Caring for a Feral Colony

I am currently caring for a feral colony where I work.  They currently live under a loading dock behind a business center.  I have been feeding them and watering them daily for 8 months now, that is how long I have been working here.  So far I have caught 4 kittens and adopted them out, well I did keep one, the last one I just got on 11-29-13.  He was the last of the littlest ones, 7-8 weeks old and 2 1/2 pounds., and I had been so very worried about him since it is getting so cold now, I was determined to catch him!  I am "patiently" waiting for a trapper to call me from Forgotten Cats, as they are going to assist me with TNR.  I am very nervous and anxious about this, as I know next to nothing except that it needs to be done.  Sorry if I am rambling, just trying to give some background.  I am new to this and am kind of winging it on how much and what to feed.  Does anyone have any advice on taking care of a feral colony, there are about 5-6 adults and a 5 kittens, 2 of the kittens look to be about a year, 3 of the kittens are about 4 months.  I

Forgotten Cats is a wonderful organization, so they hopefully will help you with trapping all the cats and having them spayed or neutered.  You should make that a priority as you will only create a never ending cycle of new kittens if you don't.

As for feeding, are you using dry food, wet food or a combination?  Most people I know who have a colony use a combination - wet in the morning or evening and dry left out during the day.  (It should be taken up at night or you'll have all sorts of other critters inviting themselves to dine.)

Do the kitties have a warm place to sleep now that the weather is changing?  Forgotten Cats may be able to recommend housing ideas, too.  There are lots of ideas here as well.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...&qpvt=feral+cat+houses+for+outdoors&FORM=IGRE

Thank you for helping them.  Good luck!

Thank you for helping them.
Regarding how much to feed them: as much as they want/you can afford.
Feral cats burn a lot of calories during the winter to keep warm.
Friskies pate is a decent brand, and is often on sale at local grocery stores and Petco/Petsmart.
I would leave out a fair amount of dry food, and do take it up when you leave for the night; otherwise, as Ondine said, other critters (racoons in particular) will eat it.

I am making shelters this week-end.  They are living under a loading dock and are able to get under the building due to cinder blocks being out, but it is not heated.  The area I was thinking of putting the shelters is next to the dock, but I've been noticing that tends to be their toilet area.  any suggestions on that???

I forgot to add something, I could really use advice on.  There is someone who is leaving raw ground meat, raw chicken livers and this week left a ##**^%$#

turkey carcass for the cats.  I have not seen him ever, as he usually comes late at night.  What can I do to prevent this. It is making me crazy!  and he gives them milk....One of the employees from one of the other businesses has told him in the past to stop and he won't.  I am thinking of sitting in my car and staking him out, but he doesn't come everyday..I was thinking of posting signs, but don't want to draw too much attention to the cats, as I don't want to get any grief from any of the other business owners

If you can, put them someplace else.  The location should be quiet and out-of-the-way enough to help them feel secure in the shelters.  Just like us, they wouldn't want to sleep near where they pee and poop.

The guy leaving food sounds like he's trying to help, although he sounds a little off.  Sneaking in at night isn't the best way to approach the situation but he's already been told to stop.  He sounds determined to help them.

Is there a way you could work with him?  Let him know if he leaves food, cat food is better than scraps, which will really draw other critters and bugs.  That's the last thing you need.

He may feel OK about stopping now if he knows you are taking care of the cats.  If you do talk to him, bring someone with you.  If he's not on the up-and-up, you'll need help.

Bless you for helping these cats.  Like you said about that man who is leaving raw meat out, yes watch for him.  Find out who he is (take a picture from your cell phone if you can) and if he doesn't own a business there try to get a business owner to confront him saying he is trespassing and he will be arrested if he is seen there again.  Get his license plate number if you see a car and a business owner should be able to report this to police if he doesn't stop.  Raw meat can cause diseases so this is not a good thing to be doing.  I'm sure that's illegal to be throwing raw meat out in the open like that.

I've trapped many cats in my day with Hav-a-hart live traps.  If that rescue is slow about it see if you can borrow some of their traps and if they'd take the cats as soon as you trap them.  The traps can't be left out in the open because of wind, rain or snow.  What I do is get a large board and lean it against a building and slide the trap behind it.  The board can blow away so place something heavy leaned against the board (sometimes I use old car tires) so it doesn't blow away. Traps must be checked no less than every 24 hours but more often is better.  The only thing is what if that man comes and steals the traps or lets the cats go.  People should really be watching for him.  I've had to take pad locks and connect chains to my traps and then lock them to solid objects so no one would steal them.

