control over other peoples pets even if we would like to ring their necks. I am sure she is pregnant and I feel so bad

TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT... ok he says but we don't have the money. I told him I would not get one of my medications each month until we had them all neutered.

He not to happy but ... a happy wife = a happy life

he will get over it.

hugs Menou Lover

If you are feeding them and they are not spayed/neutered, you are going to have a lot more cats soon! If you spay/neuter them, they may very well stay close to home-base (where their food supply is). If you can, try to locate and work with a spay/neuter /rescue group to have them fixed.

Good luck!

I just talked to an animal rescue that hands out vouchers for cats to be fixed.

I also just called the clinic and vet's office that do it for them. It costs $30.00 for a male through the rescue and $40.00 without the voucher. And they said they could do it very quickly if i can capture one maybe a day

So wish me luck on getting the three males fixed pretty soon.

hugs Menou Lover

Sending you huge trapping vibes to catch those cats!!


I have a rule at my house - if you eat on my property, you are fixed, no questions asked. You are doing the right thing to get them neutered.

Originally Posted by Menou Lover

I told my husband at lunch that I was going to have all their balls cut off and he would have to live with it.

Click to expand...

I am reading the situation correctly? Half the problem is your dearest feels pity and solidarity for his male "collegues" to have their balls removed??

Many men do feel that way. Even I felt so with our older stud. It felt for me, he behaving exemplatory into almost 2 year age, was like begging: please, let me be! See, Im behaving, I feel well, I dont need to be neutered!

The feeling is although not logic, in a way understandable. But the truth is:

a) cats dont bother, really. Unlike us men.
b) they DO feel better after this little operation. Two, maximum three days recovery - and after it, I did saw our Muskis for the first time ever with the classically raised tail... Balls and hormones is a burden for cats, not a privilege.

Like a ship who must have heavy weight down below, for functioning properly. They make the ship function steady, but they ARE a burden. But after a reconstruction the weight not longer necessary - and the ship as safe as ever, but now floats more easily and sails better too...

c) every other concerned is better off TOO if the cats got neutered.

Summaring up. If the cats are not supposed to be used as studs and queens - neuter, as soon it is proper and recommended in your country.


ps. 40 bucks for neutering a male is a good price.
30, and they are ready to accept them anytime and help you as they can - is excellent.
Last. If you have a good occasion to catch - do it. Homeless are used to hide 24 hours or even longer if necessary. So if really necessary, they can also wait for the operation 24 hours too in the carrier (sheltered from cold or excessive warmth of course).


Good luck!

Good for YOU!!!!! I have alot of respect for you that you understand the problem with the cat overpopulation in this country. There are sooooooooo many cats. And I agree with Momofmany, if you eat at my house, you are fixed!!! I just trapped two more in the last two weeks. It seems I am seeing more come around lately. You are saving lives and I thank you for your efforts. Good luck with the trappings

Thank you all for helping me see this is the right thing to do.

We have a bit of a situation where we live.

There is a man who lives on the street in front of ours not directly across from us but from a neighbor who captures cats and kills them I called animal control and the police and they told me "it is his property he can do what he wants to"

There is a person on the street behind my house that captures cats and then takes them all the way out to the country and lets them go.

I preach all the time to people that lives around here about the two people and to keep their cats inside for safety .

But a lot of people seem to don't care that pets are like throw away dolls ;(

I am going to stop now because i get so worked up about it all. I would save all the cats in world if it was up to me. and i am sure a lot of your feel the same.

hugs
Menou Lover

It is sad what people do to cats. If your ferals have been around for years, likely they know how to avoid those bad people. It might make them more difficult to trap, though, since they've learned how to avoid those neighbors' traps.

WHAT a wonderful thing you're doing!!!!!

... and WOW that is SO sad! Does the neighbor kill them because he hates cats? Would helping him understand what you're doing make any difference?

When we found ourselves in the position you're in, and we decided to start sterilizing the cats, we found out that the owner of this farm was going to round up the kittens to drown them!!!!!!! DH talked to them about what we wanted to do, and they agreed - they would stop killing the cats by drowning and using poison if our TNR efforts were successful in stopping the breeding.

We ended up talking to all the local farmers, and offering to do the trapping... and in some cases, all we needed to do was get them the traps. For others, we did the trapping. (One already had their barn cats sterilized).

But basically we didn't just TNR, we also got involved in a little community education, and it really helped.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh - and as to your question about trying to make them stay? We provide food, water, and in winter we provide shelter. If they stay is up to them. But seeing them outside doesn't bother ANY of our indoor kitties, and it is safe for the cats around here.

Others that TNR have built enclosures, because they have ferals that were "regulars," and too many of them were being killed, and they just couldn't take it anymore, and had room on the property to build a giant enclosure for them.

But given what your neighbors are up to.... I would definitely work to stem the tide of kittens, and I'd probably feed the ferals. Hopefully once sterilized they'll stop wandering so much, and make their territory around your home.

You can do things like plant catnip in your garden to help attract them.