Really Need Help To Relocate Ferals Asap

[Knead2purr]

I have been trying to find a place to relocate a small feral colony because my town does not have free roaming laws and does not aupport tnr. Nobody in my neighborhood is willing to help and I fear that the kittens are going to be picked up and euthanized.
Even if it’s not in my area, I need to find a place to relocate them.
Does anybody have any ideas?

 

[Norachan]

Where are you located K Knead2purr ? How many cats and kittens are there? Have any of them been spayed or neutered yet?

Sometimes cats can be relocated through Barn Cats programs. You might have to do quite a lot of the leg work yourself, but local farms and stables sometimes accept cats that have already been fixed.

Are any of the cats socialised at all? Could some of the kittens be re-homed as pets?

While you're trying to find a place to move the cats to it would be a good idea if you started getting them fixed now. They will need to be spayed and neutered anyway and if you start now at least you won't have any more kittens to worry about.

You could try the Humane Society or Ally Cat Allies for help with TNR. To be honest a lot of us who help feral cats end up paying for spays and neuters out of our own pocket, but you might be able to find a cheap clinic in your area to help keep the costs down.

 

[Sarthur2]

Are you feeding these cats? Or is anyone? Feeding helps to trap them.

 

[orange&white]

The nearest larger city to you would hopefully have a TNR or rescue program. I would start by making a few phone calls to find the closest program for help. They may have volunteers who would come out and help trap the cats and take them to a rescue or safe area for the colony. If they're short on volunteers, you may need to borrow a trap and provide transportation.

 

[Knead2purr]

The tnr part isn’t a problem. It’s finding a placeto take them that’s the issue. In the meantime, I may try to keep the kittens and work with them but ultimately, I need to find a place for them. I don’t want to have them fixed only to be picked up and euthanized by animal control. I think there are a total of 6-8 cats, including kittens.

 

[Norachan]

OK, that's a manageable number. Can you trap or entice the cats and kittens now and bring them indoors? The sooner you start working with the kittens the easier they will be to socialise and find homes for. If you have the adults fixed and have collars put on them will animal control still pick them up? I'm just thinking of ways you could buy some time while you try to relocate them.

 

[orange&white]

You mentioned no one in your neighborhood is willing to help, so I take it that you've spoken with some of the neighbors? It might be wise to speak with them again, or run some copies of a short letter explaining that you plan to have the adult cats spayed/neutered as well as the kittens and will be socializing the kittens for adoption. Tape the letters to people's doors and if you're comfortable, leave them a way to contact you with questions (or if they want to adopt a kitten, or help in any other way). You would want to stress that these are "community cats", not "your" cats, that you are helping, and that the goal is to keep the cat population in your neighborhood from exploding and to give the existing cats a shot at a decent life.

We've had a few members get sabotaged in their efforts to help their feral denizens, either by shutting the empty traps thinking the person is planning to have cats euthanized, or by calling the authorities and blaming the person for "owning" multiple outdoor roaming cats.

Are the adult cats feral or only semi-feral? If they are feral, I'd take Norachan's advice to see if there is any shelter close by with a barn cat program.

 

[Knead2purr]

I don't know if telling more people is a good or bad idea because for those that aren't aware, it might cause them to call ac sooner. Also, there's no way the cop on my block is going to go along with this. There's no way I can get collars on the cats until they're fixed but even at that, animal control will pick them up and euthanize them. If I have them microchipped when they get fixed, assuming I can get the adults, if, after the rabies shot is expired, they get picked up and bite somebody, I'll be responsible.

 

[Willowy]

There's no way I can get collars on the cats until they're fixed but even at that, animal control will pick them up and euthanize them

If they're so wild that you can't catch them and they have to be trapped, it's unlikely that AC will be able to trap them again. Ask any TNR person about trying to trap a cat for the second time! Most cats will never even go near a trap after the first time. So unless your AC shoots or poisons cats, they'd probably be safe.

there's no way the cop on my block is going to go along with this

You might be surprised. Most cops aren't exactly sticklers about local ordinances, especially when off-duty.

