Newbie who needs feral advice

I am sorry to bombard everyone with so many questions but I need advice please. I have 2 ferals who came along in late August & have taken up residence in my backyard. They were both skin & bones & very skittish but I suspect they were still in the kitten stage - 6 months or so when they arrived. One is male & one is female & they are both tabbies. I assumed they were siblings but don't know for sure. They are quite healthy now after regular feeding & they now come look in my back door to let me know they are there & ready to eat. One will rub against me when feeding him & the other doesn't get that close but she doesn't run away if I stay outside with her - she just keeps her distance. They are very active & climb over the 6 foot fence in the yard many times a day. I live next to a shopping center with a busy street and I am terrified they will be hurt. I have provided them shelter under my deck this winter & they do use it.  One disappeared for a week a few months ago but returned and they both show up at least once a day but they usually hang out off and on all day (when they aren't climbing over the fence).

We do have a trap/spay/neuter program here but its a good 6 weeks to get a spay/neuter appointment. I am afraid if I try to trap them & only one gets trapped it will frighten the other one away. Should I be trying to trap them both at the same time and have any of your found any trap to be better over another? They seems to be pretty intelligent & I am not convinced I will even be able to trap either of them. I know I need to have the traps in place for a few weeks for them to get used to them being around. I am also concerned about releasing them in frigid temps 24 hrs after the procedure as advised by the program. Couldn't their stitches be harmed by climbing the fence/trees immediately after surgery? What if it gets brutally cold at that time?

If they are siblings, will they still mate? I am afraid by having to wait for an appointment, the female will get pregnant.

The male has a cataract on one eye that has been there since he arrived which concerns me. The vet told me about glaucoma and I know I do need to have both of them checked out & vaccinated as well as spayed/neutered.

They spend a lot of time right next to the glass at my back door, looking for me or my indoor kitty & looking as though they either want to come in, have me play with them or both. None of which has ever happened but they seem like they want to so badly!  Once I solve all the health issues, I am concerned they may be so frightened over the trap & vet experience they will run away once released & never come back which would really make me worry. Should I be thinking about some type of large outdoor enclosure for them on a permanent basis? They love to climb high into my trees and run the length of the yard playing so putting them in an enclosure, even a decent sized one also seems kind of cruel to me. 

Any advice would be appreciated from those of you with experience in these matters with ferals. I would love for them to remain at my home, i just don't know what is fair for me & for them & what to expect.  Thanks so much!

Hi Roxycat,

Thank you for trying to help these cats. Yes, even siblings will try to mate so it is a good idea to get them fixed as soon as possible. It sounds like the male cat needs to see a vet for his eyes as well.

Are you going to buy a trap or can you borrow one? I've had a lot of success with Tomahawk traps, but I've heard other types are pretty good too. Really any humane trap you can get would be OK.

http://www.livetrap.com/

Put the trap in the place you usually feed them. (If it's been used before make sure you wash it really well to get rid of the smell of other cats.) You can start feeding them in the trap right away and then set the trap in the evening before your spay/neuter appointment.

If you can borrow traps from your local TNR group get two so that you have a better chance at catching both cats at the same time. Even if you can't catch them both together it will be OK. They'll keep coming back to be fed and you can get the second cat next time around.

Six weeks is a long time to wait, the female could be pregnant by then. Call around the vets in your area and ask if anyone will give you a discount on ferals. This link might help too.

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/spayneuter

Any chance you could keep them indoors once they've been fixed? You could set up a small room as their safe room while they recover, even a garage or shed would be fine. They'd be much better off there than they would be outside. It will take some time for them to settle in, but it sounds like you're already half way there with socializing them and we're here to help you with that further down the line.

I love the idea of making them an enclosure. I did the same thing for the colony of feral cats I care for last year. I have 20 of them altogether and they've settled in fine. Really, neutered cats don't need a huge amount of space. A room or a shelter and the run of your garden sounds perfect.

Here's the thread about the enclosure we built for our ferals.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/276982/moving-house-taking-the-colony-with-me-any-advice-please

Our fence isn't 100% cat proof as we had to fit in with National Park regulations, but we can give you some tips on how to make it safer.

Thanks Norachan for answering all of my questions.

I will be borrowing traps as I can't find them in my area & they are expensive! Looks like I need to check with some other vets and see if anyone has discounts for ferals. If not, i won't have any choice but to wait for the program. I also don't know if they will allow me to borrow the traps if I am not using their program. My concern is that if I don't catch them the night before the appointment then there could be another 4-6 week wait but I don't have the hundred of dollars it would cost to take them to a vet that charges regular prices.  

I can set up a safe room somewhere but the program wants them released 24-48 hours after surgery & many of the sites I have been reading suggests the same. I guess that's so they don't get stressed out? I suppose stressing them out is better than them possibly getting hurt or being in the frigid cold immediately after surgery? Can they be in the same crate or room or should they be separated? Since they sleep together I thought it may help them adjust if they are together but wasn't sure if it was safe or if I should keep them in the same room in different carriers?

I am not sure how or if I can build some kind of enclosure. I don't have any tools or money (I am not working at the moment) & the ones I see that are pre-made are basically chain link fence enclosures that are very expensive. I don't have anyone with tools or the know-how to help me either as I don't have any friends or family here. My roommate probably isn't going to want something in his yard that destroys the grass since he spends so much yearly having it maintained. Not to mention I am not even sure if he is going to allow any type of enclosure.  Then there is the issue of mowing inside of it with the cats present plus trying to trap them every week to get them out of the enclosure while it is being mowed. I am in the city so I don't have an area like the pics you have in the woods. I have to follow neighborhood association rules as well.  I like having them on the deck and playing with me through the doors. If I put them in an enclosure out in the yard, they won't have access under the deck where they feel secure or on top of it where they can see me & I can see them. Maybe I am over thinking all of this but I have to do something that makes sense for everyone. I have a feeling the most my roommate would allow is a small dog kennel type area & in my mind this is too small.  It makes me sad to think I may not be able to protect them but  I guess I have to take things one at a time & start with the medical visit & spay/neuter. I just want to have a plan of action in order in case I am able to find a vet very soon to help me with the spay/neuter.

Thanks again for all your advice, I really love these little guys. 

I don't know where you are located but you might check to see if there is a low cost spay/neuter clinic or humane society in your area that doesn't require appointments for ferals.  One of the low cost clinics here allows me to drop a feral in a humane trap anytime in the morning without an appointment.  You need to call around and check. 

I have trapped ferals the night before and kept them in my basement in a covered trap. 

Thank you for caring for these little ones.

I would Goggle search kitty rescues in your area and make some phone calls. I had a rescue come to my house and help me trap a mama and her kittens (all at once). We kept the whole family! I'm sorry to hear you are out of work, but from a trapping perspective, you are in a good situation since you're there to keep an eye on things. The rescue could set up the traps and them you could monitor them. These cats are lucky to have you! But please enlist the help of a rescue if you can since they are experienced with the whole process and can maybe help you get these kitties adopted if you are unable to keep them (I hope you can, though!).

Best of luck and three cheers for doing the right thing for these cats!

Thanks ShadowsRescue - I am calling around today and tomorrow to see what I can find out!

House of Nine - I appreciate your reply! I don't want them adopted out as I would glad keep them and keep them in my house if I can socialize them & get them ok medically. I will keep you guys posted about what I learn after I make contact with the Humane Society & as many local groups and vets as possible. 

Good luck with the trapping. It sounds like they're quite used to you already, which will make socialising them a lot easier. Nearly all my cats were completely wild at first, but if you have the time and the patience you can win them over.