I'm doing my own research right now, but I figured that I would post here too in case someone has information that I don't find.
Does anyone know of any kind of barn cat relocation program in South Texas? (Or within a day's drive of South Texas?)
I know that relocating feral cats is not something that is encouraged unless it's an emergency situation, but we're starting to border on an emergency situation here!
There is a colony of feral cats in my neighborhood. At the moment I know of 13 cats that don't "belong" to us, but there could be more. When we first moved into this neighborhood 2 1/2 years ago, we saw all of the cats, but they were being fed by a neighbor a few houses away. I have two of my own outside cats, and the food I fed them attracted two of the ferals, who we "claimed" because they were friendly. We got them both neutered and the amount of cats that we referred to as our own outside became 4. Meanwhile over the past two years, the other cats in the colony knew that we put food outside so every now and then 1 or 2 of them would wander over to our house and eat. This was absolutely fine with us. We've been working with ferals for about 6 years now so feeding them wasn't a problem.
The problem started when we went to talk to the neighbor who was feeding them. He was a great guy - really, really cared about these cats. But he was older, and not all there mentally. We tried to tell him about TNR (this city just started a TNR program about a year ago). He always responded by saying something along the lines of "Oh no its ok...they just want a good meal and then they're fine!" We couldn't make him understand how important TNR was. So we decided to start trapping them ourselves if they came over our way. We figured that he wouldn't even notice if one went missing for a day. He was aware of them all and according to other neighbors he knew when one was sick or hurt or missing, but one day wouldn't be enough to make him worry.
Anyway, the biggest problem is unfortunately, not the fact that this guy didn't TNR the cats. The biggest problem is that after feeding these cats for 13 years straight - he packed up and moved away very suddenly about 2 months ago!! We saw the moving truck and didn't even believe that he was moving until suddenly his house was empty. We have no idea where he went or why. But we immediately realized that the cats already knew that we always put food out, so we assumed that they would start coming to our house all the time. And they did. We now have a colony of about 13 cats, plus our 4, that live in our yard.
We've been working on trapping and neutering these guys, but it seems like every few days a new one shows up. It's a little stressful, but overall not a huge problem. We don't mind feeding them.
But the second big problem is that we're also moving in about 9 months. My husband is in the military and we'll be leaving Texas and moving to Virginia. We'll be taking our 11 inside cats and the 4 outside cats (and possibly one of the ferals that we've been trying to socialize in our backyard). But we absolutely can't take the entire colony of ferals! We simply don't have the room or the means to transport them all halfway across the country. I never worried about these cats before because with the old guy down the street feeding them, I assumed they would always be taken care of. After all, he had been feeding them for 13 years already, so it seemed like they had a pretty good set up!
With this guy gone though, and us moving, it leaves this colony in a neighborhood full of people who don't like them. In general the neighbors leave them alone, but I think it's because they face the wrath of my husband and me and the former caregiver if they mess with them. But I do know that the family next door to us likes to swat at them with brooms if they wander onto their property. A guy a few houses down has trapped some over the years (before we moved here) and took them to animal control to be killed. The neighbor on the other side of us rants about the cats as long as anyone will listen to them. He's threatened to violently kill them if they get into his yard. We put a stop to those threats immediately when we moved in and thankfully he seems to care about what we think of him. But once we move, I'm not convinced that he will leave these cats alone. There are also coyotes all over town, and a pack has been seen in a park just two blocks away from our house. The guy had been feeding them for 13 years, yet I've only seen 13 cats (though as of last night it was 12 - a new kitten showed up tonight that looks to be the same age as another kitten...so there could easily be more), so even though they haven't been TNR'd over the years, it seems to be a small colony so they don't seem to have the means to really thrive here on their own. Something is keeping their population low.
We also live just a block away from a really busy street - in both directions. Right now the colony seems to be living in the backyard of an abandoned house. But its a nice sturdy house. It's not falling down or rotting so its only a matter of time before someone moves into it. And what if its a person who doesn't like cats? Where will these cats go?
So basically, what I really need to do is relocate these guys. Ideally, I'd love to see them on a farm somewhere. While relocation is typically discouraged, I really think it would be the absolute best thing for them in this situation. They're good hunters. They've already brought us "gifts" of birds, mice and lizards. They're definitely a family (similar colors and features on all of them) and they all get along well with each other. Just yesterday I had 4 un-neutered adult males all eating calmly next to eat other without growling at each other (like I've seen in other colonies). They like people in the sense that they recognize us, sit at the door waiting for us, and get within a foot or two of us, but we can't touch any of them. So far I have counted 13 of them like I already mentioned. We have 5 of them neutered and are working on trapping the others (there's a trap out there right now as I type this - fingers crossed that someone walks into it tonight).
I know that there isn't a farm relocation program in this town. The city is struggling already with cat overpopulation and while their newly implemented feral cat program seems to be taking off and seems successful, I don't foresee a barn cat program being implemented before we move in 9 months. I'm willing to transport these guys anywhere within a day's drive of my house and will continue to work to get them all spayed and neutered.
If anyone knows of any program like this, or even personally knows someone who would like a healthy colony (the 5 that have been neutered are all negative for FIV and FeLv) of feral cats to roam their farm please let me know! If it's not possible to relocate them, then any thoughts on what to do with them once we move would be helpful too. Not gonna lie - I'm sure their original caretaker had his reasons for moving. But the fact that he left so suddenly, and just left them all behind, makes me angry and really stresses me out. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Does anyone know of any kind of barn cat relocation program in South Texas? (Or within a day's drive of South Texas?)
