Desperately Needing Advice on Abandoned Cats

Last week while on my way home I came across 2 cats (I'm guessing 5 months old) in the middle of my road. Having absolutely no experience with animals what-so-ever, I called a friend and she helped me gather them, and we put them in an open box in her garage for the night, hoping to give them to the local animal shelter the next day. When I was told that they had no room for the cats, I didn't know where else to turn. As I've said, I have no animal experience, and bringing the cats into my house is not an option due to allergies, so these poor cats have been living outdoors for the past week. I feed them twice a day, and have also made them a little tote house that they can hang out in when it rains, or when they are sleeping, but I still worry all the time about them. 

That's why I've been thinking about letting them stay in my garage, just so I know that they are safe, while I am in the process of finding them a permanent home, or until spots become available at the shelter. My only problem is, my garage is not really cat friendly. It's quite big, and we don't keep our car in there or anything. It's the tools and sharp objects and choking hazards that concern me the most. I built a divider to keep them confined to one section of the garage, where I would keep their food, water, litter box and cat bed, but I'm not sure if they could jump over it or not (it's about 4 1/2 feet high).

Basically, as a cat newbie, I really don't know much, and I would REALLY appreciate any information anyone could give me. It seems like everyone I ask gives me a different answer. Like, would they be better off if I hadn't fed them, and left them to fend for themselves, or should I continue to care for them while looking for a home. If anyone has actually managed to read this entire post, thank you! Look forward to hearing from you!!

First off, WELCOME!!!!!!! And please don't listen to those other people telling you that you should have left them be. You are doing the responsible thing here stepping up to help stray cats. They are not feral and sound very sweet actually. YES - keeping them in the garage so that they can come and go on their own is a good idea. Just allow them the option to go in and out because garages can get pretty darn hot. Don't worry about the tools and such. I am pretty sure these kitties are smart enough and saavy enough to leave those items alone. At this point in their lives, they are just probably too exhausted to be bothering with tools and such. Meaning, a life outdoors is quite stressful, so I am sure they are just happy to have the garage as their safe place for now.

See if you can google TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) organizations in your county. Hopefully someone will be able to assist you in getting them neutered right away. Since they are "friendlies", it will be easy for you to get them to and from the vet. OR even check with the TNR groups to see if someone can foster these babies? I find the more calls I make and connections I make, someone always wants to help and has a good heart. YOU have a wonderful heart :heart3: and YES, you are doing everything right for these kitties. :nod: The main thing is to get them fixed and fast. You don't want them breeding and making more kittens Hope this helps....

Thank you for your quick response! I was actually thinking about taking them to be neutered sometime next week, as I don't think I could handle having any more cats around while I'm looking for a home for them

I also have a question part 2.

So where the cats are currently, is about a 7 minute walk from my house. If i were to bring them down to my garage, and let them come and go as they please, that would mean they would by lurking close to my house. The problem with that is, I'm an avid hummingbird person. I have 3 feeders around my house, and the birds love to perch on my doorstep. Seeing as though those birds are probably the closest things I'll ever have to pets....what are the odds of the cats attacking them? Because if I ever saw that happen, I would be very sad. Haha.....any thoughts?

Cats are often good hunters for birds. Yeah, the risk is big they will chase your birds...  

Inside cats do not seldom got used to inside pet animals, birds, mices, etc... So many do manage to live together.   - not all, so no promises...

But here it would be very optimistic to hope they will recognize which birds are NOT for hunting, they do belongs to the family, and which birds are ok to hunt - they are wild-living...

You could try with having the feeding stations high up, on one legged pillars. Healthy cats can jump more than 2 meters up (7-8 feet).  But if the birds are used to be on the stairs... 

Sorry!  Otherwise you seems to do wonderfully well for a new be.

If it werent for the allergies you mentioned, you could try to foster them into pure inside kitties.

What are the allergies? Severe asthma?  I wouldnt not recommend trying.

If something less dangerous - there are ways. Quite a lot of cat owners are allergic, and had learned to copy, if they know how.

One thing. You didnt mentioned one word they are scared, shy or anything.  So they shouldnt be any real semiferales.

True, Some semiferales are friendly, but here I would suspect they were dumped - or got astray.

If they got astray, they may have an owner who hopes to find them...

Otherwise, you can perhaps find someone who can adopt them?

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!

Thanks for the welcome! 

I wouldn't say it's a severe allergy, more like a mild allergy mixed with a person who just plain and simple does not want a cat in the house. (That person is not me, by the way  ). 

These cats were 100% dumped. I'm guessing they were barn cats at some point. 

I'll definitely keep thinking of others ways to keep both the cats, and the birds safe and happy, and continue trying to find a home for them !!!

I also love Hummingbirds, so much!! Unfortunately, I think the cats will be very interested in watching or hunting those birds. It will be quite natural for them. Hummingbirds are quite quick and hopefully they will learn to keep themselves safe from the cats. Can you hang up the feeders a bit higher? I really don't know what to suggest because I don't think there is a way to stop the cats from wanting to "hunt" the birds. The only other option would be to bring the cats inside and keep them in a small room or bathroom until you get them neutered and find homes for them. But you mention that someone has allergies. You are not the one with the allergies? Then it could be possible to bring them inside since you would be the only one caring for them until you can find another place for them. Good luck with all of this and again, I think you are doing right by these kitties.