Inexperienced and lack of support from local rescues - Please help.

Well, while I cant say I have had it happen through glass, I have had 2 separate incidents through the years when I've had escapee ferals dive straight through a screened window, and one through plexiglass.
If I feared for my life I cant say I wouldn't plow through glass either.
Hard to imagine but he will go to the window, and seeing outside he might try to get through.

Just like how a feral will injure it's nose and face trying to push through the wire on a trap. Some really hurt themselves badly!

So to err on the cautious side I would secure it well.

@MoxieWild  I've never had a cat actually break the glass, but if the window isn't locked they can quite easily get their claws into the tiny gap and the side and slide it open. I've had this happen with a female cat that was on heat and desperate to get out to the waiting toms. (She was spayed shortly after, so it wasn't a total disaster)

Just to be safe you could put some strips of coloured tape on the glass so he knows it's there and doesn't try to jump through.

This relocation has been a total nightmare. The cats almost died at least twice this past week!

I don't even know where to start. It rained all week and the ground was just too saturated. To make things worse, we suddenly went from hot, heavy humidity and rain to very cold weather. Sunday the water swept over the pallets and into their carriers and soaked the bedding. I don't know how long they were like that exactly, but I arrived first thing in the morning to find them shivering.

I added two more pallets on top of the others to raise them higher, transferred them to another carrier with dry bedding and placed some snuggle safes in there for the day. I tried to block/divert the path from the drainage a bit with bricks, as well. Later that evening we zip tied a tarp to the top and added long planks of wood across the length of the kennel to encourage water to drain off and make a very mini "tent".

This kept them dry in the following rain the next day, but the kennel was still very wet on the ground. My friend was concerned about the lack of dry space, so I came over and added another stack of pallets in an opposite corner and used some extra plywood to make a "bridge" for them. They actually really seemed to like this and started coming out more to watch the birds and engage with my friend.

Then we had another small storm on Tuesday that didn't seem so bad. Just in case, I texted my friend first thing in the morning to make sure all was okay. She said the ground was soaked but the pallets and tarp were keeping them dry - however, she felt the tarp couldn't hold much more water and the wood wasn't helping it to run off as well as we hoped. She did not make the situation sound urgent by any means, so I took a few hours to think of other solutions.

All of the bricks at the back were completely under water when I arrived and it took me about a minute to realize/see that the tarp was much, much worse than I anticipated. To put it into perspective, the kennel is about 6 feet tall and I am 5"4. The tarp was sagging with water and tree debris all the way down to my hips, possibly lower (I will have pictures soon). I couldn't stand up whatsoever in there, the dip was huge.

 I called my friend and my mom to update them and it wasn't until I hung up that I noticed something else...

The weight of the water was so heavy that the top of the kennel was totally bent and caving in on both sides. The sides that were not bent at the top had the bottom lifting off the ground. The entire kennel was about to cave in and collapse on top of me and the cats under the weight of the water.

Of course, about two minutes after I realized this, it began storming... I didn't have a knife or anything to puncture the tarp with, as I was waiting on my boyfriend to bring it. I was really scared at this point because it looked like everything would come down at any moment and I didn't think it could withstand much more water.

Puff was in his winter shelter and Hobo was actually in between two stacked pallets hiding. When my boyfriend finally arrived with requested supplies, I taped the 2nd/exit door of the shelter and managed to scare Puff into the carrier.

For Hobo, who doesn't really like to hide in small spaces, I eventually had to very gently lift and move all of the pallets on top of and around him until he had two choices: get in the carrier or go swimming. It took a while, and the storm was really picking up at this point, but we finally got him in and we placed them both in the shed. My mom arrived, charged in and immediately started stabbing the tarp/shade cloth. It must have taken nearly an hour for everything to drain.

After this, my friend was 100% on board with moving the kennel to a different location in the yard (she had been keen on the idea previously). So we painstakingly moved it in the rain across her huge yard to much higher ground.

But now we had no tarp and shade cloth, so as a temporary solution, I went home, dismantled one of the 48" crates in DC's room and took it over to her shed (I wanted to avoid stressing them out more by transporting).

All of this was actually on my birthday. May sound like a bad day, but there are much worse ways to spend a birthday



It wasn't quite over yet, either - you guessed it, that night it rained again. I went by to check around 1 AM and rain had made it's way in the shed (my friend said it's  always bone dry so we thought they'd be okay) and was very close to flooding the crate. I somehow managed superhero strength to lift the crate with the cats and two litter boxes enough to shove some bricks underneath.