I know that relocating feral cats is not something that is encouraged unless it's an emergency situation, but we're starting to border on an emergency situation here!
There is a colony of feral cats in my neighborhood. At the moment I know of 13 cats that don't "belong" to us, but there could be more. When we first moved into this neighborhood 2 1/2 years ago, we saw all of the cats, but they were being fed by a neighbor a few houses away. I have two of my own outside cats, and the food I fed them attracted two of the ferals, who we "claimed" because they were friendly. We got them both neutered and the amount of cats that we referred to as our own outside became 4. Meanwhile over the past two years, the other cats in the colony knew that we put food outside so every now and then 1 or 2 of them would wander over to our house and eat. This was absolutely fine with us. We've been working with ferals for about 6 years now so feeding them wasn't a problem.
The problem started when we went to talk to the neighbor who was feeding them. He was a great guy - really, really cared about these cats. But he was older, and not all there mentally. We tried to tell him about TNR (this city just started a TNR program about a year ago). He always responded by saying something along the lines of "Oh no its ok...they just want a good meal and then they're fine!" We couldn't make him understand how important TNR was. So we decided to start trapping them ourselves if they came over our way. We figured that he wouldn't even notice if one went missing for a day. He was aware of them all and according to other neighbors he knew when one was sick or hurt or missing, but one day wouldn't be enough to make him worry.
Anyway, the biggest problem is unfortunately, not the fact that this guy didn't TNR the cats. The biggest problem is that after feeding these cats for 13 years straight - he packed up and moved away very suddenly about 2 months ago!! We saw the moving truck and didn't even believe that he was moving until suddenly his house was empty. We have no idea where he went or why. But we immediately realized that the cats already knew that we always put food out, so we assumed that they would start coming to our house all the time. And they did. We now have a colony of about 13 cats, plus our 4, that live in our yard.
We've been working on trapping and neutering these guys, but it seems like every few days a new one shows up. It's a little stressful, but overall not a huge problem. We don't mind feeding them.
But the second big problem is that we're also moving in about 9 months. My husband is in the military and we'll be leaving Texas and moving to Virginia. We'll be taking our 11 inside cats and the 4 outside cats (and possibly one of the ferals that we've been trying to socialize in our backyard). But we absolutely can't take the entire colony of ferals! We simply don't have the room or the means to transport them all halfway across the country. I never worried about these cats before because with the old guy down the street feeding them, I assumed they would always be taken care of. After all, he had been feeding them for 13 years already, so it seemed like they had a pretty good set up!
With this guy gone though, and us moving, it leaves this colony in a neighborhood full of people who don't like them. In general the neighbors leave them alone, but I think it's because they face the wrath of my husband and me and the former caregiver if they mess with them. But I do know that the family next door to us likes to swat at them with brooms if they wander onto their property. A guy a few houses down has trapped some over the years (before we moved here) and took them to animal control to be killed. The neighbor on the other side of us rants about the cats as long as anyone will listen to them. He's threatened to violently kill them if they get into his yard. We put a stop to those threats immediately when we moved in and thankfully he seems to care about what we think of him. But once we move, I'm not convinced that he will leave these cats alone. There are also coyotes all over town, and a pack has been seen in a park just two blocks away from our house. The guy had been feeding them for 13 years, yet I've only seen 13 cats (though as of last night it was 12 - a new kitten showed up tonight that looks to be the same age as another kitten...so there could easily be more), so even though they haven't been TNR'd over the years, it seems to be a small colony so they don't seem to have the means to really thrive here on their own. Something is keeping their population low.
We also live just a block away from a really busy street - in both directions. Right now the colony seems to be living in the backyard of an abandoned house. But its a nice sturdy house. It's not falling down or rotting so its only a matter of time before someone moves into it. And what if its a person who doesn't like cats? Where will these cats go?
So basically, what I really need to do is relocate these guys. Ideally, I'd love to see them on a farm somewhere. While relocation is typically discouraged, I really think it would be the absolute best thing for them in this situation. They're good hunters. They've already brought us "gifts" of birds, mice and lizards. They're definitely a family (similar colors and features on all of them) and they all get along well with each other. Just yesterday I had 4 un-neutered adult males all eating calmly next to eat other without growling at each other (like I've seen in other colonies). They like people in the sense that they recognize us, sit at the door waiting for us, and get within a foot or two of us, but we can't touch any of them. So far I have counted 13 of them like I already mentioned. We have 5 of them neutered and are working on trapping the others (there's a trap out there right now as I type this - fingers crossed that someone walks into it tonight).
I know that there isn't a farm relocation program in this town. The city is struggling already with cat overpopulation and while their newly implemented feral cat program seems to be taking off and seems successful, I don't foresee a barn cat program being implemented before we move in 9 months. I'm willing to transport these guys anywhere within a day's drive of my house and will continue to work to get them all spayed and neutered.
If anyone knows of any program like this, or even personally knows someone who would like a healthy colony (the 5 that have been neutered are all negative for FIV and FeLv) of feral cats to roam their farm please let me know! If it's not possible to relocate them, then any thoughts on what to do with them once we move would be helpful too. Not gonna lie - I'm sure their original caretaker had his reasons for moving. But the fact that he left so suddenly, and just left them all behind, makes me angry and really stresses me out. Any help is greatly appreciated!
). Probably most rural vets know someone who will take at least a few.
