And what a day to get it, too - National Feral Cat Day!
Many of you are newer members so don't know the story of our ferals, but we live in an RV Resort, and you're not allowed to have pets here. BUT there were many feral cats when we "moved" here, and we talked with the owners and began a TNR program. The owners of the park hate cats - but this is also a working large farm with numerous barns.
We apparently did such a great job with the colony that now there are no cats in the barns, LOL!
We've been worried about leaving here because of the continued feeding and care of the colony. We have someone to do it, but we weren't sure the park owners would grant continued access for this person.
BUT - now they've contacted us - they need barn cats! We've started a discussion with them about how they'd have to treat the cats like part of the farm and not pests, etc. Now that they understand the valuable role these animals can play - and how it IS possible to control the population (duh) - and that these animals, properly cared for AREN'T pests - we're going to be moving the colony over to the barns.
For now we will continue to pay for the colony care, but we will begin to split those costs, and they are going to feed the cats like they do the other barn animals. The cats will continue to be registered in our name at the vets (we've worked all this out), so we can check up to make sure they're getting their annual vaccinations, etc. And we're going to jointly trap the animals for vaccinations and relocation this year - so they know how to do it properly and safely next year if we've left the park.
But the best news of all is that the park owners are now willing to accept up to 12 cats, so we can actually "place" another 6 feral cats that need homes.
Many of you are newer members so don't know the story of our ferals, but we live in an RV Resort, and you're not allowed to have pets here. BUT there were many feral cats when we "moved" here, and we talked with the owners and began a TNR program. The owners of the park hate cats - but this is also a working large farm with numerous barns.
We apparently did such a great job with the colony that now there are no cats in the barns, LOL!
We've been worried about leaving here because of the continued feeding and care of the colony. We have someone to do it, but we weren't sure the park owners would grant continued access for this person.
BUT - now they've contacted us - they need barn cats! We've started a discussion with them about how they'd have to treat the cats like part of the farm and not pests, etc. Now that they understand the valuable role these animals can play - and how it IS possible to control the population (duh) - and that these animals, properly cared for AREN'T pests - we're going to be moving the colony over to the barns.
For now we will continue to pay for the colony care, but we will begin to split those costs, and they are going to feed the cats like they do the other barn animals. The cats will continue to be registered in our name at the vets (we've worked all this out), so we can check up to make sure they're getting their annual vaccinations, etc. And we're going to jointly trap the animals for vaccinations and relocation this year - so they know how to do it properly and safely next year if we've left the park.
But the best news of all is that the park owners are now willing to accept up to 12 cats, so we can actually "place" another 6 feral cats that need homes.