On Wednesday we patched up the tarp but my mom thought the shade cover could wait, and it can't. It's hard to explain and I'll have pictures of our set up soon, but the shade cloth helps to prevent escapes and the tarp is just not as secure. On the plus side, we fixed the tarp and rain issue entirely by creating a more proper "tent" effect - a later storm gave us a chance to see that the tarp tent worked and the drainage was 98% better in this area, just one little puddle in a corner.

So they spent another night in the shed until we could finish... but around 5 am, it started storming very hard and didn't stop for hours. I texted my friend in the morning and she was a bit panicked. She said it looked like the water could come into the shed and she couldn't get to them (I don't know what that comment was about). She said that her entire back yard was almost ankle deep and the shed, being right next to where their kennel initially was, had better, but still poor drainage around it. After hearing that, I immediately hopped out of bed and sped over thinking they could possibly be sitting in cold water.

Luckily, they weren't. It was dry this time, but the water was up to the door almost and we had expected storms and flash flood warnings all day. So as a precaution, I decided to take them home with me. Both she and I live on roads that are among the first to be closed off due to flooding, and if I didn't take them then,  I wouldn't be able to get to them later if needed.

Took them home, took apart the other 48" crate in DC's room and set it up in another room, and then of course... it stopped raining. And hasn't rained since. UGH.

Maybe it was the stress of the week and the being in and out of the rain and cold that made me susceptible, but I ended up getting sick! So Hobo and Puff unfortunately have spent the weekend in the crate together but actually seem to be doing much better than when they were each in a crate by themselves. Puff never so much as checked out the top level the entire time he was here, but he's been up there with Hobo the whole time. I can tell he's uncomfortable and feels safer being hidden because when I go to feed he tries to hide behind the blanket - but I think he finds comfort being with Hobo, so he just follows him up there. I hope they'll be very bonded after all of this! They actually hadn't bonded at all until about 2-3 months ago...

Other than that, they have been eating very well so I think that's a good sign and they are overall more comfortable being in there together, despite having less room.

Today I felt better and should be good to go to work on the kennel cover tomorrow and hopefully we will finally have this all figured out once and for all!

- Should we just not count this terrible week as part of the containment period and start the four weeks over tomorrow?



Other than that -



Sneaky Update:

In the middle of all the kennel mess I managed to deliver flyers to just about every shelter, vet, and pet business in our town and surrounding area. The rain has impeded our ability to put up posters, but I managed to make a handful of them and my boyfriend put out about 3 in the busiest locations and I'll put out the rest tomorrow, even though it's due to rain again this week.

I also printed out a special flyer for the neighbor to address him specifically and taped it to his gate in a sleeve protector. I told him that his property was the most neighboring property and most likely the first place Sneaky will roam. Since he has livestock, I am hoping it's possible he has barn cats that Sneaky may be able to feed with and that he will be spotted there. I did the same thing for the business right across the street/highway from the property.

Other than that, I resurrected my long dead facebook to post and managed to get about 5 shares on my Sneaky note and posted to some facebook groups, along with Nextdoor.com.

All that's left is creating and mailing postcards. Hoping to have that all sorted tomorrow as well.

I really hope Sneaky is managing. I think with all the decks and porches on the property he will have adequate shelter, and definitely adequate water, which is good. I just hope he's able to get food somehow :/ I'm dreading the landlord/tenants receiving my mailing there...


Quick question - Sneaky and Puff arrived together when my friend found them last year and then Hobo arrived badly injured about 3-4 weeks later. All three, as you know, arrived ear tipped. When doing TNR, isn't is usually standard to return them to a managed colony/colony with a caretaker? I've just been wondering about it lately and thinking that it must be likely that there is a colony caretaker somewhere in the area for the three of them to show up already TNR'd.

Is there any way to find this out? The spay/neuter clinic here has been of so little help in regards to requesting information like this from them. I'm going to contact them anyway because if anyone in this area knows of colony caretakers, it would/should be them, but they have just been so unhelpful with this sort of thing before. Is there any other way anyone can think of that I can try and find out about caretakers in the area? If one exists, maybe that's where these guys came from and Sneaky will find his way back, or find a different nearby colony... hopefully the caretakers live in the area and will see my postcard.



Apologies for the lengthy post. It was a long week.
 

Good grief - you deserve an award!  

I hate to bring this up but do you think the cats will be safe at your friend's place?  It seems to be so flood prone, I am wondering if they might seek higher ground and end up at someone else's place anyway.  Or is the flooding something that has just happened because of the strange weather lately?