If you can get these cats fixed and released back to where they came from that would be Ok as long as someone feeds them and gives them water.  By releasing them back there it will help to keep new strays from coming there because cats are territorial.  They should be Ok living under the building.  Too bad you can't give them straw under there.  I don't know if it could cause an electrical fire but straw is something better than giving them blankets or beds because it would be warmer.  Make sure if they can get them fixed and release them you have somewhere to keep them in the trap for 24 to 48 hours after surgery.  Their body temps will drop and they will not feel all that great so they can't protect themselves so you can't release them too soon.  They should be kept at no less than 65 degrees for that time.  Give them can cat food with added water a few times a day slid through the trap door.  Put the cage up on some bricks with newspaper underneath so spills and other things drip through.

Good luck and I hope someone can help you.

Like you said about that man who is leaving raw meat out, yes watch for him.  Find out who he is (take a picture from your cell phone if you can) and if he doesn't own a business there try to get a business owner to confront him saying he is trespassing and he will be arrested if he is seen there again.  Get his license plate number if you see a car and a business owner should be able to report this to police if he doesn't stop.  Raw meat can cause diseases so this is not a good thing to be doing.  I'm sure that's illegal to be throwing raw meat out in the open like that.

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This seems like a very bad idea. . .the person is doing nothing dangerous and is trying to help the cats. If we encourage law enforcement to prosecute people who are trying to help the cats, then we open ourselves up to also being harassed. There is no difference in what he is doing and what the OP is doing. Many people feed their cats a raw diet, and what do you think feral cats eat when humans do not leave cat food out? I'm sure it's no more illegal to leave raw meat out than to leave cat food out.

You might be able to get together with him and coordinate your efforts. Try to come to a consensus as to what and when you'll feed the cats, and other aspects of care. It's always good to find someone else who wants to help the kitties .

Willowy said:

This seems like a very bad idea. . .the person is doing nothing dangerous and is trying to help the cats. If we encourage law enforcement to prosecute people who are trying to help the cats, then we open ourselves up to also being harassed. There is no difference in what he is doing and what the OP is doing. Many people feed their cats a raw diet, and what do you think feral cats eat when humans do not leave cat food out? I'm sure it's no more illegal to leave raw meat out than to leave cat food out.

You might be able to get together with him and coordinate your efforts. Try to come to a consensus as to what and when you'll feed the cats, and other aspects of care. It's always good to find someone else who wants to help the kitties

.

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It is a bad idea to throw raw food on someone else's property when you've been told not to.  If he wanted to give them cat food that would have been another story.  I knew someone who used to let their dogs eat dead animals that died on their farm.  Not knowing it was illegal, I mentioned it to someone who hounded me for where they lived because they wanted to prosecute them.  I didn't know the address and I never told on them.  I think feeding them is great but not when you do it the way this man is.

Several years ago someone threw a dog and trash near a corn field here and drove away.  Neighbors saw and we all left food for it.  A pet rescue came out with a large trap to catch it and left signs all over with the owners permission that no one had better feed that dog or trespass or they would be arrested.  They did finally catch the dog.  No matter what anyone says or thinks you still can not trespass even if you think you are doing the right thing.

You can get a lot more with honey than vinegar: so, try to find out who else is "helping" you feed the cats. Maybe post a note right before you leave for the note (and, remove it in the morning) around the area, first thanking him for caring, second, asking to coordinate efforts. He may not know that milk and cooked bones are really bad for cats, especially the cooked bones. The raw food is fine.
Maybe he can help trap cats and/or find them homes.

I agree with Willowy in that feeding and tossing them raw meat, etc. is no different than feeding regular cat food. Both can spoil if not eaten quickly (dry food gets rancid fast if it gets wet) and I think that the cats are probably devouring up the food. Who ever is doing this IS trying to help. I would try to find this person and see if they will band together with you in helping these feral cats.

Here are some great, easy and inexpensive winter shelter options for the cats. http://www.urbancatleague.org/WinterCatShelters

I am wishing you much luck with your wonderful efforts to TNR these cats. And a big for doing so. Keep us posted!!!

It is a bad idea to throw raw food on someone else's property when you've been told not to.  If he wanted to give them cat food that would have been another story.  I knew someone who used to let their dogs eat dead animals that died on their farm.  Not knowing it was illegal, I mentioned it to someone who hounded me for where they lived because they wanted to prosecute them. 

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Trespassing is trespassing, no matter what you're feeding them :dk:. Why would it be different if he were trespassing to feed them cat food? And most feral caretakers are trespassing at least sometimes so it would be a really bad idea to get the police worked up about someone doing the same thing we are. If this guy were poisoning the cats, I'd say sic him! But a fellow feral caretaker? No way.

I have no idea where it would be illegal to feed your own dogs dead farm animals. That's ridiculous. What could they possibly be charged with? What do people think pet food is made of? Or the meat we eat? I think the person who said it was illegal was mistaken or a little batty. It is illegal to take roadkilled game animals off the roads without permission, but that's the only thing I can think of that would be illegal in feeidng your pets raw.