When we moved into our house in July, we saw (or thought we saw) a black cat furtively moving in the bushes by the neighbors garage. We live in town, so everything is very close together. Finally, yes, we were sure we saw this beautiful solid black, quite small, but obviously adult cat. She stayed close to the fence, moved up and across our yard and into the neighbor's yard--no idea where she went after that, but always came back. We were gone for a week, and when we returned, we discovered that she had four kittens. Cute, cute, cute, and cuter.
My goodness, it's really hard to find an agency that is willing to take feral animals! Finally, I found a lady who worked for animal control in a neighboring town, who, in her off time, captured ferals, and cajoled vets to spay/neuter them. If they are kittens, they go to the shelter for re-homing, if adults, they are returned to the neighborhood where she captured them.
We set the traps and in one day caught three kittens. Cuter and Mommy were too smart for their own good, and are still on the loose. I feed them and have "tamed" Cuter so that she comes to me when I go outside with food, but won't let me touch her. Mommy has left Cuter on her own, pretty much, but comes back to eat once a day. I suspect she is pregnant again.
Meanwhile, we did trap three Tom cats that were neutered and returned to the neighborhood, with a little snip out of one ear.
We set the humane traps over the course of a couple of weeks (that's how we caught the Toms), and it was really stressful for me, and my own cats seemed to feel the stress, too. There is a little shed in the yard in which I have started to feed Cuter and have set up a bed off the floor to keep her dry--and she uses it every night. I will reinforce it with bales of hay for winter. I'm committed to this. But I'd rather trap her and have her spayed and make sure she's healthy.
Suggestions?
My goodness, it's really hard to find an agency that is willing to take feral animals! Finally, I found a lady who worked for animal control in a neighboring town, who, in her off time, captured ferals, and cajoled vets to spay/neuter them. If they are kittens, they go to the shelter for re-homing, if adults, they are returned to the neighborhood where she captured them.
We set the traps and in one day caught three kittens. Cuter and Mommy were too smart for their own good, and are still on the loose. I feed them and have "tamed" Cuter so that she comes to me when I go outside with food, but won't let me touch her. Mommy has left Cuter on her own, pretty much, but comes back to eat once a day. I suspect she is pregnant again.
Meanwhile, we did trap three Tom cats that were neutered and returned to the neighborhood, with a little snip out of one ear.
We set the humane traps over the course of a couple of weeks (that's how we caught the Toms), and it was really stressful for me, and my own cats seemed to feel the stress, too. There is a little shed in the yard in which I have started to feed Cuter and have set up a bed off the floor to keep her dry--and she uses it every night. I will reinforce it with bales of hay for winter. I'm committed to this. But I'd rather trap her and have her spayed and make sure she's healthy.
Suggestions?