Should I try to TNR males outside of my colony?

[kiwi11]

I started taking care of two ferals earlier this summer- one male and one female. I TNRed both. I feed them (and take away the food bowls right after they eat so no food remains). They also have a small cat house I set up in my yard where they stay. Life was happy until about a week ago. Now, I have two different male ferals coming into my yard and wanting to chase/fight both of mine. My ferals are on the smaller side (female 8 pounds, male 9.5 pounds). The male ferals coming into the yard are HUGE. My ferals either run up my tree or run out of the yard when the outsiders come in. My male feral is especially terrified of these cats. He stays up in the tree all day at times.
Also, these cats are making a whole lot of noise...lots of very loud yowling and growling. I have a neighbor furious with me because the cats wake him up.

Sooo...is it wise/safe to try and TNR these outsiders? They do not eat at my house and have some obvious food source as they are not thin. I do not believe they are anyone's pets because they act feral. They also look dirty. If I can TNR them, my hope would be that they would return to wherever they came from and stay there- or at least not bully mine if they come to my yard. But could TNRing them hurt them in their own colony or wherever they live?

Is there some other way to keep these ferals out of my yard without chasing mine off?

Any other ideas as to solutions? TIA!

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I think getting the new males TNR'd would be a good start it sounds as if they are fighting just for the territory. If they do stick around the aggressive behavior should subside. They very well may return to wherever they came from but it is hard to tell. Also if they do return to their colony I doubt they would be bullied there because they are already established there. I have seen huge colony groups TNR just a few at a time and nothing bad happened with any of them. So I think it would be safe to do so and if you do, they won't be mating anymore which cuts down on them populating the area. So all around I think it would be a positive to go through with it.
Please keep us posted

 

[kiwi11]

I think getting the new males TNR'd would be a good start it sounds as if they are fighting just for the territory. If they do stick around the aggressive behavior should subside. They very well may return to wherever they came from but it is hard to tell. Also if they do return to their colony I doubt they would be bullied there because they are already established there. I have seen huge colony groups TNR just a few at a time and nothing bad happened with any of them. So I think it would be safe to do so and if you do, they won't be mating anymore which cuts down on them populating the area. So all around I think it would be a positive to go through with it.
Please keep us posted

I was thinking that these two visitors want to mate with the female (who wants nothing to do with them now that she is spayed). I don't see any other females around my area (but they may be at other houses). I hadn't considered that they are fighting for territory.
Thanks for your answer. I will keep you posted.

 

[kittychick]

I agree with heatherwillard0614 - -we TNR alot and have ended up with a few from the colony that never "R'd" and now come into the house in the winter (we've worked on getting them in full time for years - - just ain't working!). We too have heated cat houses in our yard, but our current 3 now spend alot of time in the special thermostat-regulated heated hutch - complete with windows - my hubby made for these sweeties. But like you - - we had a few males who insisted on coming into our guys territory, causing all sorts of problems. I ended up asking various neighbors to see if they were theirs and if we could TNR them. No one claimed them (even though we're 95% sure of where 2 of the 3 come from). So we ended up trapping and neutering them all - - - and all were male. Solved the problem! I know every neighborhood and relationship with neighbors is different. But we felt we'd covered our bases and let people know (esp the house where we're pretty sure they reside), so we didn't feel like we were doing anything we shouldn't. And it really helped! Our 3 guys started chasing them off post-neuter (obv all that testosterone coming into their territory at once was just too much for our band of 3 (only two of our guys are male - one's a big wuss, and our "territory defender" is teensy so not exactly scary - and the female is SO overweight - she works the neighbors for food too, plus she's got my uber slow metabolism). Most people think "outsiders" are coming for females (which they sure can be if you had females that hadn't been spayed) - but usually it is a territorial issues. They smell the other kitties, and smell the food, even if it's picked up at night. So it's usually territory. So maybe that'll help your guys if you can TNR and neuter them. Worked for us! Good luck - definitely keep us posted!

 

[kiwi11]

I agree with heatherwillard0614 - -we TNR alot and have ended up with a few from the colony that never "R'd" and now come into the house in the winter (we've worked on getting them in full time for years - - just ain't working!). We too have heated cat houses in our yard, but our current 3 now spend alot of time in the special thermostat-regulated heated hutch - complete with windows - my hubby made for these sweeties. But like you - - we had a few males who insisted on coming into our guys territory, causing all sorts of problems. I ended up asking various neighbors to see if they were theirs and if we could TNR them. No one claimed them (even though we're 95% sure of where 2 of the 3 come from). So we ended up trapping and neutering them all - - - and all were male. Solved the problem! I know every neighborhood and relationship with neighbors is different. But we felt we'd covered our bases and let people know (esp the house where we're pretty sure they reside), so we didn't feel like we were doing anything we shouldn't. And it really helped! Our 3 guys started chasing them off post-neuter (obv all that testosterone coming into their territory at once was just too much for our band of 3 (only two of our guys are male - one's a big wuss, and our "territory defender" is teensy so not exactly scary - and the female is SO overweight - she works the neighbors for food too, plus she's got my uber slow metabolism). Most people think "outsiders" are coming for females (which they sure can be if you had females that hadn't been spayed) - but usually it is a territorial issues. They smell the other kitties, and smell the food, even if it's picked up at night. So it's usually territory. So maybe that'll help your guys if you can TNR and neuter them. Worked for us! Good luck - definitely keep us posted!

Thank you. That is all good to know. I am working on TNRing them, but I haven't seen them since I placed the trap (of course). I will keep trying.

 

[Norachan]

I think it's a good idea to get any feral cat spayed or neutered if you are seeing them regularly.

Getting the males fixed usually helps to calm them down a lot. Gin kun, in my banner below, was the neighbourhood bully who used to regularly attack my cats, male and female. After I got him neutered he calmed down so much that I ended up bringing him indoors. He could even be trusted to have some supervised playtime with foster kittens.

Even if getting them fixed is all you can do for these cats it will have a positive effect on them and on the feral cat population in your area.

 

[kittychick]

Of course you see them constantly UNTIL you put the trap(s) out - - never fails! Just keep watching - sure they'll appear when least expected! And as Norachan noted too - - - fixing ANY kitties helps them all!

 

[kiwi11]

I'm still waiting and watching! I hope they come soon before the weather gets cold here. Thanks for all of your advice!