Feral Cat questions.

I just have a few questions about Feral / Strays which have had a hard life. These questions are going to sound unethical at sometime, but I want to make sure they get the best care they can.

Lets say I had 5 strays and they did not get along with each other. Would it be wrong to confine each one to it's own room, or would it be okay to mix them together?

People say that Feral and Stray cats are stepping on our Eco-system / society when it's the complete opposite, society stepped on them. Why do they say this?

Whats the best thing I can do for a stray cat?

A lot of butchers throw away left over fish parts, would it be okay to make my own homemade cat food with these left over ingredients?

I acknowledge the costs of these cats each year is a LOT of money, but if it helps a neglected cat feel good about themselves, then that's enough to make me feel good about myself. What else can I do?

Hi there and welcome to tcs!

To sum up your questions with basically one answer, cats will not get along when they are not spayed and neutered.

Male cats fight because they are run by their hormones and are looking to mate, they are territorial and will fight to do serious damage.

This all goes away when they are all fixed, and can live together in peace and over all harmony.

The best thing you can do for a stray/feral cat? GET THEM FIXED. Then perhaps feed them and you will make friends. Not the kind who will sit on your lap and sleep with you, but a deep/different type of connection.

Like my sig line says, saving one cat won't make a difference in the world, but it makes a world of difference to that one cat.

You will make an enormous difference in each cat you have fixed.

Even if they are just fixed and returned, it has a huge impact. They can live without all the fighting, and all the stress that goes along with it.

I care for many colonies in town, it's my "cat route". All have been tnr'd and I continue to feed them for the rest of their lives.

I love them all, and to see how much they appreciate what I do for them is so rewarding.

The best thing you can do for these cats is to get them spayed and neutered.  You can purchase a humane trap for about $40 or many rescue groups or humane societies have traps you can borrow.  There are many great youtube videos on trapping cats and we here can help you too.  The cats will get along much better once they are spayed/neutered. Also if you don't spay/neuter, the 5 you have will quickly multiply. 

Thank you for caring about these strays/ferals.  It just takes one cat a time!

There is some truth to the concern about songbirds, but humans are what is really killing these off. We encroach on their territory and birds are more susceptible to pollution than most animals.

Allowing our domesticated animals to roam free is another way we destroy these animals. I personally believe the data that states pollution and habitat destruction are a bigger threat.

Definitely get them spayed. Look up TNR programs in your area. Ours allows you to spay and neuter for $25 per cat, including rabies vaccine if you take their class.

I find it frustrating and sadly ironic that the people who complain most about cats destroying the echo system don't seem to have a problem with how humans torture, confine, and kill in the most inhumane ways possible chickens, pigs and cows. Baby calves are confined in small cages and force fed until they become obese and can be slaughtered to make veal. Chickens and cows are confined in small, dirty places and shocked with cattle prods. People hunt for sport--not for food--but for the sheer joy of hunting and killing animals.

Feral cats without a human caregiver to feed them do kill birds to eat and survive. Unlike humans, they don't do it for fun--it's a matter of survival. Do people really expect cats to starve to death? We kill turkeys, and yet it's okay to trap and euthanize cats because they eat birds, too?  And who decides that birds have more worth than cats, and that cats should be killed to protect birds? I feed the birds on my block as well as my feral cat, mostly so they don't become more aggressive about eating my cat's food. The birds leave droppings on my porch, sometimes in my cat's food, on my car, and all around my property. Bird poo is toxic. Cats at least know to cover their droppings. I don't like the birds, and yet I care for them as I do my feral cat, and they co-exist together. They nest on the eaves above my porch and fly around my cat's head, and never once have I seen my cat show any interest in hunting them.

Strays are very different from ferals. You can re-socialize a stray within weeks or months, and they can become wonderful domesticated pets which can be adopted out. Ferals rarely become the cuddly pets most people want, so if you adopt a feral, you will likely be that feral's caregiver for life. S/he will bond with you in a deep way. If you transfer ownership to another person, make sure that person understands that they will not be able to change the feral's personality, and will have to accept it on its own terms. Otherwise they will become frustrated and set the cat loose or take it to a shelter. There are not many people who have the patience to care for a feral.

If you decide to make homemade food for the cats, do your research. You will need to suppliment the food with certains vitamins and minerals that cats need, such as taurine. Human food does not meet their nutritional need. I do give my cats chicken breast and fish occasionally, but on in addition to their regular cat food, not as a substitute.

I think it's wonderful that you're caring for these cats and are willing to put the time, energy, and money into giving them better lives. I experience a lot of satisfaction each day I play with the two ferals I took into my home and have socialized. During the winter, when it was below zero outside, I was happy  because I knew they were safe, well-fed, warm, and had toys to play with instead of the difficult lives they would have had outside. My third feral will not come inside or go into a trap, so I have to do the best I can by providing a cedar pet house for shelter on my porch and feed him with good quality food. I've recently started giving him catnip mouse toys to play with. This may be all he's ever able to accept from a human, but at least he's experiencing the better quality of life possible as an outdoor feral, and I've made a difference in his life.