They certainly are troupers - as Stephan Z says often, ferals are made of tough stuff!  I would let them stay where they are, if possible, until a permanent solution can be found for the flooding.  Is it just that the kennel was on low ground or is her entire yard underwater?  You may need another solution if that's the problem.

I think you are right about all three cats showing up already TNR'd.  Might be worth asking around their old neighborhood.  There might have been territorial issues or the feeder may have moved or died and no one took over, so the cats scattered.

You are doing an amazing job for these kitties.  Most people wouldn't bother and I cannot tell you how much I admire you for all your hard work.

BTW - if you haven't applied for a "Friends of Ferals" badge, please do so.  You definitely qualify!

I agree with. @Ondine ---it sounds like the flooding issue at your friends home (despite her being so kind as to be willing to relocate them there's---I'm worried that once released during an extended flooding time that the cats may leave for higher ground & not return. Not to add another issue to the mix ----but I've never heard of so much flooding!

As @Red Top Rescue pointed out, there have been unusual rains the past year or so, and particularly the last month. To put it further into perspective, I am outside of San Antonio, so on that map my friend and I are in the dark red and pink region - 16-16+ inches. The area I live in is known as the Texas Hill Country, which is historically "feast or famine" as far as drought and flooding go - we're basically going from 7 years of "exceptional" (most severe) drought to this.

That said, the property my friend moved to doesn't have good drainage regardless, and the entire street goes under water during bad rain. I think we now have the kennel on one of the highest points in her yard. We've been able to observe two bad storms since moving it and putting the tarp up and it seems to have done the trick. Like I said, only a small puddle in one corner. I was sure that it would be much worse, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Upon releasing them... that is something we may have to figure out but I think we're okay. The big shed they briefly stayed in has a leak in the roof and the landlord is planning to fix it up entirely soon - new roof, replace the rotting wood inside, ect. The shed has 3-4 different levels, so if it somehow did flood in there, they would have a lot of room to climb higher safely, but I really don't think it would ever remotely come to that, especially once the leak is fixed.

In addition to the shed, once they are released we will place their shelters on her patio, which is not raised, but  certainly on much higher ground and I've not seen it flood yet. So they will have options. We are going to try and train them to go into the shed at night whenever weather is not too hot for when it rains and in the winter (and for general safety).




"Might be worth asking around their old neighborhood." - That's the thing, the area is so rural that there's no "door-to-door". I am hoping if there is a caretaker in the area they will receive my postcard and maybe make contact or at least be on the lookout. Otherwise I don't really know how to find out since the only feral-support organization here is entirely unhelpful outside of providing their low-cost spay/neuter/vaccs.

As for the Friend of Ferals badge, I noticed that I had one the other day already! I never applied so I wasn't sure how it got there (or who to thank). Definitely an honor!

Sorry to hear you're having such awful weather MoxieWild. These things always happen at the worst time don't they? We're expecting the monsoon to start here any day now, but I'll welcome it as it will dampen down all the pollen that's in the air. I have a bunch of dusty yellow cats at the moment.

Do feral caretakers have to registered in your state? If so the city must keep a record of them. Maybe you could find out who used to care for Sneaky, Puff and Hobo that way.

You really deserve that Friend of Ferals badge!

@Norachan - Oh no, those poor kitties!

San Antonio has caretakers register but our town/county right outside of it doesn't. I checked into it at the beginning of this journey to try and see if I could borrow traps and ask for help/assistance from anyone local with experience.


Hobo/Puff Update:

Today is cloudy but no expected rain... so we were going to finally get Hobo and Puff back into their kennel this afternoon. However, I just saw that the forecast is predicting severe thunderstorms tomorrow and Friday, including hail.

I'm really torn on this. Part of me wants to keep them here with me until Saturday, however, I can't continue shielding them from the weather. Strong storms (without hail) are predicted also for Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday as it is right now... and honestly, who knows when this will end.

I am confident they will mostly be protected from hail and rain with the tarp now. And their winter shelters are also incredibly protected, as they are each made of 2 Rubbermaid totes, one inside of the other and weighted with bricks at the bottom. I also firmly believe that we finally have the covering and placement of the kennel right and it is highly unlikely to flood. In fact, I think my concerns are much less about how they will make it through the weather conditions - as Ondine quoted Stephan Z - ferals are made of tough stuff! I think I'm much more concerned with how this weather impacts their experience at their new home.

