Should I avoid feeding feral cat?

Hi, 

I am a student currently studying in Hawaii. There has been a cat wondering about on our campus for the past ~2 months. She is very shy and always run into the bushes/Forrest when people get close to her. Just the other day, I bought a bag of cat treat intending to feed her the next time I see her. And so, I managed to feed her treats by leaving it on a plastic plate and walk away from it. She would come up to the plate to finish the treat, then she would run into the wood and stares at me until I put more treat on the plate. This process continued about 2~3 times, and each time she would get closer and closer to me. Within 20 minutes, she is rubbing against me and allowing me to pet her. This makes me think that she must had been an indoor cat, and maybe somehow abandoned. I thought she could be someone's cat, but there is no resident area near my campus, and the school is surrounded by wood all around. 

I fed her chicken breast and water, and she gobble down as if she hasnt ate for days. That day I stayed on campus for about 6~7 hours studying. Each time I walk out to take a break, she would come out of the wood and call out to me. Anyway, I started thinking if I should feed her regularly. My apartment complex does not allow pet, and I will be flying back to California for my summer break. Keeping her in out of question for now. What I am worried about is that if I feed her regularly, would she become too dependent on me and unable to search for her own food? 

Sorry for the long post, and I appreciate it if someone can give me some insights on this.

She definitely sounds like a abandoned cat, not a feral. A feral would not rub against you or come close. I'm going through the same thing where I live, someone abandoned a beautiful little tuxedo female who I go across the street to feed because I don't want her to come to my house and get ran over like the last one.   The neighbor did complain about seeing raccoons around where I feed, so I make sure I wait till light now so it is gone before nightfall. But what do you do? I see her waiting for me every morning. Now I'm worried she will have 400 kittens and I'm really not sure what to do. My husband is mad because I'm feeding her, I"m hoping the neighbor won't forbid me to come over, geez! Can you buy food and have someone else feed her, surely there are other cat lovers where you are at. The only other way I see is for you to trap her, but then what? Maybe you could advertise for a farm home to bring her to first? The sad thing is is that it is a never ending cycle. Good luck and I hope someone can help you with a solution!

It would be nice if you can help her. Food, perhaps even finding some sort of home for her...

But the most priority is you make sure she gets spayed.  THIS is the greatest gift you can do her.  Spayed she may manage OK, as she is apparently a survivir. A real weak one would perish by now.  Compare with the TNR.

Spaying also stops the never ending circle....

She perhaps IS already spayed, and this makes it a little easier.  But if not, this shall be your priority one project.

Tx for caring!

Good luck!

I agree with Stefan.  You are really not helping her by feeding her but allowing her to breed.  It will only make her healthy enough to have viable kittens - then you have five cats instead of one!  Get her spayed as soon as possible.

Start looking around for a rescue that can help - perhaps offering her a foster home and or permanent home.

Thank you for helping her so far but really, more help is necessary.

My heart goes out to all of the once owned, dumped, abandoned cats in the streets, they can't understand what happened, they live every day in fear and confusion, where do I belong, where am I safe, obviously wanting that love and affection they once had, maybe as a small kitten, everyone loves baby kittens then when they become grown, many of them are left behind.

People tend to believe that cats hunt so they can survive, while this is true for a feral who was born outdoors, never known anything except what mom has taught them, how to find food, water, and be safe from predators. They usually can make it on their own, although it's not the best life.

But while hunting is natural instinct, it is a very tough life for a once owned cat, and while they may survive, it is barely surviving, and this cat is in need of your help.

I would continue to feed her, poor thing, imagine how starved she is, and lost/alone. She needs to be fed, and she needs to be spayed.

There are rescues all over who will help.

Just get on the phone and call all over until you find one who will either help you trap and spay her, or who will loan you a trap, and once you trap her, they will get her spayed, return her to you, and you can either put her back, or find a temporary solution for her to stay until a permanent place is found.

She can become acclimated to any area, and will make a great indoor/outdoor mouser cat.

If you do this and feel no other options but to return her to your campus, it's okay. Feed her daily, and a couple weeks or so before you leave school for the summer, ask a friend, someone else who really is dependable and loves animals, to come with you to feed, and talk to her as well, allow her to become familiar with that person. So when you go, she will know this is not a stranger.

