Moving House, Taking The Colony With Me.

This so beautiful! My fantasy come to life! Sorry if this was already asked, but where you are moving them from- what will become of that empty space the tnr cats filled? As far as possible vacuum effect?

Hi @pocho

Our old address was in the middle of the village. The neighbours had been leaving food out for the feral cats for years before we moved in. I TNR'd as many as the cats as I could, think there was possibly one female and two males that I missed, and rehomed all the adoptable kittens. The cats I left behind were the ones that my neighbours had been feeding before I moved into the area, plus three 2 year old cats that were too wild and wary to be caught again after being TNR'd the first time. About 9 cats in all.

The neighbours are still feeding them and they have a couple of barns and a derelict house to sleep in. I go back there about twice a week to give them some extra food and check that everyone is still OK.

I'm sure that going from 30+ cats down to 9 probably created a bit of a vacuum, but hopefully not too much.

One of the neighbour's teenage son's has taken on the task of trapping the one remaining female. He's got my phone number, I've promised to help with transporting and to pay for the cost of the spay if he manages to catch her. I never could, she saw me trap her sister and a few of her first litter of kittens and realised I wasn't to be trusted.

 

Just wondering because my particular situation is so frustrating and complicated with violent neighbors and ordinance officers being called plus well meaning apt residents putting out milk and hotdogs.....I sometimes want to move the whole colony. Maybe to a safe rural area. But here with the constant dumping of cats when people move plus dumpsters and available woods I have to believe my attempt to make this group of 40 (and counting) safer would just set up a new group for the same dangers. Some individual ones I have come to love so much though I feel a strong pull to get out of here even at the expense of compromising the tnr logic. Eitherway, I have dreamed of what you have set up and wish I could ship my Rosebud, Pepino, Quest and many more straight to you!

Hi @pocho  just catching up with this thread now. I've read your other posts about the problems you've had with your colony, even from groups that are supposed to be acting with the cats best interests at heart. It must be so frustrating for you, I can't understand why the neighbours would object to a well-managed and cared for feral colony. Surely it's going to be much easier to live with than a colony that is allowed to breed and roam without any control. With people continuing to dump their pets there it's not as if the cats are just going to disappear altogether if people don't feed them. 

Some people seem to want the whole planet to themselves.

If there is a better location that you know of I'd be tempted to move some of my favourites there. It sounds as if your situation is different to mine, even with your best efforts at TNR, if more cats are dumped then the colony is going to continue to grow, vacuum or not. Do you have a safer place they could move to?

We had the first snow of this winter yesterday. The long haired cats seemed to like it.

Forest is so well insulated he doesn't feel the cold.


Button Moon taking shelter under the deck.


Hiro


 and his brother Jiro


 Gin kun has the Japanese bob-tail gene. Even though he has a long tail the end of it is curled right round like a knot


Toby had never seen snow before.


"What is this white stuff?"  "It tastes funny."


"It seems to be falling out of the sky."


The short haired cats have taken over the loft, the warmest part of the house.


Heidi's top of the pile, as usual.


 After a while Button decided he was better off indoors, curled up with his best friend Bert.


Lizzie in the "Girl's Room". Yep, I decorated that cat condo myself. 

@Norachan I just love it when you share pictures of your brood.

Excellent girl's room..

Awww! It's good Button is smart enough to stay inside and not do his usual escape over the fence.

Lovely!  They all look quite content, don't they?

Thanks for all the nice comments again.

@jcat  Button now spends every night and most of the day indoors.

He still climbs over the fence now and then, but he's realised it's better to stay close to the food and the heaters.

Good for Button! In time he might give up climbing the fence entirely. :cross:

I enjoyed seeing all of your beautiful kitties in the snow. You really do have a nice set up for all of them, they are so lucky to be loved by you.

I forgot to mention how good it is to see Forest sitting very comfortably in the snow. 

A very lucky cat.

It's like the Ritz or the Hilton for kitties! [emoji]10084[/emoji]️[emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]️[emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]️

All cats are beautiful but these are extraordinarily beautiful felines you have! I think I have found a place for some of my favorite kitties to go that will be safer. My situation is quite unmanageable. When the first tnr group abandoned the project they left it in the hands of an older lady who has a some brain damage due to a fall. She instigates the neighbors who oppose by feeding at a neighboring abandoned house and leaves kibble for rats...just an example of the crazy dynamics. In the Detroit metro area they is a strange phenomenon some call “ruban" urban/rural. The urban decay gives way to fields and nature reclaiming. So that lends itself to weird problems....but enough of that- what you have arranged is perfect and inspiring. Thankyou for sharing!

Mani said:

 
I forgot to mention how good it is to see Forest sitting very comfortably in the snow. 

A very lucky cat.

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Thank you Mani.

He's a lovely cat, so gentle and well mannered. Apart from his habit of standing up when he pees (I've had to change all the litter boxes to the covered kind) you couldn't ask for a sweeter boy.

pocho said:

All cats are beautiful but these are extraordinarily beautiful felines you have! I think I have found a place for some of my favorite kitties to go that will be safer. My situation is quite unmanageable. When the first tnr group abandoned the project they left it in the hands of an older lady who has a some brain damage due to a fall. She instigates the neighbors who oppose by feeding at a neighboring abandoned house and leaves kibble for rats...just an example of the crazy dynamics. In the Detroit metro area they is a strange phenomenon some call “ruban" urban/rural. The urban decay gives way to fields and nature reclaiming. So that lends itself to weird problems....but enough of that- what you have arranged is perfect and inspiring. Thankyou for sharing!

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Thank you Pocho.

I'm glad you've got somewhere safer to move a few of your favourites too. I hope that works out. It would be great if we could save them all but of course that's impossible. Being able to take even a few to a better environment is huge. Do you have some way of keeping them indoors/crated until they settle in? Of the cats that I moved only one took off and didn't come back. She was one of the wilder girls. She had a few days of coming and going and then finally disappeared altogether. I think she could find her way back if she wanted to, but it's a big forest with plenty of prey. I guess she's OK out there.

Ruban environments must be so difficult, I can imagine what kind of problems you're dealing with. I've watched documentaries about the number of abandoned pets there are in Detroit. At least they've got you on their side.

What kind of food do you feed them all?

bonepicker said:

What kind of food do you feed them all?

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They get two meals of wet food a day and there is always a bowl of dry food there to snack on. I bulk buy whatever is on offer that week at my local discount store. This week we've had Whiskers Tasty Chicken and Chicken and Turkey, Mon Petit Roast Beef and Turkey Pate, Axia Tuna and Bonito.

They also get a snack of either cooked chicken or sardines and they supplement that with the odd bird or mouse.

I know it's not the best diet in the world, but I hope that by giving them different brands and flavours every day they get all they need.

@norachan- yep, found someone with a barn in the country about hour and half away. He will except three. So that will be three black siblings who are very friendly and sweet. I believe a month of confinement will work? So hopefully by xmas they will be safer. CHEERS! Btw, can you qualify yourself as an official sanctuary now and get help feedin them or file as a non profit? Does it work that way in japan?