It just sucks that this is happening right now. They've been flooded, rained on, swarmed by mosquitoes, moved again and again... they've had very little stability since we relocated. Hopefully a month from now they might forget all of that but I'm just worried that if this weather doesn't stop soon they are going to associate their new home with horrible weather conditions.

I'm really afraid they won't stay

are you near wimberly? I have a good friend who lives near the golf course-she had shown photos of the floods last year-it was heart breaking how many old trees got snapped in half from the flooding. Shes up higher and said she didn't have water on her land-I only wish I could get you two together-I know she volunteers for shadow cats I believe it is in that area and the local library. They have done some feral cat stuff but I don't know if she directly did the work or if she heard from her friends/acquaintances.

I commend you for caring for these cats,.you know what else works for water proofing? those vinyl table clothes with the felt underneath-I don't know if you can duct tape this to the top of the kennel as added protection-gorilla tape is the only one  I use. I have it on my kayak and for six years it has held up. If you can post pictures of the setup it would help me better figure something out.

Also patio bricks/stones you buy at homedepot for $.75 each work well for anchor points for holding down tarps or raising the kennel up. my cats love sleeping on them on the lawn-I have crushed stone down and its hard to walk on for their toes-so I bought 4 square sized ones and put it in a line and they each like sprawlin out on these in the early evening before they get booted into the house for the night

Sneaky Update!!!

Right as I clicked submit on that last post I received a text. Someone saw my post on Nextdoor.com and happened to have an appointment at the business across the street and they were kind enough to ask them about Sneaky. Someone said a patient came in last week about a really big cat last Friday. They are going to try and contact the patient for more information on what he looked like. I don't have much more information on the sighting but the person left them my name and number and expressed her concern about the humane treatment of cats in the area, and they were very receptive about keeping an eye out for Sneaky's safety.

It's not much, but it's something! I'm going to head over today to hand them a flyer since I'm not sure when the postcards will go out.

She also mentioned that her mother lives at a senior living community that is located a few minutes near there and that she has seen 3 cats roaming around recently. She said one is obviously a tom and asked if I knew anyone who could TNR before the population begins burgeoning. I'm willing to do it, but what is the protocol for trapping at a business/community like this? What's the best way to approach the property manager about the situation for permission?

Also, given that it's a residential community, surely there must be someone there willing to feed them... I'd be willing to offer food assistance and make shelters for them, but I'm not sure how to go about finding someone there to do it or asking management if that would be okay. If TNR is the least I can do, I'll do that, but I'd feel much better knowing they were being cared for and managed and I want to try and facilitate that as best I can.

I know it's probably silly, but this kind of re-engerized me. Someone paid attention to my post, cared enough to ask very relevant people, and also wants to help other cats. Good day

@foxxycat - Wimberly is part of the Hill Country, and I live about an hourish away. I actually go to Wimberly once a month for work! The only real assistance I would need now at this point would have to be local, as I'm trying to identify other caretakers in a specific area. But I definitely need to expand my network and wouldn't mind having a contact in Wimberly! (An hour away may seem quite an inconvenient distance to some, but it is nothing here in Texas!)

The vinyl is a good idea! I think we're okay with the ground now. Unlike the previous area, it won't flood and there won't be just a mud pit when it's not raining. There's a lot of grass/weeds so it's overall much better for them. Plus, my friend doesn't really want to tend to a litter box, so we're allowing them to go on the grass!

My own cat loves to sneak in the garage to lay on and under our tarp! He's definitely a sucker for crinkly material!

are you on facebook? If you are I know she is part of the facebook page=Morton for mayor. Morton is a cat and he is running for election. his mom lives in dallas tx. I met my friend through her-they both live close but they don't seem to have same time to meet if you know what I mean.

Im glad the cats are settling in. you can always buy play sand and a tub like a storage container to put out there as I am sure they want to bury their poop etc or is it loose enough dirt that they have no problem burying it?

Well, I'm somewhat on Facebook at the moment. I deactivated years ago but reactivated last week to post about the cat we're looking for. Would you mind sending me a PM with her name so that I can find her through the Morton page (how funny!) and give her my other contact information?

I think because of the rain the soil is moist enough to bury it, but obviously not so wet that it's just mud and completely saturated. I'll definitely check when I go over there in a bit.

I spoke to my friend and she said her son has been seeing cats out in front lately at night trying to rummage through garbage... so I told him to keep an eye out for them and if he sees them again I'll probably set some traps after TNR'ing the cats at the senior living facility.