Thanks for caring.

Oh, as for food, buy a bag of cat food, and canned if you can, leave it in your trunk and put a baggie of food in your purse or backpack so it's inexpensive to feed her.

Thank you for your input. I will try to get her spray by the end of the week. Capturing her should be no problem, since she is fine with me picking her up. I probably will get her checked for micro chip just in case she does belong to someone and is just running around at night. I checked on google map today, the nearest resident area is 400 meters from the campus. Does cat usually travel that far from house?

A quick update today:

It was raining pretty hard for the whole day, I was worried if she could find a shelter from the rain. I drove up to campus afternoon, but did not see her anywhere. I came back to campus around 9 pm, and it was raining lightly. She came out under the stair by the building, and was scared of me at first (she probably didn't recognize me). I gave her a couple treats and fed her chicken breast again. She stayed outside the building meowing for the whole night. Every time I walk outside, she would run up to me from the other side of the street. In fact, she is still meowing outside the building as I am typing this post.

Here is a picture of her

View media item 214474

Thank you so much for helping this little girl!!

It sounds like she's taking a shine to you as well 

Oh my gosh, reading your last post, she is desperate for love and attention from you.

Then I looked at the pic and it choked me up.

As I said prior, this is where my heart is the softest, I can just see her hiding until she sees you, and pops out and cries to you for help.

I sure do wish she could be in a home again.....  I'm sure she does too. 

At least she does have you and your caring for her. If she could hug and thank you she surely would )    

Yes, thank you so much for taking care of this cat. Her color pattern reminds me of two brothers I'm taking care of.
And she looks well fed, so she may be recently abandoned or lost. Most vets will scan for a microchip for free.
Definitely, the best thing you can do for her now is to get her spayed. Next best thing: find her a home
(Making an assumption here but): as a college student on limited income, check to see if you qualify for a reduced rate. And if an abandoned/stray/feral cat, that in and of itself may qualify for a discount.

Sorry for not replying for so long, so much have happened. I was very busy, and I just finished one of the hardest exam in school. I thought I come back here to give you guys the full update of the feral cat. Soon after my previous update, I made plan to bring her into one of the animal shelters to get her spray, which was about 2 weeks away at that time. During these two weeks I spend a lot of time with this cat. She would always wait for me after my class and at night when I come back to school to study. When I don't see her around, I would shake my keys, and she would jump out at the end of the street and run toward me. 
 

I started bringing my notes outside on the street to study just so she can hang out with me. 
Here is a picture of her sitting on my note, not letting me study: View media item 214468
But most of the time, she just lie in my lap as I study for hours. 
 

She also started to get real friendly around other students. She was so friendly that our first year class named her and started to feed her regularly (I'm in the second year class). I was a bit relief that she is making friends, and was hopeful that someone might take care of her during summer as I leave the island. She also started to hang out around the campus during day (before she would hide in the bush waiting for me).

Here is a picture of her relaxing on the sidewalk during the day
View media item 214469
On the same day while playing with her, I noticed she had a tattoo on her left ear. I then realized it could be a sign that she is micro-chipped. It was really hard to read the letter, i think it was "NS".View media item 214470
I immediately made plan to take her into the vet at the end of the week. Then it started to rain pretty often, usually every other day. I was afraid that she would wait for me in the rain without shelter, so I bought a cat carrier and placed some food and water inside. I also took some left over curtain and placed it under my car. 

Later that week, I lure her into the cat carrier, which was too small for her. She urinated herself in the carrier while I drove her to the vet. At the vet, I hold her down while the tech tried to get the micro chip reader on her. We couldn't find anything, she was not chipped. Since she was already cover in urine, they were hesitate to check if she had been sprayed. They told me to check her belly myself. Feeling unwelcome at the clinic, I left the place. She was crying the whole time on the ride back, and she cut herself on the nose and was bleeding. I felt really bad for her.

I was going to take her back to my place to give her a shower, but decide it's best to get her back to her comfort zone. When I released her, she jump into the bush and started cleaning herself. I felt really bad. Later that night, I didn't see her. I was sure that she would never trust me again, but as I was walking toward my car she jumped out the bush and ran up to me. I hang out with her for an hour and fed her before I left. For the next 2 days, we had rain the whole time. During these time, I would drive by to check if she was out on the street waiting for me. I did not see her. 

