Don't know how to help

[TooManyFelines]

A good friend of ours passed away 3 months ago. He took care of a colony of approx. 19 cats who showed up on his property. He did not have a lot of money, but got all of them spayed/neutered via free vouchers. We were able to help with food occasionally but he handled most everything himself.

Most of the cats are shy and were not indoors, but a couple of them did go indoors frequently. His property borders a creek and wild area so they have access to water for sure. Another friend who lives in that neighborhood is feeding 3 of the cats who showed up at his house, but that leaves 16 who are on their own. The property is going to be put up for sale by his kids who live out of state and there are no trespassing signs. We drove by there today and saw 2 of his cats in his yard, they look okay and not malnourished. He did mention once or twice that some other people in the neighborhood were also feeding.

We don't have the option to take any of them in, we have 7 indoors and two neighbors who had indoor/outdoor cats have had their cats shot dead and thrown in their yard, so moving any of them here as outdoor kitties would not be safe. Plus, from what I've been told, cat colonies tend to migrate back to their original location which would be very bad because we live 10 miles from his neighborhood, with a State Hwy in between. I contacted our local TNR, but they had no suggestions because everything is on hold because of covid. Have those of you who are involved with colonies experienced something like this and, if so, how were you able to help, if at all?

Edited to clarify, his kids were here after he passed away but were not interested in helping the cats and not very amenable to any of us feeding them and encouraging them to stay around, for fear of chasing off potential buyers.

 

[fionasmom]

This is quite a situation. I had wondered about the kids and you answered it. We had a similar problem here a few years ago and the kids gave the neighbors 3 days to get all the cats, who were more domesticated, off the property. I don't know that I have any good advice. If there are other cat advocacy groups locally, even by phone, it might be a good idea to call them all, even if only to ask for advice. Alley Cat Allies has a Feral Friends network that you can use but I have to add the disclaimer that they never got back to me years ago when I called them.
Feral Friends Network® Connect
How many neighbors of your friend might be willing to help by feeding the cats and thereby more or less relocating them to their properties? If the cats are TNRed there is really nothing left to do but put out some food and water, at the least, so you are not talking about an expense for anyone. Your friend really did the legwork, bless him. It is not like he left the neighborhood with 19 unaltered cats running around.

 

[TooManyFelines]

Fionasmom, thank you for the suggestions. I did contact Alley Cat Allies and received an email with a list of resources in our zip code, but there is only one in our area (TNR) who cannot help at this time. There is so much need and very limited resources. Our friend did a wonderful thing, that neighborhood would be overrun if not for him. Whenever a new one would show he’d make spay/neuter his first priority.

He had mentioned the people on one of the properties next to him feed them as well, but we don’t know how consistently. Our friend in the same neighborhood tried to check in with them but encountered no trespassing signs and a locked gate. Maybe we’ll have to to put a note on their mailbox. The other neighbors adjacent to his property used to grumble and complain about the cats, they don’t want them around.

We thought perhaps his ex partner, who was aware of the cat situation and helped feed them when he was out of town from time to time, was working on a solution but she has not responded to any attempts to contact her by phone and no one has her address.

 

[fionasmom]

I am glad that Alley Cat Allies at least responded. At this point, following any lead is probably all you can do, like putting a note on the gate. These situations are so hard to resolve. In the one I mentioned we contacted rescue after rescue (not during COVID) and no one could help, so the cats all went to a shelter. It was not no kill but had a very good reputation for hanging onto and placing cats, but I never found out the end of the story. You are very kind to try to intervene in this.

 

[moxiewild]

Can you post on Nextdoor for that neighborhood to see if anyone would be interested in caring for the cats?

You could also go door-to-door in the neighborhood to ask if anyone would be interested in helping out (maybe leave a note with your number and/or email address because of Covid). Surely there are people who knew this man and/or appreciated what he was doing. They may feel compelled to pay it forward.

Cats can also be relocated successfully, it just has to be done right. Doing it the correct way prevents most or all of them from trying to find their way home.

So if you can find someone/people willing to take on the cats who live outside of the neighborhood, that’s definitely an option. People with farms often take entire colonies as barn cats for rodent control, so that’s also something you could ask around about on social media.

The kids may allow you to feed there in the meantime if you have plans of trapping and removing them, too.

Try posting on Nextdoor and local (and surrounding area) Facebook pages and groups. Put up ads/flyers up at vets offices, groomers, pet stores, and local feed stores too.