Friend of Ferals Award Badge - Apply Here

[lindagail]

Thank you, Keyes. You are very gracious.

I don't understand how anyone can just turn away from any animal in need.  I just came in from my barn where I have the sweetest little girl that was abandoned. Now I am sitting with my oldest boy, Frank. He has stomach cancer and I am giving him palliative care. I am trying to have him feel all the love I have for him. It is very sad. He is such a good boy. When I went to a shelter 15 years ago this month, to get a kitty I had seen on line and arranged to adopt, I found the shelter had let one of the volunteers have him instead. I was very upset and while they were showing me other kittens that resembled the one I wanted, this young gray and white cat would not leave me alone. He followed me everywhere the whole time I was there. I adopted him and renamed him Frank. They give so much love. I wish he wasn't going through this. I am so sad...My other cats know he is not well and they are very respectful.

Thank you again for your kind remark.

 

[keyes]

@LindaGail I know exactly what you mean.  And I to, am giving palliative care to my gray and white guy.  He has optical sarcoma and with the vet's help he has been with me for 10 more months.  As long as he still has quality of life I'll continue doing what I'm doing to make him comfortable.  My Tippy just turned 20 and he's my grumpy guy.

 

[lindagail]

Yes.

 

[mani]

 
One of the feral cats that I take care of I named Mr. Mister. When I first moved here I used to watch him back and forth to a colony in the cemetery near my house. When I realized there was a colony there, I started putting out food and water for them. There is an area in the cemetery where the residents in my neighborhood can dump leaves and branches and this is where they made their home.  I always spoke to cats whenever I saw them. Something happened to the colony and some of the cats relocated to the barn of an empty across from mine, but Mr. Mister came to my house and claimed it. I have been caring for him since. He is quite a fellow. For the past seven years animal control, and a woman who works trapping feral cats, had not been able to trap him. I continued to gain his trust and recently I was able to get him into a cat carrier so he could go to the vet. This is something he desperately needed. For years I had watched him digging at his ears, and right before I finally caught him he had a claw that was growing into the pad on his foot. He just came back "home" after being away for over a month. At his first visit to the vet he was neutered and the claw was removed, but the diagnosis of his ear problem was not good. He had severe infections in both ears and a high likelihood of ear polyps. He had to have ear medicine and antibiotics twice a day, so he stayed with a feral cat handler for two weeks until they could operate on his ears. With the swelling down after the two weeks, they found deep polyps in one of his ears and had to go through the side of his face to remove it. But, I am happy to say he is now back, healthy and happy. He is free again, but knows he has a "home".     

I live in a neighborhood inhabited by people who do not see anything wrong with abandoning a cat. There is also a lot of abuse and neglect. I have a sweet girl in my barn right now who was abandoned, along with her two brothers, when her owner left.  I take care of many cats in my neighborhood, and have been caring for and getting close to feral Mr. Mister for the last seven years. There are cats here that are left out on horribly cold days and nights (I live in Maine) so there are shelters set up on my porches. Cats also have access to my garage which has more shelters, food, and water. Food and unfrozen water is available at each shelter. I work with the local animal control and rescue groups to help stop animal abuse and report it when I see it. I have been a foster parent for the local rescue groups. I don't know how many other feral cats I am helping, but I know that my shelters are used, especially in the winter. I support Trap - Neuter - Release programs and organizations. When I moved here I had one cat I got from a homeless shelter. Because of the situation where I live, I have eight who live inside.

Linda

Welcome to TCS, Linda! 

Thank you for sharing your story, and for all the help you give.

Badge awarded!

 

[juriesempai]

I volunteer at our local rescue (no-kill shelter!!)  in town and most of the cats we get to take care of are found wandering the streets, abandoned in dumpsters, ect. We take care of them and nurse them back to health, get them socialized with other cats and humans, and when they're old enough they're put up for adoption. Just recently my aunt and I rescued 4 kittens from a feral cat colony in texas. We took them to the vet, got them dewormed, they had a flea bath, and they got their earmites taken care of. I took in one of the kittens and helped my boss at the rescue get the other 3 ready for adoption. Before I got involved with any of this,About 10 years ago, I took care of a stray cat in town and fed her when she came to our house and we took care of her even though my parents were opposed to having cats at the time. She roamed around the neighborhood during the days and came to our house to eat at night and sleep on our lawn furniture until she passed peacefully about 5 or 6 years ago.

 

[lindagail]

Keyes,

Thinking of you and hoping you are OK.

 

[mani]

 
I volunteer at our local rescue (no-kill shelter!!)  in town and most of the cats we get to take care of are found wandering the streets, abandoned in dumpsters, ect. We take care of them and nurse them back to health, get them socialized with other cats and humans, and when they're old enough they're put up for adoption. Just recently my aunt and I rescued 4 kittens from a feral cat colony in texas. We took them to the vet, got them dewormed, they had a flea bath, and they got their earmites taken care of. I took in one of the kittens and helped my boss at the rescue get the other 3 ready for adoption. Before I got involved with any of this,About 10 years ago, I took care of a stray cat in town and fed her when she came to our house and we took care of her even though my parents were opposed to having cats at the time. She roamed around the neighborhood during the days and came to our house to eat at night and sleep on our lawn furniture until she passed peacefully about 5 or 6 years ago.