Then she never show up again. I was devastated, I kept thinking it might have to do with the vet visit. She might have really injured herself. I started asking around and no one has seen her either. Many of my friends told me that she might have gotten run over by car, which isn't uncommon here. Some suggested that maybe she was taking to the coconut island by other student. Coconut island is a place with a lot of abandon and feral cats, and its rumored that a lady would feed the cats everyday. It could be possible that other students thought she would be under good care if she is relocated to coconut island. Being the owner of 2 cats, I knew that the cat would probably not survive long in the new environment. I immediately drove to coconut island looking for her. I walk around for two hours shaking my keys. I did not find her, but instead attract of large number of cats, who probably thought I was going to feed them. View media item 214472
A friend told me he might have seen an animal control truck around (I'm not even sure if we have those here in hawaii), so during the weekend, I drove up to the animal shelter and tried looking for her. I didn't see her around, but instead saw many cats desperate in need of owners.View media item 214471
The people at the animal shelter told me that she might have been captured for the spray clinic event at this other shelter, which was the one I was planning to take her to. I contacted the other shelter, but there was no news. The people at the animal shelter also told me that there is a lady that feeds feral cats on my campus daily. They did not have any contact information to reach this cat lady, so my only hope is to catch her feeding the feral cats. During this time, I started jogging around the campus. Since my campus belongs to the 'upper campus' and the gym is at the 'lower campus', I started to jog daily down the windy road that connect the two campuses. While jogging around, I discovered 4~5 mini cat shelters/houses hiding behind the bushes. Each shelter is maintained with fresh water, and there are some sealed containers placed under the shelter. If I find the picture on my phone, I will upload it. The shelter is basically a small platform that is 1 feet off the ground with ramp. It has a roof but no wall. I guess it's for the cats to take shelter during heavy rains. 

Anyway I didn't catch the cat lady. A month had passed, and I was always thinking of the cat. I would shake my keys while walking down the street hoping the cat would come jumping out. I wasn't doing that great at school either, it was very depressing. 

Just about 3 weeks ago, I drove down to the gym on a Saturday, 6 in the morning. When I arrived at the gym, it had changed its operation hour to 9 am, so I decided to head back to school to study. While I was driving up the hill, I saw a SUV parked on the side of the road with a lady next to it. I also noticed 5~6 other cats around the lady. I parked my car, and approach her. She looked a bit intimidated, I guess because I was staring at her when I drove by. I pulled out my phone and show her a picture of the cat I was looking for.
 

I asked her if she seen the cat before. She looked surprised and asked if that was my cat. It turned out, the feral cat I was looking for found a home!! She explained to me that the feral cat has been wondering around the campus for 4~5 months. This cat would never get near her or anyone else. Then about a month ago, this cat became really friendly. A friend of her who works at the school took a picture of the cat and asked if she knew anyone who would be willing to adopt this sweet and friendly cat. 

She found an elderly couple who was very interested in this cat. This elderly couple jog around the campus regularly and I guess they must have seen this cat before too. I show a couple of other pictures of the cat and explained my story to her. She was very excited, and said it made her day. She said she thought it was weird that the cat would always wait at the upper campus instead of the windy road near the cat shelters. We exchanged our contact information, and I promised her I would visit the cat when I'm done with school. Anyway I am so happy for this cat. If I ever visit this cat, I will snap a couple of pictures and post them here.

Sorry for the long post, and the late reply.

-Kevin

Wow Kevin, that is such a great story.



I'm really happy to hear that the cat found a loving home. It's such a shame to think of all the other cats waiting in the shelter for someone to love them.

Thank you for all you did for this cat, you took all the right steps to make sure she was healthy and well cared for.

She is really lucky to have someone like you looking out for her.

What a wonderful happy ending!!  I am so happy she found a loving home.  Thank you for being so kind to her and taking such good care of her.  I am sure your kindness and dedication to her helped her to be more comfortable with humans thus allowing her to find a home.

Thanks for the update.