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Speaking of strays..........

post #1 of 8
4/3/01 at 1:20pm
Thread Starter 
This morning, I noticed a cat sleeping on top of our well house. I had seen it before, but could never get close, so I started leaving food under the house for it. I finally was able to get close enough to see it clearly for the first time and WHAT a beauty he is! He is definitely Pixie Bob mix- light grey stripes, with dark grey stripes, and half moon black circles under his eyes. He has a white tipped nose and white tipped tail. He is an old soul I think, definitely has seen better days, and I wonder where he came from and if someone is missing him about now?If he were my cat, with his incredible markings, I would be frantic looking for him. He is the most gorgeous stray I have seen in a long time, and as thin as he is, if he belongs to someone, he shows no signs of liking humans yet. Plus he sprayed his scent all over the side of the house, so he isn't fixed and probably has been on his own for quite awhile. Set a trap out, though it is hard to trap the new ones, because my own will go inside and spring the trap. Under normal circumstances, I would just confine all of mine to the house for the duration- but with the remodeling still underway, there are lots of places the cats can and do get out of. Doesn't help to have half of our bedroom wall missing right now.
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post #2 of 8
4/3/01 at 6:26pm
Hissy, It sounds like you deal with quite a few feral cats. I have a situation coming up that I'm not sure how to handle. Perhaps I can get some feed back from you and some of the others on this site. We lived in a single wide for twelve years in a small, private park with lots of ground around us. During that time I rescued numerous cats. Some were tamed and adopted out, some we have as pets and five of them were trapped, neutered and turned back out. They come to be fed everyday and we provided ample warm places for them in the cold months. Last June, we bought property and a house and our daughter and son-in-law moved in to the trailer so they cared for the ferals. When they moved out our son moved in. Now he is planning on moving out and we are going to sell the trailer. How do I handle those five feral cats?? It is causing me a great deal of worry-I'm afraid if I bring them here they will just run away but, I can't leave them there!! HELP. Any suggestions would be welcome.
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post #3 of 8
4/3/01 at 6:51pm
Thread Starter 
I would get several live humane traps either through your vet, or a feed store. I would trap all five of them right before the move, and take them with you. They will be scared and angry, cover the traps with dark heavy cloths, re-release them (if you don't have a small outbuilding they can stay in) immediately after you arrive on your new property. MAKE sure you have plenty of food and water lying around so they know that this is where they will now be fed. They will vanish for a few days, but will soon be spotted lurking around, or going underneath the house if they can get there.

That is what I would do, but I have been rescuing ferals for over 10 years now, and I know how they react usually. But, even if they are neutered and spayed, I wouldn't leave them, I just couldn't do that to them.

Good luck!
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post #4 of 8
4/3/01 at 7:21pm
I am going to post this here since it seems fitting. Today I got a call from a regular client. She said she knows of a cat who has been left behind by yet ANOTHER military family who did not see fit to take their pet with them. I gave her my usual speech that there is no room with Helping Paws right now and the vet care would need to be done if they even wanted Helping Paws to consider taking him in at this point. We are not even into spring and yet Rene's house is filled with foster cats as well as her foster homes houses.It wasnt until we got to the end of the phone call that I found out that these son's of B's threw a roughly 2 year old DECLAWED cat outside when they left. At this point I knew I could not turn him away and called Donna to see if her neighbors were still looking for a cat or if she would be kind enough to put him in her spare room just until we can get him to a home willing to care for him. I am heartbroken just thinking people are so cruel. I am hoping to find out who did this and do something about it. I just wanted to share with everyone and tell George's story.
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post #5 of 8
4/3/01 at 7:40pm
Thread Starter 
I will pray that George finds a suitable home. I can't remember, what state is Helping Paws in?
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post #6 of 8
4/3/01 at 9:07pm
I too hope George finds a loving family that is willing to take responsibility for him for his lifetime.
Tonight I trapped another kitty, Vincent. He will be neutered tomorrow and rereleased on Thursday. All the other TNR cats are doing great. I'm sure he will be no exception.

About the ferals at the trailer. I think that cats definitely stay where the food is plentiful. It would certainly be best if they could be confined to an area for a few days, but they will always go where the food is!! Good luck relocating them.
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post #7 of 8
4/4/01 at 8:12am
Sandie, I would try getting the phone number of these people. As much as I hate confrontations, I wouldn't mind giving these people a piece of my mind! Can't they be prosecuted for animal cruelty?

Hissy - it's so good of you to take such wonderful care of that old stray! He's lucky to have wandered over to your place. If memory serves me right Rene's "Helping Paws" is located in Conneticut.

Kaaren - I read an article (in Hebrew) about relocating ferals. They recommended building a large enclosure for the new arrivals, where they can become adjusted to the new place without running away. Though I must say that Hissy's idea would probably work just as well (and there's nothing like experience in these matters).

I'm really proud to have so many people on the forums that take care of ferals. I used to do that when I lived in Tel Aviv. There was a woman next door that fed them everyday and I took care of the spaying and neutering part.

I'm moving this fantastic thread to the ferals forum and please let's share ferals storied and advice there. I really belive each post on this thread deserves a thread of its own in the ferals forum.
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post #8 of 8
4/4/01 at 8:29am
Thanks for moving the thread Anne. It'll give me something to moderate!!
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