Strays *sigh*

I live in an apartment complex. There are 2 other apartment complexes around mine. Behind my patio there is a carport area and alley. Ever since I've moved in here 3 years ago I have always seen cats around here. It really just breaks my heart. Every kitten season it seems I see more cats. They dont come up to you either, when they see me they run away.. which makes me believe they are feral. Which is sad, because this is a city.. with people, and apartments. There should be no ferals here.

Last night I was on the patio having a smoke, and I peeked over my fence and happened to see THREE kittens and what looked like a mom cat in the alley just hanging out. Omg they were so cute. One looked like a himilayan/siamese type kitty, then there was a tortie (I think, it was dark) and a tuxedo cat. The mom (or oldest one) was gray and white. These kittens looked about 3 or 4 months old. I made kissy noises and the himy/siamese seemed to come toward the fence, which surprised me. Anyway.. I ran in to get some food.. even though I know I should just not get involved, and not feed them but I cant help it. I threw some dry food down over the fence and by morning there was not one piece left.

I dunno why I'm posting about this. I dont want people to expect me to do something about it because I just cant All I can do is throw food for them. I feel good about doing that at least. I hate these people. Why do they let their cats breed I feel like putting signs up all over the neighborhood to spay and neuter your cats god@#!@#~ ! My landlord found a mom cat and kittens in the pool shed months ago. She had the spca pick them up. They probly euthanized them

I swear if I had a farm, or a big house with a yard, I would so run a feral colony. I would adopt every stray cat I could. But I just cant do it here. For all I know these cats belong to someone and they just let them run wild. *sigh*

Anyway that's my rant/story for the evening.

We have some ferals that hang out at my apartment complex. I think one of them may have died, because I don't see him anymore. My manager told me he was extremely old and had lived out in the parking lot area for years. One of the ladies in the building always feeds the ferals but none of the cats are willing to come near a person.

The cat I haven't seen in days would have been beautiful if someone could have taken him into their home. He was long haired and grey in color with the most beautiful face. My heart always broke for him, but he would never let me anywhere near him.

I would see if there are any feral groups in your area, or you can talk to the landlord or other people in the building about putting a fund together to get them fixed. There are just going to be more and more and more. And if they are getting good meals they will multiply even faster.

It's not my building though It's the buildings around me and I've even seen them at houses down the street. I have no idea where they are actually from.

You might want to contact SVFF (Silicon Valley Friends of Ferals). There website is:

http://www.svff.org/index.html

They actually manage several colonies in San Jose and Sunnyvale. I haven't had a lot of luck with the local rescue orgs, I suppose because they are so busy with kitten season and all, but it's worth a shot. My guess is that they will give you some advice and MAYBE lend you a trap. I totally understand not wanting to start up something that could grow out of control, because that's very possible. Princess Purr is right, though; it's best not to feed them until you have a plan for them (most likely TNR). Your heart's definately in the right place. Let us know what you decide.

It's stupid like that that have me having so many kittys. My heart breaks, I lure them in, and they have to be tame before they can be placed soooooooo sometimes I just fall so in love. head over heels.

Sicy, I understand your not wanting to take on more than you can handle. Apartment buildings in urban areas are a very common place for feral colonies to develop. But it can be hard to separate out pets from ferals.

I agree with Glen and Val. You're heart's in the right place, but better not to feed them unless you've got a plan.

I don't know where in the Bay area you live, but there are a number of feral groups. Glen has contacted a number of them because of his situation, so he's in the best position to know who can help. But while conducting searches for places that could lend a trap, I found a lot of San Fran area groups that work with ferals.

And... more helpful than feeding the cats WOULD be to run around the apartment complex and put up spay/neuter posters!

SpayUSA has a great one!

SpayUSA Cat Overpopulation Posters

If you can't link directly to the poster (it's a PDF file), you can access it by going to www.spayusa.org, and clicking on "More Resources." Then click on Information on Cat Overpopulation. That's the posters.

They have them for Dogs too.

I say... GO FOR IT GIRL!

So, I'm supposed to not feed them and let them scrounge around for scraps and garbage instead? Ok then.

LDG thanks for the signs, I am printing them out right now. Problem is there are a lot of mexicans in these buildings. I doubt they can even read english.

Poor kitties. I hope you figure something out for them. Good for you for trying to do something!

i really hope you get some help with these strays and strays they are heck if they belong to someone they must not care anything about them to just let them run loose in a city, it is a real problem everywhere, cities, towns, villages, suburbs, you name it,, people are just not responible or just dont give a s---, so good luck, i know what you mean about the feeding them, it is hard not when you know they are hungry,,, keep a update going