Moving - what to do about ferals

Hello, thanks for stopping  by my forum post.  I am new to the site and glad this is here as a resource for feral care.  I live in Brooklyn NYC and have had many feral cats stopping by my place for years (we use to have 4 hanging around regularly).  There are two main ones that have stuck around - sort of.  They seem to disappear for weeks at a time during summer, but in winter these two come sleep in the heated house I have by my window when it gets below freezing.


The house on the right is gone (got wrecked from weather and scratching) but the wooden house is the one they both have been sleeping in this winter.

The problem is I am moving in about a month, and wondering what to do about these guys.  I can't touch either of them - they are still very skittish even after being fed by me for over 5 years.  I'm afraid when winter rolls back around they won't have anywhere to go.  Obviously they go somewhere during the summer months but I don't know if wherever they go will have a warm place for them.  

My question is - do I try to trap them/drug them and transport them to where I'm moving to, or do I let them continue to be city cats?  I can try to get neighbors to agree to feed them, etc. but let's just say that's not an option for the sake of this post.  I'm moving out to the mountains, there is plenty of space for them to run around outside etc. but I just don't know about the ethics of this either way.  Hoping for some guidance from more experience feral cat caretakers.

Thank you for reading.

I would contact these folks in NYC:  http://animalalliancenyc.org/feralcats/   They seems to be nationally-recognized experts.

Taking the cats to the mountains doesn't seem like a good idea, not only because of adjustment issues to moving in general, but because there is going to be a lot more wildlife in the mountains that may see cats as prey.

I'm no expert on ferals...so that's all I've got. 

Thanks for your reply.  I am definitely going to contact all of the NYC feral cat resources, but wanted to get on the forum to get opinions from other members as well, possibly some people across the country have already dealt with a similar situation.

Yes this was a concern of mine with the wildlife.  It's not on the mountains per se, but it is a forest which they are obviously not used to with deer, etc.  However we do have some Brooklyn wildlife here as well - raccoons and opposums - and I've seen that black one kick a raccoon's butt many times!!  haha.  So part of me thinks they could fend for themselves. I'd give them an indoor/outdoor life there, so they'd have their own shed indoor area to live ( bring the heated bed/house etc) without having to live with these pesky humans that have been feeding and housing them.. hehe jerks.  But I'm just not sure about the ethics of moving them and giving them a warm spot and food but unfamiliar territory, vs. leaving them here to fend for themselves.

As long as you keep them confined for a month after you get there, it's fine to relocate ferals. If they rely on you, it's better than leaving them.

What do you mean by confined?  As in, keep them inside for a month?  I think they would freak out - they are true ferals, not socialized with humans at all.  I have not made much progress with them in the 5 or 6 years they have been coming around.   I've tried to get them to move in with me before to no avail, haha.  Sometimes I leave the window open and they'll hop into the house, sniff around a bit etc. but if I move or get too close they'll scatter back outside.

They hang out with each other and the other cats that used to be in their colony.  There used to be 4 every day but I haven't seen those other cats in a bit.  Sometimes we will only see them a few times a year.  No way to know if they are still alive though.  When unfamiliar cats come by, they are usually civil but if the new cats try to eat the food or get too close to them, these two get in their faces/chase them away.  Sometimes they will let them eat their food but not always. (they know there is an unlimited supply so they are liberal with their sharing policies, that includes raccoons and opposums too haha).

It's a bit tricky because I wouldn't say "rely" but I'm not sure.  They disappear for weeks or months at a time during summer.  Sometimes they will come by to see if I have left them food out but I do not see them at the window every single morning.  Definitely more so in winter, but I think that's because of the heated bed.more than the food.  If I wake up and see that they are in there, I'll knock on the window and they'll leap out for some food.  They don't sleep in there every night, only when it's super cold (below freezing) or raining.

The tuxedo is around a lot more in general than the tabby.  When the tabby came back in fall, it was pretty fat - obviously it was getting well fed from somewhere else.  I'm hoping if I have to leave them that that one will show the other where the other food source is.  I'm more concerned about the warm bed during winter than the food but food is obviously also a concern.

Also just so you know, the entire colony was TNR'd before I got here, I didn't do any of the trapping etc.  Pretty sure they got them all when they were still kittens because they were still pretty small adults/teens when they started coming by.

Yeah, they'd have to be kept inside or in a cage/kennel for a while if you move them. Otherwise they just go back to their old place.

Do you know who does the TNR in your neighborhood? If you can be sure they'll be cared for, it would be OK to leave them there.

Moving 2 hours away so they wouldn't be able to get back to their old place.

I don't know who does the TNR, they were like this when I got here but we have a bunch of resources and databases here for NYC so I may be able to find them.

Moving 2 hours away so they wouldn't be able to get back to their old place.

Click to expand...

You'd be surprised what cats can do! But even if they couldn't, they'd still try, and possibly come to harm . Any time cats are relocated they need to be confined in some way so they can get used to the new place. But, yeah, if you could find out who else is caring for the neighborhood cats you could feel better about leaving them, knowing they'd be cared for.