- Joined
- Jan 6, 2015
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He has been sick for a week after a catfight that happened outside I think he was involved in. I'm running a small scale rescue operation for some feral kittens and cats. The cat situation is getting to be quite much and everyone we've turned to such as rescue groups, organizations (SPCA), animal control, health department said there is nothing they could do. The most the SPCA could help out with is a discount for the first two kittens @ $10 a pop to get spayed/neutered, shots and help with some food. Every cat/kitten thereafter is $25/$35 and no one or no organization to assist with vet care so I have to try paying out of pocket. No one else will deal with trapping the kittens here and taking them somewhere, they've been bugging the neighbors here since the cats use their yards as a toilet, get into their garbage, under their trailers and on their vehicles..
As I have two cats of my own, the cold weather started moving in the feral kittens started attaching themselves to me. It started with two ferals running inside my place for food, warmth and rest. I would put them out but everytime I opened the door they were there running inside. The two ferals became four more because apparently they passed the word along to the other members of their colony. So I had to keep putting kittens back outside but like the other kittens they would run in everytime I opened the door so I was just shuffling kittens. My mother started off over a year ago feeding one feral female cat, other stray/ferals showed up three being female stray/ferals that weren't spayed. They got pregnant and started bringing their kittens around and it kept going from there multiplying into more cats. As it was getting to be too much, we were going through food way too quickly we had to say enough. Cats are resilient/brilliant creatures that can bounce back and fend for themselves and we've seen them catch prey so we weren't too worried cutting their food supply. They needed to learn to fend for themselves as we may not always be here.
Anyways I realized the problem wouldn't go away on it's own and I didn't feel right trapping and releasing them somewhere thus offloading them onto someone else. As it is the problem mostly stems from neighbors who get kittens/cats but abandon them and don't want to care for them including feeding, vet care and spay/neuter or those who drive through to drop their cat off. Once the ferals started attaching themselves to me and weren't going to leave I figured I would step up to do something. It started of with two or three feral kittens then subsequently three or four more. I took them inside to provide food, shelter, love, attempt to socialize, litter train, provide vet care if they came up ill, spay/neuter, get their shots and eventually try to find permanent, loving homes for them. When they've became sick I've coddled and babied them, caring after them and constantly checking on them until I could set up a vet appointment. I had a vet appointment set up today for the lil guy that's sick however I was unable to secure transportation so I called the vet to reschedule and asked if I explained the symptoms if there's any treatment that would hold him over until I could secure a ride and set up a new appointment.
So all of these cats including my own are either feral, formerly feral socialized or partially socialized or abandoned strays. Only one the cats, one of my cats was an abandoned stray. He is the most loving, appreciate boy I've ever seen. He will cuddle with me wanting to sleep on my chest, nuzzle his head on my face or neck, rest his head on my face and try to groom my face. Two of the ferals have warmed up to me and are near completely socialized, I'm trying to get them used to other people. I'm still working on the other kittens with socializing them but they're slower, all except the one in my last post is litter trained.
I use normal litter, usually buy special kitty but bought Tidy Cat last time. I don't like the tidy cat though, have to change the box more often and looks nasty after a few days even scooping out the box regularly. He's been going elsewhere other than the litter box since he's been coming in, he's been coming around before the night he turned up sick. All kittens except him have learned to use the cat box but he doesn't seem to get the hint no matter if I catch him in the act and bring him to to box or whatever else. The bathroom is too small, I have a spare bedroom I've dedicated as the cat room but no door to keep him in and the room is carpeted. I'm not about to make a mess of my bedroom as I had to close off access since my male cat before the other cats/kittens started coming around was constantly urinating or spraying on my bed to mark territory and I know he uses the cat box so it wasn't that he didn't.
I was trying to avoid making the last post too long and I've already explained all this in another thread I started. I also have pictures of the babies in another thread. I love all these babies, perhaps a bit much lol and spoil them. <3
After these babies I'm going to try rounding up the other feral/stray males and females to get them in for spaying/neutering and shots. Hopefully that will alleviate or get the cat issue here under control.
As I have two cats of my own, the cold weather started moving in the feral kittens started attaching themselves to me. It started with two ferals running inside my place for food, warmth and rest. I would put them out but everytime I opened the door they were there running inside. The two ferals became four more because apparently they passed the word along to the other members of their colony. So I had to keep putting kittens back outside but like the other kittens they would run in everytime I opened the door so I was just shuffling kittens. My mother started off over a year ago feeding one feral female cat, other stray/ferals showed up three being female stray/ferals that weren't spayed. They got pregnant and started bringing their kittens around and it kept going from there multiplying into more cats. As it was getting to be too much, we were going through food way too quickly we had to say enough. Cats are resilient/brilliant creatures that can bounce back and fend for themselves and we've seen them catch prey so we weren't too worried cutting their food supply. They needed to learn to fend for themselves as we may not always be here.
Anyways I realized the problem wouldn't go away on it's own and I didn't feel right trapping and releasing them somewhere thus offloading them onto someone else. As it is the problem mostly stems from neighbors who get kittens/cats but abandon them and don't want to care for them including feeding, vet care and spay/neuter or those who drive through to drop their cat off. Once the ferals started attaching themselves to me and weren't going to leave I figured I would step up to do something. It started of with two or three feral kittens then subsequently three or four more. I took them inside to provide food, shelter, love, attempt to socialize, litter train, provide vet care if they came up ill, spay/neuter, get their shots and eventually try to find permanent, loving homes for them. When they've became sick I've coddled and babied them, caring after them and constantly checking on them until I could set up a vet appointment. I had a vet appointment set up today for the lil guy that's sick however I was unable to secure transportation so I called the vet to reschedule and asked if I explained the symptoms if there's any treatment that would hold him over until I could secure a ride and set up a new appointment.
So all of these cats including my own are either feral, formerly feral socialized or partially socialized or abandoned strays. Only one the cats, one of my cats was an abandoned stray. He is the most loving, appreciate boy I've ever seen. He will cuddle with me wanting to sleep on my chest, nuzzle his head on my face or neck, rest his head on my face and try to groom my face. Two of the ferals have warmed up to me and are near completely socialized, I'm trying to get them used to other people. I'm still working on the other kittens with socializing them but they're slower, all except the one in my last post is litter trained.
I use normal litter, usually buy special kitty but bought Tidy Cat last time. I don't like the tidy cat though, have to change the box more often and looks nasty after a few days even scooping out the box regularly. He's been going elsewhere other than the litter box since he's been coming in, he's been coming around before the night he turned up sick. All kittens except him have learned to use the cat box but he doesn't seem to get the hint no matter if I catch him in the act and bring him to to box or whatever else. The bathroom is too small, I have a spare bedroom I've dedicated as the cat room but no door to keep him in and the room is carpeted. I'm not about to make a mess of my bedroom as I had to close off access since my male cat before the other cats/kittens started coming around was constantly urinating or spraying on my bed to mark territory and I know he uses the cat box so it wasn't that he didn't.
I was trying to avoid making the last post too long and I've already explained all this in another thread I started. I also have pictures of the babies in another thread. I love all these babies, perhaps a bit much lol and spoil them. <3
After these babies I'm going to try rounding up the other feral/stray males and females to get them in for spaying/neutering and shots. Hopefully that will alleviate or get the cat issue here under control.