I'm hoping they are not strays or ferals though, because I again have the concern about returning without having a stable food source secured for them. I don't want to ask my friend to do it because she is a renter and moves almost every year. She is even more likely to in the next year or so because the contract with her current job will be up. I wish it was easier to offer help to homeless cats

MoxieWild said:

 
Well, I'm somewhat on Facebook at the moment. I deactivated years ago but reactivated last week to post about the cat we're looking for. Would you mind sending me a PM with her name so that I can find her through the Morton page (how funny!) and give her my other contact information?

I think because of the rain the soil is moist enough to bury it, but obviously not so wet that it's just mud and completely saturated. I'll definitely check when I go over there in a bit.

I spoke to my friend and she said her son has been seeing cats out in front lately at night trying to rummage through garbage... so I told him to keep an eye out for them and if he sees them again I'll probably set some traps after TNR'ing the cats at the senior living facility.

I'm hoping they are not strays or ferals though, because I again have the concern about returning without having a stable food source secured for them. I don't want to ask my friend to do it because she is a renter and moves almost every year. She is even more likely to in the next year or so because the contract with her current job will be up. I wish it was easier to offer help to homeless cats

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While I completely agree with you, one thing to keep in mind though.

A hungry fixed cat is better then a hungry unfixed cat.

It will still have a big impact on improving their lives

There are many times when I have TNR'd cats with no food source known.

As long as the cat appears healthy, it is clearly surviving on whatever is around locally, and will sustain itself alright again.

Not ideal, but the alternative is much worse.

Oh, of course. I didn't mean to imply I wouldn't TNR if they didn't have a known food source. It's just a lot more emotionally taxing to do so. I know fixing them at least helps to improve their health, reduce "nuisance" behaviors, reduce territorial aggression and most obvious, prevents reproducing - certainly worth it even if that is all I can do. Just sad I can't do more

MoxieWild said:

 
Oh, of course. I didn't mean to imply I wouldn't TNR if they didn't have a known food source. It's just a lot more emotionally taxing to do so. I know fixing them at least helps to improve their health, reduce "nuisance" behaviors, reduce territorial aggression and most obvious, prevents reproducing - certainly worth it even if that is all I can do. Just sad I can't do more

Click to expand...

I know how you feel! There are so many feral cats in Japan and I want to take them all home. But if TNR is all you can do please be assured that it does make a HUGE difference on their well being. Once they are fixed they can spend all their energy on keeping themselves fed and warm, so you are actually making sure they are better cared for in a roundabout way.

That's great news about the possible Sneaky sighting. Yes, I think you will need to get permission before you start TNR there, but whoever is in charge of the premises may welcome your help. The cats wouldn't be there if there wasn't already a food source or shelter of some kind. Maybe the woman who's mother lives there would be willing to feed the cats? The fact that she called you shows she's sympathetic to their plight.

It sucks that this is such a problem world over

I spoke to the woman the other day. Apparently there are 7 cats, one of which is more like a "resident" or "office" outdoor cat that sounds like stray to me. I assume that one is being fed from what I was told. The facility director said they are completely on board with allowing me to TNR so long as they don't have to pay for anything. Since there are 4 more than I anticipated, I might have to spread it out over the next two months

DC Update:

We are at a cross roads with DC. Now that it looks like DC might not be feral-feral, we are wondering if instead of building the enclosure we should try to go through the painstaking and long process of socializing him in hopes that he may potentially be adoptable eventually.

While he has much calmed down, he is still very, very noisy with his vocalizations. I can't help but think he will do it outside, especially in an enclosure. I live uncomfortably close to my neighbors, and we really can't have them reporting us to the HOA for it since we are 2 kitties over the pet limit now and don't want anyone snooping around.

I think he could be potentially socialized. He is showing himself more to me - I can crack open the door and he won't run and hide immediately anymore. He has also eaten in front of me, but only once. I have tried some amount of socialization, but I haven't completely looked into how to do it yet.
 

DC is probably very highly food motivated (or perhaps still food-insecure) as he cleans his plate like nothing I've ever seen. Once or twice a day I will also go around the room hiding some kibbles of dry food for him to find, just to give him something to do.
 

We mostly have the trash bags off the window now. The good news is he doesn't seem scared and isn't trying to escape from it. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to entertain him, either. I had intended to not try this until I was much further along with him, but would trying to play with him with a wand toy be okay? I will of course introduce this slowly, but he has toys in there he can play with on his own along with a treat ball and two scratchers, and he leaves them utterly untouched. He has to be so bored in there

I tried to read to him... but if I am talking, he is meowing/moaning/yowling - when I stop, he stops and he seems to actually relax a lot more (squinty/blinky eyes). Instead, I've just been going in there for 10-15 minutes once or twice a day to just lay down on the floor in an area that won't make him feel cornered/trapped and just keep my back to him and lay in silence. I've stretched and yawned a bit too.