 

[orange&white]

Well, I think more communication is better. The people who have either shut empty traps or called animal control were ignorant as to what was happening. Ignorance is not stupidity. They didn't know what was going on and jumped to the wrong conclusions instead of asking questions. Personally, I'd be proactive and tell the neighbors your plans, before someone starts seeing food and water bowls and traps around...and gets the wrong idea(s) in their head.

 

[Norachan]

I agree with orange&white.

If you say something like "I'm trying to deal with the feral cat problem in this area by getting the cats spayed and neutered and getting as many kittens re-homed as possible" people who don't like cats will see this as a positive thing. There's a difference between cat-haters, who want the cats killed, and people who just don't want feral cats around but don't want them to come to any harm.

When the adult cats are taken to be fixed you could ask the vets to put collars on them before they come round from the anesthetic.

Where are the cats? Are they living in a park or roaming around people's back yards? Do you own your own home or are you renting? What is the limit on the number of pets you can have in your city?

 

[Breaking My Heart]

I agree with orange&white.

If you say something like "I'm trying to deal with the feral cat problem in this area by getting the cats spayed and neutered and getting as many kittens re-homed as possible" people who don't like cats will see this as a positive thing. There's a difference between cat-haters, who want the cats killed, and people who just don't want feral cats around but don't want them to come to any harm.

When the adult cats are taken to be fixed you could ask the vets to put collars on them before they come round from the anesthetic.

Where are the cats? Are they living in a park or roaming around people's back yards? Do you own your own home or are you renting? What is the limit on the number of pets you can have in your city?

I

Where are you located K Knead2purr ? How many cats and kittens are there? Have any of them been spayed or neutered yet?

Sometimes cats can be relocated through Barn Cats programs. You might have to do quite a lot of the leg work yourself, but local farms and stables sometimes accept cats that have already been fixed.

Are any of the cats socialised at all? Could some of the kittens be re-homed as pets?

While you're trying to find a place to move the cats to it would be a good idea if you started getting them fixed now. They will need to be spayed and neutered anyway and if you start now at least you won't have any more kittens to worry about.

You could try the Humane Society or Ally Cat Allies for help with TNR. To be honest a lot of us who help feral cats end up paying for spays and neuters out of our own pocket, but you might be able to find a cheap clinic in your area to help keep the costs down.

I am in the same position as Need2Purr. We moved to Corpus Christi, Texas on the beach about nine years ago. There was a feral/stray colony of 19 cats about three blocks from our condo being cared for by an elderly woman. My husband and I trapped the cats and had them spayed or neutered. We ended up adopting two of the kittens who were born before we started the TNR project. None of the agencies in town were very helpful with the trapping. The Cattery here provided reduced price surgery but can't take the cats because they are always full. About a month ago, the elderly caretaker sold her house and moved out of the area. She was able to take care of all but four of the cats, three ferals and a stray. We have been feeding them under the second-story deck on the woman's house. The new owner does not like this at all and we can't continue to feed them there. The elderly woman owns a vacant lot across the street from her house and we could put a shelter and feeding station there, but how do I get the cats to go there to be fed? They won't go near a trap after the clinic experience. The facilities would have to be under some trees that are on the far side of the lot from where they are now being fed. What kind of thing should we put there to feed and shelter them? And again, how will we get them there? Whatever we do, we will have to pay for. This really is breaking my heart. I can't stand to think of those cats starving.

 

[orange&white]

The vacant lot being located across the street from the cats' previous "home" is an advantage. Do the cats come running when they see you or your husband come to provide food? That would be another advantage. You may need to take a lawn chair and sit in the lot calling them for a few days, but I bet they will happily relocate to wherever the free meals are fed.

Are there any ordinances or "building codes" against setting up a large cat shelter or several small ones on the vacant lot? And is the new house owner a nice enough person that he/she won't try to hurt the cats (poison or an animal control call)?

There are lots of good, inexpensive shelter ideas on the web...including right here on TCS. You just want something waterproof off the ground so it won't flood during and rain and heavy enough that it won't blow over in a strong wind. I don't think Corpus ever gets very cold, does it? Just wet.

 

[Norachan]

Cats have an excellent sense of smell so if they are hungry and there is some nice smelly food just across the street they should come running.

You could also try diluting some Asian fish sauce with water, putting it in a spray bottle and spraying the new feeding station.

Cats can smell that from a long way off and will come over to check it out.