feeding my outdoor cats attracting more--help

Last year I rescued a female cat that had just had a liter. It turned out that she had her kittens under our porch. I eventually found her and one of the kittens a home. The other three kittens I have continued to feed. I have had them all spayed and nuetered and given their shots. My wife and I enjoy them as ourdoor cats. Letely more cats are showing up. this has been going on now for a couple of months. two more cats would show up at different times and I am OK with that. But This week I have noticed more cats and one mother now has kitttens. I want to continue to look after and enjoy the relationship we have with the original cats but do not want to start a colony. I said all of that to ask -- how do we feed these three cats with out attracting more? All ideas welcome!!
Thanks.

If the other cats are wild they will not eat while you are there watching. Put food out in the morning and evening for your kitties and sit there while they eat. After 15-20 minutes pick up the food and bring it in. There will be no food to attract the other kitties. I would contact the SPCA and let them know there is a colony forming and they may have a program to spay/neuter and release. This will stop the colony from growing and keep any more cats and kittens from being born wild.

Hey there,

I moved you so those of us who deal with this constantly can kick in our ideas. Your best bet is to contact a local rescue organization and tell them you have a lot of wild cats that need to be TNR. As long as they stay out there, they will breed, creating more cats. A good rescue organization will come out and help you trap them and then take them in to be fixed. Leaving food out all the time will attract them all the time. But they need the food to survive, so there is the predicament. And once you feed one, they network and soon the word spreads and more will come. It is quite frustrating to deal with.

Cbop,
It's great that you're taking care of the two outdoor cats. I'll just echo DragonLady's advice; put just enough food out for the cats you want to feed, and stay there while they eat it. If you've been leaving out a bunch of food all day, then your cats will probably be used to nibbling a little and then leaving some food to graze on the rest of the day. So, you'll have to get them used to eating all of the food when you put it down. Even if they only eat a little, I suggest you take away the food after, say, 15 minutes. They will quickly learn to eat it all when it is put down.

The other thing is to stay while they eat the food. I was recently feeding a feral cat that was part of a colony of about 8 cats. I wanted to feed them all, but I definately didn't want to start something I couldn't finish, so I just chose to feed the first one that came to eat. The first couple of times only she came out to eat, but by the third day one of the other cats was sitting close by. The day after that, she wasn't in the same spot, so I went down a bit further and fed her. When I looked back at the normal feeding area, there were FOUR other ferals pacing back and forth! But, because they never got any food from me, a week later no one showed up anymore, just the cat that was used to me. So, if you're a little patient, you probably won't have a bunch of hungry cats staring at you every time you put down food for your intended cats.

If you can, definately contact your local rescue groups to see if they can help with the other cats.

thanks everyone I will take all of your advise. It is all good and quite simple!!! Appreciat it. I will call the rescue groups. I went last night after getting the post from Dragonlady and put the food inside. I did the same this morning and tonight my cats were waiting for me. this should work...

dont call the spca read my post if u need a good reason

cbopper: Thank you for taking the time to search for and contact local rescue groups! Many people would not even do that much. If you cannot find anyone to help trap then vaccinate and spay/neuter the strays, please contact me either via Private Messaging (in options up at the top of the forums) or via e-mail ( [email protected] ). We might be able to find someone to help if there are no local groups that will.

We know how you feel. We weren't even cat people. 5 kittens turned up in our yard. We started feeding them (and their mum). 1 1/2 years later we have four cats living with us, have trapped and had spayed or neutered 30 cats. The colony here is only 5 cats "big" now - but there were no kittens this Spring. *Phew*. We made the choice to care for a colony - but we work from home and have time that most people don't have.

However, we have helped to rescue many other kittens and cats, and have made arrangements now in several places many states away to have cats trapped where there was no rescue group to help.

A local vet usually knows "the crazy people" like my hubby and I who can help. We're not a "listed rescue org" nor affiliated with a rescue group, and a search on the Internet wouldn't find us. But calling all the vets within a 60 mile radius of our home would turn up our Vet, who know us, and would give us a buzz on someone's behalf if they left a contact name and number with our vet.....