But now I have a problem. DC is messy with the litter boxes and manages to kick out about a fourth into a pile all the time, plus track it all over the room. Since I can't remove DC from the room, it seems like a really bad idea to use a (hand) vacuum while he's in there. However, I have no clue how else to clean this! It is unsanitary, and I am basically out of room to lay down in there anymore so today I just had to sit in the last litter-free-ish corner of the room.

Any ideas for this? Any insight into how he may possibly react to a hand vacuum? Will it make him afraid of me? Should I get my mom to do it so he won't associate with me or my boyfriend??? (she will just love that!).

Finally - it looks as though we have a flea problem. All three ferals were checked for fleas and the vet(s) cleared them, but of course they could have missed it. All three of our own cats had been regularly treated, but yesterday I found a small concentration of flea dirt on our resident kitty, Jack.

Aside from all the other massive headaches that normally come with this problem, we have the added complication of DC, since I cannot treat him. It's not an option to leave him untreated though, or else we can't get rid of them.

The only thing I can think of is asking our new vet if she would be willing to allow me to bring him in for the next few months just so she can treat him. Hopefully she will do this at a reduced cost and not full blown appointment cost :/

But here's the thing - how do I get him to the vet?

I do know that I could trap him within 2-3 days of eating in an unset trap. But I was hoping there might be a way to get him in the carrier instead to make it less traumatizing, not to mention I was going to be using my two traps to TNR these new cats. However, he will only usually eat once I am out of the room, so I don't know if it's feasible to trick him into the carrier.

Either way, I am so, so afraid this will certainly make him lose all trust with me. And if I have to do it every month, how will I ever establish trust with him? I am really worried about this

To recap my questions:

- Should I try playing with DC with a wand toy?

- Ideas for cleaning up the litter in DC's room? Will the (hand) vacuuming traumatize him?

- Suggestions about how best to get DC to the vet? Will it damage his trust?

- Any other suggestions for socializing him?

Sneaky Update!

I hadn't mentioned this earlier because it wasn't anything super important and because I had a lot going on with DC, but I was just contacted about Sneaky so I'm going to include it now.

We've had less rain lately so I put up posters. Twice. And both times every single one was taken down the very next morning. I called the city and county to see if perhaps they did it or if I was in any violation and I wasn't. I cannot fathom anyone doing this but the landlord. We're trying to decide if it's pointless to put up any more or if we should keep trying.

On top of that the post cards I ordered were completely messed up. I had to send them back and have it redone because they would not refund... then we had this long weekend. So hopefully they will get here soon and I can send them out. I hope it's not too late, it's been almost a month I wish I had thought of this sooner.

Tonight I received two emails from someone on another website I posted to. In the first email she had misread my post and thought I needed help trapping. She said she works in rescue and seemed to be familiar with ferals because at one point she says it's best not to make something like this so public because people will go sticking their finger into things and aren't very supportive of what I'm trying to do.

The second email came right after when she realized she misread my post. In the email she says: "I am an attorney and if you need that property owner to allow this cat to be picked up let me know. It is cruelty if property owner is preventing. Would like to discuss." She gave me her name and contact information and she checks out on Google as working in family law with previous experience in criminal and also business/commercial litigation.

I replied to her to let her know we had spoken to animal control and the precinct judge multiple times only to be told we had no legal options (and why) but that I would love to further discuss it with her if she can think of anything. Hopefully I will hear from her tomorrow.

At first I didn't think this was much because it's been a month and so there is a good chance Sneaky has left. But I do know that he has water (drainage) and some amount of shelter (porches/decks). So if he has managed to somehow get enough food and if the tenants and landlord have left him alone (we took in our two fosters from here in December because they were throwing rocks at them and trying to run them off onto the highway, and have done so with other cats as well), there is a chance he could still be on the property.

Who knows. I think the postcards are the best bet right now, but I am obviously willing to speak with her about it and see what she has to say as a rescuer and attorney. Again.. I just hope all of this isn't coming too late Every time it rains and every time it's meal time for the other cats I have to hold back tears because I can't help but wonder about him
 

That is wonderful news about the attorney.  I sure hope she can help you.

Less good news about Sneaky but I am still praying he's managed to find a kind hearted person to help him.