 Hi JurieSempai!  Good work!  I'm sure both you and your shelter do a wonderful job, making sure all the cats are desexed and find wonderful forever homes.

Badge awarded..

 

[trapperdave]

Hello all, Dave here. I volunteer my help to a local feral rescue center. I am a trapper, caregiver, cuddler and I help with the thrift store we run. All proceed from the thrift store go to help the cats. We have a weekly spay/neuter clinic every Wed, and once a month on Mon. We see anywhere from 30 - 50 cats per clinic. I have been working with a colony that resides next to my place of employment since Feb of this year. So far I have trapped 18 cats. Three were kittens that have gone into our adoption program. The rest have been TNRed. My work borders a neighboring recycle center so the cats are all living there. They are all healthy and seem to be very happy. I feed them every morning when I arrive at work and every evening when I leave. I think the most important thing about caring for ferals is making sure they have plenty of water, especially during the hot summer months.

I also have 6 of my own cats at home. They are all rescued cats. 2 were feral and found under the rose bush in my backyard. We brought them into the house before their eyes were open. My wife bottle fed them and raised them to be beautiful tame cats. We have one that is fully feral that roams the neighborhood. He spends most his time here though. We feed him several times a day. We have another that we found dumped at the end of our street with a broken. We got him the medical care he needed and he has been grateful ever since. Another that just showed up at our back door one day. The last one is an adopted cat that came from a rescue center. She was very nervous and timid at first but over the years she has become very loving.

I love all my cats and wish I could have twice as many more.

 

[mani]

@trapperdave thank you so much for sharing.. You certainly are a Friend of Ferals! We look forward to seeing you around our forums.

Badge awarded

 

[poison]

Hi, I am no part of any feral cats programm but we're (me and hubby) doing what we can regarding "our" feral cats. There are not many of them in our area.

When we arrived in our location, we noticed a white and red cat wandering the streets. We asked about him everywhere around but everyone said he was a stray for years. He was very thin. He never came around our appartment. Two years laters we moved in our current house, in the same village. For all summer we never saw him but when winter came, we started to see him. He would come eat food we left ouside for him and sleep just in front of our back door. He gained weight quickly. He didn't let us near him though.  We asked again about him, but we received the same answer: he's been here for years, he's a stray. We decided to have him TNRed and managed to trap him. He was wild... he's been neuteured, tested fiv (neg), marked in his ear, and given a shot od antibiotic as he presented a wound on his belly. We kept him in the garage for a few days and once we were sure he was okay, we released him. He comes back to us only at winter and sping periods, every year since 4 years.

We also took care of Evil Spawn. He was a big black cat who arrived badly wounded on his left front paw. Again, we asked everyone about him, and nobody knew him. He stayed in our yard for two days before we were able to catch him with a trap and bring him to our vet. Once he was sedated, we saw the extend of his injury...

It's not pretty, be warned

Spoiler: Warning.. may be upsetting

bad.jpg

• mani
• Jul 24, 2015

after a week, it was way better (still not pretty though)
 

Spoiler: Warning

getting better.jpg

• mani
• Jul 24, 2015

and then, after 2 more weeks, it was over, and to add to this good news, he had learned to love people and to crave for being petted. He became a big Marshmallow. A woman from the clinic he was treated him and who just lost her cat adopted him and he never went outside again. We had him neuteured of course during his last surgery.

DSC_5349.JPG

• poison
• Jul 24, 2015

Finally, last may, a young female, black again, we named Sunset, chose to live in the basement of our house in which we had no access. She entered and exited it by a small broken grid. We saw her copulated with two male cats we never saw before (and never saw again after). We posted her picture everywhere but no one looked for her. She was a smart smart girl and it took almost two weeks to trap her. We had her spayed, microshiped, treated for ear infection and tested for FIV (neg) then brough her back but in the garage this time. Two weeks after that, she trusted us and was in a better condition.We considered letting her back out when we heard about a friend looking for ... oh! a black kitten!  And there she lives now, happy and loved.

Before we got our last cat Poison, we also fostered a few stray kitten to socialized them. All 3 of them are now in loving homes.

I don't know if this qualifies me for being Friends of Ferals, but they each taught me a lot about ferals and cats in general.

 

[mani]

@Poison you have done wonderful things with all of these cats.. good for you.

Badge awarded. 

 

[jmarkitell]

I don't have a feral colony, although I have recently befriended a feral that has been around for a few years. Callie (a calico, obviously) was seen a few times two years ago but she would run away as soon as she saw anyone. Over the last two years I have put food out for her and trying to get her to be less "spooked". After two years of trying, I finally got her so she would allow me to touch her. For the last two days, Callie has been waiting outside for her morning meal and actually allowed me to pet her and she rubbed up against me. She hasn't been socialized with people and hisses constantly, although I think she confuses hissing with a meow as she hisses while rubbing against me and doesn't seem to be angry or afraid...I just think she hisses out of habit.

