Neighborhood updates

Well, today my boyfriend was driving to the gas station to fill up the tank- and called me and said he saw what he thought was a momma tabby with an older grey and orange kitten. So for the past hour i've been walking around the neighborhood looking, found the black male who will be getting fixed on Monday, and then saw the grey and orange one I believe my boyfriend was talking about. She is much older than 12 weeks, a very small female- and looks to be pregnant/just starting to show. I was talking to him about how I take in the wild cats and get them fixed and how I had an appointment made for the black male [who was continuously trying to mount the little grey female]. He stated "All of the males I feed are fixed, but none of the females are. You and me probably feed the whole neighborhood. There's a huge colony over by the restaraunt." I mean, I think it's a wonderful thing he's doing just feeding them. But then I question if he ever got a cat fixed, because why would he fix a male over a female? Anyways, I think i'm going to talk to him about how he would feel with me taking "his" females in to get spayed so as not to add to the population. I don't think he'll disagree, i'm just questioning where I can get funds to pay for all of these spay/neuters.

WOW- you certainly do have your hands full. Is this the same black cat that came in the cat flap to eat from the kitty bowls??? Bless you and your BF for trying to prepare a plan of action to get all of those other cats TNRd. That will be quite an undertaking, but you will be saving so many lives. I don't know where you live, but if you google "Trap-Neuter-Return IN (your county and state)" you will find a place or places that will be willing to help with this colony f cats. That is what TNR organizations do, that is their goal, to stop ferals from breeding. AND sometimes, if you just report the colony and offer to help trap, they will cover all costs :bigthumb: It usually is only about $35.00 per cat. But as I said, they WANT to help you, financially too. I wish you and your BF much, much luck in this important endeavor.... Keep us posted

I realized my first post didn't make much sense. I found the stray black male [yes the one I posted pictures of in the other thread that is getting fixed on Monday] down the street from my house attempting to mount the little grey/orange female [will males still attempt to mount if they're preggo? I'm pretty sure she looked pregnant] and there was an old man standing outside his house- who then stated everything that I put above haha. I forgot to mention him!

I've been talking to my boyfriend a lot about turning our detached side room into a recovery/socialization/fostering room, and starting to take in the strays/ferals one-by-one and have them spayed/neutered then released if they're too wild, or keeping them and attempting to adopt them out afterwards. I figured i'd start with those females down the street who are looking plump and pregnant. Just hoping the old man will let me.

My only hesitation is funding. It costs quite a bit of $ to get cats spay/neutered around here [cheapest is 40 for a male and about 70 for a female]. And that's not to mention the $40 fee for disease testing, the fee for vaccinations, or any other health care they need. The only "animal rescue" places we have around here is the pound- which isn't much of a rescue. Animals are given 30 days and then euthanized I googled 'TNR programs' in my town and nothing came up- am I limiting myself? I live in a small town in Northern California which is why I didn't put the whole state, but should I reach out to TNR programs across the state? Do any of them actually give funding to single-households just doing it in their neighborhood [obviously i'm not an established rescue or anything] and if they don't, does anyone have any other ideas as to where I could possibly seek out funding to simply help with veterinary costs?

Also- what is the ideal room for fostering/rescuing/socialization? It's a rather large room. Litterbox [more than one?], food and water dishes, should I get a larger kennel type thing to put in there so they have a place that seems more safe and confined or should they be allowed to roam the entire room? I have so many questions, I feel like this could be the first step to REALLY setting my eye on my goal of ultimately opening my own no-kill rescue for both dogs and cats.

I can feel your excitement and I think you are becoming a true cat champion! I will see what I can find for you in Northern California. You might have to expand your search,. It would be best to have the support of a TNR organization. That is how I am able to do what I do. It would only cost you about $35.00 per cat including everything. Sometimes they might charge a minimal fee for the Snap test (FeLK/FIV).. Also, here is a great article by one of our long time expert feral cat members. This might help answer some of your questions. http://catcentric.org/behavior-and-psychology/socializing-a-feral-cat-its-all-about-trust/W

You certainly don't need a lot of square footage at all. But vertical space is very important. A couple of cat trees, some spaced out shelving and some hiding spots as well. We always recommend at least one open cat box per cat. I think your efforts will be greatly rewarded when that first cat is socialized and is found a home. You will be saving lives and giving new life to some of these cat's who need people such as yourself to help them. :heart3:

Thank you so much for you replies, you're helping a lot and just reassuring as well. It will take a while for me to get it set-up but this is definitely going to happen eventually. My neighborhood is in DESPERATE need of somebody to do SOMETHING. There's so many stray/feral cats. Here's just a list of the one's I have seen:

Black male [appointment to get neutered Monday. He's VERY friendly and in the past week has been showing up at my house EVERY day. He's the one who taught himself to use the cat door.]

Long haired black & white [skiddish, but has let me pet him a few times. I've also picked him up too, but only briefly until he wiggles around and wants let go. Other times he'll see me and run]

Black siamese? [his facial structure looks on the siamese/oriental side, he's sleek and black. Feral [?], have only seen him eating through the window and if he sees me he'll run off. Idk why I say 'him', just feel like it's a boy lol he's pretty big even though he's lanky and slender ]

Tabby [Very stocky and short. I think this is a male as well, only because i've seen him very randomly throughout a year or so with no sign of a big belly or pregnancy which I assume I would see with a female. This morning he/she was eating food outside, I opened the door and they sat about 7 feet away from me for about 5 minutes staring, then took off. Thinking possibly has had some human interaction since it didn't bail immediately when seeing me]

Long haired tabby [very short and stocky as well. Only have seen a few glimpses of this one every now and then. Feral?]

Shaved long haired female tabby [Okay this cat showed up about 4 months ago, body shaved- face still super long haired and a tuft on her tail. She comes around ever now and then and eats our food and looks for love, although I think the other cats scare her off or she'd be around more. Not sure if she actually has an owner? No collar or anything.. but she's shaved so..stray? Has an owner and just roams?]

Black and white cat [huge black and white cat, really unique markings- almost all white with a black upside down triangle in the middle of its face and some other black spots. Probably feral, runs as soon as it catches sight of me]

and then the two females I just recently discovered down the street at the old mans house that i'm pretty sure are pregnant. I've seen more, but these are the ones I have seen multiple times. and I know this isn't even a portion of the kitties. I'm so anxious to get things started but know it will take a while. My Uncle writes grants and is going to do some research for funding for me after he's done with his schooling this semester.

How incredibly generous of your Uncle to help you with funding for this wonderful effort you are about to undertake. You do have your work cut out for you, hun but you will be rewarded for your kindness.. The cat's all need someone to step up and help. The shaved kitty must be owned...and goes out roaming :shame: Hopefully if you trap that one, he will have a microchip. What a wonderful, generous thing you are going to do for these cat's. Please let us know how it goes.... One cat at a time :cross: