"Neighborhood" cats

Having grown up in the country, I'm very used to having feral cats around- they would mix in with our barn cats and eat with them, and would occasionally have kittens and then sort of assimiliate themselves into our colony. Now that I live in the city, I've discovered something entirely new... neighborhood cats!

Right now we have three of them...

"Ugly cat" - I feel so bad for this one It's a Persian, and it does have a home, but its owners let it roam around. It's snaggle-toothed, flat-faced, and usually shaved bald. I'm sure it's the most friendly cat ever, but it just looks so mean and cranky!

"White cat" - it's white. I can't ever get close enough to see anything else about it. Actually, it's kind of a dingy gray color... poor thing.

"Tabby cat" - this one is a really pretty gray/black tabby. Again, I don't know its' gender.

What I'm most concerned about are the cars and such... our neighborhood isn't exactly high traffic, but even I nearly backed out over White Cat last weekend... and I've opened the garage door more than once to see Ugly Cat staring me down. Everyone leaves food out, which leads me to my next concern...

WILDLIFE. I've seen skunks in my backyard more than once! I'm getting kind of concerned about this situation... does anyone have any advice? I want the cats to be safe and still have a source of food, but since we live in city limits, I can't exactly grab my shotgun when I see a huge ol' possum waddling away from the food dish... Do you think traps would work? I'm sure I might accidentally trap one of the cats, and I can just let it go... maybe?

I live in a relatively small city, where we not only have "neighborhood cats" but raccoons, skunks & possums. I have never seen or heard of any problems between the skunks and the cats. The possums here don't get very big, so no danger to an adult cat. Raccoons, on the other hand, may ignore the adult cats, but are great killers of young kittens. The strays & ferals I feed all avoid the raccoons that, regrettably, come by for the cat food, even in broad daylight.
Are you sure those cats have owners in the neighborhood? New "neighborhood cats" here are often abandoned by their owners who move, although some are ferals who have grown up and wandered by. I trap them and spay/neuter them. If they have been pet cats, their behavior reflects that within days. (I always keep them in a recovery cage after the spay/neuter, females for at least a week.) They are calm about food being put into the cage & accept petting. I find these cats homes. If they are truly feral, I release them back outside with the promise of food here for life.
(Interestingly, my oldest TNR cat, the fiercest feral I ever had in recovery, recently decided to give up the outside life (at age 11 or so.) She started tolerating & seeking petting, and recently moved into the house permanently.) She frequently had a bald streak on her back which reached her tail. I got an OTC med at Pet Club, and now that she stays in, I've been putting it on her, which has pretty much cured it.
If you befriend these cats & feed them, you will probably see great improvement in their looks. Don't expect them to accept petting for a long while, but putting out food, then staying nearby (but not too near to start) and talking to them very quietly will get them used to you. If they are not feral, they will eventually accept your petting, though there is a danger you may find yourself with a cat in residence. ;-)

I am not a feral colony manager, but what I have read is that they try to feed at set times and take the food UP ...especially in the evening since racoons and possums in particular are nocturnal. I take in my bird feeders for the same reason.

My ferals seem to get on quite easily with the racoons and possums. I feed my ferals their main meal in the morning and a light meal at dinner because at night I see the same white possum and two racoons in the feeding station looking for leftovers and washing up in the water . I have actually seen the racoons and the cats very near to eachother and they run under the decks together when I go outside to look at them. So they seem to have a relationship. All of my ferals are TNRd except for one male who I just can't seem to trap to save my life. The best thing would be to trap and neuter then release back outside and you take care of them on a daily basis. I wouldn't worry so much about the wildlife as I would about pregnant females and kittens. For caring about your strays

We put food out in the morning and pick it up at late dusk. The cats learn the schedule, and wildlife problem solved as all of the wildlife that eats cat food are nocturnal. (We have skunks, raccoons, and opossums).

Opossums and cats actually usually get a long just fine. Opossums have been much maligned as being viscious - there may be some grumps out there, but for the most part they're very timid. Opossums are also basially rabies resisitant, and they're considered a "barrier" species. They eat all the nasty bugs in your yard/garden, so I wouldn't give them a second thought!

The other alternative is to use a table that's on a pedestal, not with legs. Raccoons and possums can climb - but they can't jump.

As to the neighborhood cats... our policy was always "if your cat is in our yard, it is TNR'd." Since we don't want to have to worry about more kittens and homeless cats, we trap all of them and get them spayed neutered. If they're friendly, we try to find their owners. If we can't, they get fostered and adopted out. Too many abandoned kitties these days.

Wow, thanks for all the awesome information!!

I suppose I had a bad experience with possums- we caught one dragging kittens out of their nest, one by one, back on the farm. We were able to save most of them, but it killed two. Poor things!

It sounds like I don't have much to worry about unless there are kittens involved, so I will start feeding in the morning and then do the light dinner thing before taking the food inside so my other neighborhood critters don't steal their food.

As for whether or not they have owners, I know Ugly Cat does... I'm not sure about the other two. Because White Cat is so filthy I would assume not, but Gray Cat looks pretty sleek and well taken-care of. I'm definitely going to try the TNR tactic after I'm back from my vacation... I'd have a heart attack if we had kittens playing in the street!

Good for you, TNR is the way to go if you don't want to see kittens in the street playing . Good luck with all of that and we are here for support as always

Originally Posted by LDG

The other alternative is to use a table that's on a pedestal, not with legs. Raccoons and possums can climb - but they can't jump.

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Yes, this should be standard advice for most feeding of outdoor cats.
This works also against rats.
(The storms against feeders of homeless cats are often because this is supposed to draw rats into the neighbourhood).


The proposed supervised day feeding has a big additional plus. Let me explain.
Giving food to all cats who wants has a big drawback.
Giving a hungry stray may be nice and good. Completed with TNR it is even excellent and recommendable!

But it may also be a safe way of making cats homeless. Not so few cats, who really do have a home, perhaps dont bother to go back home and eat, if they do get food and petting at other places...
If it is a good home the cat probably returns anyway. But not all homes are really good, but still - better so so home, but home, then - being homeless stray, living on left over food, and food laid out for somebodys outside cat...



Good luck, and tx for caring!