Feral Cat Relocation

Hi Everyone-

I have a question regarding the relocation of feral cats.  One year ago a mother cat brought 3 kittens to my place of business.  When they were old enough I trapped all 3 had them spayed and neutered and eventually trapped mama as well.  The 3 kittens have stayed with me and 2 will let me pick them up, love them etc.  All 3 will come into the office after everyone is gone and play around so basically they are fairly tamed ferals.  Now to my question, looks like we will have to relocate the business within a year and I'm concerned about moving the kittens as this has been the only location they know.  In addition I feed several community ferals, such as the 2 dads and hopefully mama still comes around.  The 2 dads stay pretty connected to the kittens and they all seem to stay in a pack, sleeping in our converted shed (now a cat house ) at night together, etc.  Does anyone have any thoughts on how to relocate them, what do I do with the dads (which aren't neutered-they have evaded the traps like masters).  I can't leave them behind and ideally I would like to find office space within the area-but it may not be possible.

Thank you,

Edye

PS

Cat in the photo is one of the kittens named Gus...he is eyeing my Parakeets : )

First thank you for taking care of these cats.

Relocating a feral colony is generally not recommended.  If you decide to do this, you will  need to keep the cats confined in the new location for at least two to three weeks; otherwise, they will attempt to return to the original location.  (I had one cat who did return to the original location nine months later.)

There's not much you can do with the dads except to continue to try to trap them; you might try a drop trap.

Your best bet is to try to find another caretaker of the colony.  Alley Cat Allies is the premiere organnization for feral cats.  You might want to contact them directly to see if there are any caretakers in the area you live.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for getting back to me.  I think my best bet (to insure they don't run off at a new location) is possibly finding a new office where we could build an enclosure for the 3 babies where they could hang out and be happy .  The one in my photo I might possibly try to take home, just not sure if he will mingle well with my 24lb male who can be a bit of a bully!  Finding a new caretaker isn't going to be necessary as I still live in the same town so I could stop by every day and continue to feed the papas, but I would like to get my hands on 1 of 2 that really seems attached to the babies....I'm going to continue to try and trap him and eventually he'll give in........

Again many thanks,

Edye

Hello Edye! A warm welcome! and thanks for taking care of these feral cats by getting them all neutered. Ritz posted a great link about relocation. I agree that it is difficult to do BUT can be done if need be. You just have to know that the confinement is of the utmost importance. The longer, the better too. Hard to see them that way but it is the only way to assure that they know that this new place is where life will be good and safe enough for them to stay. An enclosure is really the best way to ensure a safe relocation but not always feasible for people as it can be costly. But that way, the cats have much more space to move about during confinement and you can make that confinement much longer. I have actually heard of some cats that won't venture far from their enclosure once their caretaker opens up that door. Since your business is moving close to the original location then that will make it easy for you to keep close contact on the papa's (). I do hope you will have success in trapping them and please keep on trying. A drop trap might be the way to go for these boys. :nod: Wishing you the best of luck with these cats and your move.

p.s. Gus!! What a cutie pie!! :rub: