I've been taking care of a feral population since I moved into my house 10 years ago. I TNR as many as I can, and TNK or TNA (trap-neuter-keep or adopt) those that are socializable.
I have FeLV running thru the outdoor cats. Haven't had them tested, but the 2 kittens that I TNK'd 8 months ago carried it in with them. The feral population took a sudden downturn about 2 months ago - about 6 disappeared completely and the rest are not looking very healthy. What is left are 3 older neutered (7-9 years old) cats, the litter mate of the 2 kittens and 4 five month old kittens. All kittens came from the same queen that gave my TNK'd kittens FeLV.
My dilemna: The entire population is not socializable (I've tried). In all my readings of FeLV, it CLEARLY states that you need to bring outdoor positive cats indoors to keep them away from other cats. Since I have a household of negative cats, this is not possible. There are other folks in the neighborhood that do the same as I and their cats will wander to our yard from time to time.
In the last month, I have tried to locate help in the area for FeLV positive cats to no avail. Healthy cats are difficult enough to place, let alone feral, non-socialized FeLV+ cats.
My question to the forum: Do I risk the general population of the neighborhood by leaving my ferals as is (getting the kittens neutered of course)? Do I have them tested and put them down if positive? Any other creative ideas on what I can do here? I'm at a loss!!!
Thanks for all thoughts and opinions on this!
I have FeLV running thru the outdoor cats. Haven't had them tested, but the 2 kittens that I TNK'd 8 months ago carried it in with them. The feral population took a sudden downturn about 2 months ago - about 6 disappeared completely and the rest are not looking very healthy. What is left are 3 older neutered (7-9 years old) cats, the litter mate of the 2 kittens and 4 five month old kittens. All kittens came from the same queen that gave my TNK'd kittens FeLV.
My dilemna: The entire population is not socializable (I've tried). In all my readings of FeLV, it CLEARLY states that you need to bring outdoor positive cats indoors to keep them away from other cats. Since I have a household of negative cats, this is not possible. There are other folks in the neighborhood that do the same as I and their cats will wander to our yard from time to time.
In the last month, I have tried to locate help in the area for FeLV positive cats to no avail. Healthy cats are difficult enough to place, let alone feral, non-socialized FeLV+ cats.
My question to the forum: Do I risk the general population of the neighborhood by leaving my ferals as is (getting the kittens neutered of course)? Do I have them tested and put them down if positive? Any other creative ideas on what I can do here? I'm at a loss!!!
Thanks for all thoughts and opinions on this!