Feeding strays

roobear

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Do you feed strays? This always confused me. My mum always told me not to feed strays cos they will keep coming back and trespass on our cats territory. I now work in a food shop and people are always buying cat food but when I inquire about their cat, they say 'oh, its for the strays'.

Do you/ should you feed strays? Do you take them in? Have you had any trouble or success from any strays you've fed or taken in?
 

hexiesfriend

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All of my cats are strays that I adopted after I started feeding from the neighborhood. We still have a 2 stray cats in the neighborhood that I leave food out for that aren't too friendly. Unfortunately they look like they were someone's cat because they are both neutered. it is true that if you leave food out the strays they will keep coming back. But that's ok with me. i live in a relatively warm climate and in a planned community with little car traffic so for now the cats are relatively safe.
 

di and bob

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I feed a lot of strays, right now I have 8 that come and go. Three are big tom cats, and they seem to accept each other while they eating. I've neutered 1 and spayed 1 this summer, I can't have the population growing like it was. Unfortunately at 150.00 a pop, that's all I could afford. The number one thing you HAVE to remember is, once you start feeding, you shouldn't stop, the cats depend on you then and could very well starve if you do. Cats also need all the food they can get to survive a cold winter. I would also stick with hard food, it is a lot easier to maintain then trying to keep wet food from freezing in the winter, and a raccoon/dog proof feeding station can be erected for those times when you can't be there. After seeing cats starving and being dumped in my neighborhood, I started about 6 years ago, it's very rewarding but can be heartbreaking too. I'll always do all I can for those who are hungry and scared. My successes have been in taming and finding homes for countless kittens,(and many adult strays), the troubles are when one doesn't ever show up again and you wonder, or you find them dead and you mourn. All in all though, it's very well worth it!  Good luck, and keep us posted! 
 
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macha 143

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I feed one cat who visit us everyday, I am not sure though if he has a home, he looks healthy.

He allows me to pet him and he is very vocal. I love that cat, he is a sweet cat.
 

Mamanyt1953

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Dad always fed ferals at the back of our property, bordering the woods.  There was a fair sized colony, and this was decades before any CNR programs developed.  I'm sure a few strays ate there too.

The difference?

Well, and this is only a generality, if you feed ferals, you end up with well fed ferals.  If you feed strays, you end up with far more pets than you intended when you started out.
 
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