   Today, after allowing me to fully pet her and rubbing against me, I discovered that Callie was a boy. Its a bit unusual to have a male calico, but my last stray was a buff colored female...so much for color standards! I'm hoping Cal (new masculine name?) decides to stay inside this winter...the last winter was brutal and I didn't think he survived, but he re-appeared in April. Cat count is now up to 5...3 feral/stray and two shelter cats.

 

[mani]

One of the most caring things we can do for our Feral friends is to have them spayed/neutered, @JMarkitell and I'm presuming that, with your obvious concern for their wellbeing, that that is a priority for you, too.

  However, from reading I've done on male calicos, already a rare thing, all but a tiny percentage are sterile. That doesn't stop them from having all those less desirable characteristics though (spraying, aggression etc).

Badge awarded..

 

[aztrish]

I have been caring for ferals on my block for about 5-6 years now.  While we don't have an excessive amount of cats in my area, over the years I have TNR's about 20 cats, and am helping a neighbor down the street TNR two litters and two mamas that showed up on their property this year.  Since we have dogs that are not cat-friendly, we set up a feeding area on the side of our house, with a gate that they can get through, but would protect them from coyotes in our area.  We have also added home made shelters to the area. 

 

[mani]

 
I have been caring for ferals on my block for about 5-6 years now.  While we don't have an excessive amount of cats in my area, over the years I have TNR's about 20 cats, and am helping a neighbor down the street TNR two litters and two mamas that showed up on their property this year.  Since we have dogs that are not cat-friendly, we set up a feeding area on the side of our house, with a gate that they can get through, but would protect them from coyotes in our area.  We have also added home made shelters to the area. 

  A wonderful job you are doing with these cats.  Badge well-earned.

 

[mr waddles mom]

WOW!  You and your hubby certainly qualify for Friends of Ferals in my book.  Your actions speak volumes of the love in your hearts for helping better the lives of feral cats.

 

[scarletvavoom]

Hello, I work with Shadow Cat Advocates in Stafford Va. Here is our site. I help get the cats/kittens up on Adoptapet.com and pet finder.com. Our main page is here: http://www.shadowcatadvocates.org

 

[mani]

Hello @Scarletvavoom..  You obviously to a wonderful job working with ferals..

We look forward to hearing more from you around the forums.. and of course, badge awarded!

 

[mindyl3igh]

I help feral cats by feeding them and TNR whenever I have the money! I usually get 3-5 spayed/neutered every 5 months! I am very close to having a fully controlled colony! If I ever see feral kittens old enough to be socialized and adopted out, I catch or trap them and foster them until I find them homes! I have found homes for 6 feral/homeless kitties this year so far! I have also saved 3 feral baby kittens, although two of them passed, I currently have a thriving 4-week old baby that would have grew up living the feral life, but I took her in and she is our new addition...to our now, kitty family of 5! I can usually only foster one at a time at my current home, as I only have one spare room to keep them in and away from my cats, but I do what I can! I love my feral babies! 

There is one that I am feeding right now, that finally got close enough for me to see that she is indeed pregnant! But I have a kitten in my spare room right now, who is thriving and growing, so I can't trap her and bring her in. My plan is that after she has her babies and they begin following her to the food/water, I will get them and foster them then, and I will also have the money to get mama spayed by that time as well! As much as I really wish I had the set up to trap her and bring her in, I don't. I am actually thinking about possibly setting her up in my grandmother's bathroom if I am able. It is a work in progress, that's all I can say! <3 

 

[mani]

 
I help feral cats by feeding them and TNR whenever I have the money! I usually get 3-5 spayed/neutered every 5 months! I am very close to having a fully controlled colony! If I ever see feral kittens old enough to be socialized and adopted out, I catch or trap them and foster them until I find them homes! I have found homes for 6 feral/homeless kitties this year so far! I have also saved 3 feral baby kittens, although two of them passed, I currently have a thriving 4-week old baby that would have grew up living the feral life, but I took her in and she is our new addition...to our now, kitty family of 5! I can usually only foster one at a time at my current home, as I only have one spare room to keep them in and away from my cats, but I do what I can! I love my feral babies! 

There is one that I am feeding right now, that finally got close enough for me to see that she is indeed pregnant! But I have a kitten in my spare room right now, who is thriving and growing, so I can't trap her and bring her in. My plan is that after she has her babies and they begin following her to the food/water, I will get them and foster them then, and I will also have the money to get mama spayed by that time as well! As much as I really wish I had the set up to trap her and bring her in, I don't. I am actually thinking about possibly setting her up in my grandmother's bathroom if I am able. It is a work in progress, that's all I can say! <3 

     Well, it's a wonderful work in progress, @MindyL3igh     Thank you for sharing, and your badge is awarded.